Independence by Lee Blessing, Paradox Palyers, June 3 - 19

Independence, first staged in 1983, is one of the earliest of Lee Blessing's theatre works. It's a tidy, well constructed box-set play that announces its theme open-faced with the very title.

The fact that the setting is Independence, Iowa, misleads no one. That speck on the map, population of about 5,500, stands for AnyTown, USA, or at least, AnySmallTown, USA.

Blessing probably started with a schematic diagram: small town, an intermittently crazy mother, three daughters born ten years apart; in the forced circumstances of a reunion, he has the opportunity to portray the Stages of Womankind. Evelyn Briggs is the mom, a tenuous survivor of life in Independence; Kess, the oldest, is the Mature Woman who escaped, now a university professor in Minneapolis and only incidentally a lesbian; Jo the Stay-at-home Daughter sees the prospect of dutiful daughterdom and, probably, spilnsterhood before her; and Sherry is a Luscious Good-time Girl in high school, itching to hit adulthood and the road that leads the hell out of Independence, Iowa.

The little world of women created here by Blessing, director Lisa Foster, and the well chosen Paradox Players cast is one of warmth, humor and jousting for personal space.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Paradox Players' Images of Independence by Lee Blessing, June 3 - 19

Performance images from

for

Independence

by Lee Blessing
directed by Lisa Foster
June 3-19
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm • Sundays at 3 pm
Howson Hall, First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover (click for map)

TICKETS $20 Opening Night Gala, Friday, June 3 (includes a special reception with refreshments)
$15 all other performances ($10 for seniors and groups of 10 or more)
Reservations by web, phone 744-1495 or Purchase via Paypal
(Tickets will also be available on AusTix starting 5/11)
Free childcare June 5 Matinee if reserved by May 29. (Email childcare@austinuu.org or call 452-6168, ext. 313)

A vivid, tender and humorous window into a family with an eccentric and possessive mother of three grown daughters, each seeking her own independence.

Starring:
Evelyn: Kathleen Lawson
Kess: Shannon Davis
Jo: Christina Leidel
Sherry: Courtney Outlaw

Click to view additional images at www.AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Morning's at Seven by Paul Osborne, Different Stages at the Vortex Repertory, November 19 - December 11

Received directly:

Different Stages opens its 2010–2011 season with Paul Osborn’s comedy

Morning’s at Seven

November 19 - December 11
at the Vortex Repertory, 2307 Manor Road

This story is about the intertwined relationships and long standing sibling rivalries of the four aging Gibbs sisters. Three of them have lived next door to one another for fifty years and the eldest sister lives only a few blocks away. Living so close has taken its toll. The quiet lives these women share with their husbands start to come unhinged when some of them begin to question what to do with their remaining years. Tensions rise when Ida’s 40–year–old son brings his fiancé of 12 years to the house for the first time. A story about growing old, growing up, and letting go.

Directed by Karen Jambon (Eurydice), Morning’s at Seven features Jennifer Underwood (The Carpetbagger’s Children), Lana Dieterich (Vigil), Bobbie Oliver (Spider’s Web) and Kathleen Lawson (On Golden Pond) as the four Gibb sisters. Playing the three husbands are Michael Hankin (The Skin of Our Teeth), Richard Craig (Lettice and Lovage), and San Damon (Spider’s Web). Playing Ida’s son and his fiancé are Jonathan Urso (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) and Anne Hulsman (The Carpetbagger’ss Children).

Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. There is no performance on Thanksgiving, Thursday November 25. Added performance on Wednesday December 8 at 8 p.m. Tickets are Pick your Price: $15, $20, $25, and $30. For tickets and information call 478-5282.