The DUMBWAITER by Harold Pinter and The Hands of Its Enemy by Mark Madorff, Broken Alley Theatre at Pearl Street Co-op, August 1 - 4, 2013

 




presents

 
The Broken Alley Theatre Company is a brand-new, nonprofit troupe in Austin, TX. We are alumni of LBJ High School, and its theatre troupe, the Alley Cat Players. Though we have spread to every corner of the U.S. for college and work, we all share a special connection with Austin, and with our fellow Alley Cats. We hope to create a sustainable company here in our hometown, and we're starting it all this Summer with a two show season.
Our show schedule is as follows:
August 1st, 7 pm- The Hands of Its Enemy
August 2nd, 7 pm- The Dumb Waiter
August 3rd, 7 pm- The Hands of Its Enemy
August 4th, 7 pm- The Dumb Waiter
There will be a $10 suggested donation. 

All shows are at the 21st Street Coop (1906 Pearl Street Austin, TX 78705, just off W. 21st - click for map).  Please note, the majority of parking will be on the street, so expect a slight walk.
There will be a bar, so if you are under 21, be prepared for a stamp at the door.

In The Hands of Its Enemy by Mark Medoff, deaf playwright Marieta Yerby brings "reformed" alcoholic Howard Bellman in to direct her debut play—with the company (and ex-) he abandoned. Marieta pushes Howard to the breaking point while Howard pushes Marieta to write the truth about her past.
Two hit men wait in a basement room for their target in The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter, a surreal one-act, described as a "comedy of menace" by one reviewer. Orders for food that the two men don't have the capability to make regularly come down via a dumb waiter, and the question of who is sending them becomes more and more pressing.

Come join us for some theatre!
-BATx

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Funding Appeal at Kickstarter: 'The Hands of Its Enemy' and 'Exit, Pursued by Bear,' Broken Alley Theatre Company

(image: LBJ Alley Cat Players)

A new company has raised $1305 of its $2000 Kickstarter goal for August 2013 stagings of The Hands of Its Enemy by Mark Medorff and Exit, Pursued by Bear by Lauren Gunderson. They have until next Wednesday, July 10, to get pledges for the remaining one-third of their goal. You can click on the Kickstarter logo to go to the contributions and information page.

The Broken Alley Theatre Company is a new troupe in Austin, Texas. We are alumni from LBJ High School and its theatre program, the Alley Cat Players. With support from this Kickstarter, we hope to open our inaugural season with two shows: The Hands of Its Enemy, by Mark Medoff; and Exit, Pursued by a Bear, by Lauren Gunderson.

Starting Broken Alley is about keeping a connection with our creative side. As we've entered college, our lives have branched every which way—mostly away from theatre. But the art still calls us. Broken Alley will give us the chance to feed our creative sides, and keep our Alley Cat family alive. For those of us pursuing theatre in college, BATx will also be a skill-builder to help us find our footing in the world of professional theatre. (Summer work with a local theatre company doesn't look half-bad on a résumé, either.)

Many of us performed Hands in 2012 for the UIL One-Act Play competition, advancing to the Area level. The plot revolves around director Howard Bellman—a recovering alcoholic—and Marieta Yerby, a Deaf playwright, as they struggle with their pasts and their art to put on Marieta's original play about domestic violence. The piece, by acclaimed writer Mark Medoff (Children of a Lesser God), explores pain, creativity, & reconciliation.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear is an absurd comedy based on a famous stage direction from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. It opens on a young woman who has duct-taped her abusive husband to his recliner. She plans on leaving him to be consumed by bears—though not before theatrically working through all of the problems with their relationship, with help from two of her friends. This cathartic work investigates personal identity and growth, but Gunderson carries these heavy themes with a light touch that will have you laughing through the end.

Both shows will be going up during the first few days of August, 2013.

We've got all the talent and time that we need to put on two great productions in the next few months. We still need: royalties payments for both plays; a space to perform in; a set; costumes; publicity and ad spots

We're asking for $2,000. Truth be told, that's a shoestring budget, but we worked for years on public school projects—with that much we're sure we can get two shows up and running. We're also building Broken Alley Theatre as a nonprofit company, so any money we don't use directly on a show will go towards our next summer season.