Upcoming: Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin, Austin Playhouse, May 6 - June 3

presents

Born Yesterday

by Garson Kanin

May 4 - June 3

Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 5 p.m.

Austin Playhouse temporary facility, 1801 1/2 Simond Street, Mueller Development (click for map)

Starring Andrea Osborn, Michael Stuart, Benjamin Summers, Brian Coughlin, Hans Venable, Dirk van Allen, and Mary Agen Cox

Metamorphoses, originated by Mary Zimmerman, Zach Theatre, August 5 - September 26

Call this the Cirque de Soleil approach to Greek myth.

From its 1996 origin at Northwestern University Mary Zimmerman's piece used a pool of water as its central metaphor -- suggesting the chaos at creation and both the life-giving and life-threatening qualities of water and the sea. At Northwestern the piece was staged next to and in an Olympic standard pool. The water setting was retained at the Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago and at the Circle in the Square in New York, although those basins were shallower.

The Zach Theatre expands that metaphor. First, by locating that pool in the circular space of the Whisenhut stage and surrounding it with a raised walkway, so that the water below the pool steps is relatively deep. Audience members in the first and second rows of that circular space are looking up at performers walking by. An occasional, unavoidable splash is sure to wet the nearest spectators. Dress accordingly. Those elements of the setting might be called "earth" and "water."

Second, for this staging director Dave Steakley provides us with "air" and "fire" as well. Austin's muscular, confident aerial dancers from Blue Lapis Light (Andy Agne, Margaret Carter, Stefania Tafuro and Will Zinser) regularly occupy the spaces above our heads, twisting and plunging with grace. The combination of Blair Hurry's witty, circus-gaudy costumes and dramatic, often unexpected lighting from Jason Amato moves action and effects into the higher spheres. The result is the pure, gorgeous spectacle of vivid athleticism, with only a couple of older players serving to contrast with all that youth.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, Breaking String Theatre at the Blue Theatre, October 5 - 21

What is this quiet exhilaration I feel in the presence of Chekhov? Especially when the piece is as well played as this one?

For opening night at the Blue Theatre many of the seats were taken by young persons who might well have been undergraduates. Directly opposite me, across the three-quarter thrust of the playing space, one or two had spiral notebooks and pencils in hand.

I cannot recall if the vision of this end-of-the-19th-century Russian physician and author moved me so much at their age. Perhaps I was impressed principally by the exotic setting; the great but impoverished families of the Russian countryside were certainly alien to me. I probably liked the foolishness of some of the characters and admired Chekhov's women, who are simultaneously fragile and enduring.

But at university age I probably had a good deal of the unselfconscious arrogance that Mme Ranyevskaya so simply reproaches of Peter Trofimov, the eternal student who six years earlier was tutor to her son Grisha, before the boy drowned in the river:

"What truth? You can see what's true or untrue, but I seem to have lost my sight, I see nothing. You solve the most serious problems so confidently, but tell me, dear boy, isn't that because you're young -- not old enough for any of your problems to have caused you real suffering? You face the future so bravely, but then you can't imagine anything terrible happening, can you? And isn't that because you're still too young to see what life's really like?"

Now, several decades later, I am amused, perhaps a bit dismayed, to find myself resembling more closely Mme Ranyevskaya's brother Leonid Gaev, played by Ev Lunning, Jr. He's an idle but well-meaning billiards enthusiast easily tempted to pontificate over the trivial, including, for example, the hundred-year anniversary of the cabinet in the nursery. At least Leonid Gaev has the good sense to feel abashed when his nieces beg him, "Oh, do please, stop, Uncle!"

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Profile: The Grad Student, Chekhov, and the Circle of Friends: The Cherry Orchard, November 5 - 21

UPDATE: ALT review of The Cherry Orchard, November 6

Thanks to permission granted by Actors Equity at the petition of several of its prominent Austin members, Chekhov's last play will be presented in Austin for three weekends.

The production of The Cherry Orchard that opens on Thursday for a three-week run promises to be remarkable.

It’s a labor of love and a celebration of friendship, an homage to Chekhov for the second time in two years. An informal association of actors calling themselves the “Breaking String” group, a reference to the stage direction that concludes The Cherry Orchard, is working with Graham Schmidt, director, who also translated the play. Schmidt has just received his M.A. from UT.

This constellation occurs partly by serendipity and partly because of a shared admiration for Anton Pavelovich Chekhov. Dr. Chekhov, who died in 1904 from tuberculosis at the age of 44, may have been the first modern playwright, if one speaks of the twentieth century. He was one of the most humane, gentle and subtle playwrights of all time.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, Breaking String Theatre Company at the Blue Theatre, November 5 - 21

UPDATE: ALT review of The Cherry Orchard, November 6

Found on-line:

Breaking String Theater** presents
an Actors’ Equity Association Members Project Code Production…

The Cherry Orchard

A Comedy by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Lyubov Ranyevskaya went to Paris to escape her past; she returns to Russia to discover that her ancestral home, and her beloved cherry orchard, are about to disappear forever. In this haunting tale of love, loss, and human frailty, Lyubov must endure the unimaginable, and realizes that even as the axes fall on the trees, a new life is being born.

More than a century after it was written, Chekhov’s last and most beloved play still holds audiences spellbound with its unexpected majesty and dramatic power. Chekhov also finds comedy in our failures to live up to those ideals we consider sacred. As Breaking String theater artists, we hope most of all to bring Chekhov’s warmth and generosity of spirit to our audiences.

Some of Austin’s finest performers have come together to perform this new translation from the original Russian. Featuring a remarkable artistic ensemble with Babs George *, Dirk van Allen *, Bernadette Nason*, Ev Lunning *, Matt Radford, Nigel O’Hearn, Liz Fisher, Sarah Gay, Robert Matney, Robin Grace Thompson, Noel Gaulin, Maarouf Naboulsi, and Cody Chua.

The off-stage talent includes Graham Schmidt as director and translator, Adam Hilton providing first-class sound design, Rommel Sulit delivering a stunning set, Jen Rogers designing an exceptional lighting layout, and Buffy Manners beautifully costuming the cast.

Performances at 8 o’clock p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, November 5 - 21 at the Blue Theatre, 916 Springdale Road

TICKETS: Suggested donation of $15-$25 at the door
Reservations available only at www.breakingstring.com

* Members of the Actors’ Equity Association. This is a Members’ Project Code production.
**Breakin’ String Theatre is a provisional name for this collaboration of artists.

Click to view full credits for cast and crew.

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It's A Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play, Austin Playhouse, December 5 - 21

Here’s a warm, vivid and imaginative presentation that’s a time machine back to simpler pleasures.

As part of the audience for a 1946 radio presentation of It’s A Wonderful Life, you enjoy the magic of radio drama. Five actors do double duty – as multivoiced interpreters for that imaginary radio audience out there, and as an ensemble of 5 radio pros working a script in front of you. Yes, they're holding scripts -- but under Lara Toner's direction they are moving and interpreting the story with the grace and timing of aerial artists.


It’s a fine holiday presentation – one that won’t scoff at the season, distort it with eccentric characters, or push any agenda other than the American Dream.

Read More at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .