spooky action theater “Spooky action at a distance…” –Albert Einstein ![]() MEDIA RELEASE Spooky Action Theater presents Clash of Worlds in an American Fable Spooky Action Theater presents The Water Engine, February 16 through March 11. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet’s play is set in Chicago, during the 1933-4 World’s Fair and Century of Progress Exhibition. Feb 16 - March 11, 2012 Tickets: Purchase online at www.spookyaction.org or at the theater one hour before performances. For information or to purchase by phone call 202-248-0301 Performing at: Spooky Action Theater at The Universalist National Memorial Church,
For Immediate Release: May 11, 2011 Contact: Richard Henrich, 301-920-1414 Physics in Motion
THE PLAY Einstein’s Dreams From the novella by Alan Lightman, adapted by Kipp Erante Cheng. “nebulous, poetic and entirely concrete” A patent clerk in Switzerland dreams possible theories of Time. Twenty six-year old Einstein discovers Relativity, as other worlds nesting inside the shell of convention blossom and unfold. Twelve actors make and remake past, present and future in movement, light and sound – giving us physics in action and a transforming vision of life. This authorized adaptation was first staged by Burning Coal Theatre of Raleigh, NC, Jerome Davis, Artistic Director, Simmie Kastner, Managing Director, co-producer of the current production. Previously presented in Raleigh, New York and Milwaukee, Einstein’s Dreams is a Washington area premier. Events from Einstein’s early life thread through a sequence of dream worlds based on different possible theories of time. A highly visual, movement based production.
THE AUTHOR Alan Lightman is a novelist, essayist, physicist and educator. Currently, he is Adjunct Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His novel Einstein's Dreams was an international bestseller and has been translated into thirty languages. Lightman’s work has received recognition from the PEN New England/Boston Globe Winship Awards, the National Book Awards, the Massachusetts Book Awards and Discover Magazine.
THE ADAPTOR Kipp Erante Cheng was awarded the 1996-1997 Princess Grace Foundation Playwriting Fellowship; the 1997-98 Van Lier Playwriting Fellowship; and the 1997-98 Jerome Foundation/Theatre Communication Group Fellowship. As a journalist, Mr. Cheng writes about technology for Entertainment Weekly and about theater for American Theatre.
THE PRODUCTION Well known from many regional productions, Guest Director Rebecca Holderness, Associate Professor at the Peck School of The Arts, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is joined by lighting designer Matthew Adelson from Massachusetts and set designer Vicki Davis from New York, collaborators on prior productions. The design team includes Washington artists Lynly Saunders for costumes and Elisheba Ittoop for sound.
THE CAST AEA actor Adam Segaller returns to DC from New York to play Einstein. The ensemble is diverse in every way possible, including dancers with disability, elder people and young performers. Two guest actors from Burning Coal Theatre in Raleigh complete the cast.
WHERE Spooky Action Theater at The Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20009. Separate theater entrance off S Street at the rear of the building.
WHEN Thu - Sat @ 8 PM, Sun @ 2 PM running June 2 -26, 2011. Running time approximately 90 minutes.
TICKETS Thu evening & Sun matinee $15.00, Fri & Sat evenings $20.00. Tickets may be purchased online at www.spookyaction.org or at the theater one hour before performances. For information call 301-920-1414.
For Immediate Release: October 5, 2010 Contact: Richard Henrich, 301-920-1414
UNIQUE BECKETT TEXT – NEW THEATER SPACE
THE SPACE A versatile black box theater housed in the Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th St NW, Washington, DC. All new HVAC, acoustic wall and ceiling treatments, lighting grid, LED stage lighting and sound system. Made possible by grants from the Marpat Foundation and the Julian R and Varue W Oishei Foundation. TEXT AS PLAY The Lost Ones a prose text by Samuel Beckett, with performances Oct 21 – Nov 14, 2010 in Washington. The production continues for additional performances at Touchstone Theatre in Bethlehem, PA, Nov 18 -21, 2010.
A universe in a closed cylinder. A little people of lost ones, endlessly turning in a fascinating dance only Samuel Beckett could devise. One man uses 60 tiny puppets to stage his Dantesque vision, exploring the labyrinth of his heart and mind, searching out where dreams and consciousness itself are born.
The Lost Ones was first staged by Mabou Mines in 1974 in an award winning production using the story-telling device of miniature figures. With special permission from the Estate of Samuel Beckett, Spooky Action and actor Carter Jahncke reimagined a new staging of this text for the Capital Fringe Festival 2009, receiving rave reviews and calls to revive the production for an extended run.
THE PLAYWRIGHT Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett's later works are exquisitely spare. The Lost Ones (1971) carries us to a world so stripped to essence, we are lifted out of time and space to another dimension entirely – purgatory, inferno or something else? THE PRODUCTION Director Richard Henrich brings to the work a special sensitivity gained through a fellowship and thesis on Beckett at Yale. This production continues a successful collaboration with actor Carter Jahncke that began with Beckett Duo: Krapp's Last Tape & Ohio Impromptu in fall 2008. THE CAST Carter Jahncke, veteran of Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, The Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Spooky Action Theater, Olney Theatre Center and many more, is the narrator. He creates a unique Beckett character, prodding and endlessly searching for a way out of his prison – which is nothing less than the unyielding confines of his own skull.
WHERE Spooky Action Theater at The Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20009. Separate theater entrance off S Street at the rear of the building. Off street parking available.
WHEN Washington performances Oct 21 – Nov 14, 2010. Thu – Sat @ 8 PM (no performance Fri, Oct 29), Sun matinees @ 3 PM, extra evening performance Sunday Oct 31 @ 8 PM. Running time 1 hour.
TICKETS Tickets – Thu evening & Sun matinee $15.00, Fri & Sat evenings $20.00. Tickets may be purchased online at www.spookyaction.org or at the theater one hour before performances. For information call 301-920-1414.
For Immediate Release: August 16, 2010 Contact: Richard Henrich, 301-920-1414
Spooky Action Builds New Space, New Season
THE SPACE Spooky Action Theater The Universalist National Memorial Church
With generous help from The Marpat Foundation, The Julian R and Varue W Oishei Foundation, The Universalist National Memorial Church and private donors, Spooky Action Theater has entered into a long-term agreement to renovate and perform in a new venue for developing theater in Washington, DC.
The space is located in the lower level auditorium of The Universalist National Memorial Church. By providing HVAC, acoustic ceiling treatments and acoustic wall units, in addition to theater lighting, sound system and flexible audience seating risers, Spooky Action is creating a space that can accommodate a variety of events – from intimate theater performances to meetings or receptions for over 200 guests.
UPCOMING EVENTS Acclaimed Scottish folk singer Jim Malcolm presents a special benefit concert for an invited audience of friends of the theater on September 10, 2010.
The new space will be officially inaugurated with a gala fundraiser on October 2, 2010, featuring Halley Shoenberg’s Jazz Quartet playing a repertoire of 1930s -1940s swing, with dancing, catered refreshments and entertainment from the days when radio ruled the waves.
2010 - 2011 SEASON First in Spooky Action’s new season is a reprise of its much lauded 2009 Fringe production The Lost Ones by Samuel Beckett, Oct 21 – Nov 14, presented by special permission from the Estate of Samuel Beckett. One actor, Carter Jahncke, and 60 tiny puppets take us into a world only Beckett could describe and invent. This production travels to Bethlehem, PA, for a week of performances at Touchstone Theatre immediately following the end of its DC run.
Next is the Washington premiere of After the Quake, Feb 10 – Mar 6, 2011, adapted from Haruki Murakami’s novel by Frank Galati (adapted and staged The Grapes of Wrath for Steppenwolf). Two stories of contemporary Japan – one touchingly real, one astonishingly surreal – are flawlessly interwoven into a seamless fabric.
The season ends with another area premiere, Einstein’s Dreams, June 2 – 26, 2011, by Alan Lightman, adapted by Kipp Cheng. Burning Coal Theatre of Raleigh, NC, which commissioned and created the original, will co-produce. Guest artist Rebecca Holderness, who has moved from NYU to teaching at University of Milwaukee, will come to Washington to direct. Designers from the Burning Coal production and two actors from North Carolina will fill out the local production team and cast of 13 actors. The subjective relativity of time finds a purely theatrical incarnation in this highly visual, movement based production.
MORE INFO Contact Artistic Director Richard Henrich at 301-920-1414, e-mail rhenrich@spookyaction.org or visit www.spookyaction.org . ++ ++
For Immediate Release: July 2, 2010 Contact: Richard Henrich, 301-920-1414
HORUS – Spooky Action at the Fringe
THE PLAY HORUS written and directed by Richard Henrich, performed at the Capital Fringe Festival on selected dates from July 11 - 25, 2010
HORUS (ancient Egyptian god): A down-at-the-heels French lady artist and a young wannabe developer cook up an unlikely real estate scheme. Under duress, dreams from the unconscious mind surface and become real, with supernatural effect. Funny, weird and always thought-provoking. The play evokes Manhattan’s 1970s downtown art scene, when art and real estate met head-to-head in a gold rush of artists eager to cash in on the gray market for illegal development of abandoned and rundown loft buildings. A burned out artist uses every trick and wile she can muster to cast a spell on a susceptible young contractor and get the magnificent space she needs to reanimate her art. Alcohol, stress and an over-active imagination lead to surprising manifestations, topped by a blast from a very ancient Egyptian past. THE PLAYWRIGHT Richard Henrich’s work has been produced at the Yale Festival of Undergraduate Drama, Theater Genesis in New York, and The (original) Source Theatre Festival. He is the recipient of a Creative Projects Grant from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County for writing a new script, Jnside Out, based on the life and work of French playwright Alfred Jarry. His translation of Jarry’s Love Making Visits was published by electricUmbrella Publishing. THE PRODUCTION Director Richard Henrich has staged productions from Yale to the other side of the world, in Dhaka Bangladesh. As Artistic Director of Spooky Action Theater, Henrich staged much of the company’s defining work – the André Gregory adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, Holy Ghosts by Romulus Linney and last season’s Fringe success The Lost Ones by Samuel Beckett. HORUS boasts artistic support from Ayun Fedorcha (lights), David Crandall (sound) and Lynn Sharp Spears (costumes, props/set). THE CAST Washington theater veteran Wendy Wilmer, seen at Rorschach, Catalyst, WSC, Theatre Alliance, First Stage and many more, reveals she was actually French in a past life. Newcomer Matthew Friedman, having already appeared at Theater of the First Amendment, Firebelly, Source and Discovery Theater, displays his knack for comedy. And the versatile Davis Hasty demonstrates he can play anything.
WHERE Fort Fringe – Redrum, 612 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
WHEN Sunday, July 11 @ 8:30 PM TICKETS All tickets are $15.00 and may be purchased
online: www.capitalfringe.org phone: 1-866-811-4111 Fringe Box Office: 607 NY Ave NW, WDC 20001 or at the theater one hour before performances
This production presented as a part of the 2010 Capital Fringe Festival. ++ ++
For Immediate Release: July 3, 2009 Contact: Richard Henrich, 301-920-1414
The Lost Ones – Beckett at the Fringe
TEXT AS PLAY The Lost Ones a prose text by Samuel Beckett, performed at the Capital Fringe Festival, on selected dates from July 10 - 24, 2009
A whole world contained in a closed cylinder. A little people of lost ones, endlessly searching in a fascinating dance only Samuel Beckett could devise. A narrator uses tiny puppets and ladders to stage this Dantesque vision, exploring the confines of a surreal labyrinth, down to the place where consciousness and dreams struggle to be born. If he names it and enacts it, and gets it finally right, this last man standing just might find his way out. The Lost Ones was first staged by Mabou Mines in 1974 in an award winning production using the story-telling device of miniature figures. Scena Theatre revived The Lost Ones in Washington in 1999 for its "Beckett Festival." The Lost Ones also appeared in Berlin and in Slovenia at the Maribor Theatre Festival in 2000. In 2004 March and April, the production was seen at the Warehouse Theatre (Washington). The Scena productions were all directed by Artistic Director Robert McNamara. We are grateful to The Estate of Samuel Beckett for authorizing this rare return engagement for The Lost Ones. THE PLAYWRIGHT Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett (1906 – 1989) Irish writer, dramatist and poet. Beckett's work offers a bleak yet often hilarious perspective on the travails of human kind. A student, assistant and friend of James Joyce, as the world emerged from WW II, Beckett arose as one of the key artistic voices searching for new forms and a new way to see the world, to become one of the founding fathers of “Theatre of the Absurd.” His early works for theater, including Waiting for Godot and Endgame, tread a precarious high wire stretched between the sublime and the ridiculous. In his later work, which includes the prose text The Lost Ones (1971), Beckett pursued an increasing minimalism of style and form, achieving a poetic density of imagery and language. THE PRODUCTION Director Richard Henrich brings to the work a special sensitivity gained through a fellowship and thesis on Beckett at Yale. This production builds on the successful collaboration with actor Carter Jahncke that produced Spooky Action's Beckett Duo: Krapp's Last Tape & Ohio Impromptu last fall. THE CAST Carter Jahncke, veteran of Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, The Studio Theatre, Spooky Action Theater, Olney Theatre Center and many more, is the narrator. He creates a unique Beckett character, prodding and endlessly searching for a way out of his prison – which is nothing less than the unyielding confines of his own skull.
WHERE The Warehouse -- Next Door; 1021 7th ST, NW; Washington, DC 20001
WHEN Friday, July 10 @ 7 PM | Wednesday, July 15 @ 8 PM | Sunday, July 19 @ 1:30 PM | Thursday, July 23 @ 7:15 PM | and a Late Nite Special – Friday, July 24 @ 11:45 PM
TICKETS All tickets are $15.00 and may be purchased
This production presented as a part of the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival ++ ++
For Immediate Release: October 22, 2008 Contact: Richard Henrich, 301-920-1414
BECKETT DUO
THE PLAYS Ohio Impromptu and Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, performed in tandem, October 31 – November 23 at Spooky Action Theater, in residence at The Black Box Theatre, Montgomery College, Takoma Park.
Surprising theatrical images, plain text honed to a keen edge that strikes deep – this is what we expect from the Master. And this Beckett Duo delivers magnificently. Plays that go to the heart of memory lost, memory regained and memory transfigured. Plays that run the gamut from slapstick to otherworldly profounds of thought. Plays that touch the indefinable core of human experience to become truly timeless. All side by side with the most unforgettable banana you'll ever see on stage. That's Beckett for you.
THE PLAYWRIGHT Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett had a deep interest in the workings of memory, dating to his first publication, a prize-winning essay on Proust. Krapp’s Last Tape rates among Beckett's best known plays, along with Waiting for Godot and Endgame. Ohio Impromptu, one of his late, condensed playlets carries us to a spare world so stripped to essence we are lifted out of time and space. In these two very different plays, questions of how we connect with our past, which has vanished forever, and of what remains undevoured by voracious Time are provokingly posed in pure theatrical terms.
THE PRODUCTION Director Richard Henrich brings to the work a special sensitivity gained through a fellowship and thesis on Beckett at Yale. Designer Richard Montgomery, whose set for last season's Fool for Love was critically acclaimed, creates a uniquely Beckettian world. Finding time between shows at Gala Hispanic and Catholic University, Ayun Fedorcha adds a painterly minimalism to the lighting design. Ellen Mansueto, Costume Designer for the theater's recent The Marriage of Bette and Boo, returns to lend a hand. And Chris Baine provides indispensable assistance in creating the unseen character of the Tape in Krapp's Last Tape.
THE CAST Carter Jahncke, veteran of Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, The Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth and many more, takes up the role of Krapp. Mr Jahncke is joined by Richard Henrich for Ohio Impromptu.
Beckett Duo: Krapp's Last Tape & Ohio Impromptu is a co-production of Spooky Action Theater and Montgomery College Arts Alive
Beckett Duo: Krapp's Last Tape & Ohio Impromptu by Samuel Beckett Directed by Richard Henrich October 31 - November 23 in The Black Box Theatre at Montgomery College Corner of Philadelphia (East-West Hwy) & Chicago Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912 Performances Fri – Sat at 8 PM, Sat and Sun at 2 PM Pay What You Can Oct 31 - Nov 2 | Regular Tickets $15 ($5 for students at the door) Purchase Tickets: 1-800-494-TIXS or online at: www.spookyaction.org.
Press Performance is Sunday, November 2 @ 2 PM. ++ ++
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Contact: Richard Henrich 202-248-0647
Spooky Action Theater and Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue Rock the Capital Fringe Festival
Vaudeville. Burlesque. Greek tragedy. Rock and roll. History energized.
What: Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue Presents The Oresteia. Music and Lyrics by Steve McWilliams and Debra Buonaccorsi. Book by Debra Buonaccorsi.
If the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus had gone on tour with Led Zeppelin, Woody Guthrie and a carnie troupe, this is what he would have written. A tale of blood, guts and vengeance – Aeschylus' Oresteia, re-charged. Rowdy, raucous, loud and literate: Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue Presents The Oresteia.
Who: Spooky Action Theater and Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue. Featuring: Debra Buonaccorsi, Felicia Curry, Maria Egler, Jon Jester, Laura Keena, Jake Koenig, Mike Kozemchak, Emily Levey, Steve McWilliams, Jennifer Richter and Lucy Savage. Directed by Debra Buonaccorsi. Musical Direction by Steve McWilliams. Choreography by Maria Rodgers. Costume Design by Maria Rodgers. Scenic and Prop Design by Lynn Sharp Spears. Sound and Lighting Design by Dan Martin.
Where: The Baldacchino located at Fort Fringe, 607 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001. Located at the corner of New York Avenue and 6th Street. Look for the Tent Peaks. More information available at www.capitalfringe.org. Phone number 202.962.0037. Metro station : Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center.
When: Friday, July 11th 7:00 PM Saturday, July 12th 9:30 PM Wednesday, July 16th 8:30 PM Thursday, July 24th 6:30 PM Friday, July 25th 7:00 PM Saturday, July 26th 2:00 PM
Tickets: Tickets cost $15 and can be bought online at CapitalFringe.org .
Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue Presents the Oresteia Publicist: Steve McWilliams stevemcwilliams@mac 703-508-2034
Fringe Festival Publicist: Laura Gross, 202-558-7240, c: 202-255-2054, laura@capfringe.org
About the Fringe Festival The mission of Capital Fringe (CapitalFringe.org), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is to connect exploratory artists with adventurous audiences by creating outlets and spaces for creative, cutting-edge and contemporary performance in the District. Often the first opportunity for emerging artists to present their work, the Festival also challenges audiences to discover new, sometimes risk-taking performance art. The uniqueness, variety and accessibility of the performances build new audiences. Capital Fringe Festival presents a vibrant cultural experience, contributing to the city’s economic health, growth and possibilities by offering “cool” things to do. During the 2007 Fringe Festival 20,000 tickets were sold, and 508 individual performances happened in over 20 venues in and around the District. ++
For Immediate Release: Monday, May 19, 2008 Contact: Richard Henrich, 202-248-0647
DURANG DERANGED
THE PLAY The Marriage of Bette and Boo by Christopher Durang runs June 5 – June 29 at Spooky Action Theater, in residence at The Black Box Theatre, Montgomery College, Takoma Park. Durang mines his own memory à la Glass Menagerie – imagining, inventing, analyzing the history of his family and himself. Wicked and dazzling. Thirty years of divorce, alcoholism, madness and death in a wacky family world turned inside out. Wielding the sharp edge of farce, Durang strips an unlikely lode of irony and improbable laughter from the bone yard of his past. THE PLAYWRIGHT The playwright sums himself up as follows, "Keywords: satire, dark comedy, parody, funny, absurdist. Other key words: winter, spring, fall. Also summer. More keywords: coffee, Yale School of Drama, zippers, age, lapsed Catholic, hiccups." Christopher Durang's plays, including Beyond Therapy, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, Baby with the Bathwater and Laughing Wild, have been produced on and off- Broadway, around the country and abroad. A graduate of Harvard and the Yale School of Drama, Durang is co-chair of the Playwriting Program at the Juilliard School in Manhattan. THE PRODUCTION Director Perry T. Schwartz, Artistic Director of Montgomery College's Arts Alive program, returns to theater after several years focused on filmmaking in association with the American Film Institute. Designer Marie-Noelle Daigneault has created a set that echoes the irrationality and whimsy of the play. Jason Arnold's lighting designs have been seen at many local theatres, including Theatre J, Imagination Stage, Washington Shakespeare Company and Olney Theatre Center. The team includes costume designer Ellen Mansueto, sound designer Elisheba Ittoop, recipient of the 2008 USITT Rising Star Award, and video designer James Huckenpahler, whose scenic projections were integral to Spooky Action's Dark Rapture last fall. THE CAST Katie Atkinson, Gerald B. Browning, William C. Cook, Joe Cronin, Mary C. Davis, Bill Gordon, Martha Karl, Ellen Mansueto, David Rothman and Mundy Spears The Marriage of Bette and Boo is a co-production of Spooky Action Theater and Montgomery College Arts Alive
The Marriage of Bette and Boo by Christopher Durang directed by Perry T. Schwartz June 5 – 29 in The Black Box Theatre at Montgomery College Corner of Philadelphia (East-West Hwy) & Chicago Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912 Performances Thu – Sat at 8 PM and Sun at 7 PM Pay What You Can June 5 – 8 | Regular Tickets $10 ($5 for students at the door) Purchase Tickets: 1-800-494-TIXS or online at: www.spookyaction.org.
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