spooky action
theater
“Spooky action at a distance…”
–Albert Einstein
For Immediate Release: July 3, 2009
Contact: Richard Henrich, 301-920-1414
The Lost Ones – Beckett at the Fringe
TEXT AS PLAY The Lost Ones a prose text by Samuel Beckett, performed at the Capital Fringe Festival, on selected dates from July 10 - 24, 2009
A whole world contained in a closed cylinder. A little people of lost ones, endlessly searching in a fascinating dance only Samuel Beckett could devise. A narrator uses tiny puppets and ladders to stage this Dantesque vision, exploring the confines of a surreal labyrinth, down to the place where consciousness and dreams struggle to be born. If he names it and enacts it, and gets it finally right, this last man standing just might find his way out.
The Lost Ones was first staged by Mabou Mines in 1974 in an award winning production using the story-telling device of miniature figures. Scena Theatre revived The Lost Ones in Washington in 1999 for its "Beckett Festival." The Lost Ones also appeared in Berlin and in Slovenia at the Maribor Theatre Festival in 2000. In 2004 March and April, the production was seen at the Warehouse Theatre (Washington). The Scena productions were all directed by Artistic Director Robert McNamara. We are grateful to The Estate of Samuel Beckett for authorizing this rare return engagement for The Lost Ones.
THE PLAYWRIGHT Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett (1906 – 1989) Irish writer, dramatist and poet. Beckett's work offers a bleak yet often hilarious perspective on the travails of human kind. A student, assistant and friend of James Joyce, as the world emerged from WW II, Beckett arose as one of the key artistic voices searching for new forms and a new way to see the world, to become one of the founding fathers of “Theatre of the Absurd.” His early works for theater, including Waiting for Godot and Endgame, tread a precarious high wire stretched between the sublime and the ridiculous. In his later work, which includes the prose text The Lost Ones (1971), Beckett pursued an increasing minimalism of style and form, achieving a poetic density of imagery and language.
THE PRODUCTION Director Richard Henrich brings to the work a special sensitivity gained through a fellowship and thesis on Beckett at Yale. This production builds on the successful collaboration with actor Carter Jahncke that produced Spooky Action's Beckett Duo: Krapp's Last Tape & Ohio Impromptu last fall.
THE CAST Carter Jahncke, veteran of Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, The Studio Theatre, Spooky Action Theater, Olney Theatre Center and many more, is the narrator. He creates a unique Beckett character, prodding and endlessly searching for a way out of his prison – which is nothing less than the unyielding confines of his own skull.
WHERE The Warehouse -- Next Door; 1021 7th ST, NW; Washington, DC 20001
WHEN Friday, July 10 @ 7 PM | Wednesday, July 15 @ 8 PM | Sunday, July 19 @ 1:30 PM | Thursday, July 23 @ 7:15 PM | and a Late Nite Special – Friday, July 24 @ 11:45 PM
TICKETS All tickets are $15.00 and may be purchased
online: www.capitalfringe.org
phone: 1-866-811-4111
Fringe Box Office: 607 NY Ave NW, WDC 20001
or at the theater one hour before performances
This production presented as a part of the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival
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For Immediate Release: October 22, 2008
Contact: Richard Henrich, 301-920-1414
BECKETT DUO
THE PLAYS Ohio Impromptu and Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, performed in tandem, October 31 – November 23 at Spooky Action Theater, in residence at The Black Box Theatre, Montgomery College, Takoma Park.
Surprising theatrical images, plain text honed to a keen edge that strikes deep – this is what we expect from the Master. And this Beckett Duo delivers magnificently. Plays that go to the heart of memory lost, memory regained and memory transfigured. Plays that run the gamut from slapstick to otherworldly profounds of thought. Plays that touch the indefinable core of human experience to become truly timeless. All side by side with the most unforgettable banana you'll ever see on stage. That's Beckett for you.
THE PLAYWRIGHT Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett had a deep interest in the workings of memory, dating to his first publication, a prize-winning essay on Proust. Krapp’s Last Tape rates among Beckett's best known plays, along with Waiting for Godot and Endgame. Ohio Impromptu, one of his late, condensed playlets carries us to a spare world so stripped to essence we are lifted out of time and space. In these two very different plays, questions of how we connect with our past, which has vanished forever, and of what remains undevoured by voracious Time are provokingly posed in pure theatrical terms.
THE PRODUCTION Director Richard Henrich brings to the work a special sensitivity gained through a fellowship and thesis on Beckett at Yale. Designer Richard Montgomery, whose set for last season's Fool for Love was critically acclaimed, creates a uniquely Beckettian world. Finding time between shows at Gala Hispanic and Catholic University, Ayun Fedorcha adds a painterly minimalism to the lighting design. Ellen Mansueto, Costume Designer for the theater's recent The Marriage of Bette and Boo, returns to lend a hand. And Chris Baine provides indispensable assistance in creating the unseen character of the Tape in Krapp's Last Tape.
THE CAST Carter Jahncke, veteran of Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, The Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth and many more, takes up the role of Krapp. Mr Jahncke is joined by Richard Henrich for Ohio Impromptu.
Beckett Duo: Krapp's Last Tape & Ohio Impromptu is a co-production of
Spooky Action Theater and Montgomery College Arts Alive
Beckett Duo: Krapp's Last Tape & Ohio Impromptu by Samuel Beckett
Directed by Richard Henrich
October 31 - November 23 in The Black Box Theatre at Montgomery College
Corner of Philadelphia (East-West Hwy) & Chicago Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912
Performances Fri – Sat at 8 PM, Sat and Sun at 2 PM
Pay What You Can Oct 31 - Nov 2 | Regular Tickets $15 ($5 for students at the door)
Purchase Tickets: 1-800-494-TIXS or online at: www.spookyaction.org.
Press Performance is Sunday, November 2 @ 2 PM.
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For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Contact: Richard Henrich 202-248-0647
Spooky Action Theater and Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue Rock the Capital Fringe Festival
Vaudeville. Burlesque. Greek tragedy. Rock and roll. History energized.
What: Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue Presents The Oresteia. Music and Lyrics by Steve McWilliams and Debra Buonaccorsi. Book by Debra Buonaccorsi.
If the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus had gone on tour with Led Zeppelin, Woody Guthrie and a carnie troupe, this is what he would have written. A tale of blood, guts and vengeance – Aeschylus' Oresteia, re-charged. Rowdy, raucous, loud and literate: Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue Presents The Oresteia.
Who: Spooky Action Theater and Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue. Featuring: Debra Buonaccorsi, Felicia Curry, Maria Egler, Jon Jester, Laura Keena, Jake Koenig, Mike Kozemchak, Emily Levey, Steve McWilliams, Jennifer Richter and Lucy Savage. Directed by Debra Buonaccorsi. Musical Direction by Steve McWilliams. Choreography by Maria Rodgers. Costume Design by Maria Rodgers. Scenic and Prop Design by Lynn Sharp Spears. Sound and Lighting Design by Dan Martin.
Where: The Baldacchino located at Fort Fringe, 607 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001. Located at the corner of New York Avenue and 6th Street. Look for the Tent Peaks. More information available at www.capitalfringe.org. Phone number 202.962.0037. Metro station : Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center.
When: Friday, July 11th 7:00 PM
Saturday, July 12th 9:30 PM
Wednesday, July 16th 8:30 PM
Thursday, July 24th 6:30 PM
Friday, July 25th 7:00 PM
Saturday, July 26th 2:00 PM
Tickets: Tickets cost $15 and can be bought online at CapitalFringe.org .
Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue Presents the Oresteia Publicist: Steve McWilliams stevemcwilliams@mac 703-508-2034
Fringe Festival Publicist: Laura Gross, 202-558-7240, c: 202-255-2054, laura@capfringe.org
About the Fringe Festival
The mission of Capital Fringe (CapitalFringe.org), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is to connect exploratory artists with adventurous audiences by creating outlets and spaces for creative, cutting-edge and contemporary performance in the District. Often the first opportunity for emerging artists to present their work, the Festival also challenges audiences to discover new, sometimes risk-taking performance art. The uniqueness, variety and accessibility of the performances build new audiences. Capital Fringe Festival presents a vibrant cultural experience, contributing to the city’s economic health, growth and possibilities by offering “cool” things to do. During the 2007 Fringe Festival 20,000 tickets were sold, and 508 individual performances happened in over 20 venues in and around the District.
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For Immediate Release: Monday, May 19, 2008
Contact: Richard Henrich, 202-248-0647
DURANG DERANGED
THE PLAY The Marriage of Bette and Boo by Christopher Durang runs June 5 – June 29 at Spooky Action Theater, in residence at The Black Box Theatre, Montgomery College, Takoma Park.
Durang mines his own memory à la Glass Menagerie – imagining, inventing, analyzing the history of his family and himself. Wicked and dazzling. Thirty years of divorce, alcoholism, madness and death in a wacky family world turned inside out. Wielding the sharp edge of farce, Durang strips an unlikely lode of irony and improbable laughter from the bone yard of his past.
THE PLAYWRIGHT The playwright sums himself up as follows, "Keywords: satire, dark comedy, parody, funny, absurdist. Other key words: winter, spring, fall. Also summer. More keywords: coffee, Yale School of Drama, zippers, age, lapsed Catholic, hiccups." Christopher Durang's plays, including Beyond Therapy, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, Baby with the Bathwater and Laughing Wild, have been produced on and off- Broadway, around the country and abroad. A graduate of Harvard and the Yale School of Drama, Durang is co-chair of the Playwriting Program at the Juilliard School in Manhattan.
THE PRODUCTION Director Perry T. Schwartz, Artistic Director of Montgomery College's Arts Alive program, returns to theater after several years focused on filmmaking in association with the American Film Institute. Designer Marie-Noelle Daigneault has created a set that echoes the irrationality and whimsy of the play. Jason Arnold's lighting designs have been seen at many local theatres, including Theatre J, Imagination Stage, Washington Shakespeare Company and Olney Theatre Center. The team includes costume designer Ellen Mansueto, sound designer Elisheba Ittoop, recipient of the 2008 USITT Rising Star Award, and video designer James Huckenpahler, whose scenic projections were integral to Spooky Action's Dark Rapture last fall.
THE CAST Katie Atkinson, Gerald B. Browning, William C. Cook, Joe Cronin, Mary C. Davis, Bill Gordon, Martha Karl, Ellen Mansueto, David Rothman and Mundy Spears
The Marriage of Bette and Boo is a co-production of Spooky Action Theater and Montgomery College Arts Alive
The Marriage of Bette and Boo by Christopher Durang
directed by Perry T. Schwartz
June 5 – 29 in The Black Box Theatre at Montgomery College
Corner of Philadelphia (East-West Hwy) & Chicago Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912
Performances Thu – Sat at 8 PM and Sun at 7 PM
Pay What You Can June 5 – 8 | Regular Tickets $10 ($5 for students at the door)
Purchase Tickets: 1-800-494-TIXS or online at: www.spookyaction.org.