Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Face Lift

BEOWULF ALLEY THEATRE’S FACE LIFT

By Ashley JamesZocalo Magazine
Beowulf Alley Theatre's renovated facade is complete and set to make its grand debut to the Tucson community this Saturday, Feb. 12, during 2^nd Saturdays Downtown.
The facade and new marquee were funded by a city grant program that provided approximately half of the total cost of the project which was about $60,000. The theatre matched the city grant through its own, separate fundraising efforts.
There will be a "formal" illumination of the marquee just after sunset, according to Beowulf Alley Theatre Managing Director Beth Dell.
According to Dell, the facade was designed by architect Bob Vint & Associates who modeled it after the art moderne style, with a streamlined and geometric inspired design.

photo: Ashley James

So far, the reaction to the new look has been a positive one.
Dell has noticed many more curious people walking through the theatre doors to check things out. "It is really funny to us that so many people didn't know we were here," said Dell, "We have found that it really does make a difference."
Beowulf Alley Theatre Actor Lucas Gonzales believes that business has improved since the makeover.
"Beowulf had a problem with ticket sales because people could not find the place," he said. The
Downtown Tucson Partnership manages the facade improvement program - a grant program that has already given a new look to various downtown buildings.
In celebration of Beowulf's new marquee, an evening of sketches from all of the theater's programs including Active Imagination, Old Time Radio Theatre and Late Night Theatre will be presented. The lighting ceremony starts at 6 p.m. with performances throughout the evening.

• 6:45pm Active Imagination Theatre (for kids of all ages)

• 7:15 pm Old Time Radio Theatre (family friendly)

• 7:45pm Out to Lunch Theatre (family friendly)

• 8:15pm The Beauty Queen of Leenane (recommended for 13 and up)

• 8:45pm Late Night Theatre (recommended for ages 17 and up)

Readers Theatre presents "Accommodations", a Play by Gavin Kayner

Beowulf Alley Theatre Presents

Readers Theatre

Accommodations, a Play by Gavin Kayner

 

 

Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 South 6^th Avenue, Downtown Tucson, offers a reading of Gavin Kayner’s play, Accommodations, on Tuesday, February 8, 2011. Admission is “Pay what you will,” cash at the door the night of the reading. The presentation is at 7:15 p.m.

 

Accommodations is a tale told on many levels. On the surface, it’s the story of a mature woman, Jean, immersed in a faltering marriage whose lover of 40 years ago reenters her life forcing her to decide between staying with her husband or leaving with him. Jean’s two alter egos, Anne Bonny the 18^th century pirate and Edith Wharton the renowned novelist, urge her to forgo either man. While attempting to resolve this dilemma, we discover other issues are actually driving the play forward. Questions regarding mothers and sons, reality and fantasy, truth and its consequences. As a result, will Jean stay or leave becomes part of the larger question:  if survival is a matter of making accommodations, what can we say about authenticity? What can we say of love? What can we say of faith?  And what can we say about the nature of our relationships?

 

Gavin Kayner is a local, award-winning playwright. His plays Noche de los Muertos and The Language of Flowers have appeared at Beowulf Alley.

 

 

Modern Adaptation | Review | Tucson Weekly

Modern Adaptation | Review | Tucson Weekly

Modern Adaptation

by Nathan Christensen

... Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, now onstage at Beowulf Alley Theatre Company. Based on a great, tragic romance from Greek mythology, the story is at once familiar and utterly new. ... it may be one of the most inventive and magical productions in Tucson this season.

The poetic elements are the strongest part of the show, and offer up unforgettable images: Eurydice emerging from a rain-filled elevator; her father building a fragile shelter from string; Orpheus filling a letter with the music of an unheard symphony.

• CREATISTA/SCOTT GRIESSEL
• Left to right: Allison Rose, Joi Marie Johnson, Nicholas Gallardo and Kristina Sloan in Beowulf Alley Theatre Company's Eurydice.

Sloan imbues Eurydice with a fearless, spunky energy that reinforces the character's pragmatic nature. ...Sloan is a delight to watch...

As Orpheus, Gonzales seems youthful as well—his boyish enthusiasm is mixed with adolescent self-centeredness ...

Director Lydia Borowicz ... coaxes some wonderful performances from her ensemble. Dressed in Kristen Wheeler's subtly detailed costumes, Allison Rose, David Swisher and Joi Marie Johnson win plenty of laughs as a chorus of sardonic stones.

Jared Strickland's set (enhanced by Jessica Creager's atmospheric lighting and Alex Greengaard's otherworldly sound design) creates a wonderfully original image of the afterlife. The stage is crammed with tunnels, doorways and platforms, apparently built from scrap lumber and freight pallets.

...

this production is an earnest, engaging representation of a truly unusual play.

Read the entire review here: Modern Adaptation | Review | Tucson Weekly

Controversial vs. Quirky | Review | Tucson Weekly

Controversial vs. Quirky | Review | Tucson Weekly

Controversial vs. Quirky

by Nathan Christensen

Those who prefer not to dwell on the darker side of life might enjoy a visit to Late Night Theatre'sInterrogating the Nude. An early work by playwright Doug Wright (a 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner forI Am My Own Wife), it might easily be referred to as Law and Order: Surrealist Victims Unit.

Bouncing between film noir and screwball comedy, the play unveils a sordid love triangle among Duchamp, his (fictitious) twin sister (and lover) Rose, and fellow artist Man Ray. Wright is known for playing with the nature of gender in his plays, and this trifle is no exception.

... led by director Scott O'Brien, the enthusiastic cast delivers some good laughs.

Read the entire review here: Controversial vs. Quirky | Review | Tucson Weekly

Call for Play Submissions, OUT TO LUNCH THEATRE

OUT TO LUNCH THEATRE

At Beowulf Alley Theatre

Announces Call for Play Submissions

 

Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 South 6^th Avenue, announced a call for March play submissions for it Out to Lunch Theatre program. Submissions are due via e-mail by midnight, February 15, 2011. The theme for the March plays is “Beware the Ides of March.”

 

The guidelines for submissions are:

 

10-15 Minute Play

Maximum THREE Characters

Set in a Heaven, Hell or Purgatory

Submit via Email by MIDNIGHT, March 15 to:

theatre@beowulfalley.org and

smarnold@dakotacom.net

 

Selected playwrights will be notified via email. The production run for IDES OF MARCH is Fridays, 12:15 p.m., March 11-25, 2011.

 

Cubist painting that riled Paris, New York inspires play

ON STAGE

Cubist painting that riled Paris, New York inspires play

Kathleen Allen Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Friday, January 28, 2011

A painting that turned off cubists, scandalized the public and separated artist Marcel Duchamp from the prestigious Société des Artistes Indépendants has also inspired a play.

"Interrogating the Nude," which Late Night at Beowulf Alley opens tonight, uses as its catalyst Duchamp's "Nude Descending the Staircase." The 1912 painting combined cubist and futurist styles, lines and angles, to create an image of movement. ...

Read the entire preview here: Cubist painting that riled Paris, New York inspires play

Engaging myth mixed into modern love tale

BEOWULF CHANGES VIEW, REVAMPS CLASSIC 'EURYDICE'

Engaging myth mixed into modern love tale

Kathleen Allen Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Friday, January 21, 2011

The myth of Eurydice first appeared in Ovid's "Metamorphoses" more than 2,000 years ago.

Since then, it's inspired operas, poetry and movies. It also inspired Sarah Ruhl's "Eurydice," which previews tonight at Beowulf Alley Theatre.

But this isn't your traditional take on the tale.

"It's a real interesting adaptation," said Lydia Borowicz, who is directing the production.

"It's told through a unique perspective, from Eurydice's eyes."

A change-up that; the tale is generally told from the male perspective.

Cast: Bill Epstein, Nicholas Gallardo, Lucas Gonzales, Joi Marie Johnson, Allison Rose, Kristina Sloan and David Swisher.

Read the entire Preview here: Engaging myth mixed into modern love tale

CREATISTA/SCOTT GRIESSEL/BEOWULF ALLEY THEATREBeowulf's production of "Eurydice" includes Nick Gallardo and Kristina Sloan, front, and Allison Rose, left rear, and Joi Marie Johnson.

Call for Plays - Page on the Stage Summer Festival

Beowulf Alley Theatre's Page on the Stage

and Reader's Theatre

announces 

A Call for Full Length Plays

for our summer

Page on the Stage Festival

 

  GUIDELINES:

Play must be between 70 and 110 pages

Max SEVEN Characters

Simple set and technical considerations will be part of the production

Deadline: March 15th at Midnight!

Playwrights must reside in southern Arizona. 

We will also, if you like, consider your plays for our main stage and other programs. 

 

Here's the thing. We'll make every effort to give you some constructive feedback, both if you're plays are selected or not. This is a developmental process that involves directors, actors and audience. You'll learn more about what your play does and doesn't do. We do ask in return that you're patient with the process, follow some much-needed directions and send us a play you care deeply about. Theatre is, by now this must be obvious, a collaborative process. We look forward to your writing. 

 

 

Three plays will be chosen for workshop presentations in late June early July.

Any questions please contact Michael Fenlason at michaelfenlason@aol.com or 520-977-5218

 Include the subject line: POTS Plays

 

Plays should be mailed to:

ATTN: Page on the Stage

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company

11 S. 6th Avenue

Tucson AZ 85701

 

Plays mail be emailed to: MichaelFenlason@aol.com

 Include the subject line: POTS Plays

 

Or you may drop them off with our box office volunteers while attending one of our productions and

take a look at our stage and performances. Check our website at

www.beowulfalley.org.

 

Please note:

Plays will not be returned.

Stipends for housing, travel, etc., are not available.

 

 

Active Imagination Theatre Presents Spaced Out (formerly The Day Something Happened in Tucson)

Update: Beowulf Alley’s Active Imagination Theatre Presents

Spaced Out (formerly The Day Something Happened in Tucson)

 

In consideration of recent tragic events, we have chosen to modify our forthcoming children’s play being presented by Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Active Imagination Theatre. Originally announced as The Day Something Happened in Tucson, it is now titled,  Spaced Out and has a slightly different synopsis. We ask the media and our associates to help us make adjustments to anything currently published or in process of being published with the former title and thank you for your assistance. A modified press release is below.

 

Beowulf Alley’s Active Imagination Theatre Presents

Spaced Out

 

(Tucson, AZ) Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Active Imagination Theatre, 11 South 6^th Avenue, Downtown Tucson, will present a lively science fiction tale, Spaced Out, dedicated to the memory of Christina Taylor Green. Active Imagination Theatre is ideal for 4-10 year-olds (and all kids at heart), Performance dates are January 22, 23, 29, 30, February 5 & 6, 2011 at 12:00 noon. Tickets are $5 for children 4-12, and $5 for ages 13 and older when purchased ONLINE at www.beowulfalley.org using PayPal or Google. At the door, ages 13 and older are $8. Children 3 and under, seated in parents’ laps, are free. The box office phone number is (520) 882-0555.

 

Estimated Run Time: 40 minutes

We can accommodate a maximum of 3 wheelchairs per performance with advance notice.

After a crazy vacation in outer space, the crew of the USS Lost Cause returns to our solar system and finds that the Earth has been blown up in their absence. Fortunately they have a time machine, and they beam down to Earth in various time periods to find out what happened. Following clues, a team led by Sergeant Gungho explores caveman days, the Wild West, and a mystery location to stop the Earth from being destroyed.

 

Participatory, improvisational play is developed by AIT’s actors and geared for pre-school and elementary-aged children. Under the supervision of adult actors, children in the audience are invited to participate in scenes with only a bag of silly hats and costumes for props, allowing for the most fun, flexibility, and creativity and designed to inspire imagination and story-telling skills. Children and their parents are invited to share this exciting performance and be a part of the action. Portability allows the troupe to perform in schools, museums, and other off-site venues, giving us a vehicle for outreach to the community. It’s a great way to have a birthday party! Please check our website for specific performances.

 

------------------------------------------------------------

TucsonStage.com - home of Chuck Graham's "Let the Show Begin"

Visit the website for TTA Listserv subscription information

 

 

Late Night Theatre Auditions

Late Night Theatre at Beowulf Alley Announces Auditions

 

Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 South 6^th Avenue, Downtown Tucson, will hold auditions on January 23^rd at 7:30 p.m. at the theatre for a new play, Word Clouds, by

Michael Fenlason and Tomas Ulises-Soto. Written in response to the very recent American tragedy and the assassination attempt of Gabrielle Giffords, the play explores the reactions, feelings and responses of a community, our leaders and our nation. For more information contact Michael at 520-977-5218 or Tomas at tomasulisessoto@gmail.com

 

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays, March 4, 5, 11 and 12 at 10:30 p.m. and one 7:30 p.m. performance on Wednesday, March 9 at Beowulf Alley Theatre. Rehearsals are contingent on cast availability.

 

Needed are:            3 men (ages 20-50) and 3 women (ages 20-50)

 

Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script.

Amber Norgaard Concert at Beowulf Alley Theatre

Beowulf Alley Theatre Presents

Amber Norgaard in Concert

 

Beowulf Alley offers a one-night only performance of indie artist, Amber Norgaard,   http://www.ambernorgaard.com/, on January 30, 2011, 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $12 up to a day in advance of the performance, then $15 at the door the night of the performance. For more information, call the box office at (520) 882-0555.

Named the 2007 “Up & Coming Artist of the Year” at the Tucson Area Music Awards (TAMMIES), Norgaard “first recognized the power of music transcending language - and rhythm and beat bringing the community together” when she volunteered to work with a doctor and nurse team in a remote village in the Dominican Republic. It didn’t matter that she knew little Spanish. Norgaard eventually captured-in-song the stories of indigenous people she met in Bethel, in Alaska’s southwest bush region and while working as a community health nurse involved in public health education in the prison system, and in an HIV peer education program for kids. Described as “the love child of Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant and Melissa Etheridge”, she births and sings songs about everything that moves her - be it the ravages of PTSD and homelessness in “Hell Town” veterans, or passion itself in “Overtaken”. (Excerpts taken from Tucson Green Times)

“One of Tucson’s great musical trailblazers…”  Tucson Lifestyle Magazine

“…the emotions are heartfelt, delivered with a quiet passion and authenticity.” Tucson Weekly 

“Her lyrics don't paint a picture, they grab your arm."  The Iowa Entertainer

 

Late Night Theatre presents Interrogating the Nude

 

Beowulf Alley’s Late Night Theatre Presents

Interrogating the Nude by Doug Wright

 

Late Night Theatre at Beowulf Alley, 11 South 6^th Avenue, Downtown Tucson, presents original and cutting edge theatre for the up-late crowd. Whether new plays or classic literature with a twist, Late Night Theatre at Beowulf Alley challenges, intrigues, charms and shocks. At 10:30 p.m., on January 28, 29, February 4, and 5, 2011, join us for INTERROGATING THE NUDE by Doug Wright, directed by Scott O’Brien. The cast includes Evan Engle, Brian Hanson, Aelynn Heinrichs, Scott O’Brien and Josh Parra. This play contains mature subject matter. Doors open 30 minutes prior to performances.

 

Tickets are $8 and may be purchased online with a credit card until three hours prior to performances. At the door, we can accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover debit or credit or cash.

 

This play is about Marcel Duchamp and his famous painting "Nude Descending a Staircase" that so shocked and horrified the public at the 1913 Armory Show in New York City. The play presents Duchamp and the photographer, Man Ray, as Duchamp turns himself in to the police station, confessing that he has murdered Rose Selavy, whom he claims is his sister and who has been having an affair with Man Ray. The play is surreal, fluid, and very visual, with excellent stage directions that allow the reader to see the play clearly in the mind's eye. The playwright has managed to create in a drama what Duchamp created on canvas. A new way of perceiving a well-known subject. INTERROGATING THE NUDE is a lively, funny, and fascinating experimental play that is clear enough to grab any reasonably intelligent audience yet complex enough to intrigue the more demanding viewer.

 

Beowulf Alley Theatre Presents Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl

Beowulf Alley Theatre Presents

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl

 

Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 South 6^th Avenue, Downtown Tucson presents Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl from January 21-February 6, 2011. Thursdays through Saturdays, performances are at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Directed by Lydia Borowicz, the cast includes Bill Epstein, Nicholas Gallardo, Lucas Gonzales, Joi Marie Johnson, Allison Rose, Kristina (Miranda) Sloan, and David Swisher. Tickets for the January 21 preview are $15. For the general run the ticket prices range from $18-$23 with some online discounts available at www.beowulfalley.org. For more information please check the website or call (520) 882-0555.

Playwright Sarah Ruhl re-imagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. Orpheus lives in musical reverie, Eurydice in the intrigue of words and interesting ideas.  A victim of manipulation by the Lord of The Underworld, Eurydice dies on her wedding day.  She is reunited with her father in the Underworld, where together they struggle to recall the memory of lost love.  With characters you might meet on a NY subway, quirky plot twists, and breathtaking imagery, the play is a magical dip in the flow the unconscious.

Rhapsodically beautiful. A weird and wonderful new play [Eurydice] - an inexpressibly moving theatrical fable about love, loss and the pleasures and pains of memory. -- The New York Times

Sarah Ruhl is a fresh, compelling, and versatile American playwright. Her play, Eurydice, was written while a graduate student at Brown University. She received a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship award. This young playwright is emerging as a powerful presence in the American theater. Ruhl’s play, The Clean House, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005.  Her plays have been produced throughout the U.S. and Europe at such venues as the Lincoln Center Theater, New York, the Actor’s Centre, London, the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, and the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, among many others.

 

Readers Theatre presents Accommodations - by Gavin Kayner

Beowulf Alley Theatre – Readers Theatre

 

Tuesday, February 8, 2011. Pay what you will…

 

Accommodations – by Gavin Kayner

 

Accommodations is a tale told on many levels. On the surface, it’s the story of a mature woman, Jean, immersed in a faltering marriage whose lover of 40 years ago reenters her life forcing her to decide between staying with her husband or leaving with him. Jean’s two alter egos, Anne Bonny the 18^th century pirate and Edith Wharton the renowned novelist, urge her to forgo either man. While attempting to resolve this dilemma, we discover other issues are actually driving the play forward. Questions regarding mothers and sons, reality and fantasy, truth and its consequences. As a result, will Jean stay or leave becomes part of the larger question:  if survival is a matter of making accommodations, what can we say about authenticity? What can we say of love? What can we say of faith?  And what can we say about the nature of our relationships?

 

Gavin Kayner is a local, award-winning playwright. His plays Noche de los Muertos and The Language of Flowers have appeared at Beowulf Alley. He thanks you for your patronage.

 

standing o for best of theater

ANNUAL 'MAC' AWARDS HONOR COURAGE, INTENT, EXCELLENCE

standing o for best of theater

Kathleen Allen Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Friday, December 31, 2010

Award: Best Actress, Drama
Elizabeth Leadon-Sonnenfelt nailed the difficult, complex character in Beowulf's "Blackbird." She was riveting, and she takes the Mac.

Award: Best Director, Drama

David Harrower's "Blackbird" needs a director with a sensitive touch and a keen intelligence to make the provocative piece palpable and moving. Laura Lippman did just that.
For her work and her courage on this difficult piece, she snags the Mac.

Award: Best Drama

Beowulf's thoughtful production of Harrower's "Blackbird" was a powerful, provocative piece of theater. It was proof that stellar theater doesn't necessarily need big bucks to make a big impact. It takes the Mac for Best Drama.


Nomination: Best Actor, Drama

Art Almquist gave you the creeps and broke your heart in the disturbing "Blackbird," staged by Beowulf Alley Theatre.

Nomination: Best Actor, Drama
In another Beowulf production, "Shining City," David Greenwood had a mammoth job as John, a nonstop talker with a lot of problems. He handled it with grace and a flawless Irish brogue.
------------------------------

Read the entire AZ Daily Star article here: standing o for best of theater

BEOWULF ALLEY HAS MORE IN STORE

BEOWULF ALLEY HAS MORE IN STORE

By Chuck Graham
TucsonStage.com

If you thought "Blackbird" was good, playwright Sarah Ruhl is up next with her surreal adaptation for the stage of "Eurydice!"

The Beowulf Alley production is directed by Lydia Borowicz.

This surreal modernization for the stage brings the Orpheus myth of his descent into Hades straight into the New York subway system, an apt metaphor if there ever was one.

Ruhl first captured our attention with "The Clean House" in 2004, then landed on Broadway with honors in 2009 with "In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)." In the middle was "Eurydice," in which she complicates the mythology of gender by introducing her father. We remember, Orpheus was about to marry Eurydice when she died.

Screaming his angry frustration with the gods, Orpheus rushed into Hades to snatch back his bride literally from the jaws of death.

Ruhl wonders what might have happened if Eurydice didn't want to go with Orpheus.

Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, running Jan. 21-Feb. 6 at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave. For details and reservations, (520) 622-4460, or visit www.beowulfalley.org