Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Classical Acting Program, "Unlocking ShakespeareC", at Beowulf Alley

The next stage in Beowulf Alley Theatre Company’s ActingLab@the Alley Educational Symposia:

 

Classical Acting Program

Unlocking Shakespeare©

$150

Enroll on www.beowulfalley.org

 

Three consecutive Sundays:  May 10, 17, 24, 2009, 5 to 8 pm

 

A series of three workshops based on the techniques of the Royal Shakespeare’s Voice and Speech Coach, Cicily Berry, author of The Actor and the Text and taught by Philip G. Bennett, Dean of Adult Education.

 

Unlocking Shakespeare gets you “up-on-your-feet” immediately. The workshop will begin with extensive breathing exercises, vocal warm-ups and speech drills followed by enjoyable group physical exercises that address each of Shakespeare’s poetic devices.

You will learn how to create:

· A dynamic vocal instrument

· Tools you can use right away

· Confidence in speaking Shakespeare’s language with ease and understanding.

(Please wear loose clothing and gym shoes)

 

“Before long you will be speaking Shakespeare’s poetry as if it were a Second Language.”©

 

Call (520) 622-4460 ext. 3, or e-mail philipgbennett@yahoo.com

 

Philip G. Bennett has been training actors for repertory companies and advanced programs in England since 1969.  A founding member of American Stanislavski Theatre, he trained and served as Assistant Artistic Director to Sonia Moore of the Moscow Art Theatre.  He has also trained with noted British Director, Peter Brook of the Royal Shakespeare, Voice Coach Carol Gill, (RSC), Director Dan Milne, (RSC) and Actor/Coach Robbie Ross, (RSC). He is founder of the San Francisco Theatre Academy and the Bennett TheatreLab, a three time recipient of the Hollywood Dramalogue Award, and recognized by the National Acting Competition Awards as one of the top ten coaches in the United States.

 

©”Unlocking Shakespeare as a Second Language” is a copyright of Philip G. Bennett

 

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Author's ear for misfits' angst is sharp | STAGE REVIEW

Author's ear for misfits' angst is sharp STAGE REVIEW


STAGE REVIEW
Author's ear for misfits' angst is sharp
April 22, 2009

CHUCK GRAHAMTucson Citizen

The poignancy is palpable in "I'm Sorry I Liked You" written by Brian Hanson, who also plays the main guy.
In the late night production that opened last weekend at Beowulf Alley Theatre, Hanson is helped out by seven of his friends. Joshua Parra directed the whole thing, which looks and feels exactly like it is supposed to - people in their early 20s with no idea how to find and connect with any like-minded spirits out there.

For one thing, they aren't even sure about the nature of their own spirits, so how can they hope to find any like-minded ones?



Brian Hanson and Tristyn Tucci play 20-somethings who have a hard time connecting with like-minded spirits in "I'm Sorry I Liked You."


Hanson uses a series of conversational scenes set in casual places. There is no plot, per se, just this gradual deepening of frustration over always being misunderstood. Hanson's self-named character Brian is the focus of this runaway storm. But all the characters have problems. Many have tried the escape route of recreational drugs.

So has Brian.

He is the stereotypical loser. A skinny kid in a loose-fitting black T-shirt and blue jeans who has spent so many years in public school sitting at the back of the class, drawing pictures in his notebook, that he's become a pretty good cartoonist. In the opening scenes of the play, his sketch pad is always handy. It becomes an important means of communication for him.
Getting his ideas across has never been easy for Brian. Way too smart for his own good, completely lacking in social skills and having absolutely no interest in sports, Brian is still optimistic enough to believe life would be all right (or at least endurable) if he could just meet the right girl.

Or any girl, really. The more desperate he gets, the less particular he becomes.

At a time in our cultural history when self-image is being shaped mainly by the way people act on TV and in video games, guys like Brian are really out of luck. They don't get any positive images, not even in all those slacker flicks.

Did you see "Adventureland," the currently reigning movie for losers? The main loser becomes a winner at the end, of course, but the main loser's buddy is sardonic Joel (Martin Starr), an even bigger loser. Joel majored in Slavic studies and defiantly smokes the kind of pipe we associate with old men. He also has a keen eye for the real world's inequities. Bitter and cynical, he is the misfit who discovered in second grade that being smarter than all the other kids would never make him popular. At the end of "Adventureland," Joel is still by himself, sucking on that pipe.

That is Brian, too, sucking in more emptiness with every breath, absorbed in the certainty that the only thing he is really good at is being a loser.

Brian's friends in the play may not be quite that depressed, but neither are they living large. Ryan (Marcus Palm) is an energetic, lonely guy throwing himself into the gore of zombie movies. He thrives on them, running fast and never looking back.

Lana (Tristyn Tucci) is looking for love on the lesbian landscape, though she isn't finding that much happiness. Stacy (Mindi Watts) has a chance to cross over into the social circles of successful people, but she can't quite cut the cord on her friends from childhood who turned out to be less successful once they passed through the looking glass of adolescence.

What makes "I'm Sorry I Liked You" special is the dialogue. Hanson's future is as a playwright. Although the language he gives these characters is filled with profanity, it also contains masterful psychology. Whether he is writing with a gift for intuition or the wisdom of masterful insight, Hanson nails it.

"I'm Sorry I Liked You" is more than a slacker's memories set on stage. There is real life here, and for parents who want to look deeper, there are clues to what makes their children tick.

The other cast members are Ashley Kahaat, Antonio Ross, Evan Engle and Clinton Grozdanich.

IF YOU GO
What: Late Night Theatre at Beowulf Alley presents "I'm Sorry I Liked You" by Brian Hanson
When: 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
Price: $8
Info: 882-0555, http://www.beowulfalley.org/
Grade: B





Friday, April 17, 2009

Baker dazzles in haunting story about mental illness | www.azstarnet.com ®

Baker dazzles in haunting story about mental illness www.azstarnet.com ®

Accent
Baker dazzles in haunting story about mental illness

By M. Scot Skinner
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 04.17.2009

"Proof," the dazzling and heartwrenching drama now onstage at Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, is about the cruel effects of mental illness on an American family.

The David Auburn play is about other things, too: facing your fears, making sacrifices for your family and navigating sibling terrain. It's also about the perils of late-night partying with mathematicians. Those guys are insane.

Directed with a sure hand by Sheldon Metz, "Proof" is brought to crackling life by a cast of four. Together, they achieve a rare alchemy that conveys the script's every ounce of truth, emotion and mystery.

In her debut with the Downtown theater troupe, Jill Baker comes through with a fully nuanced portrait of Catherine, the haunted young woman at the center of the storm. Although this is my first experience with the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play (I managed to miss the 2005 movie version, too), it's hard to imagine a performance greater than or equal to hers.


Jill Baker's Catherine wonders if the same fate as her mentally ill father (Roberto Guajardo) awaits her.
Creatista/Scott Griessel / Courtesy of Beowulf Alley Theatre Company


As "Proof" begins, it's Catherine's 25th birthday and her sister Claire (Chris Farishon) is flying home for the funeral of their father (Roberto Guajardo), a brilliant mathematician who published game-changing work while still in his early 20s.

Meanwhile, a former student of their dad's is upstairs going through his notebooks to see if any of the scribbling is important. Sure, the professor was sick in his final years, but maybe there's something the world needs to see, says Hal (Jonathan A.J. Northover).

Catherine is convinced that it's all gibberish, which breaks her heart. She inherited a knack for higher math, but except for a few months at Northwestern when her father's mental health appeared to be improving, she has put her studies and, well, her life on the back burner so she could take care of him.

For years, it's been just the two of them in the run-down Chicago home. Catherine was confronted daily with the ugly realities of a beautiful mind brought down by a brain disorder. She did most of her mourning long before his death.

Knowing that he started showing symptoms when he was her age, she's consumed with the key questions:
Is she destined to become a pioneering thinker? Or is she destined to suffer through years of mental illness? Or both?

She wants to be just like her father, and she's scared to death that she'll be just like her father.
The playwright cleverly picks a date in September for Catherine's birthday, a turning point for her and for the weather in Chicago. It's a time when lovely nights on the porch give way to the first shivers of what's to come.

The Beowulf company never loses sight of the chilling truths that drive the elegantly constructed story. And with Auburn's script in such capable hands, the abundant humor in "Proof" is never forced. When you find yourself laughing at the tense interaction between Catherine and her back-to-save-the-day sister, it's not because the actors are trying to be funny. It's because they've got such a firm grasp on the real stuff underneath.

Contact reporter M. Scot Skinner at 573-4119 or skinner@azstarnet.com.

REVIEW
"Proof"
• By: David Auburn.
• Presented by: Beowulf Alley Theatre Company.
• Director: Sheldon Metz.
• When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 1:30 p.m. Sundays through April 26.
• Where: 11 S. Sixth Ave.
• Tickets: $20.
• Reservations/information: 882-0555 or at www.beowulfalley.org
• Running time: About 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Family's dynamics add up to winning show | STAGE REVIEW

Family's dynamics add up to winning show - STAGE REVIEW


Family's dynamics add up to winning show

April 15, 2009, 6:43 p.m.
CHUCK GRAHAM

As someone who stopped taking math classes after the first year of high school algebra, it is impossible to imagine what an "elegant proof" looks like. Is it the opposite of a sloppy proof, full of contradictions, numbers squirting outside the lines?

Making the invisible visible is a seductive fascination with David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize winning play "Proof." Successful on the screen as well as onstage, this piece of thought-provoking theater receives a fine local production directed by Sheldon Metz at Beowulf Alley Theatre.


Jonathan Northover (from left), Roberto Guajardo and Jill Baker star in Beowulf Alley Theatre Company's production of "Proof."


All the characters talk about math as if it is some unexplored land in an unseen world. Apparently, there is a considerable amount of math terrain still to be discovered.

Self-proclaimed math geeks are working day and night pouring over old formulas like ancient maps of forgotten lands. Meticulously, they go about rearranging baskets of numbers into new configurations hoping to find newer answers.

Making brilliant discoveries in math is the obsessive pursuit of every math graduate, convinced there's nothing more pitiful than an old genius (like, say, 35 years old) who hasn't staked a claim somewhere on this intellectual terra incognita.

It is the consuming pressure to discover something, anything - as long as mathematics is connected to it - that drives "Proof." That, and the invisibility of the proof itself.

Auburn sees layers of possibility in this maze of mirrored ethics, where the reflection of something is the opposite of the original - yet both can look equally valid until someone starts slinging the arcane knowledge around until something breaks. Human nature, being equally invisible but infinitely more unpredictable, becomes the X-factor that defies every proof.

Metz keeps the play's lines of communication as sleek and neat as one of those elegant formulas they talk about incessantly. All four actors move smoothly, making their stage personalities distinct, their thoughts clear. The tables of numbers they love may be multiplying themselves into infinity, but the actors keep their feet firmly planted onstage.

Jill Baker plays Catherine, a woman in her latter 20s who loves her genius father but also feels intimidated by his genius. She would like to be a brilliant mathematician, too, but she lacks the courage. All indications are she could be a genius if she would only apply her natural talent. But depression grips Catherine's spirit.

She dropped out of college, spent six years caring for her mentally ill father. Now he has passed away. Her excuse to avoid life is gone.

Baker creates this person with a fine use of understatement. Her body language is drawn in, her voice subdued. Yet, we always know exactly what she's feeling.

In the smaller but pivotal role of Robert is Roberto Guajardo. He plays the ailing genius who is Catherine's beloved father. At the age of 23, Robert made a magnificent discovery of some important math landscape. But Robert hasn't discovered anything since, though he has continued teaching at the University of Chicago.

Now time and stress have disintegrated his thought processes. But still he dreams of making one more age-defying breakthrough. Catherine has been helping him, and he has been encouraging her.

Into this relationship steps Hal, played by Jonathan Northover, a Tucson actor of British nationality who comes up with a remarkably natural American accent. Hal is the idealistic graduate assistant at Chicago U. who believes in Robert's mental prowess. While going through Robert's piles of notebook compilations, Hal searches for that masterful insight Robert always wanted.

Chris Farishon completes the cast as Claire. She is Catherine's good sister - the one who studied hard, always did what she was told and now has a successful career as a financial analyst in New York.

Of course, Catherine hates her. Robert applauds Claire's achievements but the one he loves more is Catherine, which Claire deeply resents.

So when it seems Catherine might have pulled out of her depression long enough to plant the flag of discovery on her own piece of the math world, Claire demands some definite proof.


IF YOU GO
What: Beowulf Alley Theatre Company presents "Proof" by David Auburn
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 1:30 p.m. Sundays through April 26
Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
Price: $20 all tickets, discounts online
Info: 882-0555, http://www.beowulfalley.org/
Grade: A

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Tucson Weekly | Review | Just Genius

Tucson Weekly Review Just Genius

Just Genius
All-time greats in music and math are at the center of two newly opened plays
by James Reel

Genius is the subject of two plays that opened downtown last weekend. It's musical genius at work in Arizona Theatre Company's Beethoven, as I Knew Him, whereas mathematical virtuosity lies behind Beowulf Alley Theatre Company's Proof. But in each case, human failings and aspirations are what really drive the stories.

Mad genius is the subject a few blocks north of ATC's headquarters. Beowulf Alley Theatre Company has just opened David Auburn's Proof, a play that ATC presented seven years ago. ATC is an Equity house, while Beowulf Alley depends mainly on local, nonunion talent, but this new production holds up well.
To borrow from my previous synopsis of the play: Proof is set on the dilapidated back porch of a Chicago home, a place haunted by the morose, spectral Catherine—but she's not the family member who's dead. The dearly departed is her father, Robert, a brilliant mathematician whose life deteriorated into mental illness. Catherine, now 25, has spent what should have been her college years caring for her declining father. She seems to have inherited his mathematical gifts; perhaps, she fears, she has also inherited his mental disorder.

Exhausted, isolated and cynical, Catherine sits by while Hal, a young math professor and one-time disciple of Robert's, studies notebooks Robert left behind. One element of Robert's final illness was graphomania; he wrote compulsively, most of it nonsense. But he had revolutionized three fields of science while still in his 20s, and Hal doesn't want to risk overlooking some gem of an equation.

Meanwhile, Catherine's prim, professional older sister, Claire, has breezed in from New York to organize the funeral and maybe Catherine's life.

Eventually, Catherine leads Hal to a notebook like the others, except this one contains not gibberish, but a long, spectacular mathematical proof more advanced than anything Hal or his University of Chicago colleagues can fully comprehend. That's the first big surprise; the second is that Catherine, who dropped out of college as a sophomore, claims it's her work, not her father's.

Beowulf Alley's production, directed by Sheldon Metz, doesn't play up Auburn's flashes of humor as effectively as the ATC effort did, but the character interactions are, for the most part, more supple and nuanced. As the interfering Claire, Chris Farishon may sometimes seem a bit too overbearing, but perhaps that's only in the context of the restraint shown elsewhere on stage. Jill Baker is a fine Catherine, with a healthy dose of bitterness adding crackle to her mope, and she has good rapport with Roberto Guajardo as Robert, who has a lovely, affectionate monolog about bookstores in autumn. Jonathan Northover plays Hal with a delicate balance of shyness, confusion and multiple kinds of desire.

All this plays out on a fine set designed by Metz, who directs with that quality Auburn's characters so desperately desire: lucidity.

Proof
Presented by Beowulf Alley Theatre Company
7:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday; 1:30 p.m., Sunday, through April 26
11 S. Sixth Ave.
$20
882-0555; http://www.beowulfalley.org/

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company Announces 2009-2010 Season Auditions

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company Announces 2009-2010 Season Auditions

 

 

When:                        Saturday, April 25, 2009

                                    Open Audition 1:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

(No appointment required)

Callback Auditions 3:45-5:45 p.m.

 

Where:                       Beowulf Alley Theatre

                                    11 South 6th Avenue (Downtown between Broadway and Congress)

                                    (520) 622-4460

 

Who:                          Actors of various ages (see details below), non-Equity and Equity.

 

Special notes:        1.) Complete and send ONLINE AUDITION FORM, headshot and resume prior to 5 p.m. on Friday April 24. The online audition form is located at 2009-2010 Audition Form.  Your headshot (this can be a regular photo if you do not have headshots) and resume can be sent electronically via e-mail to theatre@beowulfalley.org. By submitting these items at least a day in advance, we can eliminate the need for you to complete forms the day of auditions. If you are unable to submit these forms and photos electronically, please call us for instructions at (520) 622-4460.

2.) Please prepare two (2) contrasting monologues, each one minute in duration. Examples are: comedy/drama or classical/contemporary.

3.) Perusal copies of the scripts will be available at the office beginning on April 15. They may be checked out overnight and must be returned by noon. To arrange to borrow a copy, please call the office at 622-4460.

4.) Members of our Late Night, Out to Lunch and Reader’s Theatre series and our Education Program will be present at the audition and may also be interested in contacting you. These series are ongoing over the summer.


Play Synopses, Character Descriptions and Approximate Schedules

 

Rehearsal Schedules: Rehearsal days and times are determined closer to the rehearsal start date by the director and cast members with final approval of the schedule by the Managing Director.

Performance Days: Thursdays – Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. and Sundays, 1:30 p.m. In the event of additional performances, we will first schedule within the performance opening to close dates rather than schedule a holdover beyond the closing date.

 

Play’s Name: The Vertical Hour, by David Hare

Drama, Full Length

Rehearsals: Approximately August 15, 2009 through Opening Date

Performance Dates:  September 25 – October 11, 2009

Cast: (3 Males, 2 Females)

 

Character descriptions:

Oliver Lucas – (late 50’s) English, a retired medical doctor, undemonstrative, casually dressed, a man of strong social and liberal views

 

Nadia Blye – (mid-30’s) American, pale, poised, casual style, formerly a foreign correspondent, now a professor of political science and a woman of strong conservative views

 

Dennis Dutton – (early 20’s) American, from a wealthy business background, uncompromising in his views about business and finance, unusually dressed for someone his age, in suit and tie, floppy hair and trainers

 

 Philip Lucas – (early 30’s) English, a professor, in love with Nadia, obviously handsome and the only son of Oliver, who holds uncompromising personal views about his father

 

Terri Scholes – (20) African American student at Yale, with a brilliant mind but depressed, who sees both the human and political truth clearly and honestly

 

Synopsis: The Vertical Hour intriguingly explores the relationship between people and their politics.  The play’s three main characters, Oliver, Nadia and Philip hold uncompromising views, and thereby enter into an emotional ‘war zone’ of dynamic clashes that will change their lives forever. Nadia, the play’s central character, is a brilliant and politically influential woman who finds herself battling between love, power and conscience. How will her “inner-war” affect her life’s direction? David Hare has written a powerful drama about how “war begins in the hearts of men, AND women”. He asks us to take a journey of conscience towards self-realization.
Play’s Name: Rabbit Hole, by David Lindsay-Abaire

Drama, Full Length

Rehearsals: Approximately September 20th through Opening Date

Performance Dates:  November 6-22, 2009

Cast: (2 M, 3 Female)

 

Character descriptions:

Becca - late 30s/early 40s
Howie - Becca's husband
Izzie - Becca's sister - early 30s
Nat - Becca and Izzie's Mother - mid sixties
Jason - a 17 year old boy

Synopsis:  A Pulitzer Prize winning play, the profoundly human story focuses on Becca and her husband, Howie, as they separately cope with the accidental death of their 4 year old son. As they approach the one year anniversary of the tragedy, Becca’s mother, Nat,  and her sister, Izzie,  try to lift their spirits, but each has their own set of problems....Nat also lost a son, while Izzie just found out she is pregnant. When the young man who killed their son contacts Becca and Howie seeking closure, everyone's lives are thrown for an additional loop. Despite the subject matter, Rabbit Hole is by turns funny, ironic, bittersweet and poignant.

Play’s Name: Fool for Love by Sam Shepard

Comedy/Drama

Rehearsals: Approximately December 1, 2009 through Opening Date

Performance Dates:  January 15-30, 2010

Cast: (3 Males, 1 Female)

 

Character Descriptions:

May – (early 30’s) madly in love with Eddie but it is painful, confusing and consuming

 

Eddie – (late 30’s) broken down rodeo cowboy, old before his time, controlling, macho, and a need for power in his relationships

 

Martin – (mid-30’s) solidly built, larger than Eddie but caring, curious, sensitive and kind

 

The Old Man – (early to mid 60’s) scruffy looking from a hard life, surreal, funny, offering a contrary point of view

 

Synopsis: The scene is a stark motel room at the edge of the Mojave Desert. May, a disheveled young woman, sits dejectedly on a rumpled bed. Eddie, a rough-spoken rodeo performer, crouches in a corner fiddling with his riding gear. When he attempts to console May, who is distressed by Eddie's frequent absences and love affairs, she seems, at first, to soften—but then she suddenly attacks him. As the recriminations pour out, and the action becomes, at times, physically violent, the desperate nature of their relationship becomes apparent—they cannot get along with, or without, one another, yet neither can subdue their burning passion. The poignancy of their situation (they are half-brother and half-sister as well as lovers) is pointed out by the play's two other characters: a hapless young man who stops by to take May to the movies and becomes the butt of Eddie's funniest yet most humiliating jokes; and a ghostly old man (perhaps their father) who sits in a rocking chair at the side of the stage, sipping whiskey and commenting wryly on what he observes. Eventually May and Eddie tire of their struggle and embrace—but it is evident that the respite is temporary and that their love, the curse of the past which haunts them, will remain forever damned and hopeless.

 

Play’s Name: Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage by Jane Martin

Comedy, Full Length

Rehearsals: Approximately January 15, 2010 through Opening Date

Performance Dates:  February 26-March 14, 2010

Cast: (3 Male, 3 Female)

 

Character descriptions:

 

Big 8—(40-50) a retired rodeo competitor who now provides respite for wayward and broken cowboys

 

Shirl—(40-50) Big 8’s sister, works as butcher in local slaughter house, dating the Baxter Blue, local lawman

 

Rob Bob—(20s) young cowboy holed up at Big 8’s, studly

 

Shedevil—(20s) tattooed head to toe, on the run, happens upon Big 8’s claiming that Big 8’s son is the father of her child

 

Baxter Blue—(40-60) Local lawman dating Shirl

 

Black Dog—One-eyed Ukrainian biker after Shedevil cuz she stole his coke stash

 

Synopsis: Big 8, a feisty rodeo competitor, is a bitter critter, facing foreclosure on the Wyoming ranch where she rehabilitates injured rodeo cowboys. The arrival of a tattooed and twitchy Shedevil and a one eyed Ukrainian biker named Black Dog ushers in outrageous violence and horror in this shoot ‘em up, knock ‘em up, cut ‘em up comic romp that roasts the cowboy mentality of pulp western writers like Zane Grey.

 

Play’s Name: Last of the Boys by Steven Dietz

Drama, Full Length

Rehearsals: Approximately February 22, 2010 through Opening Date

Performance Dates:  April 9-25, 2010

Cast: (3 M, 2Female)

 

Character descriptions:

Jeeter (mid-50s) Vietnam veteran, a professor who teaches a course on "The Sixties” and spends his summers drifting from place to place in search of some great enlightenment which will most likely come in the form of a young woman

Ben (mid-50s) Vietnam vet, lives alone in what used to be a populated trailer park but now his trailer is now the last one standing; a man of few words who is still dealing with demons from the war, all of which are contained in his friendship with Jeeter.

Salyer (mid-30s) a woman who has recently become Jeeter's girlfriend, covered from head to toe with tattoos of men's names, but she keeps this a secret by covering every inch of her skin with clothes. She is haunted by ghosts of the past and is trying to come to terms with the loss of her father. 

Lorraine (50s) is Salyer's mother and comes to Ben's to find Salyer and bring her home. Lorraine was abandoned by Salyer's father and believes that he used the war as an excuse to get away from her.

The young soldier is a phantom whose identity isn't entirely fixed. He is not seen by all of the characters in the play - only by those who seek to make peace with him.

One paragraph synopsis: On a road outside Dak To in 1967, the lives of two soldiers (Ben and Jeeter) were changed forever. Thirty years later, they are still haunted by the specter of America's longest war.  One night, in an abandoned trailer park somewhere in the Great Central Valley of California, they discover that their friendship may be the latest casualty of a war that will not end.

 

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Beowulf Alley Theatre's April Reader's Theatre Presentation

Beowulf Alley Theatre’s April Reader’s Theatre Presentation

 

(April 11, 2009-Tucson, AZ) Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, 11 South 6th Avenue, Downtown Tucson, will present Warren Bodow’s Race Music, directed by Philip Bennett on Tuesday, April 14, at 7:15 p.m. Admission for the evening is on a pay what you can basis and will include audience discussion following the performance. We invite the community to participate in the playwright’s development of a new work. The cast of readers includes Paul Baker, Colten Hibbs, Amanda Ho, Erin Paradis, Gregory Sweet, and To-Ree-Nee Wolf.

 

A light-hearted play, RACE MUSIC is set in a metropolitan Midwestern city and deals with how race continues to affect attitudes and relationships –- in business, among friends, and in love.

 

Local Playwrights Wanted! Beowulf Alley Theatre is accepting full length, one act and short plays for inclusion in its Readers Theater Program, RT@the Alley. Please see our website for guidelines http://www.beowulfalley.org/html/playwrights_submissions.html. This is an excellent opportunity to have your work read, seen and appreciated. Plays should be bound and have pertinent contact information on a cover page. Questions - call Gavin Kayner at 297-3317.

 

The community is invited to become involved as volunteer readers to read characters and assist with this monthly event. The ability to read dramatically is necessary. We also invite members of the community to join the committee to read and comment on plays under selection consideration and to assist with front of house and concessions on the nights of the readings.

 

Participation is limited to those who have their own local housing and transportation and can be available at pre-arranged time. Questions and inquiries regarding participation in the Reader’s Theatre project may be made via e-mail at theatre@beowulfalley.org. Script submissions are ongoing and may be mailed (please do not e-mail) to:

 

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company
Reader’s Theatre Program
11 S. 6th Avenue
Tucson, Arizona 85701

 

 

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Tucson Weekly | City Week | City Week

Tucson Weekly City Week City Week

City Week
by Lissette Ledesma, Austin Counts, Leila Abu-Saada, and Hank Stephenson

Jonathan Northover and Jill Baker in Proof.

No Equation for Love
Proof

7:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday; 1:30 p.m., Sunday, April 11-26Preview: 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 10
Beowulf Alley Theatre Company11 S. Sixth Ave.
882-0555;http://www.beowulfalley.org/

Proof is not really a play about numbers; it actually focuses on romantic and family relationships—and what can happen when they go terribly wrong.

"Math is only used to show the relationship between the character Catherine, and her father, and (a former student of her father's named) Hal," says director Sheldon Metz.


Jonathan Northover and Jill Baker in Proof.


The story centers around Catherine, who has spent many years caring for her brilliant yet mentally ill mathematician father, Robert. The death of her father brings Catherine to a relationship with Hal, whose love for math drives Catherine to resent the time she spent caring for her father—even though she misses him.

As the play delves deeper, the audience will find that Catherine has gained some of her father's knowledge—and possibly his volatility.

"I like plays with emotion, where the audience can laugh and cry with the character," says Metz, who first saw the David Auburn production in 2002 and has since wanted to bringing the Pulitzer Prize-winning play to a local stage. "I love when a play makes an audience feel. When you can do that, a play has done its job."
Metz, who has been directing theater for 48 years, says his goal is for the audience to walk out of the play discussing Catherine's uncertain future.

Tickets to Proof are $20 (with a $2 discount for online purchases); admission to the Friday, April 10, preview is $10. For more information or tickets, visit beowulfalley.org. —L.A.

Friday, April 03, 2009

Like character-driven plays? Here's 'Proof' on every level | www.azstarnet.com ®

Like character-driven plays? Here's 'Proof' on every level www.azstarnet.com ®


Like character-driven plays? Here's 'Proof' on every level
By Kathleen Allen
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 04.03.2009

Please don't tell Sheldon Metz that "Proof" is about math.
It drives the director to distraction.

"People think this play is about mathematics," Metz said about the David Auburn piece, which Beowulf Alley Theatre opens in previews next Friday.



Jill Baker, left, and Chris Farishon are among the cast members of Beowulf Alley Theatre's "Proof."
Courtesy of Beowulf Alley Theatre


"That's a distortion. It's a romantic, warm play. A play that makes you think."
Sure, most of the characters in "Proof" are mathematicians. And that title seems to clearly refer to math — a proof is the steps that lead to a logical mathematical conclusion.
But it's so much more, said Metz.

"Math is simply a device to show the relationships," he said in a phone interview.
"Proof" is about a young woman, a budding mathematician, who has long cared for her father, a brilliant and established mathematician who has a tenuous hold on his mind.

She struggles with the fear that she, too, may have the mental illness that has plagued her father.
She struggles, as well, with convincing her sister and a student of her father's that a brilliant mathematical proof discovered was written by her, and not her dad.

"There are proofs going on throughout the whole show," said Metz.
"The proof of her sanity or insanity, the proof of a romantic relationship, proof of an older sister's motivation for reaching out to her sister. It's a validation of relationships."

"Proof" snagged both the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2001. It was made into a well-received movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins in 2005.

But this was written for the stage and comes most alive in that environment.
And, Metz hopes, you won't leave the theater talking about math.

"I want the audience to walk out and discuss if she is crazy or not, and does she resolve the situation with her sister," he said.

"I want the audience to discuss the relationships between the characters. If you think this is about math, you're missing a great character-driven play."

If you go
"Proof"
• By: David Auburn.
• Presented by: Beowulf Alley Theatre Company.
• Director: Sheldon Metz.
• When: Preview is 7:30 p.m. next Friday; opening is 7:30 p.m. April 11. Regular performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and 1:30 p.m. Sundays through April 26.
• Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
• Tickets: Preview is $10, regular performances, $20.
• Information/reservations: 882-0555, or www.beowulfalley.org
• Cast: Jill Baker, Chris Farishon, Jonathan Northover and Roberto Guajardo.
• Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes, with one intermission.
Contact reporter Kathleen Allen at kallen@azstarnet.com or 573-4128.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Tucson Weekly | Review | Plays After Dark

Tucson Weekly Review Plays After Dark


Plays After Dark

Two new late-night theater efforts follow in the footsteps of LTW's successful Etcetera series
by James Reel

Five years ago, it was an experiment by a single Tucson theater; this year, it's looking like a local theater trend: provocative performances for night owls.

Live Theatre Workshop made the first sustained effort at late-night programming with its Etcetera series, launched at the beginning of 2004 (see "Live From the Eastside," Jan. 22, 2004). Since last fall, two other groups have begun series that cozy up to midnight: Beowulf Alley launched LNT @ The Alley, and the Rogue Theatre is hosting the young artists of the Now Theatre in a series called Rogue After Curfew.

Generally, these efforts run on Fridays and Saturdays starting at 10:30 p.m., and finish by midnight. Rogue After Curfew this weekend concludes a run of Tennessee Williams' one-acts with This Property Is Condemned; this Friday, Etcetera will open Anne Thibault's I Wrote This Play to Make You Love Me; and on April 17, Beowulf Alley will open a two-weekend presentation of Brian Hanson's I'm Sorry I Liked You.

Success is slow to build. Rogue/Now and Beowulf Alley, which just launched their initiatives a few months ago, are still drawing very small audiences, even though the late-night performances follow mainstage shows that come close to selling out. Beowulf Alley's manager, Beth Dell, reports that the average audience so far for LNT @ The Alley is only 22, and attendance at Now's opening nights has been no better than that.

But keep in mind that in early 2004, Etcetera was lucky to get six people to show up for its openings; now, for many shows, it sells out its compact Live Theatre Workshop space and sometimes has to add performances.

Says Etcetera's artistic director, Christopher Johnson, "Our primary competition is bars. The kids who don't want to be there can come here. More recently, we are having people stay from the mainstage, a lot out of morbid curiosity or loyalty to the theater, and some who are tired of seeing the same old thing. A lot of the audience is younger, 16 to their mid-20s ... ."

"And we get troubled kids; some kids from a group home with drug-related family issues came to Bug, and they had a good time and have been to every show ever since. So it's a mishmash of old, rich white people and drug kids, and there are always the fetishists. If we do anything a little out of the norm, that will attract the subculture. Fat Pig got all the chubby chasers, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch got the trannies. We're meeting everybody's needs the best we can."

The other companies get different mixes in the audience. LNT @ the Alley has surprised Beowulf Alley board member Michael Sultzbach by drawing an audience so far that's about 40 percent in the traditional older demographic.

Nic Adams, the associate artistic director of Now, says that his shows attract the expected "family, friends, peers and mentors," as well as "very devoted fans" of playwrights. Like its sponsor organization, Rogue, Now focuses on highly literate material by the likes of Williams and Edward Albee, not the more plot- or joke-driven fare that dominates the city's mainstages.

Similarly, Beowulf Alley's Sultzbach says his company's late-night offerings are things you don't generally see at 8 p.m. "It might be that the subject matter is edgier, or the language is a little saltier, but it's always something that's not considered mainstream enough for mainstage production," he says.

Over at LTW, Johnson says he hates the term "edgy theater." He says, "I find things that are new or haven't been done in town, or if they have, they're things we can do in a different way. Next season, we'll do The Importance of Being Earnest, which is not an 'edgy' show, but we'll do it with an all-male cast, including the female roles."

Johnson says there's a paucity of theater in Tucson designed to appeal to people in their 20s, or, for that matter, designed to include actors in their 20s. "I audition all over town," he says, "and I can't get a role to save my life, and it's mostly because of my age."

Similarly, the Now Theatre was formed by UA drama students—as Adams calls them, "artists on the threshold of assuredness"—as a venue for work beyond school. Adams says that he and his colleagues are interested in "rich text filled with imagery and movement unbound by frivolous action, scenery or technical spectacle." Which is one way of saying that the past couple of Now shows have consisted of two costumed people holding a couple of props on an almost-bare stage. Now Theatre productions, like Etcetera's, are done on the cheap, which is one reason they can admit audiences for $10 or less.

Asked how Etcetera is doing financially, Johnson replies, "Would it be obnoxious to say 'fantastic'? My philosophy is: Do everything you can, but don't spend a dime. We get everything we can donated, and do a lot with a little. We don't spend any money, so when the shows do well, they're insane. Most of my shows pay for themselves on opening night. Even when we have a flop, like Savage in Limbo, it still made a profit.

"The big fight was: Why charge only $10 for Hedwig when we could charge $25? Well, because we're not doing this to make money. We're doing this for the fucking kids who want to see Hedwig, and they're probably having to borrow or steal that $10 to come out and see the damn thing. It still made something like $8,000 or $9,000."

At Beowulf Alley, even the series directors are volunteering their time. Michael Fenlason is in charge of LNT @ The Alley, and he has mapped out plays to put on every month at least through September. The company has a second initiative, Out to Lunch, supervised by Susan Arnold. It's a bimonthly series of 30-minute noontime productions, aimed at attracting downtown workers and visitors. Box lunches, prepared by Chris' Café, are available for $6.

Beowulf Alley's Sultzbach says these are all efforts to bring in not only new audiences, but also new collaborators. All three companies involve actors and directors not often engaged for mainstage productions, and they're doing solid work.

They're doing it, too, without the necessary financial and programming constraints of mainstage shows. Says Johnson, "No one (on the LTW staff) looks over my shoulder; they trust me. It's fun and exhausting and glorious."

Tucson Weekly | Review | Plays After Dark

Tucson Weekly Review Plays After Dark


Plays After Dark

Two new late-night theater efforts follow in the footsteps of LTW's successful Etcetera series
by James Reel

Five years ago, it was an experiment by a single Tucson theater; this year, it's looking like a local theater trend: provocative performances for night owls.

Live Theatre Workshop made the first sustained effort at late-night programming with its Etcetera series, launched at the beginning of 2004 (see "Live From the Eastside," Jan. 22, 2004). Since last fall, two other groups have begun series that cozy up to midnight: Beowulf Alley launched LNT @ The Alley, and the Rogue Theatre is hosting the young artists of the Now Theatre in a series called Rogue After Curfew.

Generally, these efforts run on Fridays and Saturdays starting at 10:30 p.m., and finish by midnight. Rogue After Curfew this weekend concludes a run of Tennessee Williams' one-acts with This Property Is Condemned; this Friday, Etcetera will open Anne Thibault's I Wrote This Play to Make You Love Me; and on April 17, Beowulf Alley will open a two-weekend presentation of Brian Hanson's I'm Sorry I Liked You.

Success is slow to build. Rogue/Now and Beowulf Alley, which just launched their initiatives a few months ago, are still drawing very small audiences, even though the late-night performances follow mainstage shows that come close to selling out. Beowulf Alley's manager, Beth Dell, reports that the average audience so far for LNT @ The Alley is only 22, and attendance at Now's opening nights has been no better than that.

But keep in mind that in early 2004, Etcetera was lucky to get six people to show up for its openings; now, for many shows, it sells out its compact Live Theatre Workshop space and sometimes has to add performances.

Says Etcetera's artistic director, Christopher Johnson, "Our primary competition is bars. The kids who don't want to be there can come here. More recently, we are having people stay from the mainstage, a lot out of morbid curiosity or loyalty to the theater, and some who are tired of seeing the same old thing. A lot of the audience is younger, 16 to their mid-20s ... ."

"And we get troubled kids; some kids from a group home with drug-related family issues came to Bug, and they had a good time and have been to every show ever since. So it's a mishmash of old, rich white people and drug kids, and there are always the fetishists. If we do anything a little out of the norm, that will attract the subculture. Fat Pig got all the chubby chasers, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch got the trannies. We're meeting everybody's needs the best we can."

The other companies get different mixes in the audience. LNT @ the Alley has surprised Beowulf Alley board member Michael Sultzbach by drawing an audience so far that's about 40 percent in the traditional older demographic.

Nic Adams, the associate artistic director of Now, says that his shows attract the expected "family, friends, peers and mentors," as well as "very devoted fans" of playwrights. Like its sponsor organization, Rogue, Now focuses on highly literate material by the likes of Williams and Edward Albee, not the more plot- or joke-driven fare that dominates the city's mainstages.

Similarly, Beowulf Alley's Sultzbach says his company's late-night offerings are things you don't generally see at 8 p.m. "It might be that the subject matter is edgier, or the language is a little saltier, but it's always something that's not considered mainstream enough for mainstage production," he says.

Over at LTW, Johnson says he hates the term "edgy theater." He says, "I find things that are new or haven't been done in town, or if they have, they're things we can do in a different way. Next season, we'll do The Importance of Being Earnest, which is not an 'edgy' show, but we'll do it with an all-male cast, including the female roles."

Johnson says there's a paucity of theater in Tucson designed to appeal to people in their 20s, or, for that matter, designed to include actors in their 20s. "I audition all over town," he says, "and I can't get a role to save my life, and it's mostly because of my age."

Similarly, the Now Theatre was formed by UA drama students—as Adams calls them, "artists on the threshold of assuredness"—as a venue for work beyond school. Adams says that he and his colleagues are interested in "rich text filled with imagery and movement unbound by frivolous action, scenery or technical spectacle." Which is one way of saying that the past couple of Now shows have consisted of two costumed people holding a couple of props on an almost-bare stage. Now Theatre productions, like Etcetera's, are done on the cheap, which is one reason they can admit audiences for $10 or less.

Asked how Etcetera is doing financially, Johnson replies, "Would it be obnoxious to say 'fantastic'? My philosophy is: Do everything you can, but don't spend a dime. We get everything we can donated, and do a lot with a little. We don't spend any money, so when the shows do well, they're insane. Most of my shows pay for themselves on opening night. Even when we have a flop, like Savage in Limbo, it still made a profit.

"The big fight was: Why charge only $10 for Hedwig when we could charge $25? Well, because we're not doing this to make money. We're doing this for the fucking kids who want to see Hedwig, and they're probably having to borrow or steal that $10 to come out and see the damn thing. It still made something like $8,000 or $9,000."

At Beowulf Alley, even the series directors are volunteering their time. Michael Fenlason is in charge of LNT @ The Alley, and he has mapped out plays to put on every month at least through September. The company has a second initiative, Out to Lunch, supervised by Susan Arnold. It's a bimonthly series of 30-minute noontime productions, aimed at attracting downtown workers and visitors. Box lunches, prepared by Chris' Café, are available for $6.

Beowulf Alley's Sultzbach says these are all efforts to bring in not only new audiences, but also new collaborators. All three companies involve actors and directors not often engaged for mainstage productions, and they're doing solid work.

They're doing it, too, without the necessary financial and programming constraints of mainstage shows. Says Johnson, "No one (on the LTW staff) looks over my shoulder; they trust me. It's fun and exhausting and glorious."