ArtsEmerson Announces Additional Shows
Third Season of Boston Theatre
By: Emerson - Jul 20, 2012
After two critically-acclaimed seasons of programming from all over the world, ArtsEmerson announced eight productions for its third theatre season several months ago, with the promise of more. Today, ArtsEmerson announced four additional productions for the 2012-2013 Season, with a promise of still more to come in the “Stay Tuned” roster over the coming months.
Explaining that the new season would mark a departure in programming philosophy, Executive Director Rob Orchard said “As a theatre producer, the constraints of the calendar are one of my greatest challenges. By leaving open time in the season, we allow for work that can be presented with shorter planning horizons. This enables us to bring to Boston the freshest, most exciting productions, and to react quickly to what’s happening in the theatre world, both near and far.”
PRODUCTIONS ADDED TO 2012-2013 SEASON
Tickets on sale July 19 to members, and July 26 to the general public. For ticket and membership information, visit artsemerson.org
Ted Hughes’ Tales from Ovid
Whistler in the Dark
Presented in association with ArtsEmerson
Adapted by Whistler in the Dark
Directed by Meg Taintor
The Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre at the Paramount Center
Recommended for ages 16 and up
Boston’s own Whistler in the Dark company reaches for new heights in revisiting their bold staging that combines their signature pared-down aesthetic with dizzying aerial feats. An explosive combination of movement and poetry, Tales from Ovid cradles the myths that have been the basis for countless contemporary stories – stories of transformation, of transcendent passion, of gods and mortals locked in combat until that entanglement combusts into a new state of being. Using Ted Hughes’ muscular and robust translation, which was awarded the Whitbread Prize in 1997, these myths are explored and exploded outward in this vibrant new adaptation.
Founded in 2005, Whistler in the Dark delves into vividly dramatic texts to bring young people to the theatre. Whistler has presented 20 full-length plays and sponsored three years of FeverFest – a festival devoted to providing opportunities to connect exploratory artists with adventurous audiences by creating an outlet for innovative, cutting-edge and contemporary performance in the Greater Boston area. Whistler received Elliot Norton Award nominations for its productions of Howard Barker's The Possibilities and Tom Stoppard's Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth. Tales from Ovid was honored with an IRNE Award
November 23—December 16, 2012
ArtsEmerson and Hershey Felder present
Mona Golabek in The Pianist of Willesden Lane
Adapted and Directed by Hershey Felder
Based on the book The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen
The Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre at the Paramount Center
Recommended for ages 12 and up
Set in Vienna in 1938 and London during the Blitzkrieg, The Pianist of Willesden Lane tells the true story of Mona Golabek’s mother, noted pianist and author Lisa Jura. A young Jewish pianist, Lisa dreams of a concert debut at the storied Musikverein concert hall. When Lisa is swept up in the kindertransport, to protect her from the Nazi regime, everything about her life is upended except her love of music and her pursuit of that dream. Golabek performs some of the world’s most beloved piano music in this poignant tribute to her remarkable mother. Directed by Hershey Felder (who brought Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin to life at ArtsEmerson last season), The Pianist of Willesden Lane is about hope, survival and how, through our darkest times, music has the power to help us survive.
American concert pianist Mona Golabek has appeared at the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center and the Royal Festival Hall alongside major orchestras worldwide. A Grammy nominee, she has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Avery Fisher Prize and the People's Award of the International Chopin Competition and has been the subject of several PBS documentaries. Golabek and Lee Cohen are award-winning authors of The Children of Willesden Lane, the book upon which The Pianist of Willesden Lane is based.
January 26—27, 2013
Maestro Artist Management presents
THEATRE-ATELIER PIOTR FOMENKO
Family Happiness
Based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy
Directed by Piotr Fomenko.
In Russian with English subtitles
Presented in association with ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage
Cutler Majestic Theatre
Recommended for ages 12 and up
After sensational multiple appearances at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York, the acclaimed international theatre group “Theatre-Atelier Piotr Fomenko” is debuting in Boston with Family Happiness, a story about the evolution of love, based on the eponymous novel by Leo Tolstoy and adapted for the stage by Piotr Fomenko. Told from the viewpoint of the main heroine, Masha, the play abandons the novel's straightforward storytelling to recall the quiet affair between Masha and her father's friend, Sergey, the first months of happiness, her thirst for social status and the disappointment with society, and the return and attempt to build a new, calm kind of family happiness. Passionless, dry and, at times, cynical, Masha rips away the cover of time to reveal the sweet happiness of young love that can never be recaptured.
Family Happiness premiered at the Theater-Atelier Piotr Fomenko in 2000 to rave reviews, and went on to win multiple awards and prizes for the cast and director. It is part of the theater's repertoire and is heavily featured on the festival circuits in Russia and Europe.
Piotr Fomenko, one of Russia’s most renowned master acting teachers/directors, follows in the rich Russian theatrical tradition of master teachers who lead their own actors' studios. In 1993, Fomenko formed Theatre-Atelier Piotr Fomenko, which has since become one of the most sought-after theater troupes in Russia. The troupe made its North American debut at the Lincoln Center Festival in 2004 with War and Peace, based on Tolstoy’s great novel and Egyptian Nights, taken from unfinished works of Pushkin. Both works were adapted for the stage and directed by Fomenko He trained at the famed Moscow Arts Theater School, but rebelled against its conformity at the time, was ostracized, and left to continue his studies at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS), graduating in 1961. One of his earliest theater works, the 1966 production The Death of Tarelkine at the Mayakovsky Theater that was banned after a handful of performances, has achieved cult status. Blacklisted by several theaters in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Fomenko began working at a small student theater at Lomonosov University where he continued his defiant theatrical experimentation in productions of plays from the “Theater of the Absurd” by Ionesco, Beckett and Mrozek, all banned by the Soviet regime. In 1985, after a long battle with the regime, Fomenko was finally allowed to settle at GITIS where he built, in his own words, “a rare ensemble, containing actors whose personalities are equally rare.” Fomenko’s students – now known as “fomenki” – formed the core of some of Moscow’s most dynamic theater troupes and most are now the core members of Theatre-Atelier Piotr Fomenko. In the course of his long artistic career, Fomenko has created a large body of work for theater, television and film. His stage adaptations and directorial work have been seen in theaters throughout Russia, Europe and the US, and won numerous international awards.
March 22—24, 2013
Emergency
Daniel Beaty
Created by Daniel Beaty
Cutler Majestic Theatre
Recommended for ages 12 and up
The culmination of a year-long artistic residency for writer/performer Daniel Beaty.
A slave ship has just mysteriously emerged in front of the Statue of Liberty, sending New York City into a whirl of emotion and self-examination. Daniel Beaty portrays a cast of 40 characters in this explosive and funny tour-de-force featuring slam poetry, multi-character transformation and song. Seen through the lens of a single family at the center of the maelstrom, Beaty delightfully teases out his tale with the colorful commentary of neighbors and bystanders. Through their responses to this surreal happening and their varied testimonies on identity and personal freedom, Emergency weaves a stirring commentary on what it is to be human and the longing to be free.
Daniel Beaty is an award-winning actor, singer, writer and composer. He has received Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations, the 2010 AUDELCO Award for Outstanding Solo Performance and the 2010 Ovation Award for Best Male Lead Actor. He received the 2007 Obie Award for Excellence in Off-Broadway Theater for Writing & Performing and the 2007 AUDELCO Award for Solo Performance for Emergency. He is the recipient of the 2007 Scotsman Fringe First Award for the best new writer at the Edinburgh Festival. He has worked with artists such as Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Jill Scott, Sonia Sanchez, MC Lyte, Mos Def, Tracy Chapman, Deepak Chopra, and Phylicia Rashad. Beaty has also worked with organizations headquartered in Boston such as City Year and Year Up, presenting keynote presentations at staff retreats.
This presentation of Beaty’s signature work on the stage of the Majestic will be the culminating celebration of a year-long residency that supports the continued life of four of his plays, puts Beaty in the classroom with Emerson College students, creates open rehearsal opportunities for students and ArtsEmerson members, and brings Beaty’s work to communities around the city. In addition to the performances of Emergency, the projects at the center of this residency include Breath and Imagination, an ensemble play about the life of the black opera singer Roland Hayes that will premiere later this year at Hartford Stage, Mr. Joy, the solo-play follow up to Emergency, a solo work about the life of Paul Robeson, The Tallest Tree in the Forest, and his hit production of Through The Night, which had a long Off-Broadway run last season.
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED 2012-2013 THEATRE SEASON PRODUCTIONS
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Sept. 20—23, 2012
Paris Commune
The Civilians
Created by Steven Cosson and Michael Friedman
Paramount Center Mainstage
Running Time: TBA
Recommended for ages 12 and up
In 1871, working-class Parisians took to the streets and overthrew the French government, declaring their city autonomous and launching an effort to radically reinvent society. The Civilians brings these explosive events to life in this new musical play. Using found texts and original songs from this extraordinary period, Paris Commune tells the story of Europe’s first socialist revolution, bringing alive the idealism, elation and eventual tragic downfall of this uprising. Boston audiences have the special opportunity to see this world premiere by The Civilians, who were part of ArtsEmerson’s first and second seasons with You Better Sit Down: Tales From My Parents’ Divorce and In The Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards, before it heads to New York.
This playfully clever Brooklyn-based theatre company has toured extensively with presentations in over 40 cities nationally and internationally. The Civilians has also received Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk and Drama Guild nominations.
Sept. 27—Oct. 7, 2012
Sequence 8
Les 7 doigts de la main
Directed by Shana Carroll and Sébastien Soldevila
Co-Production with Les Nuits de Fourvière/Département du Rhône, Lyon (Fr) and TOHU (Montréal, Canada)
Commissioning partner: ArtsEmerson
Cutler Majestic Theatre
Running Time: TBA
Recommended for ages 7 and up
After blowing the minds of Boston audiences with PSY, Les 7 doigts de la main returns with their sixth and newest creation, Sequence 8, giving Boston another chance to witness their incredible movement-based artistry. In Sequence 8, emotions heighten until they spring into action and relationships transform and evolve until they create actual velocity. Set not in a specific time or place but rather on a vertical canvas of sorts, this acrobatic dance and theatre piece contemplates the role of the "other", and how we define ourselves through and against it. For their 10th anniversary production, Les 7 doigts de la main combines explosive physical exploits with a thoughtful depiction of human relationships for an unforgettable performance.
Winner of numerous accolades, including the Gold Medal, Silver Medal and Nikouline Trophy (Festival Mondial du Cirque de demain); Gold Medal and Audience Awards (SOLyCIRCO Festival); Argus Award (Brighton Festival); and nominated for two Drama Desk awards, Montreal-based Les 7 doigts has been making waves in the circus world and beyond since its founding in 2002.
Oct. 9—Oct. 21, 2012
Hamlet
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Dominic Dromgoole and Bill Buckhurst
Paramount Center Mainstage
Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with an intermission
Recommended for ages 12 and up
From Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, a handful of players perform this timeless classic. Hamlet explores political intrigue and sexual obsession, philosophical reflection and violent action, tragic depth and wild humor. Michael Benz in the title role captures the youthful and less jaded aspects of Hamlet’s personality rarely seen in more traditional interpretations. In just two and a half hours, this production embraces the theatre of Shakespeare’s day by returning to the roots of performance, with actors playing multiple characters. Humorous and boisterous, the Globe Company packs an emotional wallop with their inherent theatricality.
Shakespeare's Globe is a faithful reconstruction of the open-air playhouse designed in 1599 and a unique international resource dedicated to the exploration of Shakespeare's work and the playhouse for which he wrote. Each year Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre rediscovers the dynamic relationship between the audience and the actor in this unique space. Audiences experience the “wooden O” either sitting in a gallery or standing informally as a groundling in the yard, just as they would have done 400 years ago.
Dec. 5—Dec. 9, 2012
La belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast)
Lemieux Pilon 4D Art
Conceived and directed by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon
Text by Pierre Yves Lemieux
Paramount Center Mainstage
Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission; Performed in English
Recommended for ages 14 and up
In this contemporary take on the original tale, the great love story of Beauty and the Beast gets reworked in an astonishing new multi-disciplinary performance. Masters of osmosis, blending real and virtual imagery, Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon set a new standard in multimedia performance with this production. The intense, luminous characters manage to transcend their broken hearts through their inexhaustible thirst for life. Audiences will be spellbound as all theatrical elements – from Belle's paintings to the characters’ dramatic transformations – spring to life, breaking the boundaries between real and virtual. With added passion and virtuosity, Lemieux and Pilon reimagine this universal story of resilience and the redemptive power of love against all odds.
Founded in 1983, Montreal-based Lemieux Pilon 4D Art is a multi-disciplinary company with more than 30 original productions to its credit. Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon, the driving artistic forces of the company, masterfully integrate theatre, film, dance, poetry, visual arts, music and sound into their productions, resulting in rich, immersive storytelling that both delight and amaze audiences. Their bold productions have toured extensively throughout the world.
Jan. 29—Feb. 10, 2013
The Servant of Two Masters
By Carlo Goldoni
Adapted by Constance Congdon from a translation by Christina Sibul
Directed by Christopher Bayes
Paramount Center Mainstage
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with an intermission
Recommended for ages 14 and up
Identities are mistaken, engagements are broken and lovers are reunited in Carlo Goldoni’s commedia dell’arte masterpiece. Mayhem erupts when the wily—and chronically hungry—servant Truffaldino (played by acclaimed actor Steven Epp) hatches a zany scheme to double his wages (and his meals) by serving two masters at once. The virtuosic physical comedy of The Servant of Two Masters is directed by Christopher Bayes, whose hilarious choreography is featured in the hit stage production of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps.
Christopher Bayes’ credits include six years as an actor, director, composer, designer and artistic associate at Theatre de la Jeune Lune. In 1989 he joined the acting company of the Guthrie for more than 20 productions. New York and regional directing credits include Juilliard, P.S. 122, Intiman, Court, and Yale Rep. He is a 2000 Fox Fellow, and currently the Head of Physical Acting at the Yale School of Drama.
Actor Steven Epp was last seen in Boston in The Miser, Don Juan Giovanni and Figaro at the American Repertory Theater. He is the recipient of a 1999 Fox Fellowship. He was a member of Theatre de la Jeune Lune and has also performed at La Jolla Playhouse, New Victory Theatre, the Alley Theatre, Actors' Theatre of Louisville, Yale Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory Theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
Feb. 27—March 3, 2013
Metamorphosis
Vesturport Theatre and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
Adapted and directed by Gisli Örn Gardarsson
and David Farr
Music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Paramount Center Mainstage
Running Time: 85 minutes with no intermission
Recommended for ages 12 and up
Kafka’s terrifying but bizarrely comic story bursts onto the stage in this theatrically explosive new version. Fantastic and horrific, surprisingly funny and poignant, the ordinary, unremarkable life of the Samsa family turns upside down when their son, Gregor, emerges one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a gigantic bug. Combining breathtaking physicality and daring aerial action, the recently transformed Gregor lithely negotiates a gravity-defying split level set in this hugely acclaimed production directed and adapted by Gisli Örn Gardarsson and David Farr. With evocative original music composed by world-renowned musician and lyricist Nick Cave and long-time collaborator Warren Ellis from The Bad Seeds, the music emphasizes Kafka’s dream-like vision and turns it into an electrifying reality.
Founded by 13 artists in 2001, Iceland-based Vesturport Theatre rose to international prominence when their Romeo & Juliet became a hit first at the Young Vic and later the West End in London. In April 2011, Vesturport was awarded the Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities XII in St. Petersburg where Faust and Metamorphosis were performed in connection with the award ceremony.
The Lyric Hammersmith is a theatre in London built in 1895, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions. It has two main performance areas: the Main House, a 550-seat 19th-century auditorium maintaining the original design which hosts its main productions; and the 120-seat Studio, which houses smaller productions by up-and-coming companies.
April 3 - 7, 2013
ArtsEmerson presents The New York Public Theater’s production of
Neva
Written and directed by Guillermo Calderón
The Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre at the Paramount Center
Running Time: 80 minutes with no intermission
English language premiere production
Recommended for ages 14 and up
In a politically charged, haunting meditation on theatre and the revolutionary impulse, Chilean writer-director Guillermo Calderón’s Neva tells the story of Anton Chekhov’s widow, the actress Olga Knipper, who arrives in a dimly lit rehearsal room in St. Petersburg in the winter of 1905. As Olga and two other actors await the rest of the cast, they huddle together, act out scenes from their lives and muse on their art form and love—while, unseen, striking workers are being gunned down in the streets by the Tsarist regime. This satirical yet intense performance savagely examines the relationship between theatre and historical context.
A playwright and director based in Santiago, Chile, Guillermo Calderón has written and directed several international hits. His productions have been presented in 25 countries and festivals, including the Wiener Festwochen, Under the Radar Festival in New York City, Seoul Performing Arts Festival, Chekhov Festival in Moscow and the Edinburgh International Festival. He studied theatre at the New School and Dell´Arte School of Physical Theater. Calderón attended the Royal Court Theatre International Playwriting Residency in 2009.
Founded by Joseph Papp as The Shakespeare Workshop and now one of the nation’s preeminent cultural institutions, The Public is an American theatre in which all the country’s voices, rhythms, and cultures converge. The Public Theater has won 42 Tony Awards, 149 Obies, 40 Drama Desk Awards, 24 Lucille Lortel Awards and 4 Pulitzer Prizes. In 2005, The Public Theater received a special Drama Desk Award in celebration of its 50th anniversary.
April 17—21, 2013
Trojan Women Created and performed by SITI Company
Directed by Anne Bogart
Adapted by Jocelyn Clarke
Paramount Center Mainstage
Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission
Recommended for ages 14 and up
In the ruins of their burning city, the royal women of Troy—still mourning the slaughter of their husbands and sons—await enslavement and exile. Among the greatest of all antiwar dramas, Trojan Women meditates on the moments of individual choice that separate death and life, despair and hope, future and past. In a contemporary adaptation by Jocelyn Clarke, characters such as Odysseus who were formerly seen but not heard appear, and live original music underscores the timeless tale. Acclaimed director Anne Bogart and her SITI Company return to ArtsEmerson after this spring’s Café Variations with this vital production of Euripides’ classic.
SITI Company's production of Trojan Women was commissioned by the J. Paul Getty Museum and first presented at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, California, in September, 2011.
SITI Company is an ensemble-based theatre, founded by Anne Bogart and Japanese theatre artist Tadashi Suzuki. SITI has received American Theatre Wing, Elliot Norton and Obie awards, among many others. Bogart is the recipient of two Obie Awards and a Bessie Award, as well as Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships. Bogart also runs the Graduate Directing Program at Columbia University.