Tucson: BEOWULF ALLEY THEATRE presents "Wait Until Dark"

From: theatre [mailto:theatre@beowulfalley.org]
Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 3:18 PM
Subject: Press Release - Wait Until Dark

 

BEOWULF ALLEY THEATRE COMPANY

11 South 6^th Avenue · Tucson, AZ   85701

Administration 622-4460 · Reservations 882-0555

www.beowulfalley.org

theatre@beowulfalley.org

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

BEOWULF ALLEY THEATRE COMPANY TO PRESENT WAIT UNTIL DARK, A CLASSIC THRILLER

 

Tucson, AZ - September 4, 2008 - Beowulf Alley Theatre Company today announced that Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott will open on Saturday, September 27 and run through October 12. Performances will be Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased on line at www.beowulfalley.org. The single ticket general price is $20 with an on line only discount. There will be one Preview performance on Friday, September 26 at 7:30 p.m. Preview tickets are $10.

 

WAIT UNTIL DARK is a story of empowerment and discovery. Director Dave Sewell explains, “A ring of sinister con men meet their match in a blind housewife who must rely solely on her wits to survive terror and deception. This richly crafted thriller never bogs down in showy gimmicks or needless plot twists. It’s a battle of wits where character always reigns supreme. It's not of story of a handicapped woman overcoming her disability, it's the story of an intelligent, able woman who keeps her cool and reasons her way out of danger.” The cast includes Ben Dygert, Molly Howard, Gary McGaha, Steve McKee, Chuck Rankin, Mike Saxon, Dallas Thomas, and B.J. Watkins.

 

From September through April, guided by its Artistic Development Committee, Beowulf Alley Theatre will offer Tucsonans and visitors to Tucson plays that are award-winners, an original play by a Tucson playwright, and a light-hearted look at a contemporary issue – drama, suspense, and comedy. Writers who cover the Tucson arts scene say the Theatre provides its audiences with “the best total package”—plays, performances, and productions that are high in artistic and technical quality.

 

A non-profit arts organization, Beowulf Alley was founded based on dialogues with local actors who wanted a permanent home for theatre artists from the Tucson community. Today, its intimate 95-seat theatre provides a facility that meets professional standards where performing artists, educators, and technicians can develop and present their skills. Because Beowulf Alley uses a home-grown talent pool for its productions, the Theatre is committed to helping grow a new generation of Tucson talent with its education programs for young people. And true to its roots, the Theatre maintains ongoing dialogues with the community, including Dialogues with theatre-goers after the first Sunday matinee performance of each of its season plays – an opportunity for theatre-goers to discuss the plays with the director and the performing artists.

 

In addition to helping maintain a strong arts community in Tucson and a vibrant Downtown area, the Theatre is committed to shining a spotlight on other worthy Tucson non-profit organizations. On Thursday, October 9, Beowulf Alley and Elle Restaurant, 3048 E Broadway Blvd., www.ellerestaurant.com, will host a benefit performance for Sun Sounds of Arizona, www.sunsounds.org. Sun Sounds bridges the information gap between current print media and people who cannot use it because of a disability. Tickets for this worthy benefit are $30 by phone or mail in advance or $28 online at www.beowulfalley.org. $10 of every ticket is a tax deductible contribution to Sun Sounds, a 501(c) (3), non-profit organization. For more information, call Beowulf Alley Theatre Company at 882-0555 or Sun Sounds of Arizona at 520-296-2400.

 

 

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Tucson Theatre Announcements List
Archive and subscription information on http://tucsonstage.com

 

Tucson Weekly : Arts : Desiring Dynamic

Tucson Weekly : Arts : Desiring Dynamic



PUBLISHED ON AUGUST 28, 2008:

Desiring Dynamic

Beowulf Alley mixes known fare, an 'alternative' romp and a brand-new play as it overcomes financial problems

By JAMES REEL


Jordana Franco and Tenoch Gomez in "Noche de los Muertos."

Last week, a half-dozen black-clad Hispanic actors stood on the Beowulf Alley stage, giving a reading of Gavin Kayner's Noche de los Muertos.
It was a departure for Beowulf Alley in many ways: opening a workshop to the public in preparation for a premiere, later this season, of a local play requiring a Latino cast, something otherwise found almost exclusively at Borderlands Theater. Every element of that sentence represents something new for Beowulf Alley Theatre.

It's a house that nearly closed in the summer of 2007 during a financial crisis that shed the company of its artistic director. To cope, the board started some serious brainstorming about fundraising and audience development, and assigned artistic direction to a committee that solicited production proposals from directors in the community.

Beowulf Alley is still operating with an undisclosed deficit; the tax form it filed late last year shows that, for the season ending in June 2007, the company spent nearly $38,000 more than it took in, a serious but not necessarily fatal figure for an organization with annual expenses approaching $200,000.

"We had a choice last year: Close the doors, or continue," says board member Mike Sultzbach, who heads Beowulf Alley's artistic committee. The closure would have been temporary while the company tried to get its finances in order, but the board decided that going dark would lead audiences and potential donors to assume that the company had permanently folded. So it proceeded with a season cobbled together mainly from proposals by local directors.

"The process worked, but it wasn't as efficient as it could be," Sultzbach admits. "We learned pretty quickly some things we could do better."

Lessons learned, the company is continuing with that system through this season, and by January, it will already have assembled a schedule for 2009-10. After that, says Sultzbach, the company may be able to hire an artistic director again.

"The advantage to the way we're doing it now is that directors submit plays they're passionate about directing," Sultzbach says. "The hard part for the theater is, out of these submissions, how do we make a season out of them? It's easier to control the theater's artistic vision if you have an artistic director who selects the plays and then finds the directors and casts."

The board's big concern right now, Sultzbach says, is to build the company's audience, so the coming season offers more well-known plays than in the past. Noche de los Muertos, the new play by Tucsonan Gavin Kayner, will run in November, but before that, opening Sept. 27, comes an old chestnut, Wait Until Dark, which enjoyed a popular film adaptation 40 years ago, with Audrey Hepburn playing a blind woman fending off a home invasion led by a memorably creepy Alan Arkin.

Director Dave Sewell pitched Wait Until Dark, because he felt it had popular appeal, yet was one of the better examples of the stage thriller, with truly three-dimensional characters. Noche de los Muertos, on the other hand, is something that the artistic committee decided to mount as part of its mission to present more daring and unusual material; for this, the group recruited director Sheldon Metz, a recent transplant from Los Angeles who had already sold them on a production of the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Proof for April.

Both Sewell and Metz, who have run their own companies, seem relieved to be able to direct plays they believe in without having to micromanage every element of the show and the theater's administration.

Metz, for example, threw himself into 96 Los Angeles productions through the course of 47 years, while also producing events in Las Vegas. "I directed plays, designed and built sets, even stepped into some roles for a weekend," he says. "Here, most of that is pretty much done for me. I'm designing the set for Proof, but I don't have to build it and do the lights and worry about the politics of the theater and fundraising. Here, I just get to direct a show."

Sewell adds, "It's nice not having to worry about all those other elements, like I did when I was working with the Tucson Theatre Ensemble. Now, I can just be excited about being entrusted with a chunk of the Beowulf season."

It's Sultzbach's committee that has to piece together the total season and assemble a design team, while building the audience and donor base. To that end, the theater is relying more heavily than usual on known quantities: Wait Until Dark, Proof and, in January, another Pulitzer winner, Dinner With Friends. "They're all solid plays," says Sultzbach. "They've all been on Broadway, and all three had movies made out of them. We knew we were dealing with good, solid material."

The other two productions, in contrast, are efforts to reach out to different audiences. Kayner's Noche de los Muertos focuses on an intense church-versus-state conflict toward the end of the Mexican revolutionary period in the town of Magdalena, not too far south of the border. It's a rare opportunity to showcase Hispanic performers (including the remarkable Angelica Rodenbeck, who isn't cast nearly as often as she deserves simply because her Spanish accent is a bit too strong) and demonstrates a commitment to new work amid the more familiar fare. In February will come 3 Guys in Drag Selling Their Stuff, for which nobody involved makes any great intellectual claims. Sultzbach says it's "come in, have a good time and leave," but also the sort of thing that could attract an alternative (unspoken word: gay) audience, some of which might be inspired to check out other Beowulf productions.

Additionally, the company is developing acting and technical workshops, a readers' theater series and a youth-oriented late-night series, plus, next summer, classes for kids.

"The mission is to open this place up to the artistic community of Tucson," Sultzbach says. "We don't want it to be this little ensemble of the same actors and directors all the time; we want to make the Tucson community of artists feel like this is the place they want to come to. Whether we'll be 100 percent on all of these projects this year remains to be seen. As our programs generate revenue for us, and our fundraising increases, which will give us more flexibility, we'll be able to enhance those programs.

"As excited as I am when I look back and see what we've accomplished in the past year, I'm even more excited as we move forward. In another year or two, this place will really be dynamic."

Tucson: Stage Crew/ Police Officer walk-on roles, Beowulf Alley Theatre

 

 

From: theatre [mailto:theatre@beowulfalley.org]
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 6:15 PM

 

Wait Until Dark at Beowulf Alley Theatre – Stage Crew/ Police Officers

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, www.beowulfalley.org, at 11 South 6^th Avenue, Tucson has an immediate need for a 2 stage crew positions that will also serve as two police officers. The policemen are walk-ons but they do have about five lines apiece of basic "police talk" that must be rendered convincingly. Some stage experience (i.e., acting) would be beneficial, but it would also be a good opportunity for newbies with a willingness to learn. The backstage work will most likely consist of helping with off-stage sound effects, prop management, and fire safety protocols. Both should look as if they were at least old enough to graduate high school and the police academy. Rehearsals will be a few nights per week for approximately 3 hours with an occasional 5^th rehearsal some weeks. Tech rehearsals will be approximately the two weeks leading up to opening night, September 27. Performances are Thurs-Sat at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. through October 12. A stipend will be paid. If you can commit to the schedule, want to learn and have some fun, please call the director, Dave Sewell at (520) 888-5815 or call the theatre at (520) 622-4460.

 

We also have an immediate need for a Stage Manager/Light board Operator and Sound Board Operator.

 

Please contact the director, Dave Sewell at (520) 888-5815 or call the theatre at (520) 622-4460. We are willing to train. A stipend will be paid.

 

This is our most immediate need but we have technical positions open for each of the productions following Wait Until Dark. Give us a call if you are available for other productions!

 

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Tucson Theatre Announcements List
Archive and subscription information on http://tucsonstage.com

 

Stage Manager, Sound Board Op and Stage Crew needed

Wait Until Dark at Beowulf Alley Theatre – Stage Manager, Sound Board Op and Stage Crew

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, www.beowulfalley.org, at 11 South 6^th Avenue, Tucson has an immediate need for a Stage Manager. Rehearsals have began and most weeks will be 4 nights per week for approximately 3 hours with an occasional 5^th rehearsal some weeks. Tech rehearsals will be approximately the two weeks leading up to opening night, September 27. Performances are Thurs-Sat at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. through October 12. A stipend will be paid. If you can commit to the schedule, want to learn and have some fun, please call the director, Dave Sewell at (520) 888-5815 or call the theatre at (520) 622-4460.

 

We also need a Sound Board Operator and Stage Crew. Please contact the director, Dave Sewell at (520) 888-5815 or call the theatre at (520) 622-4460. We are willing to train. A stipend will be paid.

 

This is our most immediate need but we have technical positions open for each of the productions following Wait Until Dark. Give us a call if you are available for other productions!

Participants of the public workshop of "Noche de los Muertos"

Participants of the public workshop of "Noche de los Muertos" a new play by local award-winning playwright, Gavin Kayner.

 

"Noche de los Muertos" is a highly theatrical, classically based, culturally appropriate drama. Set in a provincial village in the Sonoran Desert in the 1920's, Noche explores the power of rites and rituals that influence thought to the point of irrationality and how passionate individuals deal with devastating conflicts.

 

Beowulf Alley Theatre, through grants from Tucson Pima Arts Council and Arizona Commission on the Arts, conducted the workshop to allow the characters of the play to come to life. When a play is written, its voices are inside the head of a playwright. By giving the characters the voices of actors, new discoveries are made and this allows the playwright to make refinements and further develop its richness. We are proud to be the theatre in Tucson that was given the opportunity to share these homegrown talents with our community in the month of August and look forward to having everyone come to see this marvelous piece fully mounted as our second production of the season, November 1-16, 2008.

 

The photo was taken by Bill Dell

 

Back Row L-R:

                Tenoch Gomez, Renaldo; Jordana Franco, Catalina; Alex Samaniego, Priest; Bardo Padilla, Tomas;

                Jan Henderson, Pelancha; Esteban Oropeza, Narrator

               

                Front Row L-R: Mike Sultzbach, Director; Angelica Rodenbeck, Irma; Gavin Kayner, Playwright

 

Aisle seats: Arts picks for the week | www.azstarnet.com ®

Aisle seats: Arts picks for the week www.azstarnet.com ®:
Tucson, Arizona Published: 08.15.2008

Theater

Tucson playwright Gavin Kayner will premiere his new play, 'Noche de los Muertos,' at Beowulf Alley Theatre in November. But first, a staged reading of the piece. This is your chance to see art in the making, and, after the reading, join the discussion with the playwright. Tell him what you think works, doesn't work, and talk about what it all means, anyway. The story is set in the Sonoran Desert in the 1920s, and it's rich with the rites and rituals that give this area such great layers. The reading is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Aug. 23 at Beowulf, 11 S. Sixth Ave. It's pay what you can. 882-0555.

8 properties make cut for facade program

8 properties make cut for facade program
Published: 08.09.2008

TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen

Eight downtown properties have been invited to submit proposals to take part in the city's $530,000 facade improvement program, which is designed to restore historic facades in pre-1948 buildings.
A selection committee on Friday narrowed a list of 23 applications to eight. The eight property owners will each get $7,500 from the city program to cover architect fees for concept designs and cost estimates for facade work, said Glenn Lyons, chief executive of the Downtown Tucson Partnership, which is overseeing the program for the city.

The property owners have until Oct. 7 to submit proposals. Four or five will be chosen to have work funded for as much as $125,000 for a corner property and $90,000 for one midblock, Lyons said.
Each property owner will have to match the city funding.
The money comes from a downtown revolving loan fund established in 1982 to use for things such as upgrading buildings.

"Every one of the (23 applicants) deserves the funding," Lyons said. "We only have money for four (or five) and we had to cut to eight for phase one."
The eight properties are:

• W.A. Julian Building (former Club Asylum), 111-121 E. Congress St. Built 1905
• 256-278 E. Congress St. (Tooley's on Congress). Built 1916-28
• 64 E. Broadway (former Southern Arizona Legal Aid). Built before 1919
• Wig-O-Rama, Grill, Vaudeville Cabaret, 98-110 E. Congress St. Built 1904
• Rialto Block, 300-320 E. Congress St. Built 1919-21
• Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave. Built 1921
• The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St. Built 1912
• ArtFare The Muse, 51 N. Sixth Ave. - the small building between Arizona Hotel and Sears Executive Center, all three leased by ArtFare. Built 1931

The program is limited to buildings on Broadway and Congress and Pennington streets, between Toole and Church avenues, Lyons said.

The selection committee consists of Lyons and Donovan Durband from the partnership; Fran La Sala, assistant to City Manager Mike Hein; Brooks Jeffery, associate dean of the architecture school at the University of Arizona; Demion Clinco of the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission; developer Phil Lipman; Mary Lou Focht, owner of Old Town Artisans; and Jonathan Mabry, the city's historic preservation officer.

Public Readings of a New Play by Award-Winning Local Playwright

Public Readings of a New Play by Award-Winning Local Playwright



Beowulf Alley Theatre Company

11 South 6th Avenue · Tucson, AZ 85701
Administration 622-4460 · Reservations 882-0555
http://www.beowulfalley.org/
theatre@beowulfalley.org



Tucson, AZ, Aug. 4, 2008) Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, at 11 South 6th Avenue (between Broadway and Congress), has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Arizona Commission on the Arts and the Tucson Pima Arts Council to workshop the play, Noche de los Muertos, by local, award-winning playwright, Gavin Kayner, directed by Mike Sultzbach.

The staged readings will be held on August 20, 21 and 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the theatre, and the community is invited to “pay-what-you-can” to attend. Season Subscribers and Flex Pass Holders are invited to attend free. Those who pay more than $6.00 will receive an online discount coupon for the fully staged, World Premiere run in November, directed by Sheldon Metz. Following the reading, the public is invited to have a dialogue with the playwright for consideration in the refinement of his work.

Noche de los Muertos was a top ten selection for the Reva Shiner prize, a semi-finalist for the Ashland New Play Festival and winner of third prize in the Latino/Chicano Literary Competition - University of California Irvine. A compelling historical tale, set in a provincial village in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution, Noche de los Muertos conveys contemporary themes of the power of government and religion and explores the power of rites and rituals that influence thought to the point of irrationality and how passionate individuals deal with devastating conflicts.

Kayner received critical acclaim for his play, Thumbs, when Piquant Productions produced it on Beowulf’s Baron Stage in February 2007. Thumbs was featured in Old Pueblo Playwrights 2003 Festival of New Plays, was a finalist in both the Long Beach Playhouse and National Arts Club New Works Festivals and a semi-finalist for the Julie Harris Award in 2005.

A Highly Seasoned New Season!"

"A Highly Seasoned New Season!" *
by Jesse Greenberg

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company's new season starts in September with Wait Until Dark, by Frederick Knott. Remember the film, with Alan Arkin and Audrey Hepburn? In October, BATC has the world premiere of an award-winning play by local playwright Gavin Kaynor, of our Old Pueblo Playwrights. It's called Noche de los Muertos, a historic play that explores the very current issues of governmental and religious power. Other goodies are planned until the season concludes next April with the brilliant comic drama Proof, by David Auburn.

For more information about the coming season, [click here] or call 882-0555
* FROM THE DESERT LEAF JULY/AUGUST 2008.

20+ historic sites downtown vie for facade program

20+ historic sites downtown vie for facade program

Published: 07.23.2008
20+ historic sites downtown vie for facade program
TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen

More than 20 historic downtown buildings will be evaluated for the city's $530,000 facade improvement program.
Property owners from many prominent downtown businesses met the Tuesday deadline to be considered for the program, said Glenn Lyons, chief executive of the Downtown Tucson Partnership.
"I'm terribly pleased," Lyons said. "I had no idea we'd have this kind of response."
That's because property owners have to make a 50-50 match for the city funding if they are among the four chosen to do facade work. Applicants include Hotel Congress, Wig-O-Rama, Beowulf Alley Theatre and ArtFare The Muse.
The selection committee headed by Lyons expects to narrow the list by Aug. 1 to eight applicants. They will each be assigned an architect and each given $7,500 from the program fund to prepare their concept and renovation proposals, which are due Oct. 7.
The selection committee expects to announce four finalists Nov. 8. City funding could be as much as $125,000 for a corner property and $90,000 for one midblock.
"It'll be hard to choose eight and then four," Lyons said.
The buildings have to date from before 1948 and must have an original facade that can be restored. The program is limited to buildings on Broadway and Congress and Pennington streets, between Toole and Church avenues, Lyons said.
The selection committee is Lyons and Donovan Durband from the partnership; Assistant City Manager Karen Masbruch and her assistant, Fran La Sala; Brooks Jeffery, associate dean of the architecture school at the University of Arizona; Demion Clinco from the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission; developer Phil Lipman; Mary Lou Focht, owner of Old Town Artisans; and Jonathan Mabry, the city's historic preservation officer.
"Can you imagine what downtown would be like if we could fund all 23 (applicants)?" Lyons mused. "You wouldn't recognize the place. It would be the most historic downtown in North America."
-----------------------

WHO'S APPLIED
Applicants for city's facade improvement program
Address Business/property name owner year built
311 E. Congress St. Hotel Congress Richard Oseran 1919
111-121 E. Congress St. W.A. Julian Bldg./former Club Asylum David Nichols 1908
20 E. Congress St. Western Union/Bank Annex Building Bourn Partners 1913
72 E. Congress St. Rebeil Block/Indian Village Building Bourn Partners 1897
178-186 E. Broadway Julian Drew Building Urban Ventures/Ross Rulney 1917
118 S. Fifth Ave. The Carriage House Urban Ventures/Ross Rulney 1920
63 E. Congress St. McLellan Building John Wesley Miller 1946
256-278 E. Congress St. Block between Arizona and Fifth avenues Tucson Urban Land LLC (WDD/Peach) ca. 1915-1920
64 E. Broadway
Southern Arizona Legal Aid Ron Schwabe/Gwendolyn Weiner 1919
101 E. Pennington St. Reilly Mortuary Steve Fenton 1907
98-110 E. Congress St. Wig -O-Rama, Grill, Vaudeville Cabaret Miyung & Suk Hoo Kim 1915
210 E. Broadway Tucson Academy of Leadership & Arts Medlar Investments/Dr. Frank DiPietro 1944
300-320 E. Congress St. Rialto Block Don Martin 1920
44 N. Stone Ave. Roy Place Building/old Walgreens, Montgomery Ward Pima County 1929
40 W. Broadway Charles O. Brown House/El Centro Cultural de las Americas Arizona Historical Society ca. 1855
11 S. Sixth Ave. Beowulf Alley Theatre/former Johnny Gibson Gym Equipment Co. Gibson Family ca. 1915-1920
127 E. Congress St. The Screening Room Arizona Media Arts Center 1906
254 E. Congress St. Block between Sixth and Arizona avenues Shirley Cooney/Congress St. Partners 1900
31-47 N. Sixth Ave. Art Fare Mary Williamson 1917
51 N. Sixth Ave. Art Fare Richard Melikian 1930
55 N. Sixth Ave. Art Fare Richard Melikian 1945

Parking problem eased for downtown arts patrons | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®

Parking problem eased for downtown arts patrons www.tucsoncitizen.com ®:

Parking problem eased for downtown arts patrons
TEYA VITU
Published: 07.08.2008

Patrons at Beowulf Alley Theatre and The Drawing Studio may use the county-owned parking lot across Sixth Avenue from the arts organization, a reversal of the long-held policy of limiting parking to just permit holders.

That will be a relief to theater patrons and artists, many elderly and less mobile, officials at both entities said.

Until Monday, Beth Dell of Beowulf and Lynn Fleischman of The Drawing Studio had the distinct impression that Pima County would not allow Beowulf or Drawing Studio patrons to use the permit-only, 90-space lot behind the Chicago Store, even in the evening or on weekends.
Dell said her landlord in the past year had asked the county for permission to use the 77 E. Broadway lot and the "county gave a resounding no on grounds that it is a liability." Fleischman had similar results in prior efforts to use the lot between Scott and Sixth avenues.

"I'm delighted the county is helping the merchants downtown," said Dell, theater manager at Beowulf, 11 S. Sixth Ave.

Beowulf Alley and Drawing Studio patrons typically had to walk several blocks from the Pennington Street Garage or Armory Park to get their performance or art kicks, while the lot sits empty across the street.
"We have a lot of people that have some mobility issues," said Fleischman, executive director at The Drawing Studio, 33 S. Sixth Ave.

The county discourages the general public from using the lot because it is in need of repair, is not lighted at night nor patrolled, said Reid Spaulding, who became Pima County's facilities management director 10 weeks ago.

"If they are parked there at night, no, we're not going to haul it," Spaulding said. "You can use it, but it's at your own risk. The preference is for people not to use it, especially during the day."
Spaulding added that security patrols will not cite vehicles parked there at night.
The issue surfaced at last week's Downtown Tucson Partnership board meeting, where Dell brought up not being allowed to use the county lot as she described how "patrons tell me they are afraid to come downtown."

Hotel Congress owner Richard Oseran has long been disgruntled with the county's refusal to pay into the Downtown Tucson Partnership or its predecessor Tucson Downtown Alliance.

"It's shocking to me that the county can't open a parking lot at night," Oseran said last week. "The county has failed from day one in contributing anything (to the partnership/alliance)."

The parking lot is one of four city and county properties assigned to Glenn Lyons, chief executive of the Downtown Tucson Partnership, to sell to the private sector. Lyons questions the county's parking policies, which keep El Presidio Garage at City Hall closed on weekends and after 6 p.m. on weekdays.

"If they wanted to do it, they could," Lyon said about allowing the public to park at the Broadway lot. "The one on Broadway would be great for evening traffic. The way the county has chosen to run parking is an issue."

Free Season Subscription Offer Extended to July 15!

It's Not Too Late to Get Your Free Subscriptions!

Beowulf Alley Is Making the Arts Affordable in a Tough Economy

Buy 2 First Sunday Subscriptions @ $50 each, get 2 First Sunday Subscriptions for Free! (That's a $5 ticket to a play!)

Buy 2 Full Season Subscriptions @ $70 each, get 2 Full Season Subscriptions for Free! (That's a $7 ticket to a play!)

Buy 2 Flex Passes @ $64 each, get 1 Flex Pass for Free! (That's less than $12 per ticket to a play!)

Right now, the economy is taking a toll on everyone. At Beowulf Alley, we asked ourselves what we could do to provide local entertainment to our community at an affordable price and what a great value we've created!

You and your friends don't want to miss this great opportunity, at incredibly low prices, to enjoy an evening of theatre by Tucson's fabulous home-grown talent. We know that for some of you, $50-$70 is hard to come up with all at one time but it's a small price to pay for a season of entertainment and, with the free ticket offer, you and your friends can come together (and even split the cost) to see a season of plays for far less than what it costs for a $20 single ticket. Even if you can't attend all of the plays, it's still a great opportunity to save.

As season subscribers, you will receive tremendous benefits:

• Flexible Exchange Policy (24-hour advance notice) by e-mailing
  theatre@beowulfalley.org or calling 882-0555*



• Preferential seating for Full Season and Flex Pass Subscribers**



• 20-50% savings over single ticket prices



• Bonus FREE subscriptions if you subscribe before June 30 July 15, 2008



• 10% discount on Special Event and Workshop Pricing



• Easy Ordering, on-line at www.beowulfalley.org, via mail or e-mail (boxoffice@beowulfalley.org)



• Invitation to the Opening Night post-show receptions and other events



• Free admission to our Summer Play Workshop



• Special discount codes, only for Subscribers, to purchase additional single show tickets online

*First Sunday-Additional charges apply except when used for Preview performances and First Sunday of each production

** Does not apply to First Sunday

So why wait? July 15th is almost here. Call some friends and share this fabulous opportunity!

For a description of our 2008-2009 season, please go to our website: www.beowulfalley.org.

Thoughtful 'Humble Boy' engages beauty & the bees

Thoughtful 'Humble Boy' engages beauty & the bees

Published: 05.15.2008
Thoughtful 'Humble Boy' engages beauty & the bees
CHUCK GRAHAM
Tucson Citizen

It's easy to imagine Tucson is full of people who spend their entire lives wishing they were somewhere else. Not just during summer's searing heat but all the time - living with a different spouse or lover, at a different job in a different house or in a different city.

Inertia holds them prisoner in the Old Pueblo as surely as it held those upscale members of troubled Russian families in Chekhov's plays of life just before the Communist revolution. British playwright Charlotte Jones imagines this cross-pollinated culture plopped down in the muddy middle of England's terminally bland countryside. A place so lacking in imagination it rivals America's own flat-lined suburbs full of houses that look alike, served by chain stores that have all the same stuff.

Jones' play is "Humble Boy," directed by Howard Allen at Beowulf Alley Theatre. Allen has set his production on a stage design that carries reality far beyond any previous Beowulf Alley show. A beautifully painted backdrop of a somewhat hazy sky sets the tone for the contrasts of an immaculate British garden filled with rows of tall and impressively blossoming plants.

A corner wall with a wooden gate frames this garden that covers half the stage. Sections of an impressive two-story country home and its stylish French doors dominate the stage's other half.
Clearly, this is the backyard of a family that takes life seriously. People who believe it is important to keep their manners polished and to know the proper Latin names for all those flowers.

But you can't have flowers without bees to pollinate them. So we notice the bee design on the garden wall, right beside a stack of boxed beehives. Then we learn how the beekeeper discovered he was allergic to stings when a bee stung him and he died on the spot. Right in the middle of that lovely garden. Anaphylactic shock.

The bees giving life to the blossoms and taking life from the beekeeper. Finding all the metaphors are a big part of the pleasure in "Humble Boy," a play that stands in smart contrast to all the silly comedies and smiley-faced musicals that traditionally fill our springtime stages.

This upscale drama is for thoughtful theater-goers. The sort who dedicate a part of every Sunday to the brain-tickling pleasures of that crossword puzzle in The New York Times. A quick check of "Humble Boy" reviews online finds several reviewers who discover parallels to "Hamlet."

Personally, this seems like quite a stretch. It's true there is a waffling young man, Felix (Royce Sparks), who has a conniving mother Flora (Cynthia Jeffery). She is in love with a man other than her husband. It was her husband who died from the bee sting.

But geez. Any Buddhist will tell you everything is a part of everything else, so what's the big deal?
Owen as George is the most engaging character in this family blend of distracting laughter and domestic power plays. We come to appreciate George's patience and the frustration of Felix, a shy intellectual who teaches astrophysics at Cambridge University. His ex-girlfriend Rosie (Elizabeth Leadon) is George's daughter. She also likes to tease Felix.

Adding comedic relief is Roxanne Harley as Mercy Lott, an eccentric family friend. There is a satisfying resolution, though, to all the conflicts covered by years of polite pretending. If only it didn't take so long for all those people to come to their senses. Have killer bees reached England yet?

'Humble Boy' has lots to brag about | www.azstarnet.com ®

'Humble Boy' has lots to brag about
By Kathleen Allen
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 05.16.2008

'Humble Boy' has lots to brag about www.azstarnet.com ®

There's a full, blossoming, tranquil English garden on the stage of Beowulf Alley Theatre.
It's a most unlikely setting for all the lust, disgust, anger and bitterness that populates Charlotte Jones' idea-packed and funny "Humble Boy."

Beowulf opened the play, its season closer, on Saturday.
And what a play. Jones tackles the cosmos. Beekeeping. Dysfunctional families.

The play is loaded with metaphors. You can see them in the characters' names (Flora, Mercy, Rosie, etc.), the life of a bee (it stings, it dies) and the "jittery, frenzied world of quantum mechanics." It's a bit dizzying.

The story outline, however, is a simple one: Felix Humble has come home for his father's funeral. His father, who loved to study bees, died suddenly while working in the garden. Felix has been away studying the quantum theory of gravity — or at least trying to come up with a quantum theory of gravity.

Home, he has to deal with his mother, Flora, a must-be-in-control woman with a recent nose job and a lover she's had for many years.

Throw into this mix a neighbor, Mercy, who sees it as her duty to soothe over wrinkles in everyone's life; George Pye, the crass man with whom Flora is having an affair; and Rosie, George's sweet, level-headed daughter, with whom Felix once had an affair. Oh, and let's not forget the gardener, who keeps the bees buzzing even as Flora tries to stop them.

Beowulf's production, directed with a sure hand by Howard Allen (no relation to this writer), moved quickly and with clarity — it would be easy to get lost in the play and all the ideas, but Allen sees to it that that doesn't happen.

The design of the beautiful garden onstage is the result of many hands, including Allen, Paul Baker and Jacque Askren. It is central to the plot, and it served that role quite lavishly.

Heading up the cast is a remarkable Cynthia Jeffery as Flora. She held herself with such dignity and heart-breaking rigidity that it was easy to define the character. But Jeffrey's acting gave Flora so much more depth. Sure, you don't like her one bit, but she's funny, she's smart, and finally, we realize, she's human.

Elizabeth Leadon is reminiscent of a young Shelley Duvall — tall and thin and earnest (think of Duvall's character in Robert Altman's "Brewster McCloud"). But she also has acting chops: She brought an intelligence and laid-back intensity to her role of Rosie, Felix's one-time love.

While there were fine performances in this production, there were some that felt out-of-sorts, as though the actors were merely playing the characters, rather than living them.

Royce Sparks had a mammoth role in Felix, who stutters around his mother, wears ill-fitting clothing, is not comfortable in his body and gets so side-tracked by the minutiae of words and quantum theories that he can be hard to follow.

He spelled out Felix's sweetness nicely but missed the mark with owning the character. Consequently, he wasn't able to seduce the audience the way it should have been seduced.

"Humble Boy" is wonderfully funny, and it's got some fine, big ideas in it. Even with a mixed-bag of a production, it's a play that can capture the imagination. And that, quite often, can be enough.

Review
"Humble Boy"
• Presented by: Beowulf Alley Theatre.
• Playwright: Charlotte Jones.
• Director: Howard Allen.
• When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 1:30 p.m. Sundays through June 1.
• Tickets: $19; discounts available with online purchases.
• Reservations: 882-0555 or www. beowulfalley.org.
● Contact reporter Kathleen Allen at kallen@azstarnet.com or 573-4128.

Tucson Weekly : Arts : A Comedy Assortment

Tucson Weekly : Arts : A Comedy Assortment

PUBLISHED ON MAY 15, 2008:
A Comedy Assortment
Your local-theater roundup: Beowulf Alley shines; LTW does its best; and Invisible Theatre is doomed by lame material
By JAMES REEL


This week, Tucson theater is reduced to the B-list: bees, boards and bingo. One play concerns the family of an amateur beekeeper; another examines an even more dysfunctional family of thespians; and the third follows a group of friends to a bingo game.

All three plays are well-performed, and all are, to some extent, comedies, but the quality of the material does not in every case rise to the quality of the production.

The best total package comes from Beowulf Alley, which just opened Charlotte Jones' Humble Boy. Up to a point, it's a riff on Hamlet, set in contemporary, provincial, middle-class England, but the parallels are not exact. In Humble Boy, a young man comes home from school upon the death of his father, and learns that his mother has been carrying on with another man. (Not that I'm giving anything away, but in this play, unlike in Hamlet, the father is not a murder victim.) There's an Ophelia figure, the young man's discarded girlfriend; there's also a Polonius stand-in, a rather befuddled spinster neighbor. The young man even has a little suicide soliloquy, and by the time one character starts rattling off the scientific names of garden plants, you expect mad Ophelia herself to pop in with, "There's rosemary--that's for remembrance."

Humble Boy is more or less a comedy, though it's not a Hamlet spoof; Jones merely appropriates some of the Bard's preoccupations and gives them a modern spin. And the humor isn't the sort that generates many laughs along the way; it's something that causes you to smile a bit as it happens, and remember warmly once you leave the theater. Despite the Shakespearean conceits, the clever naming of the characters and Jones' careful attention to structure and pattern, this is an emotionally honest play about real family dynamics.

Not that Jones doesn't indulge in one writerly trick after another. Apparently inspired by Hamlet's puzzling over whether to be or not to be, Jones populates Humble Boy with multiple bees; the dead father was an amateur beekeeper. The household's queen bee is named Flora Humble; she's the stern, adulterous widow, played with steely hauteur by Cynthia Jeffery. The character seems rather limited early on, but by the end, Jones and Jeffery alike have developed Flora's previously unseen dimensions.
Similarly, Royce Sparks initially plays the Humble boy of the title, Felix, as a hesitant, rather slow fellow who stutters on words beginning with B, but gradually reveals the character's intellect and emotional depth. Elizabeth Leadon, as Felix's ex-girlfriend, Rosie, is all prickly stem in no immediate danger of wilting. Roxanne Harley gives a sweet rather than officious performance as the omnipresent neighbor (in the first scene, she's dressed like a refugee from a Beckett play, suggesting that she's as existentially adrift as the Humble family). Roger Owen is intentionally rough and menacing as Flora's lover.
All this, well-directed by Howard Allen, plays out on a lovely garden set designed by too many people to name here; costumer Lori Franklin-Garcia gets everything exactly right, starting with the unflatteringly tight, preppy white cricket outfit in which Felix first appears, a visual manifestation of how poorly Felix himself fits his surroundings.

Felix, the post-doc astrophysicist, may be hoping in vain that a theory of superstrings will bring the universe into elegant symmetry; surely, that seems unlikely in the Humble household. As presented by Charlotte Jones and the Beowulf Alley team, it's more of a teeming hive, producing equal measures of honey and sting.

'Humble' a comedy, plain and simple | www.azstarnet.com ®

'Humble' a comedy, plain and simple www.azstarnet.com ®

Accent
'Humble' a comedy, plain and simple
By Kathleen Allen
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 05.02.2008

Three years ago, director Howard Allen was on one of his regular treks to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival when he saw Charlotte Jones' "Humble Boy."
He's been itching to direct it ever since.

"I recognized that it is a wonderful comedy about a family," said Allen, who directs the Beowulf Alley Theatre Company production opening next week.

"Every single character in the play leads you into the center of the play. There are six characters in all, and they are all wonderful parts for actors."

"Humble Boy" is a comedy, plain and simple, said Allen (not related to this writer).
"It has amazingly huge, wonderful laughs," he said.

At the center of "Humble Boy" is Felix, an astrophysicist in his mid-30s.
He was in search of a unified-field theory when he was called home for his father's funeral.
There he is confronted with a mother who never seemed to care much, her kinda creepy boyfriend, a one-time love and the gardener.

Unity, he finds, must include the insanity of family.
The play has been called "Hamlet"-inspired, and playwright Jones has said Shakespeare's tragedy was on her mind when she wrote it.

"The more I thought about the mother/son relationship . . . I saw parallels with 'Hamlet' that I decided to embrace," she said in an interview to Colorado Back Stage.
"The opening situation can be compared to 'Hamlet,' when the son comes home for his father's funeral, but that's it," said Allen.

Mostly, said Allen, "the writing is spectacularly good. It's rich. There are wonderful set- ups and payoffs in the journeys of every one of the characters. All the stuff you look for in a really wonderful comedy."
And, he adds, "there are some poignant moments in the story that will also surprise you.
"And laughs."

Benjie Sanders / Arizona Daily Star Elizabeth Leadon plays Rosie and Royce Sparks stars as Felix Humble in Beowulf Alley's production of "Humble Boy."

● Contact reporter Kathleen Allen at kallen@azstarnet.com or 573-4128.

Tom Stoppard's rich comedy certain to delight | www.azstarnet.com ®

Tom Stoppard's rich comedy certain to delight www.azstarnet.com ®

Accent
Tom Stoppard's rich comedy certain to delight
By Kathleen Allen
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 03.14.2008

Beowulf Alley Theatre continues its season with a production of Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia." Here's a rundown of what to expect.

The playwright: Just the name "Stoppard" can bring people to the theater. The English playwright has penned some of the most thoughtful and provocative plays in contemporary theater — and does it with a great love and care for language. Among them: "The Coast of Utopia," "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead," "Rock 'N' Roll," and "Jumpers." He also co-wrote screenplays for "Brazil" and "Shakespeare in Love."

The story: It's more complicated to explain the story than it is to see it.
It switches back and forth between two time periods, 1809-1812 and 1989, at the same place, an English country home in Sidley Park.

In 1809, the teen in the house is tutored in mathematics by Septimus Hodge, a friend of the poet Lord Byron, who is a visitor in the home.

In the 1989 household, a writer is looking into the life of a hermit who once lived on the grounds; and a professor of literature is looking into why Byron so quickly fled England for the European continent.
The themes: Oh, you know, the usual ones: the connections between the past and present; mathematics; chaos; physics; thermodynamics; love; poetry; the classics; landscape architecture. All wrapped up in a pretty compelling comedy.

The Arcadia in the title: That would refer to an idyllic setting similar to Utopia. The famous painting "Et in Arcadio Ego" by the French artist Nicolas Poussin depicts a nymph and shepherds reading a tomb inscription that translates to "I who am now dead, also lived once in Arcadia."

What critics have said about the play: "'Arcadia' is Tom Stoppard's richest, most ravishing comedy to date, a play of wit, intellect, language, brio and, new for him, emotion. It's like a dream of levitation: You're instantaneously aloft, soaring, banking, doing loop-the-loops and then, when you think you're about to plummet to Earth, swooping to a gentle touchdown of not easily described sweetness and sorrow."— New York Times

"(Stoppard) has never burned brighter or more kindly." — Time magazine
"This is a brilliant, brilliant play. A play of ideas, of consummate theatricality, of sophisticated entertainment and of heartache for time never to be regained." — Sunday Times (London)


Preview
"Arcadia"

• Presented by: Beowulf Alley Theatre.
• Playwright: Tom Stoppard.
• Director: Dave Sewell.
• When: Previews are 7:30 p.m. Thursday and next Friday; opening is 7:30 p.m. March 22. Regular performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 1:30 p.m. Sundays through April 13.
• Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
• Tickets: Previews $10; regular performances $16-$19. Discounts with Web site purchase.
• Reservations: 882-0555 or www.beowulfalley.org.
• Running time: 21/2 hours, with one intermission.
• Cast: Sophie Gibson-Rush, Gary McGaha, Brandon Pittman, Royce Sparks, Tom Bushee, Victoria McGee, Grant Wheeler, Chris Farishon, Rachel Morgan, Chax, David Dudley and Nathan Shaw.

● Contact reporter Kathleen Allen at kallen@azstarnet.com or 573-4128.

Relationship skits are fresh, thoughtful in Beowulf show | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®

Relationship skits are fresh, thoughtful in Beowulf show www.tucsoncitizen.com ®:

"From out of nowhere, Beowulf Alley Theatre Company has come up with a huge hit. 'Fifth Planet and Other Plays' by David Auburn is sketch theater at its most charming. Funny as well as thoughtful, fresh as your favorite organic veggies." Grade: A

Published: 01.24.2008
Relationship skits are fresh, thoughtful in Beowulf show
CHUCK GRAHAM
Tucson Citizen


From out of nowhere, Beowulf Alley Theatre Company has come up with a huge hit. "Fifth Planet and Other Plays" by David Auburn is sketch theater at its most charming. Funny as well as thoughtful, fresh as your favorite organic veggies.

After having endured seasons of local theater where the newest play on the menu would be a Neil Simon comedy (and everybody had one), Auburn's poignant humor is irresistible.
We're not talking quick quips and snappy retorts, or silly pratfalls and rude noises. We're talking sweet and thoughtful sketches that leave you smiling, appreciating life a little more. Plan on time for a drink or cup of coffee afterward. You'll surely want to talk about this show.
Auburn was just getting started as a playwright when he wrote "Proof," the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play of 2001 that he subsequently rewrote into a successful film in 2005. Talk about a fast start.

Most of these sketches were written before "Proof" turned Auburn into an overnight success. This is writing filled with the joy of living rather than the ego of clever brain-flexing.
All the skits are about relationships, basically. Single people wondering if they will ever meet The One. Married couples wishing they could put the magic back into their marriage. Divorced people, of course. Other lonely people peering into the bare light of an open refrigerator.
Desperate as these characters sound, each of them displays the most amazing courage under fire. Nobody loses hope. Jokes become weapons, firebrands of light to hold back the darkness.
Irony is also an active ingredient. At the curtain call on opening night it was almost impossible not to rush the stage and give each actor a big hug.

Structurally, the longest pieces are the first one, "Fifth Planet," and the last one "We Had A Very Good Time." In between are five more of various lengths and elaboration.
A few props and a couple of costume touches set each scene and determine the situation. Summers directs with a light hand, eschewing any impulse to exaggerate the dialogue.
"Fifth Planet" is a sketch with 44 scenes. Many last just a few seconds. Like remembering a yearslong relationship, the highlights flash by in no time.

Stephen Cruz plays Mike, a guy fooling around with a small telescope after work. Johanna Hudson is Veronica, a professional astronomer who thinks Mike is just a dumb janitor at the observatory where both are employees. As they get to reluctantly know each other, the caste system of academic protocol keeps them apart.

Once both lose their jobs, they become more like equals. Sort of.
To keep all these stories fluffed up, Summers has assembled a cast of 14 remarkable players. This gives her the chance to keep introducing new faces. All of them, in roles big or small, maintain the quality of a balanced ensemble. The matching of so many talents brings additional joy to the evening.
The actors are: Danielle Shirar, Jeremy Womac, Victoria McGee, Steve McKee, Roger Owen, Chris Farishon, Samantha Cormier, Josh Galyen, Edgar Burton, Alan Crombie, Elise Lopez, Joel Charles, Hudson and Cruz. Cast as stand-ins are Jonathan Northover and Taylor Genovese.

Grade: A

Seven shorts by David Auburn combine into a festive three hours at Beowulf Alley

Tucson Weekly : Arts : Confronted With Issues

PUBLISHED ON JANUARY 24, 2008:
Confronted With Issues
Seven shorts by David Auburn combine into a festive three hours at Beowulf Alley
By JAMES REEL

As did John Patrick Shanley in 2005 (see the review of Doubt elsewhere in this issue), David Auburn won the double-whammy of a Tony and a Pulitzer in a single year--2001, for his mad-mathematician play Proof.

Before Auburn so impressed the establishment with that conventionally structured full-length work, he made his name with a clutch of cockeyed and engaging little one-act comedies which may be found in Beowulf Alley's new production, Fifth Planet and Other Plays.
In these seven short works, Auburn tends to reveal, bit by bit, not what happens next, but what, exactly, happened before. It's an important difference that allows for greater shading of character (we must rely on the characters to interpret and color their stories rather than just act them out) than would otherwise be possible in a piece lasting as little as five minutes.

A particularly suave example of this opens the evening and lends the production its title. Fifth Planet falls into 44 short scenes, the first of which are blackouts lasting just a few seconds and involving little or no dialogue. At first, it looks like it's going to be something quirky and quasi-inscrutable in the manner of David Ives, but eventually, Auburn falls into a more conventional, if compact, storytelling mode, with the two characters ultimately engaging in normal, full-fledged conversations. Mike, we come to understand, is a janitor at an observatory who sets up his own little telescope on a nearby hill, hoping to find something new in the heavens while his wife watches the same old movie on TV ad infinitum. He develops a passing acquaintance with an arrogant astronomer named Veronica.

The primary events take place offstage and are only grudgingly recounted to us through the two characters' conversations. Of course, it's what happens between Mike and Veronica that's of central importance, and the play, named after Jupiter--which Mike keeps his eye on--might better be titled Binary System, for two stars that orbit each other without colliding. Stephen Cruz, as Mike, makes a fine impression even without opening his mouth (he'll be replaced in some performances by Taylor Genovese). Johanna Hudson isn't quite as successful as Veronica; her performance is a bit too childlike, as if she were a little girl pretending to be a smug astronomer.

Miss You is a very compact telephone play about love and unfaithfulness; Samantha Cormier and Alan Crombie do a good job of delineating two characters each, switching in the time it takes a phone to ring. Damage Control is Auburn's most conventional item here, with a hapless consultant (Steve McKee) trying to prepare his political-executive boss (Roger Owen) for a speech regarding a scandal the politician has gotten himself into. This is the jokiest and most skitlike piece on display and gets the best audience response, even though--through no fault of the actors--the characters are the least nuanced of the evening.

Three Monologues is the most difficult playlet to parse; it's a slice of a woman's lonely life, narrated sensitively by Chris Farishon. Next, Auburn treats his characters a bit viciously in Are You Ready? Here, a man (the deft Jonathan Northover on opening night, Josh Galyen thereafter) tells us one awful thing about himself after another, never quite realizing how lousy his entire life is. There's a final twist of the knife involving two people who are strangers to him and each other (played by Victoria McGee and the amusingly bitchy Edgar Burton).

What Do You Believe About the Future? involves 10 actors, each given only a number, talking about ... well, look at the title. It's amusing, but doesn't really develop into anything. In contrast, We Had a Very Good Time is quite well fleshed out. It concerns a young married couple (the very appealing Danielle Shirar and Jeremy Womac) on their last day of vacation in an unnamed foreign country. She wants to follow the guidebook to the bitter end; he's had enough and would just like to chill out at a movie. They part company for the afternoon; she hooks up with a very odd tour guide (also played by Womac), and he has an awkward encounter on the street with a native woman (Shirar again). Despite the silly details, anyone who has done any independent foreign travel will recognize the truths in this piece, truths about how we fall into certain patterns of communication, and how our ongoing relationships can be altered by even brief encounters with strangers.

This all adds up to nearly three hours in the theater, including intermission, but the variety of Auburn's subjects, his deft dialogue, the engaging cast and the right-to-the-point direction of Nell Summers make the time pass quickly. It's a fine, funny way to be confronted with issues of trust, self-reliance, betrayal and the caprices of fate.

Fifth Planet and Other Playspresented by Beowulf Alley Theatre Company7:30 p.m., Thursdays-Saturdays; 1:30 p.m., Sundays; through Feb. 1011 S. Sixth Ave.$16-$19, with internet discounts882-0555; http://www.beowulfalley.org/

One-acts capture 'snippets of lives' | www.azstarnet.com ®

One-acts capture 'snippets of lives' www.azstarnet.com ®:
Published: 01.11.2008

One-acts capture 'snippets of lives'
By Jane See White

SPECIAL TO THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Actually, it was an accident that Nell Summers found her newest directing project — Beowulf Alley Theatre Company's presentation of "Fifth Planet and Other Plays," by David Auburn.

"It just fell into my hands," she says now.
Summers had gone to collect a donation for another theater company she works with — a box of costumes, jewelry and a bunch of plays. Looking through the materials, she picked up the Auburn plays.
"I don't usually have time to read the plays, but this was the first one I picked up — seven plays in one book," Summers says. After just a few pages, she was hooked.

"It is seven self-contained, one-act plays, none having anything to do with the others. Snippets of lives. They're all so different that anyone will be able to find something in it," she says.
Auburn won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for "Proof."

"Fifth Planet" tracks two observatory workers over the course of a year in a series of brief encounters — 44 short scenes.

"There's so much Auburn doesn't write down — it's a really tight story, that first play. It unfolds — it has so much to do with the actors' communicating what's going on in their minds to the audience," says Summers.

"When you read it, you can hear the actors saying these lines — but there is just one hidden intent behind each line, so it's challenging. We have had to search for each of those."
For the seven plays, Summers has assembled a "huge" cast of 15 actors.

In "Are You Ready?" three people drawn to the same restaurant are changed instantly. In "Damage Control" a politician and his aide address a crisis. "Miss You" involves four people, three relationships and telephone technology.

In "What Do You Believe?" 10 people sitting in chairs that reflect their personalities share their thoughts.
"One is obsessed with the idea that in the future all sorts of transportation are going to hover," says Summers. "Another believes that in 2020 people will kill themselves because they won't be able to get into a really good New Year's Eve party. They're very different."

"Three Monologues" is about a woman's solitude, and "We Had a Very Good Time" tracks a couple on a trip to a frightening foreign country.

"I like all the plays," Summers says. "You can't say who's your favorite, like a mother with kids. They're all interesting and unique in their own ways."

PREVIEW
"Fifth Planet and Other Plays"
• Presented by: Beowulf Alley Theatre Company.
• Playwright: David Auburn.
• Director: Nell Summers.
• Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
• When: Previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and next Friday; opening is 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19.
• Tickets: Previews, $10; regular performances, $16-$19, with discounts available at www.beowulfalley.org online or 882-0555.
• Running time: About 2 hours, plus one intermission.
• Cast members: Stephen Cruz, Johanna Hudson, Jeremy Womac, Roger Owen, Danielle Shirar and Steve McKee.
● Jane See White is a Tucson-based freelance writer.
All content copyright © 1999-2008 AzStarNet, Arizona Daily Star

"Previews, $10; regular performances, $16-$19, with discounts available at www.beowulfalley.org online or 882-0555."

Our 2007 Mac Awards

Accent
Our 2007 Mac Awards
By Kathleen Allen
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 01.04.2008

Our 2007 Mac Awards www.azstarnet.com ®:

"Terry Erbe was the tender George in Beowulf Alley Theatre's production 'Of Mice and Men'; Stephen Elton was the simple-minded Lenny. Erbe was able to eloquently balance his character's anger at Lenny and his faithful love for him. Elton gave the mildly retarded Lenny an honest innocence."

Beowulf's "The Woman in Black" was a spooky ghost story enhanced by incredible sound effects and fine acting.

Beowulf Alley Theatre presents "Fifth Planet and Other Plays"

Beowulf Alley Theatre presents "Fifth Planet and Other Plays"

Contact: Beth Dell
(520) 622-4460
email: theatre@beowulfalley.org


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company Presents Fifth Planet and Other Plays
Third show of the season is an Arizona Premier

TUCSON, ARIZ. (Dec. 19, 2007) — Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, 11 S. 6th Ave., will present “Fifth Planet and Other Plays,” a collection of one acts by David Auburn. The show previews Jan. 17 & 18 at 7:30 p.m. Preview tickets are $10. Performances run Thurs. – Sat., Jan. 19, 24-26, 31, Feb. 1-2, 7-9, 2008 at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees Jan. 20, 27, Feb. 3 & 10 at 1:30 p.m. Tickets range from $16-$19 with internet discounts available online at http://www.beowulfalley.org/ or call 882-0555. Nell Summers directs this production that explores how fate impacts the human experience.
# # #

Black, White and Gray

KUAT-FM KUAT-FM Radio:
Cue Sheet
by James Reel

"...a play I highly recommend."

On a farm outside Johannesburg, South Africa, there lives a little girl named Elizabeth Grace. She spends so much time in the big, fragrant syringa tree on the property that her nanny, a patient Xhosa woman named Salamina, calls the girl Lizzie Monkey. The syringa tree is a place of small wonders, as well as a hideout and a refuge--not only for Lizzie, but for her Xhosa and Zulu neighbors trying to avoid brutal encounters with the white authorities.

The Syringa Tree is also a play by the South African-born playwright and actress Pamela Gien. It involves 24 characters--white and black, young and old, male and female--all played by a single performer. That's Patagonia resident Belinda Torrey, in a fine production now on stage at Beowulf Alley Theatre.

You’ll find the full review here.

Tucson Weekly : Arts : White Conscience

Tucson Weekly : Arts : White Conscience:

"... in a fine production now on stage at Beowulf Alley Theatre. ... there's absolutely nothing amateurish about her [Belnida Torrey] performance in The Syringa Tree. Indeed, she pulls off the one-woman show with aplomb, holding the stage through two full hours of text, bringing her primary character from childhood to maturity, and sometimes convincingly playing three or four different characters in a single conversation."


PUBLISHED ON DECEMBER 13, 2007:
White Conscience

Apartheid in the 1960s is the focus of Beowulf Alley's impressive one-woman play
By JAMES REEL


On a farm outside Johannesburg, South Africa, there lives a little girl named Elizabeth Grace. She spends so much time in the big, fragrant syringa tree on the property that her nanny, a patient Xhosa woman named Salamina, calls the girl Lizzie Monkey. The Syringa tree is a place of small wonders, as well as a hideout and a refuge--not only for Lizzie, but for her Xhosa and Zulu neighbors trying to avoid brutal encounters with the white authorities.

The Syringa Tree is also a play by the South African-born playwright and actress Pamela Gien. It involves 24 characters--white and black, young and old, male and female--all played by a single performer. That's Patagonia resident Belinda Torrey, in a fine production now on stage at Beowulf Alley Theatre.

Torrey seems to have spent most of her adult life as a science teacher, and she calls herself a "hobby actress." But there's absolutely nothing amateurish about her performance in The Syringa Tree. Indeed, she pulls off the one-woman show with aplomb, holding the stage through two full hours of text, bringing her primary character from childhood to maturity, and sometimes convincingly playing three or four different characters in a single conversation.

Lizzie is a white girl, the daughter of a doctor, growing up in 1960s South Africa, a fine time to be white and privileged, but a hellish time to be black. Under apartheid, the indigenous people were subject to severe restrictions on when and where they could live, work and travel. If you were black and happened to be out without the proper documentation, or even merely out past the curfew for blacks at night, and you saw the police coming down the road, the best thing to do would be to clamber into the nearest tree and hope to avoid another harassment, arrest or beating.

Lizzie's family, of mostly English descent, has no sympathy for the apartheid system, which was instituted and fostered mainly by the Afrikaner, or Dutch-descended, population. Of course, apartheid wouldn't have been possible without the complicity of the English South Africans, and not every Afrikaner was a maniacal racist, but the situation is almost always simplified for dramatic purposes.
Lizzie has no idea what's going on. She knows her parents don't like the Afrikaner minister who lives next door, and she knows that the minister's daughter is bossy and unpleasant but still an interesting friend to have across the fence. She knows that the Xhosa and Zulu men and women working for the white families in her neighborhood are interesting, too, but she can't quite grasp why they're so jumpy at night, and why their evenings of tale-telling around a campfire fall apart whenever a police cruiser comes down the road. Lizzie's is an enchanted world of fairy dust in sunbeams, and blue glitter drifting from a beloved clown, and white family and black friends she loves.

Lizzie begins to get an education in social realities when Salamina, her beloved nanny, gives birth to a child who is not properly documented. Lizzie's family conceals the birth, and the little girl herself, for several years, although Lizzie doesn't grasp who, exactly, is risking what. Later, a white relative is murdered for no real reason by a Rhodesian freedom fighter, and this finally signals the end of Lizzie's childhood idyll. How she comes to terms with all of this when older is the subject of the play's later scenes.

Torrey spends most of her time in character as the young Lizzie, presenting her as spoiled but innocent, not too awfully cutesy, and not so self-centered that you lose sympathy for her. Most impressively, toward the end of the play, Torrey gives us a grown-up Lizzie who is quite obviously the same character, if still a bit childlike; it's difficult to maintain this kind of continuity when you're jumping forward 20 years, from child to adult, but all the more necessary here, so the adult Lizzie doesn't get lost among all the other characters.

Salamina is equally well drawn: slower but constantly moving, her voice coming from deep within her belly. No doubt dialect coach Eva Wright offered some significant help to Torrey in sorting out the characters, and director Roger Johnson has kept Torrey focused; he also kept the action fluid. The story plays out on a very simple set, a rough swing suspended above the stage, with a curtain of streamers behind. A change in scene is usually signaled by a dip in the lights, or by Torrey passing briefly behind the streamers--just enough to define the structure of the play (which initially seems very stream-of-consciousness) without becoming clunky.

If there's something to complain about here, it's that we're seeing yet another story of apartheid told from a white person's point of view. How many apartheid dramas can you name that truly center on blacks, rather than white crusaders? Athol Fugard's Boesman and Lena, the film Catch a Fire and a couple of others, but beyond that, apartheid becomes a vehicle for stories about white conscience.
Yes, The Syringa Tree is about white conscience, but it's also about the bonds between people. And any play in which people of color are persecuted because they lack the proper documentation will have particular resonance during our own sometimes unsavory immigration debates.

The Syringa Treepresented by Beowulf Alley Theatre Company7:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 13-15; 1:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 1611 S. Sixth Ave.$10-$19882-0555; beowulfalley.org

Apartheid tale features remarkable solo flight | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®

Apartheid tale features remarkable solo flight www.tucsoncitizen.com ®:

"Beowulf Alley Theatre is presenting Belinda Torrey as that multifaceted narrator in a production by the Tin Shed Theater of Patagonia, directed by Robert Johnson. Her performance is a remarkable solo flight that reminds us the policy of apartheid was a political construction. "

Apartheid tale features remarkable solo flight
CHUCK GRAHAM
Published: 12.13.2007


As the world sorts out its racial differences, stories such as "The Syringa Tree" resonate.
Pamela Gien of South Africa has written a compelling play about one girl's coming of age and loss of innocence during the last days of apartheid.

The construction of the play, as much as the story, gives "The Syringa Tree" its relevance. Gien developed it as a full-length theater piece in which one actor plays 24 characters. There are males and females, young and old, black and white.
The challenge for the actor is to give full range to all these characters as each one acquires a specific personality.

For the audience, transported to South Africa, the experience is like listening to a story of an important incident as told by the village storyteller.

Beowulf Alley Theatre is presenting Belinda Torrey as that multifaceted narrator in a production by the Tin Shed Theater of Patagonia, directed by Robert Johnson. Her performance is a remarkable solo flight that reminds us the policy of apartheid was a political construction.
During this time in South Africa there were many white people and many black people who genuinely cared for one another. Just as in Europe there were gentiles trying to save Jews from Hitler's persecution.

Because there are so many characters in Torrey's tale, it is a little difficult to follow, particularly in the first act as we sort out the sounds and mannerisms that go with each person. The stage set consists of a large white circle painted on the floor and a backdrop consisting of long strips of dyed cloth. A child's swing hangs in the center of the circle.

Torrey wears a simple, neutral-colored dress. She doesn't have any props. To imply a change of scene she slips behind those strips of cloth and comes back out a few seconds later. Occasionally some sound effects or a change in the lighting will add a new dimension.

Parts of Gien's story are autobiographical. The play begins with Elizabeth at age 6, sitting on that swing with her back to the audience. We follow her through adolescence and on to adulthood when she marries an American.

By birth Elizabeth is white, English and South African. Her father is a doctor. The family lives on a farm near Johannesburg. Her live-in nanny is Salamina, a black treated with respect as an essential part of the family.

To establish the setting, Elizabeth talks about her childhood, telling of incidents such as playing outdoors, getting all muddy and being washed off with a garden hose. We also learn that the homes of black servants don't have any plumbing.

There is a humorous visit from the church minister, a man so overweight he can barely fit into the family's nicest living room chair. Then a black child is born in the home and its presence is hidden from the authorities.

By the time Elizabeth is a teen there are anti-apartheid demonstrations in the streets. White people dare not visit the townships where black people live, particularly after dark. Having the correct identification papers is essential for everyone.

After intermission there are riots, demonstrations and raids as South Africa civilization flies apart. Violence touches Elizabeth's family as well, but in the end there is also resolution.
Grade: B

'Syringa Tree' a tale of apartheid

'Syringa Tree' a tale of apartheid www.azstarnet.com ®


Published: 12.07.2007
'Syringa Tree' a tale of apartheid
By Kathleen Allen
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

It's not often that a play reaches out and grabs an actor by the shoulders and says, "Do me, do me."
But it happened to Belinda Torrey with "The Syringa Tree," which Beowulf Alley Theatre opens today.
"I have a background that's so similar to the author's background," she said in a phone interview from her Patagonia home. "Not only can I do this, I really have to do it. It's a real personal story for me, as well."

"The Syringa Tree," written by Pamela Gien, is the tale of two families, one black, one white, and the two children born into the household they share in 1960s South Africa, when apartheid was still a heavy albatross around the country's neck.

Gien grew up in South Africa, and though the play is largely fiction, it's based on two actual events from her life: her grandfather's murder when she was 10, and the birth and concealment of her nanny's child.
"I was raised in a house with black nannies," Torrey said. "My nanny was my rock. She left when I was around 12, and I was devastated. When I read this story, I said, 'Oh, I know this story. I know how this girl feels.' "

Though largely told through the eyes of 6-year-old Elizabeth, the one-woman play requires Torrey to play about 22 characters.

Not a big deal, she said.

"It's surprisingly easy," she said, explaining that she often assumes voices and different characters when she tells stories.

"I especially do it with my siblings," she said. "They know what's going on. People who don't know me think I've fallen off the deep end."

And while the play takes place in a particular country at a particular time in history, it's a universal one, said Torrey.

"The story spans four generations," said Torrey. "It would be unusual if there were people in the audience who hadn't experienced the loss, goodbyes, reunions, that happen in this story. Everyone is touched."

Preview
"The Syringa Tree"
• Presented by: Beowulf Alley Theatre Company.
• Playwright: Pamela Gien.
• Director: Roger Johnson.
• When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Thursday through Dec. 15; 1:30 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 16. No performance Saturday.
• Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. 6th Ave.
• Tickets: $14-$19.
• Information: 882-0555 or www.beowulfalley.org.
•Cast: Belinda Torrey.
• Running time: 2 hours, plus one intermission.

● Contact reporter Kathleen Allen at kallen@azstarnet.com or 573-4128.

Talking to herself habit helps Torrey to play role | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®

Talking to herself habit helps Torrey to play role www.tucsoncitizen.com ®:
Published: 12.06.2007

Talking to herself habit helps Torrey to play role
CHUCK GRAHAM
Tucson Citizen Published:

Patagonia, Ariz., is not generally known as a hot spot for theater. But Belinda Torrey grew up in New York City. More specifically, on Long Island. Then she lived in Montana and in the Puget Sound area before life's travels brought her to Patagonia 11 years ago.

But earlier this year another Patagonian, Roger Johnson, handed Torrey a copy of the script for "The Syringa Tree" by expatriate South African playwright Pamela Gien.

Johnson and Torrey worked up their production, giving five performances at Patagonia's own Tin Shed Theatre.

When Beowulf Alley Theatre here in the Baked Apple announced it was looking for shows to present, Johnson contacted the theater. Talks ensued and the dates were set.

"The play starts when the child is 6, she is remembering her own grandparents. By the end of the play, she is 35," Torrey said. "To be doing it is such an honor for me. I always want my performance to be a tribute to my own nanny, who meant so much to me."

Fast-rolling characters in 'Stones' gather no moss | www.azstarnet.com ®

Fast-rolling characters in 'Stones' gather no moss www.azstarnet.com ®

Fast-rolling characters in 'Stones' gather no moss
By Kathleen Allen
Arizona Daily Star Tucson, Arizona
Published: 11.16.2007

Hollywood and rural Ireland.

Can't you just see the sparks fly?

The two meet head-on in 'Stones in His Pocket,' the season-opener for the Beowulf Alley Theatre Company. "

Jonathan Northover and Matthew Copley handle the roles that range from an American diva who can't quite grasp the musical Irish accent ("Don't worry," her director tells her, "Ireland is only 1 percent of the audience") to an aging Irishman who is the last surviving extra from the filming of the John Wayne movie "The Quiet Man" (released in 1952).

The changing of characters is done in an instant, with the crook of the body, or the wave of a hand.

There are wonderful moments in this production, especially Northover's diva, Caroline Giovanni, who was an airy hoot, and Copley's director's assistant, a delicious nervous Nellie.

Tucson Weekly : Arts : Rise of the Downtrodden

Tucson Weekly : Arts : Rise of the Downtrodden:
PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 15, 2007:

Rise of the Downtrodden
'Stones in His Pockets' turns discontent, exploitation into a funny, positive experience By JAMES REEL

Director Susan Arnold doesn't slight the play's comedic elements, but she does seem more interested in the serious implications of the second half; she and the actors downplay the obvious satire a bit--the performances would surely have been more over the top at some other local theaters--and end up treating Charlie and Jake with real integrity. So there's a lower bellylaugh count during the performance, but, thanks to this restraint, the play leaves a longer aftertaste.

Northover and Copley perform heroically, changing characters as quickly as they may swerve to left or right as they stride across the stage. And each character is quite distinct; once every figure has been introduced, you know instantly which character has now taken over an actor's body. Northover's accents are more diverse and precise than Copley's, but otherwise, the men are well-matched as smart performers. They are nicely supported by Jon Marbry's sound design and Bill Dell's lighting.

Tucson Weekly : Arts : Dramatic Comedy

Tucson Weekly : Arts : Dramatic Comedy:
PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 8, 2007

Dramatic Comedy

Beowulf Alley looks to get back on track with the acclaimed 'Stones in His Pockets'
By JAMES REEL

Beowulf Alley Theatre is switching off the ghost light and illuminating the stage with a new show, Marie Jones' Stones in His Pockets. The Irish comedy has won several awards since its premiere in 1999, and it garnered three Tony nominations in 2001.

2 actors to play 15 characters in 'Stones' | www.azstarnet.com ®

2 actors to play 15 characters in 'Stones' www.azstarnet.com ®:
2 actors to play 15 characters in 'Stones'
By Levi J. Long ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona Published: 11.02.2007"

It's taken three years to bring "Stones in His Pockets" to Tucson audiences.
Now with those pesky licensing agreements and final casting choices out of the way, the Beowulf Alley Theatre Company is ready to open the award-winning play next week as the first production of its 2007-08 season.