GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES by Rajiv Joseph, Street Corner Arts at the Museum of Human Achievement, May 16 - June 1, 2013

Street Corner Arts

presents


Gruesome Playground Injuries

by Rajiv Joseph

directed by A. Skola Summers and Rommel Sulit

featuring Molly Karrasch and Benjamin Summers

May 16 - June 1 at 7:30 p.m.

at The Museum of Human Achievement, Springdale Rd. and Lyons -- click for map

TICKETS: Ticket pricing: Fridays and Saturdays - sliding scale $15-$25; Thursdays – sliding scale $10-$25.

Students & Educators: $10 Tickets are available at www.streetcornerarts.org or by phone at (512) 298-9776

Maybe if I could climb to the top of this telephone pole in the rain at night, like the mast of a ship lost at sea, maybe I’ll see the shine of you, bringing me home again. 

Street Corner Arts is delighted to announce their upcoming production, GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES by Rajiv Joseph. This stunningly beautiful script will be brought to life by two of Austin’s most talented actors – Benjamin Summers & Molly Karrasch. Featuring choreography by A. Skola Summers, costume design by Glenda Barnes, and video/audio design by Jim Hickcox.. Set and musical elements have been contributed by Austin’s own creative community.

Over the course of 30 years, the lives of Kayleen and Doug intersect at the most bizarre intervals, leading the two childhood friends to compare scars and the physical calamities that keep drawing them together. Gruesome Playground Injuries tells a different kind of love story through sharp humor and even sharper insights into the human condition. They say love hurts, and that’s what makes it worthwhile. Of course, they’ve never met Doug and Kayleen - some love stories are written in the scars...

Molly Karrasch, Benjamin Summers (photo: Street Corner Arts)

About STREET CORNER ARTS Street Corner Arts exists to facilitate enjoyable, collaborative, and engaging stuff with our friends. Poetry or politics; trash or treasure. Open your guitar case or climb that soap box. This corner offers a collection of creative adventures.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Opportunity: Production Intern, Street Corner Arts, Austin

Street Corner Arts is seeking a production intern. Experience preferred, but not necessary. Stipend TBD. Please send inquiries to streetcornerarts@gmail.com

The company will be producing Gruesome Playground Injuries by Rajiv Joseph, May 18 - June 1 at the Museum of Human Achievement in east Austin.

Gruesome Playground Injuries by Rajiv Joseph, Capital T Theatre at FronteraFest 2013, January 25 - February 6

by Michael Meigs



Rajiv Joseph's collection of two-character scenettes for Gruesome Playground Injuries appeals to the young and restless.  Students at Texas State did it last semester, and Capital T confided it to Kelsey Kling via their New Directors Program for presentation at the FronteraFest Long Fringe.

Many audience members at both venues can identify strongly with this pair of awkward losers.  They're searching for something, but they don't know what it is.  Doug and Kayleen first become aware of each other in primary school.  For some inexplicable reason, over the course of perhaps 15 years they never really find one another, perhaps because they're too much alike; the subtly resonating theme in the piece is one of precisely self-guided defeat.  If you care about each other, why aren't you able to take care of one another?




Director Kling provides a dressing area for each actor, situated on either side of a central playing space.  We experience the satisfaction of voyeurs and theatre fans as we glimpse Jason Newman and Laura Artesi, each in a personal space, changing costume, props and makeup between scenes.  The transformations are entertaining in themselves. Newman's assorted bandages, patches and bloody shirts establish his maladroit character with a certain affectionate humor.  The isolations of staging reinforce the theme of the piece.

The actors open the action by entering the central area and perching on a couple of institutional examining tables.  We quickly understand that they're in the nurse's office at school, probably waiting to be picked up by concerned parents.  Doug has smashed his face in a playground accident; Kayleen is ill.  Much of the comedy in this initial scene comes from body language -- splayed limbs, spontaneous moves, sudden jerks, all the awkwardness and coltishness of young persons who haven't yet mastered the functioning of their own bodies.  Doug's a goofus; Kayleen's a worried, distracted dreamer.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .
 

Short-Fuse Auditions: Gruesome Playground Injuries, Capital T Theatre, December 4

Capital T is excited to announce auditions for its next production of GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES by Rajiv Joseph. We need two actors 15-30 years of age. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. All actors will be paid.

In a very different kind of love story an accident prone dare devil and a corrosive masochist navigate friendship, love and the squishy parts that lie in between. As they mature from accident-prone kids to self-destructive adults, their broken hearts and broken bones draw them ever closer. Cap T is proud to present this quirky love story of self inflicted wounds and the healing we need from others.

Roles: 

Kayleen – Female 20-40 Years old: made to feel undeserving most of her life; Doug is her friend

Doug – Male 20-40 years old; needs…something; Kayleen is his friend.

GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES by Rajiv Joseph Runs January 25th-February 9th

Rehearsal for GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES will begin immediately. We anticipate that actors will have some conflicts around the holidays. Rehearsal will mostly be in the evenings on weekdays and some weekends.

Auditions will be held at Hyde Park Theatre this Tuesday December 4th starting at 7 pm.

Audition by appointment. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. Click on this link and sign up for a time slot

Upcoming: Gruesome Playground Injuries by Rajiv Joseph, Texas State University, November 1 - 4

Gruesome Playground Injuries

(Poster design: Geoffrey Douglas)

By Rajiv Joseph
Directed by A. Julian Verner

Texas State University-San Marcos, Department of Theatre and Dance
November 1st – 3rd @ 7:30 pm and 4th @ 2:00 pm
PSH Foundation Studio Theatre
430 Moon St., San Marcos, Texas

Tickets: $10 general admission and $7 for students with a valid Texas State ID.
Box Office: For reservations, call the Texas State Box Office at (512) 245-2204.
Tickets will go on sale beginning: Thursday October 25th at 10:00 am 


Over the course of 30 years, the lives of Kayleen and Doug intersect at the most bizarre intervals, leading the two childhood friends to compare scars and the physical calamities that keep drawing them together. 

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)