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| CLOWNING AND PHYSICAL COMEDY, Salvage Vanguard Jan. 2 - 4, 2013 |
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| Different Stages at the City Theatre |
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| St. Albert the Great Catholic Church, Austin, January 5 |
It helps to have someone holding your hand when you look over the edge of the precipice. Even if you've always lived alone, felt self sufficient and devoted yourself to the life of the mind.
Margaret Edson's Wit is the portrait of literature professor Vivian Bearing, a devotee of 17th century English literature renowned for her publications on the metaphysical poetry of John Donne. At the age of 50 this scholar has been discovered to be the victim of Stage IV ovarian cancer. Our time with her is spent in the cancer ward, except for brief flashbacks to happy moments - as a child, learning to read; as a graduate student discovering the woman professor who became her mentor; standing authoritatively in front of a class of undergraduates, challenging them to grapple with the conceits of Donne's poetry.
Bearing's thoughts spin as she confronts the unimaginative protocol realities of medicine. She works to remain objective and in intellectual control, occasionally sharing with us a fugue state, sometimes even over the unnerving revelations being delivered by her physicians.
This piece demands a virtuoso performance every night, by a virtuoso performer, and Judith Laird is exactly that. Wit is essentially a monologue with regular lapses into conventional stage representation. The frail, earnest protagonist speaks directly to us as audience, acknowledges our presence and even comments in passing, "I have only two hours here before I die." That ironic confiding in the spectators has a touch of the metaphysical to it, a shadowed reflection of Donne's perspective in the Holy Sonnets written late in his life.
Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .
Received directly:
present the regional premiere of the futuristic comedy
– Getting Betta –
by Don Fried
directed by the playwright
at the Blue Theatre, 916 Springdale Rd. (click for map)
for the 2012 FronteraFest Long Fringe
Tuesday, January 24 – 7:00 pm; Tuesday, January 31 – 9:15 pm; Thursday, Februrary 2 – 7:00 pm; and Saturday, February 4 – 1:15 pm
Tickets for the Fringe are $15 and are available at www.fronterafest.org or by phoning 512-479-7529.
3 additional performances will be at Howson Hall Theater, UU Church, 4700 Grover Avenue, Austin, TX 78756 (click for map)
Friday, March 2 – 8:00 pm; Saturday, March 3 – 8:00 pm; and Sunday, March 4 – 3:00 pm
Tickets for the Howson performances are $15 and are available at the door.
Paradox Players presents the regional premiere of Don Fried’s futuristic comedy Getting Betta at the 2012 FronteraFest Long Fringe, January 24 – February 5, at Austin’s Blue Theater. Playing the title role of Betta is award-winning Austin-based film and stage actress Lana Dieterich, who starred in the 2011 Long Fringe production of Fried’s Senior Moments. Also featured are long-time Austin actor Craig Kanne and recent Texas State theatre graduate Brittany Flurry.
In the play, Michael is a technologically-challenged senior citizen living in a retirement home. Betta, a virtual computerized assistant, is assigned to him against his wishes by the administration of the facility. After a brief period of conflict, Michael and Betta reach a truce and settle down to live together. However, as Betta acquires technology upgrades to make her more human, she becomes paranoid and schizophrenic, and things spiral out of control.
The San Juan Capistrano (California) Patch review of Getting Betta had this to say: “What is love? What is family? Does technology serve us, or do we serve technology? Do you have to be a human to be human? You’ll laugh at, as much as ponder over, some of the answers suggested in Getting Betta.”
Getting Betta premiered simultaneously in Colorado and California in March, 2011. Fried, who also directs the production, has had his work performed throughout the U.S., in Canada, and England. In March, he travels to London to work on the world premiere production of his play Phoenix, which was inspired by the life of British singer/songwriter Nick Drake.
Steubenville, Ohio -- with all respect due to the inhabitants of that town of 19,000, it sounds about as far away from theatre civilization as one could get. It's in those rough hills of east Ohio, forty miles west of Pittsburgh and facing east into West Virginia. Playwright Daniels uses the Steubenville bus station as the run-down unlikely setting for the encounter of a famous playwright on his way down and an awestruck aspiring writer dreaming of a future not centered in the wing-nut and fastener factory that's the family business.
Steubenville's the birthplace of Dean Martin, a point of local pride commemorated by a poster next to the doors to the toilets. Further background, not communicated: it was also the birthplace of porn and B-film actress Traci Lords and of playwright Jeffrey Hatcher (Hatcher's Wikipedia entry calls it "a gritty Ohio River town better known for its mob connections, houses of ill repute and industrial detritus than for its literary sons and daughters"). Steubenville's downtown Grand Theater movie alace has been closed since 1979 and only just escaped demolition in 2010 due to the efforts of a community group.
Tyler Jones as the earnest young writer Kenneth Waters assures visiting playwright Joseph Harris that the Steubenville community theatre group is really quite good; their director won a 'Steubie' last season. "A what?" snaps Joe Penrod as the visitor, who has been sleeping on a bus station bench because Waters had dozed off while waiting for the arrival of his 1:30 a.m. bus.
KUT's Michael Lee interviews director Karen Jambon and plays dialogue between Joe Penrod and Tyler Jones, October 10:
present
by Jeff Daniels
directed by Karen Jambon
October 14 - 30 Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm • Sundays at 3 pm
HOWSON HALL THEATER , Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover Avenue
Map to First UU Church
TICKETS $20 Opening Night Gala, Friday, Oct 14 (includes a special reception with refreshments)
$15 all other performances ($10 for seniors and groups of 10 or more)
Free childcare Oct 16 Matinee if reserved by Oct 9. Email childcare@austinuu.org or call 452-6168, ext. 313
Reservations by web, phone 744-1495 or Purchase via Paypal
Starring: Joe Penrod - Harris; Tyler Jones - Kenneth; Craig Kanne - Ticketmaster
Click 'Read more' to view additional images at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .
Found on-line:
present
by Jeff Daniels
directed by Karen Jambon
October 14 - 30 Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm • Sundays at 3 pm
HOWSON HALL THEATER , Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover Avenue
Map to First UU Church
TICKETS $20 Opening Night Gala, Friday, Oct 14 (includes a special reception with refreshments)
$15 all other performances ($10 for seniors and groups of 10 or more)
Free childcare Oct 16 Matinee if reserved by Oct 9. Email childcare@austinuu.org or call 452-6168, ext. 313
Reservations by web, phone 744-1495 or Purchase via Paypal
Starring: Joe Penrod - Harris; Tyler Jones - Kenneth; Craig Kanne - Ticketmaster
A funny and touching drama about what happens when a young man meets his washed-up idol in a small town bus station. Truth happens as each stumbles upon his own profound self-discovery. A semi-autobiographical drama by the much-acclaimed film and TV actor, Jeff Daniels.
presents
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)
September 9 - 25
Venue and times to be announced
The cast is composed of three amazing actors:
Andy Black, Craig Kanne, and Dave Stone-Robb.
Can three guys really cover thirty-seven Shakespeare plays in less than two hours? This fast-firing comedy does just that as it parodies all of the Shakespeare plays (plus the sonnets!) with only three performers in two acts. This play is full of energy as the characters run across the stage and keep you guessing how they will pull off the next play. Clever use of some interesting costumes also adds to the fun.
The play was written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield, former founding members of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, and first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987 and later played at the Criterion Theatre in London, where it ran for nine record-breaking years. It has become one of the world’s most popular shows, playing frequently in a variety of languages. It is notable for holding the (self-proclaimed) world record for the shortest-ever performance of Hamlet, clocking in at 43 seconds.
We look forward to sharing this crazy hilarity with you all! But first, we must ask a small favor from you, our wonderful audience and supporters! Check out our Kickstarter and help us raise funds to produce the show. There are some great rewards and a funny video for your enjoyment. Be sure to share with all of your friends!
Arthur Miller's play The Crucible deals with dark and frightening times. Though the setting is 1692 Salem, Massachusetts during the wide-ranging hunt for witches, this 1953 piece is equally an evocation of America's sudden dark fear of enemies in its midst. Just years earlier, in World War II the Soviet Union had been considered a valiant ally; with the division of Europe, the threat of the atom bomb and the populist hectoring of politicians such as Senator Joseph McCarthy, many American intellectuals, civil servants and diplomats found themselves targeted for "communist sympathies."
UPDATE: Feature by Sarah Pressley for the Daily Texan, October 21
Received directly:
The Renaissance Theatre Company and City Theatre present
Arthur Miller’s classic tale of the American theatre
Directed by Stacey Glazer
with Brian Villalobos, Craig Kanne, Laura Ray, Gabriel Smith and B. Iden Payne winners Rachel McGinnis and Angela Loftus.
October 22 – November 14, Thursdays – Saturdays 8:00 p.m. and Sunday 5:30 p.m.
at The City Theatre, 3823 Airport Blvd, Suite D, east corner of Airport Blvd and 38 ½ Street.
For reservations, call 512-524-2870 or contact info@citytheatreaustin.org.
Tickets $15 - $20. Front Row Reserved $25. Thursdays all seats $10. Group and student discounts. www.citytheatreaustin.org
The Renaissance Theatre Company, in cooperation with City Theatre, begins its 2010 – 2011 theatre season with Arthur Miller's American classic The Crucible. Based on the witch trials in Salem, the stage drama begins performances
Hell and heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretenses ripped away. God’s icy wind will blow.
Known for centering a play around an ordinary man's moral crisis within American society, Miller with his sense of social consciousness gave us some of the greatest dramas of the twentieth century, including All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953) and A View from the Bridge (1955). His extensive list of works spans the last six decades and includes plays, screenplays, novels and essays. Some of his other notable plays include Incident at Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Ride Down Mount Morgan (1991), Broken Glass (1994) and Resurrection Blues (2002).
“You never tire of watching a masterpiece and The Crucible proves the point as Arthur Miller’s name may be most singularly associated with great American Theatre,” says production director Stacey Glazer. “Innocent people being accused of crimes they didn’t commit; a dynamic story of fear, courage, religious conviction and personal integrity. It’s hot stuff!” Stacey has also directed The City Theatre productions of The Laramie Project, How the Other Half Loves and the Austin Critic’s Table Award nominee Rabbit Hole.
B. Iden Payne award-winners Rachel McGinnis (as Elizabeth Proctor) and Angela Loftus (as Abigail Williams) lead the cast and introduce Brian Villalobos (as John Proctor). The Crucible features Craig Kanne, Gabriel Smith, Laura Ray, John McNeil, Michelle Alexander with Bridget Farias, Lorella Loftus, Callie Boatman, Carrie Stephens, Nathaniel Reid, Daniel Norton, Clay Avery, Brett Shaw, Dewayne Mangan, Liz Roark, Kati Pike and Mikayla McIntyre.
The City Theatre Company is a non-profit organization and is sponsored in part by the Greater Austin Creative Alliance, the Austin Cultural Arts Division and the AMD Foundation.
Different Stages does us a service by providing an accomplished and amusing production of her mid-twentieth-century curio, Spider's Web. Most of Dame Agatha's familiar elements are there: an isolated old manse in the countryside, a collection of proper, well brought up English folk, a murder and some earnest police officers trying to clear it up. There's a mystery to solve -- who assaulted the despicable Oliver Costello with a blunt object in the secret passage? Christie is very sporting with her puzzle, scattering clues along the way like Hansel and Gretel dropping breadcrumbs in the woods.
Director Veronica Prior took on the job of directing this classic piece of twentieth century theatre despite some misgivings. She writes in the program, "I studied this play in college, as many of us did. I have seen several different productions over the years, and wondered what was wrong with me, that I just didn't 'get it.' I am a simple person, not a philosopher. To be honest, I know very little of the 'isms' that others see in this play. I see a story. A good story, and one that has something for each of us to hear."
This production proves her wrong. Ronnie Prior does "get it." This is a notable staging, an exploration in airy, droll and quizzical comic mode. Actors and director do not flinch from Beckett's dark message, but they glide through it, moment by moment, with a tolerance for ambiguity and for one another.
This text from the 1950s, written first in French and later converted by the author into English, has provoked endless debte and discussion. Martin Esslin used it to push the thesis of his book The Theatre of the Absurd. Vivien Mercier wrote a famous review in the Irish Times calling it "a play in which nothing happens, that yet keeps audiences glued to their seats. What's more, since the second act is a subtly different reprise of the first, he has written a play in which nothing happens, twice." And if you want a summary and a long taste of the "-isms" eagerly applied to the play, spend some time with the entry in Wikipedia.
UPDATE: Click for ALT review, December 13
UPDATE: Review by Ryan E. Johnson at Austinist.com, December 10
UPDATE: Review by Barry Pineo in Austin Chronicle, December 10
The shop resembles an OXFAM thrift shop, a British institution similar to our own Good Will stores, accepting donations for re-sale, to benefit charity. Pert young manageress Marjorie (Angela Loftus) enforces the rules, admonishing her volunteers Susan and Fraser that no donation, however attractive, may be purchased by staff members until it has sat on the shelf for six weeks.
UPDATE: Click for ALT review of Good Things, June 18
“Liz Lochhead’s delightful new play is as funny, as touching, and yet as emotionally true as anything this supremely humane writer has yet produced” ---London Times
Shaw was a man of ideas, a Fabian socialist from Ireland who delighted in goading the British upper classes. He was amazingly prolific (63 plays, 250,000 private letters, 5 novels) and prolix (he prefaced the printed text of Getting Married with a 30-page essay on matrimony, skewering conventional morality and asserting that the institution more resembled slavery than an access to "happiness"). Incidentally, he lived to the age of 94, dying in 1950 from complications of a fall out of a tree, and he is the only individual to have won both the Nobel prize and an Oscar (for the script of the first filmed version of "Pygmalion").
General Boxer Bridgenorth proposes for the tenth time in 20 years to Lesbia Grantham, his very much unmarried sister-in-law. Brother Reginald (Craig Kanne, left) is revealed to be obtaining a divorce from his perky young wife Leo (Lindsey Reeves, right), gallantly making way for her to pursue St. John Hotchkiss, a talkative, snobbish young ex-military man. Abruptly, today's scheduled wedding ceremony stalls because both Edith and prospective groom Cecil Sykes have become alarmed by tracts warning them of the legal pitfalls of matrimony. 
Under Norman Blumensaadt's assured direction the cast has a fine time with Shaw’s zingers. My favorite was Emily Erington as Mrs. George, who appears, finally, as the voice of reasonable unreason, but only in the last act. Her small-boned vivacity, toughness and openness could seduce any reasonable man.
The Mayoress is nicely matched in a battle with Tyler Jones as the well-spoken, whimsical snob (but not cad) St. John Hotchkiss. I kept expecting that sporty mustache to fall off his upper lip, but it defied us and rode triumphantly through his ups and downs.
