tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13860046337341083312024-02-25T13:42:31.689-08:00Behind the WingsThe Dragon Theatre is a small 65 seat black box theatre in downtown Redwood City that presents unusual plays year-round. archphoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06104763173310754546noreply@blogger.comBlogger285125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-81710874143101633412020-07-21T11:35:00.001-07:002020-07-21T11:35:45.015-07:00AJ's Virtual Party, an interview with the director<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As we gear up for the opening of <i>AJ's Virtual Party</i> I took a minute to ask Nathanael Card, the </span>creator<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and director of this event a few </span>backgrounders<span style="font-family: inherit;"> questions about the show. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Kim: </b>Who is AJ?<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Nate:</b> Indeed. Who is AJ?<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Kim: </b>This was originally supposed to be a live play event based on the poetry of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_Party_(poem)" target="_blank">Joseph Moncure March</a>. Where did you encounter the poem and what made you want to bring it to the stage as an immersive play (and not, say, a third musical)?<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Nate: </b>I was introduced to the poem in 2012 by a friend. At the time I was familiar with the musicals (myself more of a fan of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_Party_(Lippa_musical)" target="_blank">Lippa</a> version), and the revelation that they came from this old jazz age poem which was itself "show-length" got my wheels turning. The poem has a clear storyline, with defined characters and beats, and even dialogue. I tend to like to turn common assumptions upside down, to challenge norms, and to me that meant that there may be something in staging the poem as itself, without need for novel adaptation. At the time, I was also in the business of creating immersive theatre in the form of parties, so it naturally occured to me to use this material in that way. As the concept developed over the years, I sought to use the poem as a means of facilitating conversations about toxic behavior and the ways it's enabled by friends and bystanders in party environments. I also started incorporating some of the history surrounding the work, most especially it's status as a "banned book" and its relationship to the Beat Poets of the 40s, 50's and 60's. That's how<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl" target="_blank"> Ginsberg's "Howl"</a> got involved.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Kim: </b>When it becomes apparent that a live event wouldn’t be legal or safe, what gave you the idea to pivot into this particular direction away from the poem?<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Nate: </b>By April 1, it was clear to me that Covid-19 wasn't going away any time soon, and even if it did subside "by June" as the state predicted, it felt like a huge risk to count on audiences flocking back to theatre, much less theatre in a "party" setting. And then when George Floyd was murdered, the subject matter of <i>The Wild Party </i>felt like a poor, if inappropriate, fit for the moment.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Kim: </b>What got you into poetry in the first place?<br /></span><br />
<b>Nate: </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 7th grade, I had a fantastic English teacher - easily my favorite of that year - and poetry was part of the syllabus. I was inspired by the revelation of the malleability of language. In 11th grade, I again had an excellent English teacher who got me into reading more poetry. At the same time I was falling in love with a band called <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/incubus-mn0000772745/biography" target="_blank">Incubus</a> whose lyrics were very poetic. That was perfect timing to inspire angsty teen Nate to start writing and reading more poetry and I've held onto that hobby ever since. <br /></span><br />
<b>Kim: </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Who are some of your favorite poets?<br /></span><br />
<b>Nate: </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first "favorites" I can recall having are <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sylvia-plath" target="_blank">Sylvia Plath</a> and <a href="https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes" target="_blank">Langston Hughes</a>. <a href="https://www.poemuseum.org/who-was-edgar-allan-poe" target="_blank">Edgar Allen Poe.</a> <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/lewis-carrolls-shifting-reputation-9432378/" target="_blank">Lewis Caroll</a>. <a href="https://www.biography.com/musician/patti-smith" target="_blank">Patti Smith</a>. Shakespeare is on another level entirely, but definitely an inspiring linquist. There are a number of musicians who I'd count as poets too, but there are too many faves in that category to start listing.<br /></span><br />
<b>Kim: </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What about Ginsburg’s “Howl" resonates so deeply with you?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b>Nate: </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's a raw, guttural, rallying cry of identity pride and exasperation, absent of any need to sound pretty and "poetic." It bucks all sense of formality. And even though we've had decades of "progress" since it's publication, our society (America) is still stuck fighting the same things Ginsberg howled about in 1957. It feels uncomfortably prescient, as though we all might be on the verge of penning our own ranting lament to the heavens, echoing Ginsberg and his generation 63 years later. <br /> </span>Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-69589922244316649062020-03-04T08:00:00.000-08:002020-03-04T08:00:04.137-08:00Baltimore Waltz and Confession: A Note from the Artistic DirectorsWelcome to another first at the Dragon! As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we head into the uncharted territory of repertory theater, a theatrical tradition that goes back centuries, but is new to us. Why are we doing this? Because sometimes it takes looking at things from different points of view to get clarity. We bring to you in this ‘rotating repertory’ two brilliant plays directed by two thoughtful and generous directors, leading one incredible production team of designers, technicians and a team of five amazing actors. It has been such a delight for us to experience these plays back to back, and seeing as different as they are in tone and style, how they reflect off of one another in the themes they explore or the questions they ask. One play is by a giant among American playwrights, Paula Vogel (our first ever Vogel play!), and one is a world premiere by local playwright Barry Slater. Whether in <i>Confession</i> or <i>The Baltimore Waltz</i> you see through the mists of 80’s nostalgia, to a world you still recognize now. Be swept away by the personal tragedy and comedy of it all. We hope you enjoy, and get a chance to experience both sides of our little journey back in time!
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Alika & Max Koknar<br />
Co-Artistic Directors
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-77364545113445650152020-01-21T09:59:00.000-08:002020-01-21T09:59:11.818-08:00The Nether: What is an intimacy consultant?Most people who to go the movies or the theatre know that there's always a fight choreographer on the behind the scenes team to choreograph any kind of violence between actors. It might range from a simple shove to something much more elaborate like sword play. However in 2016 a new branch was founded - intimacy directing. Let's face it, kissing or simulating sex with a co-worker is awkward at best or leads to terrible situations at worst. The Me Too scandals that have rocked Hollywood have made it abundantly clear that this type of protection is absolutely necessary for a healthy and safe acting environment.<br />
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Artists can now be certified as Intimacy Directors via a nonprofit organization. You can read more about their mission and training <a href="https://www.teamidi.org/" target="_blank">here</a>. The <i>New York Times</i> has laid out a pretty interesting story about this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/arts/movie-sex-scenes-safety-intimacy-coordinator.html?searchResultPosition=2" target="_blank">here</a> and it's worth a read.<br />
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When we read <i>The Nether</i> with its very difficult role of Iris, it was pretty clear that we needed to bring in an expert to work with the actress, a high school student, the rest of the cast, and be very transparent with the parents to make sure that everyone was on the same page and felt good about what was happening. We're so proud of what <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/arcadiaconrad/" target="_blank">Arcadia Conrad</a>, the Intimacy Director for <i>The Nether</i>, brought to the show and we'll utilize Intimacy Directors again for <i>Spring Awakening</i>, a teen musical, and <i>The Baltimore Waltz. </i>Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-10063795049020062272019-10-23T12:00:00.000-07:002019-10-23T12:00:09.843-07:00Anne of the Thousand Days: Director's Note<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><i>Anne of the Thousand Days</i> presents some special challenges to its cast, crew, and audiences. It catalogs the span of an entire relationship - all 1,000 of its days - in the span of a few hours of moments. It requires the audience to meet and get to know the many other names and faces involved in Anne and Henry's lives, from first meeting to final (and permanent) end. The play also presents its highly stylized (and fictionalized) story through two unreliable narrators as they attempt to justify the ending of their lives together. Heavy stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">From the very beginning, I hoped to stage this play in a way that put a unique focus on the performativity of memory. So many people go in and out of the lives of these two characters during their story - and when they outlive their place in the narrative, where do they go? In this production, the small cast ensures that the faces and bodies of Anne and Henry's memories are remade and recycled into the next wave of moments. Faces become familiar, but interchangeable, as the dynamics of the play's relationships blur and change along with them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In the end, I hope the cast, crew, and audiences of this play are left with a sense of how memory - how we remember, and how we are remembered, the impermanence of people, places, and moments - can be embraced and experienced as a performance in its own right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Melinda Marks<o:p></o:p></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-2856482397722838042019-10-23T08:00:00.000-07:002019-10-23T08:00:02.725-07:00Anne of the Thousand Days: A Word from the Artistic Directors<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Dragon’s 2nd Stages Program is one of the biggest factors that attracted Max and myself to take up the role of Co-Artistic Directors at the Dragon. Giving local artists opportunities to produce their passion projects in the Bay area, where options can be limited, really makes our job so worthwhile. </div>
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Melinda Marks left quite a lasting impression with her robust pitch of Maxwell Anderson's play <i>Anne of the Thousand Days</i>. We could tell that Melinda had done her homework and that Anderson's text really had struck an artistic chord with her. The story of King Henry VIII and his courting of Anne Boleyn and the founding of The Church of England has always been a personal fascination, and with the today’s Me Too movement, the themes of gender power dynamics resonate even louder. Melinda’s approach to this production not only serves the story spectacularly, but also pays forward the opportunity she got in producing this show by creating roles for brilliant actors who may not otherwise get to play any roles quite like these. You're in for quite a treat! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Alika & Max Koknar<o:p></o:p></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-51371635770544085382019-10-22T14:00:00.000-07:002019-10-24T15:15:21.918-07:00Anne of the Thousand Days: Meet the Designers<b>Melinda Marks</b> (Director) is a longtime Bay Area actor and director, and the co-founder and casting director of San Jose production company <a href="https://playonwordsanjose.com/" target="_blank">Play on Words</a>. This is her first time directing at Dragon, after having previously been Stage Manager for <i>Shoggoths on the Veldt</i> earlier this season. Melinda holds an MA in Theater Arts from San Jose State and an MFA in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University. She was last seen onstage in <i>Shakespeare in Love</i> (Palo Alto Players), and in Teatro Visions' world premiere of <i>Departera. </i>In the spring, Melinda will be directing <i>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time </i>at the Pear Theatre in Mountain View.<br />
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<b>Nathanael Card</b> (Lighting Designer), Wizard of the Theatre Arts, is proud to take the form of lighting designer for Dragon on this production. His past lighting designs include: <i>Hickorydickory</i>, <i>Shoggoths on the Veldt, The Revolutionists, Three Days of Rain</i>, and <i>Cirque Exotique du Monde </i>at Dragon. In addition to lighting, he designed sets as well for his last four shows at Dragon, and often crews as an electrician with Stanford University School of Music, Smuin Ballet, Berkeley Rep.<br />
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<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Arcadia Conrad </span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">(Stage Intimacy Workshop Facilitator) is an actor, director, playwright and theatre educator. She is currently an intimacy director in training and program director of Cupertino Actors Theatre at Cupertino High School, a contributor with <a href="https://playonwordsanjose.com/" target="_blank">Play on Words</a>, and teaches writing with the San Jose Writing Project. A reading of her latest play, <i>Script Doctor</i>, was recently presented at The Dragon Theatre's Monday Night Playspace. </span><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: white;">Nita Lambert</span></b><span style="background-color: white;"> (Stage Manager) is pleased to be stage managing again, after a 17-year break. Favorite acting roles include Mistress Ford in <i>The Merry Wives of Windsor</i> and Mariah in<i> Twelfth Night</i>, both at Silicon Valley Shakespeare, as well as multiple characters in many productions of Northside Theatre Company's annual <i>A Christmas Carol</i>. In real life, her favorite roles include wife, mom, stepmom and grandma. She also enjoys directing choral music. Nita would like to thank her fabulous husband and daughter for their love and support.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Marley Teter </b>(Costume Construction)</span><br />
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<b>Michael Weiland</b> (Sound Designer) has previously appeared in <i>Shoggoths in the Veldt </i>and<i> Equivocation</i> at the Dragon Theatre. Other appearances are <i>Geeks vs Zombies</i> at the Pear Theater, <i>The Legend of Georgia McBride</i> at Los Altos Stage Company, <i>Boom!</i> at Minilights, and <i>Rocky Horror</i> at City Lights Theater Company. Michael is also a company member at <a href="https://playonwordsanjose.com/" target="_blank">Play On Words San Jose</a>, a staged reading company for new works by local authors, playwrights, and poets.<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></b>
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Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-3869576684785378992019-10-22T10:00:00.000-07:002019-10-24T15:14:21.897-07:00Anne of the Thousand Days: Meet the Cast<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIPYZEh6W95FroGuwlRj8DEU2Jq5eCJigO2V18DldpDhwXHFnt_3W1NhWhEvNsPrz4ZawfgnrbeOBvkE4TTXKa0PWiSXWEjEko7USd_j2TYwB441uyTHggkhvPgo3G-ziVwdCWJ56ZJs/s1600/Burton%252C+Lisa.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1369" data-original-width="909" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIPYZEh6W95FroGuwlRj8DEU2Jq5eCJigO2V18DldpDhwXHFnt_3W1NhWhEvNsPrz4ZawfgnrbeOBvkE4TTXKa0PWiSXWEjEko7USd_j2TYwB441uyTHggkhvPgo3G-ziVwdCWJ56ZJs/s200/Burton%252C+Lisa.jpeg" width="132" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Lisa Burton</span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (Norfolk / Servant / Singer) is happy to be back on the Dragon stage and working with such a talented ensemble of artists. She has previously appeared at Dragon Theatre swashbuckling in <i>Shoggoths on The Veldt</i>, rapping in <i>The Making of The Star Wars Holiday Special,</i> ring leading in <i>Cirque Exotique du Monde</i>, and organizing junk in <i>The Charitable Sisterhood of The Second Trinity Victory Church</i>. Other credits include the comedies <i>Exit The Body and Rumors</i> (Santa Clara Players), <i>The Millionth Production of The Christmas Carol</i> (The Pear) as well as the podcast <i>Church Biz</i> available on Spotify. Lisa is deeply grateful to her awesome, supportive family: Drew, Andrew, Zoe and Bolt as well as her best friend and partner in crime, Ashley.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Helena G. Clarkson </b>(Cardinal Wolsey / Madge / Thomas Wyatt, Singer) is happy to back onstage at Dragon. She was last seen here as the Female Chorus in <i>Libation Bearers</i> and Ginger in <i>Becky’s New Car</i>. She has performed at many of the local bay area theaters including Foothill Musical Theater, Tabard, Santa Clara Players, and the Pear. Helena received a BA from Santa Clara University in 2007 (double major in Theater and English), after she completed two AA’s at Foothill College (Theater Arts and Human Performance). Helena would like to thank her son for supporting her every endeavor and everyone here for supporting live theater!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>April Culver</b> (Thomas Boleyn / Elizabeth Boleyn / Thomas More / Bailiff</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">)</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Recent performances include:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">The Grapes of Wrath </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Rose of Sharon) at Los Altos Stage Company,</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Shakespeare in Love</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Viola) at Palo Alto Players</span><i style="font-family: inherit;">, King Lear </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Cordelia / Fool)</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">B8 Theatre,</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">In the Next Room</i><i style="font-family: inherit;">…</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Mrs. Givings, SFBATCC Nomination),</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">A View from the Bridge</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Catherine) and</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Uncle Vanya</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sonya</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">)</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">for Pear Theatre, and</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">A Midsummer Night's Dream</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Helena),</span><i style="font-family: inherit;"> As You Like It </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Celia),</span><i style="font-family: inherit;"> </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">and</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Hamlet </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Rosencrantz) at Silicon Valley Shakespeare. She</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">thanks her friends</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and family for their love, humor, and support</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijO85uj66fZG3_EBOAphW9rN5FAOVvz0mfRdzv_wQZ8sNKARWh4HkZUXLthvHULTJIAvLwf6a7D-nLObKroLj9UmqplvkGyQ5y-kGDHi1zBD0j_xL2J8syHXrvdVzLy2M1fdUoi3XuL7g/s1600/Deltoro%252C+Ivette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1106" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijO85uj66fZG3_EBOAphW9rN5FAOVvz0mfRdzv_wQZ8sNKARWh4HkZUXLthvHULTJIAvLwf6a7D-nLObKroLj9UmqplvkGyQ5y-kGDHi1zBD0j_xL2J8syHXrvdVzLy2M1fdUoi3XuL7g/s200/Deltoro%252C+Ivette.jpg" width="138" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Ivette Deltoro</b> (Anne Boleyn) is happy to be working on her first show at Dragon Productions. Past credits include: <i>Spending the End of the World on Ok Cupid </i>at The Pear Theatre (ensemble), Silicon Valley Shakespeare's <i>Hamlet </i>(ensemble/dance), and Epic Immersive’s <i>Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection</i> (Isabela Martinez). Ivette also works with City Lights Theater Company where she originated the role of Clara Krieger in the world premiere of <i>Truce: A Christmas Wish from the Great War</i>, and was a TBA nominee for her role as Caroline in Lauren Gunderson’s <i>I and You</i>. She is a graduate of the Foothill Theater Conservatory and serves as the Casting Assistant and Patron Experience Manager at City Lights Theater Company.<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0D604_sSLcqzhCtn60HRTWa9zDyy5eyLCusOtupQobngmrVpTl3TH2shgLwFE7TtXJ05CAJr-8PvtCoJUR3ZyCbdotNmkANlHUptBPob8kCBVBBhqau1TiPhHkUF8Co2oZ2UCGFOZpc/s1600/Duncan%252C+Tonya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0D604_sSLcqzhCtn60HRTWa9zDyy5eyLCusOtupQobngmrVpTl3TH2shgLwFE7TtXJ05CAJr-8PvtCoJUR3ZyCbdotNmkANlHUptBPob8kCBVBBhqau1TiPhHkUF8Co2oZ2UCGFOZpc/s200/Duncan%252C+Tonya.jpg" width="132" /></a><b>Tonya Duncan</b> (Mary Boleyn, Percy, Cromwell, Jane Seymour) is thrilled to make her Dragon debut! Past roles include: Club Secretary in <i>Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club</i> (Silicon Valley Shakespeare), Texas in <i>Cabaret</i> (City Lights Theatre Company), and Anne in <i>Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley</i> (City Lights Theatre Company). When not in the theatre, Tonya can be found playing with her puppies, pestering her boyfriend, and procrastinating by watching all the bad horror movies Netflix has to offer.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Ronald Feichtmeir</span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (Norris / Fisher / Courier / Servant) is pleased to return again, and work with the nice folks at the Dragon Theatre. Recent credits at the Dragon include Medford Pumbleshire in <i>Shoggoths on the Veldt</i>, Dr. Singer in <i>Cirque Exotique du Monde</i>, and personal favorite of his, Estragon in <i>Waiting for Godot</i>. Ronald is a Bay Area Native, a graduate of Los Altos High School, Foothill College and University of California Santa Cruz. He loves theatre and films.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidkv0RNNjrMG2HbAVkhaLn1r50sliAXwxpQa9KD5EZDbqz9-VBjdvIIqXFcU7FK-y7xah2_0oGfYXYvSkMOxSGZCzyDlM6Nd9S3KlYrwNi0aHypRXXpOF8tTXGTv1uEu4JPOPz2xg_T2w/s1600/Flagg%252C+Keenan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1347" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidkv0RNNjrMG2HbAVkhaLn1r50sliAXwxpQa9KD5EZDbqz9-VBjdvIIqXFcU7FK-y7xah2_0oGfYXYvSkMOxSGZCzyDlM6Nd9S3KlYrwNi0aHypRXXpOF8tTXGTv1uEu4JPOPz2xg_T2w/s200/Flagg%252C+Keenan.jpg" width="168" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Keenan Flagg</span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (Smeaton / Musician / Servant, Loughton / Kingston) is ecstatic to finally be working at Dragon Productions Theatre Company. His recent credits include the Porter in Silicon Valley Shakespeare’s production of <i>Macbeth</i>; and the Loud Stone in <i>Eurydice</i> at City Lights Theater Company. When not on stage, Keenan works as a voice and writer with <a href="https://playonwordsanjose.com/" target="_blank">Play On Words</a>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Peter Ray Juarez</b> (Henry VIII) is very thankful to be making his return to the Dragon Productions Theatre Company where he last appeared as Evan in <i>U.S. Drag</i>. Selected credits: Duncan in <i>Leading Ladies</i> at Hillbarn Theatre, Henry in <i>Northanger Abbey</i> at The Pear Theatre, Tom Snout in <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> at Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Betty/Edward in <i>Cloud 9</i> at The Western Stage, and Wintergreen in <i>Catch 22</i> at Los Altos Stage Company. He earned an MA in Theatre Arts from San Jose State University and holds a BA in Theatre Arts from California State University, Chico. He would like to thank Haley and his friends and family for their love and support.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-67310255968756860812019-10-14T08:00:00.000-07:002019-10-14T08:00:08.143-07:00Anne of the Thousand Days: Meet the Playwright<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK2"></a><span style="background-color: white;">Maxwell Anderson was born in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, on December 15, 1888. His father worked as a traveling minister, so his youth was split among many states. As a child, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Maxwell was frequently sick, missing a great deal of school. He used his time sick in bed to read voraciously, and both his parents and Aunt Emma were storytellers, which contributed to Anderson's love of literature.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">He graduated from the University of North Dakota with a BA in English Literature in 1911 and completed his master's degree in English Literature at Stanford three years later. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">He taught high school in San Francisco and eventually wrote for the San Francisco Evening Bulletin and the San Francisco Chronicle. He moved to New York City to write about politics for<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The New Republic</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in 1918, but he was fired after an argument with the Editor-in-Chief. He then went on to write for <i>The New York Globe</i> and the <i>New York World</i>. Meanwhile, he began to write plays on the side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">His plays are in widely varying styles, and Anderson was one of the few modern playwrights to make extensive use of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>blank verse. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">His first play,<i>White Desert</i>, was a contemporary verse tragedy that opened in 1923 to little response. Retooling his approach to establish himself, he scored a hit by co-writing the WWI comedy <i>What Price Glory, </i>which was a Broadway hit.<i> </i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Written with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Laurence Stallings, the play made use of profanity, which caused censors to protest. But when the chief censor (Rear Admiral<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Charles Peshall Plunkett) was found to have written far more obscene letters to General Chamberlaine, he was discredited: soldiers really did speak that way.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Some of his plays were adapted into movies. The only one of his plays that he himself adapted to the screen was </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080;">Joan of Lorraine</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">, which became the film </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080;">Joan of Arc</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (1948) starring </span><span style="color: #0b0080;">Ingrid Bergman</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. When Bergman and her director changed much of his dialogue to make Joan "a plaster saint" he got angry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">He won the Pulitzer Prize for 1933's <i>Both Your Houses</i>, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the highly successful and acclaimed contemporary tragedy <i>Winterset</i>, based on the Sacco and Vanzetti trial. He repeated the latter feat in 1936 with <i>High Tor</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anderson <span style="color: #222222;">also wrote the screenplays of other authors' plays and novels –<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>All Quiet on the Western Front</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(1939) and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Death Takes a Holiday</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(1934) – in addition to books of poetry and essays.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Anderson enjoyed great commercial success with a series of plays set during the reign of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty" style="color: #954f72;" title="Tudor dynasty"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Tudor</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">family, who ruled<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England" style="color: #954f72;" title="England"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">England</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales" style="color: #954f72;" title="Wales"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Wales</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland" style="color: #954f72;" title="Ireland"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Ireland</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">from 1485 until 1603. One play in particular –<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Anne of the Thousand Days</i>– the story of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Henry VIII's marriage to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Anne Boleyn<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>– was a hit on the stage in 1948, but did not reach movie screens for 21 years. It opened on Broadway starring<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Rex Harrison<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Joyce Redman, and became a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>1969 movie<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Richard Burton<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Geneviève Bujold.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Margaret Furse<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>won an Oscar for the film's costume designs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Another of his Tudor plays,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Elizabeth the Queen</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>opened in 1930 with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Lynn Fontanne<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as Elizabeth and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Alfred Lunt<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as Lord Essex. It was later adapted to the screen as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(1939), starring<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Bette Davis<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Errol Flynn</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">. Directed by<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>John Ford,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Mary of Scotland</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">(1936) was an adaptation of his play of the same name involving Elizabeth I, starring<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Katharine Hepburn<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Mary, Queen of Scots</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Fredric March<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Earl of Bothwell, and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Florence Eldridge</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">as Elizabeth. The original play had been a hit on Broadway starring<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Helen Hayes<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in the title role.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In 1938, Anderson teamed up with the recently emigrated composer Kurt Weill, who'd fled to New York to flee the Nazis, and sought out the city's top playwrights in search of collaborators. Their first effort was <i>Knickerbocker Holiday</i>, a historical musical set in the time when New York was still the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Anderson wrote the book and lyrics, and although the play was a decent-sized success, its "September Song" proved to have a life far beyond its source, thanks in part to a recording by Frank Sinatra. In 1939, Anderson and Weill began work on another musical, to be titled <i>Ulysses Africanus</i>, however, they never found an actor suited to the lead role, and the show was never completed. Anderson and Weill remained on good terms, but it took them quite some time to find another project to work on together; Weill originally wanted Anderson to write lyrics for the play that became <i>Street Scene</i>, but Anderson, unconvinced of his talent as a lyricist, let the job go to poet Langston Hughes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">His last successful </span><span style="color: #0b0080;">Broadwa<u>y</u></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> stage play was 1954's </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Bad Seed</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">, Anderson's adaption of the </span><span style="color: #0b0080;">William March novel</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. He was hired by </span><span style="color: #0b0080;">Alfred Hitchcock</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> to write the screenplay for Hitchcock's </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080;">The Wrong Man</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (1957). Hitchcock also contracted with Anderson to write the screenplay for what became </span><i><span style="color: #0b0080;">Vertigo</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (1958), but Hitchcock rejected his screenplay </span><i><span style="color: #222222;">Darkling, I Listen</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Anderson died in </span><span style="color: #0b0080;">Stamford, Connecticut</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">, on February 28, 1959, two days after suffering a </span><span style="color: #0b0080;">stroke</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. He was 70 years old. He was cremated. Half of his ashes were scattered by the sea near his home in Stamford. The other half was buried in Anderson Cemetery near his birthplace in rural northwestern Pennsylvania. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-18386281612634984072019-09-03T08:00:00.000-07:002019-09-03T08:00:02.035-07:00Hickorydickory: From the Director<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Time. Time is cherished; the lack of time is precious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">What would you do if you, a friend, or a family member, knew exactly how much time they had left to live? That’s the question the five characters in <i>Hickorydickory</i> have to answer for themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When this play was first presented to me, I do what I normally do, sit at the kitchen table with an oversized cup of coffee, reggae music in the background, and delve in. Sometimes I have to force myself to finish a script. Sometimes a script will speak to me so strongly that I’m am transported to that world with those characters. <i>Hickorydickory</i> was the latter. I could not stop reading </span><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Marisa Wegrzyn’s heartfelt, magical and inventive comedy. I could see and hear each character and wanted to learn more about Cari Lee, Jimmy, Kate, Dale and Rowan. I then journeyed back 18 years to understand Richard, Helen, Young Jimmy, Young Kate and experience Cari Lee all over again. I was astonished by the playwright’s use of dialogue, mystery and fantasy to tell a story that is thought-provoking, captivating, relatable and delightfully imaginative.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #26282a; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I did not hesitate to say yes when I was asked to direct this show for Dragon Theatre Production Company. It’s rare to experience a piece of work where, just on paper alone I could see the humor, the thoughtfulness, the supernatural, the nostalgia. Then entering the rehearsal process with five remarkably talented actors whose timing and skillfulness caused us to laugh out loud, showed vulnerability, and made us reminiscence.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #26282a; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Travel with us to 1992, and 1974. Open your mind and your heart to experience the real, and the unreal. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I hope your engagement with this play is as entertaining, amusing, and moving as it has been for us to create it for you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #26282a; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Kimberly Ridgeway</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #26282a; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Director </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-25056597151996080532019-09-02T08:00:00.000-07:002019-09-02T08:00:08.659-07:00Hickorydickory: Artistic DIrector's Note<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In the end, it is love that tethers us together. <i>Hickorydickory </i>is a beast of a play. It is full of theatrical magic, immense emotional stakes, and lots of words. But in the end, it is about one simple thing; love. This production has been loved since the beginning when our founder, Meredith, gifted it to us as the new artistic directors. And it was with so much love and generosity that she entrusted us, along with the amazing direction of Kimberly Ridgeway, with bringing the script to life on the Dragon stage. The love is there in every rehearsal we visit, and every production meeting we attend. It is an unconditional sort of love that radiates from everyone working on this show that persists despite all the challenges. It’s that sort of love that makes a room feel like home, and a team feel like family. And we hope you, as part of our Dragon family, feel that love tonight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Alika and Max Koknar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-8664839947908240822019-08-31T20:27:00.000-07:002019-08-31T20:27:02.307-07:00Hickorydickory: Meet the Cast<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtxmDC9gynHb5P5Racjr10K6SqKubPzBQh8T5HezmEGDaLUljMEfUWhqX9bclcxncHKpGp0OpkBxG4MBY9zpmwaO9ZDJ0vuL-rUzVGQgPLNw9XrJGMkeMNVHLQFIN-Ys_FwJJyPsye5ZU/s1600/AllieBaileyHeadshot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="523" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtxmDC9gynHb5P5Racjr10K6SqKubPzBQh8T5HezmEGDaLUljMEfUWhqX9bclcxncHKpGp0OpkBxG4MBY9zpmwaO9ZDJ0vuL-rUzVGQgPLNw9XrJGMkeMNVHLQFIN-Ys_FwJJyPsye5ZU/s200/AllieBaileyHeadshot.JPG" width="173" /></a><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Allie Bailey</span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (Kate/Helen) is delighted to be making her Dragon Theatre debut with this thought provoking production. Allie is a local bay area theatre actor, director, production manager, teaching artist, and production stage manager who specializes in classical and musical theatre, opera, ballet, and modern dance. Before moving to California, Allie graduated from the University of Alberta with a BFA in theatre and worked as a CAEA stage manager in Edmonton, Alberta. Favorite theatre credits include <i>Into the Woods</i> (Los Altos Stage Company, Pacifica Spindrift Players), <i>Rent</i> (Cabrillo Stage), <i>Peter and the Starcatcher</i> (Hillbarn Theatre), <i>The Nutcracker</i> (Bay Pointe Ballet), <i>Roots and Wings</i> (sjDANCEco), <i>Pippin</i>, <i>Cabaret</i> (Sunnyvale Community Players), <i>Sir John in Love</i> (Bronx Opera), <i>La boh</i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">è</span><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">me</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, <i>The</i> <i>Magic Flute</i>, <i>Carmen</i>, <i>Idomeneo</i> (Opera San Jose), <i>A Chorus Line</i>, <i>The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Music Man</i> (Broadway by the Bay), <i>The Comedy of Errors</i> (Freewill Players), <i>La Traviata</i> and <i>The Flying Dutchman</i> (Edmonton Opera).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbfLFUDN-J05fA-OtbVVt8us2E1MBfERd98fEenOJt8RblYt7h9YWbxyKxneANyX-0vMgknEJvlDpAfsbZktap3a27eeHsRJlRs7bxKfiEy5WRDMVSsXJcXTYdg6lBpZtkQKNvfYniPs/s1600/Jonathan+Covey.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="241" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbfLFUDN-J05fA-OtbVVt8us2E1MBfERd98fEenOJt8RblYt7h9YWbxyKxneANyX-0vMgknEJvlDpAfsbZktap3a27eeHsRJlRs7bxKfiEy5WRDMVSsXJcXTYdg6lBpZtkQKNvfYniPs/s200/Jonathan+Covey.jpeg" width="160" /></a><b style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonathan Covey </b><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">(Rowen/Young Jimmy) has been heralded by top Bay Area theatre critics with such breathless praise as “fine” and “colorless” for his portrayal of Malcolm/Son Macduff/Lord #4 in Dragon’s production of <i>Macbeth</i> earlier this year. Recounted in vivid detail as “admirable” and “also in this play, I guess” for his performance of Detective Sgt. Trotter in Crystal Springs’ production of Agatha Christie’s <i>The Mouse Trap</i> back in 2009. Typically, Covey has focused on sound design and music, working on several other Dragon productions, such as <i>Equivocation</i>, <i>Caeneus & Poseidon</i>, <i>Miss Reardon Drinks A Little</i>, <i>The Making of the Star War Holiday Special</i>, and most recently, <i>Shoggoths on the Veldt</i>. He also did sound for Hillbarn’s productions of <i>The Elephant Man</i> and <i>Noises Off</i>, as well as numerous other plays for several other theatre companies around the Bay. But with such rapturous jubilation for his two–count them, TWO–whole swings at acting, how could he not try to top himself with a third?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwNFnH2jM3nzUz9ouCi9b_vN7AkIM06aC4a1j3XRwrb7Q6LB71G2B4DMstRUY64sVVj1TaRZGeZ_JO5Ky3B6EuEFBtDHExHEhrdDmi4zMfOvnhyfcl0jwhyphenhyphenoZOVQHKSL8AHknhfKWlsCc/s1600/Sarah+Haas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwNFnH2jM3nzUz9ouCi9b_vN7AkIM06aC4a1j3XRwrb7Q6LB71G2B4DMstRUY64sVVj1TaRZGeZ_JO5Ky3B6EuEFBtDHExHEhrdDmi4zMfOvnhyfcl0jwhyphenhyphenoZOVQHKSL8AHknhfKWlsCc/s200/Sarah+Haas.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Sarah Hass</b> (Cari Lee)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> is thrilled to be making her debut with the Dragon Productions Theatre Company. Recent credits include <i>Stupid F*cking Bird </i>(Nina) with City Lights Theater Company, <i>Seminar </i>(Kate) at San Jose State University, <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream </i>(Puck) at San Jose State University, <i>The Shape of Things </i>(Evelyn) at San Jose State University, <i>The Great Gatsby </i>(Daisy) at San Jose State University, and <i>Curtains </i>(Ensemble) with South Bay Musical Theater. She graduated with BA in Theatre Arts from San Jose State University and spends her days as a pastry baker. She would like to thank her family and friends for being an overwhelming and constant source of love and support. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSE77bRfn_dPwp_5Ls97zRfb32wSf96BVqKNDAtlXh1EZeq-8gjzUeWiKpJ02DpWgbjo1JCRS3vl-1eFTBnsROxK1ahU63w4A0qE_wSPrVDTBULCB7Z5R2oLZAdjVW_NVfhWS5ZfPibo/s1600/Troy+Johnson.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSE77bRfn_dPwp_5Ls97zRfb32wSf96BVqKNDAtlXh1EZeq-8gjzUeWiKpJ02DpWgbjo1JCRS3vl-1eFTBnsROxK1ahU63w4A0qE_wSPrVDTBULCB7Z5R2oLZAdjVW_NVfhWS5ZfPibo/s200/Troy+Johnson.png" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Troy Johnson</b> (Jimmy / Richard)<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">has been acting and directing around the Bay Area for the past 25 years and is excited to be back at Dragon Productions as part of this team of passionate theatre artists. Previous acting credits at Dragon Productions include Porter / Witch / Soldier in this season’s production of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><i>Macbeth</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, Tesman in last season’s </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><i>The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, and Mitch in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><i>A Streetcar Named Desire<b> </b></i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">back when Dragon Productions was located in Palo Alto. Other recent acting credits include Harry Dangle in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><i>One Man, Two Guvnors</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> at Palo Alto Players and Tesman in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><i>Hedda Gabler</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> at The Pear Theatre. Troy thanks you for continuing to support live local theatre.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHiX-0Tw9z8WkGrpcf6iGbw4ZwvhX_m9cOV3p_c7urPp5wv8jZSp2subQRCLZDHXRVOL4V5no4W5xONWWyQE0ng7EPANVhkFBK59jDRRNjFLN-IRAdEX09FFbBv17iiPOOesFGgsB51g/s1600/ZoeyLytle+headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHiX-0Tw9z8WkGrpcf6iGbw4ZwvhX_m9cOV3p_c7urPp5wv8jZSp2subQRCLZDHXRVOL4V5no4W5xONWWyQE0ng7EPANVhkFBK59jDRRNjFLN-IRAdEX09FFbBv17iiPOOesFGgsB51g/s200/ZoeyLytle+headshot.jpg" width="160" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Zoey Little</b> (Dale) is thrilled to be making her debut at Dragon Theatre. She is currently pursuing a BFA in dance from San Jose State University with a double major in Communication Studies. Credits include Sophie in <em>Mamma Mia</em> (Stage 1 Theater), Jean in the <em>American Psycho </em>West Coast premiere (Ray of Light Theatre), and Rusty in <em>Footloose</em> (West Valley Light Opera). Most recently, Zoey performed in <em>Billy Elliot </em>at Woodminster Summer Musicals. Favorite film credits include Haley in <em>Metamorphosis: Junior Year</em> (Betsy Franco), and Nicole in <em>Animus</em> (Alexis Williams). She also teaches dance at Dance Connection Palo Alto and occasionally choreographs youth theatre in the bay (Peninsula Youth Theater, Chrysalis Youth Theatre, HEART Academy). She is honored to join the phenomenally talented and inspiring cast of <em>Hickorydickory</em> and hopes you enjoy the show! Love and thanks to Mumma and Papa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-71692198107125023802019-08-31T08:00:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:00:05.899-07:00HIckorydickory: The Design Team<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Kimberly Ridgeway </b>(director) has been working professionally as an Actor, Director, Writer and Producer in film and theater for over 20 years. Kimberly wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the stage plays <i>Heavy Burdens</i>, <i>No More Secrets</i>, <i>Prospect Place</i>, and <i>The Gigolo Chronicles</i>, and the short film “The Confession”. Her favorite acting roles include Mrs. Muller, </span><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Doubt</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, Sam Stevens, <i>The Gigolo Chronicles</i>, Coretta Scott King/Fannie Lou Hamer, <i>All The Way</i>, Randa, <i>Savannah Sipping Society</i>, Bernice, <i>The Piano Lesson</i>, Duchess, <i>Wonderland </i>(World Premiere), Tiana in “Hopes Identity” and Camae in <i>The Mountaintop</i> for which she won the 2016 BroadwayWorld San Francisco Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play (Local). Kim has directed projects for several Bay Area Theater Companies including The Playwrights Center of San Francisco, Bay Area Drama Company, and Ubuntu Theater Project. Her upcoming directing projects include </span><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Wait Until Dark</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (Village Theater, Danville), February 2020 and <i>Crowns</i> (Contra Costa Civic Theater, El Cerrito), July 2020. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kim returns to Dragon Productions Theatre Company</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> after directing David Mamet’s <i>Race</i> last season. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Tom Shamrell </b>(scenic designer) is elated to serve as scenic designer for this unique experience at Dragon Productions. This team is bringing an intriguing story to life and Tom is honored to create the play space you see before you. Tom is also a bay area as an actor, director, teacher, property builder and much more. Tom holds a BA in Theatre Arts from San Jose State University and is a graduate of the Foothill Theatre Conservatory.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Nathanael Card</b> (Lighting Designer),<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> Wizard of the Theatre Arts, is proud to take the form of lighting designer, scenic designer, and painter for Dragon. His past scenic designs include: <i>The Revolutionists, Three Days of Rain</i>, and <i>Cirque Exotique du Monde </i>at Dragon; <i>Godspell, Carousel, </i>and <i>A Chorus Line</i>, with Youth Musical Theater Company; and <i>Southern Lights, </i>with 3 Girls Theater at Z Below. He designed lights as well for his last three shows at Dragon, and often crews as an electrician with Smuin Ballet and Berkeley Rep.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Kathleen Qiu </b>(costume designer) is thrilled to return to Dragon for <i>Hickorydickory</i>. Previously, she designed <i>Shoggoths on the Veldt</i>, <i>The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence</i>, <i>Equivocation</i>, and <i>Insignificance</i>. Selected credits include <i>Orfeo ed Euridice</i> (West Edge Opera), <i>Passion</i>, <i>How I Learned to Drive</i>,<i> The House of Yes</i> (Custom Made Theatre)<i> The Fit</i>, <i>You Mean to Do Me Harm</i> (SF Playhouse), <i>12 Angry Wo/Men</i>, <i>She Kills Monsters</i>,<i> A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> (Foothill College),<i> Two Mile Hollow</i> (Ferocious Lotus), and<i> Universal Robots</i> (Quantum Dragon Theatre). You can see some of her other work right now in <i>The Glass Menagerie</i> (Role Players Ensemble, where she also designed <i>Honky</i> and <i>All My Sons</i>). She is currently working on an MFA in Costume Design from the Academy of Art. </span><a href="http://www.kathleenq.com/" style="color: #954f72;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">www.kathleenq.com</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Lana Palmer </b>(<i>Sound Design</i>). <b>Credits</b>: <i>The How and the Why</i>; <i>Race</i>(Dragon Productions), </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">(Kansas City Rep/Regional Premiere),</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"></span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">For Colored Girls </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">(African-American Shakespeare Company), <i>The Revolutionists</i>(Town Hall Theatre Company/Bay Area Premiere), and <i>Dracula</i>(Inferno Theatre), for which she was nominated for a TBA Award for Original Music. </span><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Upcoming</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">: <i>The Daughters </i> (SF Playhouse), Bull in a China Shop (Aurora Theatre). <b>Affiliations</b>: Dramatists Guild, SDC (Associate). </span><a href="http://www.lanapalmer.com/" style="color: #954f72;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">www.lanapalmer.com</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Kate Martin</b> (Properties Master) <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">designs and creates costumes and props, and performs with Epic Immersive and Hubba Hubba Revue, as well as teaches elementary school science and engineering during the week. In her free time she performs immersive comedy with her girlfriend<i> </i>and creates all sorts of strange things.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Miranda Whipple</b> (Stage Manager) has worked as a stage manager and props designer in the Bay Area for the past four years. Past stage management credits include </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (American Conservatory Theater), </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Girls Kill Nazis</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> and </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Geeks vs. Zombies</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (Pear Theatre), </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">La Llorona </span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">(Opera Cultura), and </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The Witches</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (Los Altos Youth Theatre). She has also designed props for productions of </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">August: Osage County</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">West Side Story</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">,</span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In the Heights</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Making God Laugh</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Thoroughly Modern Millie</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, and </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Cabaret. </span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Miranda graduated from Cal State University, Fullerton with a B.A. in Theatre Arts in 2014. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Jacob Vorperian</b> (Asst. Technical director) is proud to be joining the creative team of <i>Hickorydickory</i>. He studied computer science at Willamette University before moving on to his current roles as House Technician for Dragon Productions, Head of Technology for Epic Immersive, and Projectionist for Viberation Visuals. Jacob also has over a decade of extensive experience in acting, singing, and dancing, with his most recent role being that of Short John in Epic Immersive's production of <i>The Changeling: a Neverland Story. </i>He would like to thank Marilyn Izdebski for introducing him to the wonderful world of theater and Max and Alika for bringing him to Dragon.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-81115651385996285772019-08-30T08:00:00.000-07:002019-08-30T08:00:07.473-07:00Hickorydickory: About the Playwright<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Marisa Wegrzyn (born 1981) is an American playwright based in Chicago, Illinois. She grew up in Wilmette, Illinois. Born to an anesthesiologist and former flight attendant, she began writing plays at 18. While at Washington University in St. Louis, Wegrzyn won the university's A.E. Hotchner playwriting award after finishing second the preceding year. She came as runner-up as a freshman for <i>Polar Bears on U.S. 41</i>, and was chosen to take part in the WordBRIDGE program. Hosted by Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, it is a two-week program with theatre professionals.
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The next year, her play <i>Killing Women</i>, about female hitmen, won the award and was produced by the University’s A.E. Hotchner Play Development Lab. After graduation in 2003, she was put in touch with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's director of new play development.
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Wegrzyn's black comedy <i>The Butcher of Baraboo </i>debuted by Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2006 and ran again at the Second Stage Theater in New York City a year later. The play went on to receive its West Coast premiere in San Diego, CA, in 2009 where it was then hailed by critics as a success.
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In 2009, Wergzyn won the third annual Wasserstein Prize for her play <i>Hickorydickory</i>, which had not yet been produced. The award, named in honor of Wendy Wasserstein, is given to a female playwright under 32 who has yet to receive national attention.
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She has been commissioned by Steppenwolf (twice), Yale Repertory Theatre, and Theatre Seven. She is a founding member of Theatre Seven in Chicago and is currently writing for TV (<i>Goliath</i>, Amazon) while continuing her work in theater around the country.<br />
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Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-56310599954350379322019-07-11T08:00:00.000-07:002019-07-11T08:00:04.717-07:00The How & the Why: The Playwright<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK6"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK5"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1919;">Sarah Treem is the Golden Globe Winning writer and producer of Showtime's <i>The Affair. </i>Her full-length plays include <i>Empty Sky</i>,<i>Against the Wall</i>, <i>Mirror, Mirror</i>, <i>A Feminine Ending</i>, <i>Human Voices</i>, <i>When We Were Young and Unafraid</i>, and <i>Vienna's Amazing</i>.<i>A Feminine Ending</i>received its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in Fall 2007, was subsequently produced at South Coast Repertory and Portland Center Stage in 2008. <i>Human Voices </i>was part of Manhattan Theater Club's Springboard's New Play Series and New York Stage & Film's Powerhouse Reading Season in 2007. Sarah has been in residence at The Sundance Institute and The Ojai Playwriting Conference. She has been commissioned by South Coast Repertory and Playwrights Horizons, and she is a current fellow at the Lark Playwrights' Workshop. On the television side, Sarah is a Writer/Producer on two acclaimed HBO series, <i>In Treatment</i>and Mark Wahlberg's <i>How To Make It In America</i>. She also writes for <i>House of Cards</i>for Netflix. Sarah is currently adapting Tom Wolfe's novel <i>I Am Charlotte Simmons </i>for Bill Haber and Tina Brown at HBO. Born in Boston and raised in multiple states on the east coast, Sarah graduated from Yale University with a B.A. and the Yale School of Drama with an MFA. </span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-85535851323995343112019-07-10T12:00:00.000-07:002019-07-10T12:00:00.191-07:00The How & the Why: Director's Note<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">“It would help if you didn’t think of science as such a contact sport.”</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK2"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK1"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The How and the Why </span></i></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">follows two women meeting for the first time, one well-established in her career, and one on the cusp of entering into professional life. Propelled by coincidence, fate, or a mysterious turn of genetic determinism, they are both evolutionary biologists.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">This is no casual meeting, and conversation gravitates to vital questions: Their work, their families, their choices, their bodies. And perhaps most importantly, their dreams - and the sacrifices made to achieve them. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">These are women striving to gain, and keep, a foothold in a highly competitive field. While working on this play, we asked ourselves what it meant to be driven towards achievement and success, and whether these successes are enough to build a fulfilled life. While Zelda and Rachel are both scientists, I believe these questions are applicable to all of us. In the quote above, ‘science’ could easily be replaced by ‘life’. I hope that this play offers you an entryway to explore your own questions on the great mystery of How and Why we become who we are.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">-Lana Palmer, director</span></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-23928676289561445752019-07-10T08:00:00.000-07:002019-07-10T08:00:01.154-07:00The How & the Why: Meet the Designers<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lana Palmer (Producer/Director/Sound Designer/Properties Master/Costume Coordinator) is a Canadian-born, San Francisco-based theatre and filmmaker. Sound Design credits include <i>Race</i> (Dragon Theatre), <i>School Girls </i>(Kansas City Rep/Regional Premiere), <i>The Grapes of Wrath </i>(Los Altos Stage), <i>For Colored Girls </i>(African-American Shakespeare Company), <i>The Revolutionists </i>(Town Hall Theatre Company/Bay Area Premiere), and <i>Dracula </i>(Inferno Theatre), for which she was nominated for a TBA Award for Original Music. Her directing credits include <i>Red </i>and <i>The North Pool </i>(Bread & Butter Theatre), and staged readings of <i>Middletown </i>(Actors Ensemble of Berkeley) and <i>Uncanny Valley </i>(Town Hall Theatre Company). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rebekah Lazar (Stage Manager)<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;"> (Bekah for short) is a university student studying theatre design and production at the University of British Columbia</span><span class="m-6058688634421208546yiv8963909830gmail-style1char"><span style="color: #222222;"> in Vancouver, BC. Her main focus is on stage management, lighting, and anything else she has the opportunity to learn about. She feels so fortunate to work with and learn from such a passionate and driven team that inspires her to do what she loves to do. Bekah would like to thank everyone who takes a bit of time out of their day to spend a few hours in the world of theatre; after all, a show is nothing without its audience.</span></span><span class="Style1Char"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Isaac Fine (Scenic Designer)<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;"> is a second year MFA student at San Francisco State University studying scenic design. His credits include <i>[title of show], Pericles, Prince of Tyre, </i>and <i>The North Pool. </i>He has also worked as a projection designer for <i>Hair: An American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, </i>and <i>How to Pray. </i>Isaac is thrilled to be working on his first production with the Dragon Theatre. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Bruce Avery (Lighting Designer)</span> is a Bay Area actor and director as well as Professor of Theatre Arts at San Francisco State University. Lighting design credits include <i>Exit the King </i>and <i>Baltimore Waltz </i>(San Francisco State University) and <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream </i>(Bread & Butter Theatre Co). Directing credits include <i>Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Much Ado About Nothing, </i>and <i>Baltimore Waltz</i> at San Francisco State University, and <i>Midsummer </i>for Bread & Butter. Acting credits include Rothko in <i>Red,</i> Dr. Danielson in <i>The North Pool, </i>and Polonius in <i>Hamlet.</i> </span></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-12438093006961498982019-07-09T19:13:00.003-07:002019-07-09T19:13:38.305-07:00The How & the Why: Meet the Cast<div style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7UZ77vTNzDbOeDbjKX7wMHXBBJkMLHjaGEK_L0taltzOYJvPM7wQ3r3mZMCnW4V49by9WADdmuTauMgK9vcp_XKgPMRbSnnWQRewrdIUAXGW7NY-WzM1CScSdo-kdo3Sw1lmGV-V0R0/s1600/Nelson%252C+Alicia+Piemme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7UZ77vTNzDbOeDbjKX7wMHXBBJkMLHjaGEK_L0taltzOYJvPM7wQ3r3mZMCnW4V49by9WADdmuTauMgK9vcp_XKgPMRbSnnWQRewrdIUAXGW7NY-WzM1CScSdo-kdo3Sw1lmGV-V0R0/s320/Nelson%252C+Alicia+Piemme.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #222222;">Alicia Piemme Nelson (Rachel Hardeman) is thrilled to be making her Dragon debut in <i>The How and the Why</i>. Regional credits include: WAMTheatre (<i>The Last Wife, The Virgin Trial). </i>She has worked with many Bay Area theatres, most recently: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Berkeley Playhouse, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Crowded Fire, Word for Word, and Ragged Wing Ensemble. She has a BFA in Acting from Boston University and is a Theatre Bay Area award winner. </span><span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="http://www.ampnelson.com/" style="color: #954f72;" target="_blank">www.ampnelson.com</a></span></div>
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Kelly Rinehart (Zelda Kahn) is thrilled to be back at Dragon. She was previously seen here in <i>Private Eyes </i>and <i>Miss Reardon Drinks A Little</i>. She has also worked with Altarena, Custom Made Theatre Company, Contra Costa Civic Theatre, Hillbarn, Palo Alto Players, Ragged Wing, San Francisco Olympians Festival, and Those Women Productions, among others. One of her day jobs is as a lecturer and clinical supervisor at a university, where she is grateful that she does not have to do research, because her passion is for the teaching part. She also likes playing outdoors and ice cream. So much to be grateful for…<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-76991556544519892902019-05-08T18:35:00.000-07:002019-05-08T18:35:07.389-07:00Shoggoths on the Veldt: About H. P. Lovecraft and his fictional world<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Howard Phillips (H.P.) Lovecraft (1890-1937) was a writer from Rhode Island whose biography is both interesting and controversial, but for our purposes, we will contain ourselves to his writing. A fan of Poe, he was fascinated with the macabre and horror, and made most of his income came from pulp fiction magazines of the day. His writing includes such themes/ideas as: exploration of places man has never been or has not seen since a bygone age, fear of the unknown and with it a fear of knowledge/progress into areas man is not ready to know, madness and/or death at the hands of things the human brain cannot comprehend nor even contend with, the kind of sacrifice required to forestall humanity's end against forces that it has no hope against and prodigious use of words and phrases like “Cyclopean” “Eldritch” and “Non-Euclidean Geometry” to fill in the gap between where the English language could not describe something ended and the readers imagination began. All of this lead to what we now call the ‘Cthulhu Mythos’. </span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">What is the ‘Cthulhu Mythos’? </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">The name is inspired from one of Lovecraft’s best (or at least most famous) work: “The Call of Cthulhu”. As to the ‘Mythos’ part</span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">... </span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Well, lots of pulp fiction writers of the day corresponded with each other (to both collaborate and commiserate on how hard it was to make a living writing) and Lovecraft ended up with a large circle of correspondents/fans/friends ( called, rather blandly “The Lovecraft Circle”, which included famed writer Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian) and most of them either saw a gap in the market or were truly inspired by his writing to add to it, helping make one of the largest author approved fan fiction groups ever. Writers would take stories, single lines from stories or just an idea and expand them to where today, their writing is considered as canon as Lovecraft’s by most fans. </span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Okay, so a bunch of writers made up spooky stories around a hundred years ago. Surely no one talks about it anymore, right? </span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">That is where you are wrong, you cheeky, hastily conjured straw man! The Mythos is still with us and is a part of popular culture to this day, including, but by no means limited to: </span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Evil Dead Series</span></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">: Both the more recent TV show and the original movies owe much to Lovecraft, especially the Necronomicon (which is featured/mentioned in many Mythos texts). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Re-Animator</span></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">: A series of horror movies starring Jeffery Coombs, the original is based wholesale on a Lovecraft story, updated on its era, involving reanimating dead people and the problems it can cause. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Conan the Barbarian</span></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">: From the novels to the 80s movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger, many of the supernatural/strange elements bear the mark of its creators love of Lovecraft. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Ghostbusters</span></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">: Mentions some tomes and names familiar to Lovecraft fans and the cartoon version (The Real Ghostbusters) had an episode entitled “The Collect Call of Cthulhu” as a wholesale homage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">John Carpenter</span></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">: Parts of the film “The Thing” that are not based on the previous version or its original short story are cribbed from Lovecraft’s story “At the Mountains of Madness;” which is even further referenced in style and tone in one of Carpenter's other film “In the Mouth of Madness”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Metallica</span></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">: Has two songs referencing Lovecraft ‘The Thing That Should Not Be’ and “The Call of Ktulu’.<br /><br /><b>Batman: </b>The Arkham Asylum where most of Batman’s rogues gallery ends up is a reference to a central location in the Cthulhu Mythos, the tiny New England town of Arkham, Massachusetts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Call of Cthulhu</span></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">: A Tabletop Role Playing Game that is based entirely on the Mythos, originally published in the 80s, is now in its 7th Edition and still going strong. Famous in its circles for having a sanity mechanic where exposure to the strange and horrifying can leave your character like poor Montcrag. </span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Stephen King</span></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">has a soft spot for Lovecraft, even having his main villain in ”The Stand” claim Nyarlathotep as one of his incarnations.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">True Detective</span></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">: Not a Cthulhu Mythos show per se, but it has some references and its bleak tone is exactly what many Lovecraft stories tend to feel like.</span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Hellboy</span></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">: Both the movies and the comics are steeped in Lovecraft and eldritch abominations.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Glossary of Terms: </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Here’s a glossary of potentially tricky terms, entities and ideas in the show in case you’d like to know what they are: </span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Shoggoth </span></i></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">[Shoe-gauth or SHOW-goth]: A creature created to be a slave race by a species that ruled Earth before the rise of man, they rebelled and now a few of them remain in the dark, hidden places of the world. 15 feet across, they are essentially a cross between a massive ball of living Play-Doh with the bioluminescence and partial consistency of a jellyfish. Able to create/extend tentacle to carry out tasks and can open up multiple mouths across its’ body to speak. As the show points out, also kind of like a ginormous amoeba. First appears in Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness”.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Elder Sign: </span></i></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">A symbol with five branches (sometimes depicted as a tree, but also seen as a star, as in the show), that is the fulcrum for many spells in the Cthulhu Mythos, by acting as a beacon to the Great Old Ones (coupled with intent and sacrifice to power it), who actually make the spell work (most spells in the are prayer/pleas to the Great Old Ones and if they respond favorably, they enact the spell you described in your prayer/plea). Speaking of which... </span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Great Old Ones: </span></i></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Most of the things that people could call ‘gods” in the Cthulhu Mythos are alien beings, who are so beyond our understanding in terms of powers and existence that we shorthand convert them into gods to avoid having to think about them too hard. Their motives are inscrutable - at best they ignore us and at worst they have plans for us. Most spells or supernatural effects come from them or something that worships them/is aligned with them in some way. A few get a passing reference (Bugg-Shash, Gla’aki, a few others) but any with significant presence in the show will get their own entry.</span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><br /><b><i>R’lyehian: </i></b>The language of the Great Old Ones, first brought to Earth by the denizens of the sunken city of R’lyeh that worship dead Cthulhu. The language cannot be uttered correctly by a human tongue and is only used to attract the attention of a Great Old One when performing a spell/ritual. Most sentences are constructed in a matter of fact, no frills way, as the language has no distinction for parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives and such are all interchangeable) and only two tenses (present and not-present, as the Great Old Ones do not experience time as we do). For instance, the R’lyehian phrase: ‘ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’yleh wgah’nagl fhtagn’ is translated into (correctly structured) English as ‘In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu lies dreaming’ but a direct translation would be “Dead, yet dreaming, Cthulhu waits in his palace in R’yleh’. Both the text and the language first appear in Lovecraft’s “Call of Cthulhu.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><br /><b><i>Shub-Niggurath [Shoob-Neeg-er-ath]:</i></b>‘ The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young’ as she is often known, Shub-Niggurath is the closest thing in the Mythos to a fertility goddess, having birthed some of the worst entities in existence and continually spawning monstrosities from her massive form as easily as breathing, many times absorbing them back into herself (if they do not grow quickly enough to escape). As a being of life and supposedly having control over all that is flesh, she has a great many worshippers, among both humans and various other alien species.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><br /><b><i>Nyarlathotep </i></b>[N-Yar-Lat-Ho-Tep]: ‘The Crawling Chaos’, ‘The God with a Thousand Masks’ and all the names those Masks possess. Was originally the messenger of the Great Old Ones, once upon a time, but these days is known by the sobriquet Nyarlathotep (which is really just the name of one of the Masks he wore in ancient Egypt, roughly translated as “The Black Pharaoh”) and he delights in causing chaos and suffering wherever he is called (no one knows what his true form is and it is possible he does not have one). Unlike most Great Old Ones, he has a great understanding of what humans are and how they behave, and enjoys giving followers and the unsuspecting alike exactly what they ask for (in the most ironic/horrible way possible). The God of The Bloody Tongue is one of his Masks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">Azathoth </span></i></b><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;">[Az-a-thoth]: As described in the show, The Daemon Sultan is in fact the first being that ever existed. If one imagines the raw, seething power that must have existed in a single point to expand outwards at the Big Bang, that point is Azathoth (albeit with a face not even a mother could love or even look at without devolving into gibbering insanity and the temperament of the worst kind of Child-King imaginable). He dances in his court surrounded by eldritch beings, playing weird instruments, forever playing for his amusement, lest he grow so bored he unmakes all of existence. </span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><img alt="Image result for shoggoth" height="251" src="blob:https://www.blogger.com/0b5812d9-db75-4adb-9b53-234d41048ec8" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_2" width="478" /></span><span style="font-family: "News Gothic MT", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">(big thanks to ASM Austin Barnes for the bulk of this document!) </span></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-8836447589132207562019-05-07T14:00:00.000-07:002019-05-07T14:00:04.748-07:00Shoggoths on the Veldt: Meet the Cast<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1SWPEARk2ZE2ImhtjOvNq0SPbGxRPPLJ11DiVpcaIGgA0MpW3pmUy5gRHCETjyVxg4aMoAR7tm6SM-6pJ_hyItgzdpr5fdZV_zGp4cstXVNwz_A86Z4GuzY9kgSIr1iJ_F6Mc-pWLqM/s1600/tasialabastro_headshot_09.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1SWPEARk2ZE2ImhtjOvNq0SPbGxRPPLJ11DiVpcaIGgA0MpW3pmUy5gRHCETjyVxg4aMoAR7tm6SM-6pJ_hyItgzdpr5fdZV_zGp4cstXVNwz_A86Z4GuzY9kgSIr1iJ_F6Mc-pWLqM/s200/tasialabastro_headshot_09.png" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Tasi Alabastro (Famed Explorer Welton Mountcrag)</b> - <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">returns to the Dragon Stage with an elation that can only be described as seeing Elephants fly while surfing! Or something. Having just visited Scotland by way of Shakespeare, he’s excited to be traversing the globe to Deepest Darkest Africa with this merry crew. In addition to working onstage, he is an online content creator and photographer whose work focuses on reflecting his community and culture. He has had the honor of being the 2018 Silicon Valley Creates’ Emerging Artist Laureate as well as being published in <i>CONTENT Magazine </i>and <i>Tayo Magazine</i>. The productions of <i>Macbeth, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, Three Days of Rain, </i>and <i>The Libation Bearers </i>are among his recent Dragon Theatre app</span></span><span style="text-align: center;">earances</span><i style="text-align: center;">. </i><span style="text-align: center;">Other</span><i style="text-align: center;"> </i><span style="text-align: center;">Bay Area credits include productions with CenterRep, City Lights Theatre Company, Pear Theatre, Hillbarn Theatre, and TheatreWork’s New Works Festival. Film/TV includes “Yes We’re Open” and PBS’ “Futurestates.” He is a proud member of the Red Ladder Theatre Company and is currently working with inmates in state prisons as part of the California Art’s Council’s Arts-in-Corrections program: a program which re-engages participants with their creativity and imagination. Catch him live three times a week on </span><a href="http://twitch.tv/kreenpananas" style="color: #954f72; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">twitch.tv/kreenpananas</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;">. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqQq29fp53b3Xg2Z0KHVT8YqYGWrJSrJHWA34EmwPisLrU3Ewgb9YI81OrAQ43lLclcLGccTNkdNLKI8E9gZh0IpxVlfOJZd9QI4fQr0NzaC9RcWcj5frLDth_tj38eB9FqYahX3ooVU/s1600/Betsy.Headshot.HERO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqQq29fp53b3Xg2Z0KHVT8YqYGWrJSrJHWA34EmwPisLrU3Ewgb9YI81OrAQ43lLclcLGccTNkdNLKI8E9gZh0IpxVlfOJZd9QI4fQr0NzaC9RcWcj5frLDth_tj38eB9FqYahX3ooVU/s200/Betsy.Headshot.HERO.jpg" width="154" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Betsy (The Shoogoth) </b>- Ooodle, oodle oodle oo! Oddle Dragon Theatre, oodle,oo, oodle OODDLE!.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Lisa Burton (Lady Philippa Bickleford-Smith Jones)</b> -</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> is thrilled to be back on the Dragon stage and in the company of such a fun and talented team. She was last seen at Dragon Theatre for that most festive of all shows—<i>The Making of the Star Wars Holiday Special</i>: <i>Live!—</i>in which she appeared as Han Solo and assorted other characters. Other Dragon performances include a turn as Bea Littleton in <i>The Charitable Sisterhood of the Second Trinity Victory Church </i>and Tsarina/Sarrasine in <i>Cirque Exotique du Monde.</i> Locally, Lisa has also appeared at the Pear Theatre in <i>The Millionth Production of the Christmas Carol </i>(what is it with these long titles?) and at Santa Clara Players in <i>Exit The Body </i>and <i>Rumors</i>. Favorite roles from the distant past include Dorine in Tartuffe and both Cecily and Gwendolyn in two different productions of <i>The Important of Being Earnest</i>. Lisa holds a B.F.A. in theatre from New York University and an M.A. in literature from San Francisco State University. She is grateful to her wonderful family—Drew, Andrew, Zoe and Bolt—for all their love and support.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSZZpzXqbOiFcgW3K1MJLG2z4jnuP8dUCVxb6e6CKaGisLFeDjR40NC6YVUi-08xxwyjcKeGj2oHSGluiJxhE7Rqy0OE79uqdkNB-ffL_rSnrYPp_dNrO8QH_WP6r2q8D4yo2xDmlgck/s1600/Feichtmeir%252C+Ronald.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSZZpzXqbOiFcgW3K1MJLG2z4jnuP8dUCVxb6e6CKaGisLFeDjR40NC6YVUi-08xxwyjcKeGj2oHSGluiJxhE7Rqy0OE79uqdkNB-ffL_rSnrYPp_dNrO8QH_WP6r2q8D4yo2xDmlgck/s200/Feichtmeir%252C+Ronald.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Ronald Feichtmeir (Lord Melford Pumbleshire) </b>- <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">Ronald has been acting on the peninsula most recently in the Dragon Theatre’s production <i>of The Star Wars Holiday Special: Live! </i>as C3PO and Art Carney. He is a Bay Area native. Recent shows include <i>Waiting for Godot</i>as Estragon, <i>Cirque Exotique Du Monde </i>at the Dragon Theatre <i></i>and Jim/ Scrooge for <i>A Millionth Production of a Christmas Carol </i>at the Pear Theatre.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9NMflTUM2RoRLf5LVuMgzokjGvQE-_HzKKphyBpvPqb3qxlMdJJnw4Zuyc9LKg9SopLsfQUHTgOlaj-afEMaAOGKmgnWZM1s2C4SElgUw8vh_lImIIGf9EAnq3UmZ0lSWNvSwLMQNLZg/s1600/Alika+Spencer-Koknar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1164" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9NMflTUM2RoRLf5LVuMgzokjGvQE-_HzKKphyBpvPqb3qxlMdJJnw4Zuyc9LKg9SopLsfQUHTgOlaj-afEMaAOGKmgnWZM1s2C4SElgUw8vh_lImIIGf9EAnq3UmZ0lSWNvSwLMQNLZg/s200/Alika+Spencer-Koknar.jpg" width="145" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Alika U. Spencer-Koknar (Lady Euphonia Riggstone)</b> - has been itching to do a production of <i>Shoggoths on the Veldt </i>ever since she saw the world premiere back in 2015 in Seattle WA. at The Rogues Gallery. She is honored to share this endeavor with such a talented and compassionate group of artists, she couldn’t have pulled this off without every single one of their help. Alika has recently stepped into the role of Co-Artistic Director here at the Dragon along with her director and husband, Max Koknar. Her past credits include; Princess Leia in <i>The Star Wars Holiday Special: Live!, </i>Judith in <i>Equivocation, </i>Boshka/Magda Goebbels in <i>Cirque Exotique Du Monde </i>with Dragon Theatre, with Northside Theater Company as Maureen in <i>The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, </i>with City Lights as Johnna Monevata In <i>August: Osage County </i>with City Lights Theater Company and Alice Bloomfield in Kinan Valdez’s production of <i>Zoot Suit </i>with El Theatro Campesino.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhplRcJ77ycHuTW9Knb8sj163r0qULUz20gZ67WAJZKeAXGQv6Df4jP3ZTasyDcYbsLkmqszuIS06SbEl1Xk4hbbbK0s1e0LNGtwqcEA0i1mioctAqYcPjKgUF3YyQV-xC1sUljkT4NdrE/s1600/Michael+Weiland+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1361" data-original-width="1175" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhplRcJ77ycHuTW9Knb8sj163r0qULUz20gZ67WAJZKeAXGQv6Df4jP3ZTasyDcYbsLkmqszuIS06SbEl1Xk4hbbbK0s1e0LNGtwqcEA0i1mioctAqYcPjKgUF3YyQV-xC1sUljkT4NdrE/s200/Michael+Weiland+.jpg" width="172" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Michael Weiland (Crompit/Steward/The God of the Bloody Tongue/Arnulf)</b> -<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;"> has previously appeared in <i>Equivocation </i>at the Dragon Theatre. Other appearances include <i>Geeks vs Zombies </i>at the Pear Theater, <i>The Legend of Georgia McBride </i>at Los Altos Stage Company, <i>Boom! </i>at Minilights, and<i>Rocky Horro</i>r at City Lights Theater Company. Michael is also a company member at Play On Words San Jose, a staged reading company for new works by local authors, playwrights, and poets.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-83639228915409899072019-05-07T12:01:00.000-07:002019-05-07T12:01:15.085-07:00Shoggoths on the Veldt: Meet the Design Team<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Bora “Max” Koknar (Director) - <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Max is a Turkish-born actor, director, writer, educator, producer and the Co-Artistic Director of Dragon Productions. Over a professional career of 15 years, Max has entertained over a half million people as a performer; produced a touring program serving over 100,000 children a year across the west coast; founded an education program designed to increase language fluency and communication skills of at risk youth in partnership with The Ohio State University; created sold-out immersive experiences with Epic Immersive; and collaborated with international tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Box, Intuit, Genentech, and Paradox Interactive as performer, executive coach, training facilitator and experience designer.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Samantha Ricci (Assistant Director) - <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">is a performer and teaching artist from the Bay Area. She began her career with the Missoula Children’s Theatre, directing kids across the US, Canada, and Southeast Asia. Sam first went mad for <i>Shoggoths on the Veldt </i>when she saw its premiere while touring with the California Theatre Center; she is thrilled for the chance to be working on the show herself with this amazing team, reunited with fellow California Theatre Center alums director Max Koknar and actor Alika U. Spencer-Koknar. Sam’s latest directing projects (<i>Hatikvah </i>and <i>Vichy’s Garden</i>) were part of the 2017 Lights Up festival at City Lights Theatre Company in San Jose. When not onstage or backstage, she can be found facilitating improv-based workshops in California state prisons with the Red Ladder Theatre Company.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Austin Barnes (Assistant Stage Manager) - </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">is terribly pleased to be returning to The Dragon Theater. After helping with the previous year’s <i>Star War Holiday Special: Live! </i>and <i>The Revolutionist </i>at the beginning of this season, he is horribly excited to be a part of bringing Shoggoths to life and also to be assisting Betsy in her big debut on The Dragon stage (she has bright future ahead of her)!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Melinda Marks (Stage Manager) -<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> is a longtime Bay Area actor and director, and the editor and casting director of San Jose-based production company Play on Words. This is her first time Stage Managing at Dragon Productions, but she was the dialect coach on last season's <i>Equivocation</i> and will direct <i>Anne of the Thousand Days </i>here later this year. She was last seen onstage in <i>Shakespeare in Love</i> (Palo Alto Players), and in Theatro Visions' world premiere of <i>Departera.</i></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Mike Fatum (Fight Choreographer) -<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> was trained by Eben Young of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has been choreographing stage combat for more than a decade. Prior to <i>Shoggoths,</i>his work could be seen in the film <i>Star Wars Uncut,</i> and on stage with The Lamplighters and Pacifica Spindrift Players. He hopes to one day be half as good as Bob Anderson, who you know for choreographing every single sword fight you love. Seriously, Google him.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Nathanael Card (Scenic/Lighting Designer) - </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Nathanael Card, Wizard of the Theatre Arts, is proud to take the form of lighting designer, scenic designer, and painter for Dragon. His past scenic designs include: <i>The Revolutionists, Three Days of Rain</i>, and <i>Cirque Exotique du Monde </i>at Dragon; <i>Godspell, Carousel, </i>and <i>A Chorus Line</i>, with Youth Musical Theater Company; and <i>Southern Lights, </i>with 3 Girls Theater at Z Below. He designed lights as well for his last three shows at Dragon, and often crews as an electrician with Smuin Ballet and Berkeley Rep.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Jonathan Covey (Sound) - has been making noise with Dragon for a few years now. This is his eighth production with the theatre, the other six being <i>Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Rich & Famous, Caeneus & Poseidon, </i><i>Insignificance, Three Days Of Rain</i>with Meredith Hagedorn and this past summer’s <i>Equivocation </i>for Jenny Hollingworth. Covey also did sound for Hillbarn Threatre’s productions of <i>The Elephant Man </i>and <i>Noises Off </i>and even tried his hand at acting, recently playing Malcolm et. al. in Dragon's <i>Macbeth</i>, as well as Detective Sargent Trotter in Crystal Springs Players production of Agatha Christie’s <i>The Mouse Trap</i>. However, he still enjoys being alone in a dark room with a microphone, a guitar, and maybe some celery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kate Martin (Puppet Designer/Properties Master) -<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> is extremely honored to join Dragon Productions for the first time for <i>Shoggoths. </i>She also designs and creates costumes and props, and performs with Epic Immersive and Hubba Hubba Revue, as well as teaches elementary school science and engineering during the week. In her free time she performs immersive comedy with her girlfriend<i> </i>and creates all sorts of strange things.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kathleen Qiu (Costume Designer) - <b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"></span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">is a Bay Area costume designer returning to Dragon for her third season. Previously, she designed <i>The (Making of the) Star Wars Holiday Special: Live!, The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence, Equivocation, </i></span></span><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Insignificance,</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> and <i>Cirque Exotique du Monde</i>. Other selected credits include <i>Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat</i> (West Valley College), <i>Honky, All My Sons</i> (Role Players Ensemble), <i>All in the Timing</i> (Tomorrow Youth Repertory), <i>She Kills Monsters, A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> (Foothill College), <i>Two Mile Hollow</i> (Ferocious Lotus), <i>Universal Robots</i> (Quantum Dragon Theatre), <i>The House of Yes, How I Learned to Drive</i>(Custom Made Theatre Co), and <i>You Mean to Do Me Harm</i> (SF Playhouse). She graduated from the University of Chicago with BAs in Chemistry and Psychology and is working on an MFA in Costume Design from the Academy of Art. She would like to thank the production team for this opportunity and her family and friends for their continued support.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Jacob </span><span style="color: #202124; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Vorperian (Projection and Animation Designer) - </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">is proud to be joining the creative team of <i>Shoggoths on the Veldt </i>as Projection and Animation Designer. He studied computer science at Willamette University before moving on to his current roles as House Technician for Dragon Productions, Head of Technology for Epic Immersive, and Projectionist for Viberation Visuals. Jacob also has over a decade of extensive experience in acting, singing, and dancing, with his most recent role being that of Short John in Epic Immersive's production of <i>The Changeling: a Neverland Story. </i>He would like to thank Marilyn Izdebski for introducing him to the wonderful world of theater and Max and Alika for bringing him to Dragon.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-79349369029335784362019-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:002019-05-07T08:00:06.909-07:00Shoggoths on the Veldt - A Word From the Director<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It is not often that one gets to work on their dream project - but that is what the Dragon is all about. Creating opportunities for dreams to come true. But why is this silly little play a dream come true for me?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Well, I thought, when I saw the original production in Seattle, that this was my new dream project because of the script. This beautiful story Cameron McNary weaves for us is not only a hilarious comedy and captivating adventure tale, but also a beautiful romance about embracing who we really are instead behaving in ways required to fit into society. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But really, the dream has been the incredible team of multi-talented theatre artists who have thrown themselves so wholeheartedly into the process of bringing this silly little play to life with a level of dedication I thought I could not hope for in my wildest dreams. From old friends like Sam, who was with me on the fateful night when I was first introduced to this play, to newer ones like Melinda who will be bringing a dream project of her own (<i>Anne of a Thousand Days</i>) to the Dragon later this year, every single person on this production has gone so far above and beyond the call of duty to bring you this show. They have all taken on responsibilities beyond their titles and put in dozens of hours beyond the usual commitments expected of them. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All to bring you a wild and wacky, globetrotting adventure, spanning boats and trains and cultist temples. And oh, did we mention the 15 ton amoeboid tentacle monster, Betsy? We hope you enjoy the ride!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Ooodle oo!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">-Max “Bora” Koknar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-45989376610588764072019-04-26T17:49:00.002-07:002019-04-26T17:53:36.692-07:00Shoggoths on the Veldt: Who is H. P. Lovecraft? You might not know who Howard Phillips Lovecraft is, but you've definitely felt his influences. Born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1890, H.P. Lovecraft was a writer of gothic horror fiction. He was virtually unknown during his lifetime but is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th century American authors due to his impact in the areas of horror and strange fiction. His stories were largely published in pulp magazines and his creation of the Cthulu Mythos made a major impact on the pop culture scene after he died at the age of 46 from cancer and in poverty.<br />
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Lovecraft was significantly influenced by Edgar Allen Poe and you can certainly see that influence in his gothic horror stories. Contemporary writers like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, William S. Burroughs, and Alan Moore have all cited Lovecraft as having a major influence on their writings. Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrote his short story <em>There Are More Things</em> in memory of Lovecraft. Even writer Joyce Carol Oates is a fan - she wrote an introduction for a collection of Lovecraft stories.
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In the realm of film, John Carpenter and Guillermo del Toro have used Lovecraftian images and themes in their films. Surreal visual artist H. R. Geiger, the man who designed the aliens in the James Cameron Alien films, cites Lovecraft as an inspiration for many of his designs.
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While many of us know Arkham from the Batman canon, Arkham is actually a fictional place in Lovecraft's stories. The necronomicon, the book of the dead, is mentioned in a number of sci-fi stories, most notably in Sam Raimi's <i>Evil Dead</i> movies. It's also a Lovecraft creation.
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Mr. Lovecraft was known to encourage the use of his fictional creatures and places in other works, so I think he'd approve of Cameron McNary's play.<br />
<br />Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-70971785816689663922019-03-13T08:00:00.000-07:002019-03-13T08:00:07.075-07:00Macbeth: From the DirectorsWhen approaching any new project onstage we find it vital to ask ourselves one question: Why on Earth are we doing this to ourselves?
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Long days, late nights, mental strain, a social calendar that becomes non-existent, (sometimes) bodily harm, (often) poor dietary choices, and (never enough) money. What kind of person makes the conscious choice to pursue this art while not under duress? The answer, we found, was "some of the absolute best."<br />
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Our ultimate goal for this production of William Shakespeare's <i>Macbeth</i> was two-fold; assemble an ensemble of artists that we admire to build a show together and strip this classic piece down to its core values. In regards to the former, as you'll soon see, we couldn't be more proud. Our names may be on the program but next to "Director" it could just as easily read, "Everyone."There isn't a moment in this show that doesn't have the entire team's fingerprints on it and chances to work on a true ensemble-driven piece of theatre are few and far between.
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As for the latter... we keep coming back to Shakespeare, don't we? It's not hard to see why; his poetry is beautiful and his stories are human. With over thirty plays to choose from, one can see oneself in any number of characters, for good or for bad, and that is the inherent reason for the unbelievable longevity of his work. To connect with people and characters from over four centuries ago means we aren't so different from them... which means we certainly aren't so different from each other now. It's a humbling reminder of the importance and truth in art.
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The themes in <i>Macbeth</i> are universal and well-known. Ambition, power, corruption, greed; seemingly inevitable aspects of human nature that have been no more resonant than they are in our world right now. But this idea of connectivity through relationships (romantic, familial, brotherhood in combat, etc.) is not, historically, the main focus of this play. For us, however, it was the most important.
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The idea that witches, curses, prophesies, and even fate are not actually inevitable is an attractive one, especially when framing it around the complex relationships that truly make the events in the play come to pass. The Macbeths don't start their lives as villains. Everybody is one bad decision away from the life-altering event. Who we surround ourselves with, who we build up, who we let in, and who we connect with can change everything. This is not just a story about what drives us through life; it is also a story about who.
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Which brings us back to our primary question: Why on Earth are we doing this? Simply put... connection.
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Real connection with the piece, the past, each other... and now you.
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-Max Tachis & Roneet Rahamim
Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-69660757558309857942019-03-12T08:00:00.000-07:002019-03-12T12:58:59.992-07:00Macbeth: Fight choreographySomething we don't get to talk about too often here at Dragon is fight choreography. Between <i>Macbeth</i> which opens this week, and our next play, <i>Shoggoths On The Veldt</i>, which is ALREADY in fight training a bit earlier than usual, we get to do it a lot this season. They use the word choreography to describe it for a reason - any bit of violence, be it a sword fight, a hanging, or even a simple shove gets choreographed like dance movement. The movements are drilled with your partner over and over and over again. The simple rule of thumb is that for one minute of performance fight time you work NO LESS than TEN HOURS for the fight. That seems extreme but the reason is simple - safety, for both your actors and your audience members. When you have combat happening mere feet away from the audience it's got to be safe. And it's got to look good, which is easier said than done.<br />
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This video gives you a general idea of the work that goes into throwing a simple punch.<br />
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Two things to keep in mind with this video: 1. they're talking camera angle but it's a bit harder in live theatre, especially with a rounded stage like ours and 2. they have the luxury of adding sound effects in "post production" with <a href="http://dragonproductionstheatre.blogspot.com/2019/03/macbeth-foley-sound-effects.html" target="_blank">foley artists</a>. When you do this in a live theatre, you have to figure out a way to also make the effect of a slap or punch live. There's a technique called knapping that's often used. Knapping goes something like this:<br />
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<i>Macbeth</i> has a whole lot of fighting, especially towards the end. So not only do the actors, Tasi and Max have to recite a bunch of Shakseaprea, they also have to do a several minute dance that involves remembering angles, a lot of physical acting, and making murder actually incredibly safe but look brutal. No problem right?<br />
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And wait til you see what's coming in for <i>Shoggoths</i>... it's gonna get CRAZY (and it's why we've started combat training a good month early)!<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu3poOxB_ek/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">A new one for us. #shoggothsontheveldt for @dragon_theatre. Sounds like it will be a wild show with #cthulhu #katar #khopesh #leeenfield...</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nationalstagearmory/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> ���Bear Paw Daw���</a> (@nationalstagearmory) on <time datetime="2019-03-11T13:22:22+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Mar 11, 2019 at 6:22am PDT</time></div>
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<script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>Dragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386004633734108331.post-73077906894972689352019-03-11T12:00:00.000-07:002019-03-11T12:00:00.386-07:00Macbeth: A Word From the Artistic DirectorsThis season is full of firsts for Dragon Theater; the first season under our new leadership, and the first time Dragon has ever produced a Shakespearean play. In Dragon’s nineteen years as a company, the Bard’s work has never graced its stage. The reason for this absence was mainly due to the contradiction of Shakespeare to our mission: “to produce professional theatre that is uncommon, intimate, and accessible to its audiences, artists, and community,” and there is no shortage of wonderful theater companies that explore the body of Shakespeare’s work. However, when Max Tachis and Roneet Rahamim approached us with their unique proposal to produce <i>Macbeth</i>, we all knew it was time. They proposed a lean, actor-centric production that would bring the play to life in front of our very eyes as the actors created the environments and soundscapes live on stage using musical instruments, foley, and found objects.<br />
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As actors ourselves, we were thrilled at the prospect of presenting the tragedy of <i>Macbeth</i> for it holds a special place in both of our theatrical hearts. Beyond being our favorite from Shakespeare’s cannon, this story could not be more timely in dealing with power and gender dynamics in a way which mirrors our world to a disturbing extent. But the thing that tipped us over the edge in selecting this piece more than anything else was the team who proposed it. When this pitch was presented to us with four stalwarts of the Bay Area acting community, Roneet, Max, Tasi, and Maria as the core team around whom the rest of the ensemble would be built, we knew that we had something truly special on our hands. Throw in Dragon veteran, Troy Johnson and newcomers to the Dragon stage Jonathan, Sarah, and Maya and we believe what you get is pure alchemy. We hope you enjoy the magic of our first 2nd Stages show of the year (and our very first Shakespeare production EVER) and we cannot wait to keep sharing more with you.<br />
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-Alika Spencer-Koknar & Max KoknarDragon Theatrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707975762681439516noreply@blogger.com0