Surreal Life:Cocteau, Anouilh, Wellman, Glowacki, Durang
Five groundbreaking authors do battle with life's ironies."Since these mysteries are beyond me, let's pretend we're organizing them." Jean Cocteau"I was in theatre because it was a low, sleazy, discredited art form that had to do with sex and things of the devil." Mac Wellman TheatreZone presents an evening of dark comedies, Surreal Life: Cocteau, Anouilh, Wellman, Glowacki, Durang. In Home Section Janusz Glowacki's apartment painters get the job done despite the corpse hanging in their midst. Mac Wellman's The Sandalwood Box is a journey on the wrong train to the home of a collector of catastrophes. Durang's sharp humor is unleashed in Naomi in the Living Room, a nightmare family visit complete with crossdressing and a furniture fetish. Anouilh and Aurenche's Humulus the Mute follows the passions of a young man doomed to speak but one word a day, and The Eiffel Tower Wedding Party is best described by the author, Jean Cocteau, "Sunday vacuity, human beastliness, ready-made expressions, disassociation of ideas from flesh and bone, ferocity of childhood, the miraculous poetry of daily life: these are my play." Famous for his wit and psychological penetration, poet, novelist, artist, film-maker Jean Cocteau stands out, together with his equally illustrious collaborators -Picasso, Stravinsky, Satie, and Artaud- among the great artistic pioneers of the twentieth century. Jean Anouilh, best known for his Antigone, creates a theatre described by Harold Clurman as "an amalgam of ballet, farce, street fair and improvisation- all made to serve the purpose of revealing human truth in the gravest sense." Poet and playwright Mac Wellman is a two time Obie recipient and the author of Terminal Hip, 7 Blowjobs, and Sincerity Forever. Polish playwright Janusz Glowacki is best know for his critically acclaimed works Hunting Cockroaches and Antigone in New York. Christopher Durang, noted for his dark satirical humor and his open assault on traditional belief systems, is the author of the Obie-Award winning plays Sister Many Ignatius Explains It All for You, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, and 1998-99 winner Betty's Summer Vacation. TheatreZone's production of Surreal Life will be directed by a team of company regulars, all of whom collaborated on this summer's acclaimed production of Caryl Churchill's Mad Forest. Making their Boston area directing debuts are Danielle DiDio, Dan Zisson, Michael Lane, and John Herring, who received rave reviews for his numerous TheatreZone appearances including The Handless Maiden, Ubu Roi, and Mad Forest. They are joined by Artistic Director Danielle Fauteux Jacques.
November 5-27 1999, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. at Actors Workshop, 40 Boylston Street, Boston.
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Director/Sandalwood Box...................................John Herring Director/Naomi in the Living Room...................................Michael Lane Director/Humulus the Mute...................................Dan Zisson Director/Eiffel Tower...................................Danielle Fauteux Jacques Production Stage Manager...................................Julie Ahern Music/Sound Design...................................David Farewell Technical Director...................................Ryan Ide Scene Painting...................................Marchann Sinatra & Treather Gassmann Production Assistant...................................Paige J. Lussier Drummer...................................Peter Himmer House Manager...................................Liz Kurtz Cast: (In order of appearance)
Sandalwood Box by Mac Wellman
Naomi in the Living Room by Christopher Durang
Humulus the Mute by Jean Anouilh
The Wedding on the Eiffel Tower by Jean Cocteau |
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