PlayMakers, Symphony make good of Shaffer's 'Amadeus'
Tonight, Mozart lived.
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Tonight, Mozart lived.
Mozart is getting a makeover.
Per usual, PlayMakers Repertory Company has provided Canvas with dress rehearsal photographs from their latest production. That production, “Shipwrecked! An Entertainment” promises to be an exciting look at Victorian England, celebrities and tall tales. Take a look on the right in the gallery section, and be sure to head out to the production before you traipse on home for break.
For 90 minutes, the audience will stare at an unchanging set.But the whirlwind adventure story of shipwreck, sea creatures and fleeting stardom presented by PlayMakers Repertory Company won’t be a bore.“Shipwrecked! An Entertainment,” which opens tonight in the Paul Green Theatre, tracks the tall tales of swashbuckling storyteller Louis de Rougemont. PlayMakers will use simple theatricality and creative design collaboration to weave this larger-than-life story, producers said.“‘Shipwrecked!’ is a celebration of theatrical storytelling,” said production director Tom Quaintance. “It’s both a fun adventure and a really interesting look at celebrity culture.”The play focuses on the real-life fabrications of de Rougemont, an explorer from the Victorian era whose elaborate and mostly false stories captivated audiences at the turn of the 20th century. Quaintance said he and his artistic staff are working around the play’s unique staging challenges — seven actors playing more than 80 characters throughout drastic leaps in time and setting, “At different points of the play, the sets, lights, costumes, music and actors all take turns being primary storytellers,” Quaintance said. “Playing around with that kind of old-fashioned storytelling is always exciting.”Relatively minor set changes will shift the action from one exotic locale to another, said scenic designer Robin Vest. “Not being bogged down by big set pieces allows for the actor’s physicality, lighting and sound to step in and create elements of design,” Vest said. “It’s a technique dating back to the original Shakespeare productions, which were bare staged.”The basic set — a nameless magic store — will remain constant throughout the production, allowing the actors easy access to props and encouraging the audience’s imagination to fill in the detail of actor Scott Ripley’s imaginative stories as de Rougemont.When this type of simple, dynamic staging is paired with continuous costume changes, it calls for high energy and some improvisation from the small cast, said actress Dee Dee Batteast.“It’s like structured play time,” said Batteast, who plays 13 characters in the production. “There are no strict stage directions. You just have to trust that you’re doing your part contributing to the larger machine.”To offset the static set, the actors will change costumes almost constantly, keeping up with changes in character and shifts in time.“The costume concept was a challenge of keeping things believably modern but also archaic enough to support the style of London in 1898,” said costume designer Rachel Pollock. Pollock found inspiration from press kit photos of modern bands like The Decemberists to help her create timeless costumes, she said. Mark Lewis’ original score for the production will also add to the storytelling.Lewis will play on stage with an ensemble while sound director Ryan Gastelum creates the narrative sounds — like wind and rain — in the stage wings.This raw theatricality calls for the audience to tap into their neglected childhood imaginations to fill in lacking details, Quaintance said. Quaintance, who co-directed PlayMakers’ epic two-part version of “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby” last year, said the compact play appeals to both a sophisticated audience and families.“‘Shipwrecked!’ is more of a thrill ride compared to the Nicholas Nickleby marathon,” Quaintance said.“Anyone who enjoys a good story will enjoy this play, whether they are 7 or 70.”Contact the Arts Editorat artsdesk@unc.edu.
People say size doesn’t matter.
Sutra Memorial Hall 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday $10 student, $30-$85 public
Fences PlayMakers Repertory Company Paul Green Theatre, Department of Dramatic Art 7:30 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday, 2:00 p.m. Sunday Runs now through November 14 $10 student rush, $20-$45 general public
The reopening of the Playmakers Theatre was nothing short of poetic.
After four years of collecting dust, the Historic Playmakers Theatre will reopen tonight — temporarily.
The power of PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of August Wilson’s “Fences” is its biting realism.
PlayMakers Repertory Company is presenting its first-ever production of an August Wilson play, and their choice — “Fences,” the story of a disillusioned former baseball player dealing with racial discrimination and foiled dreams in 1950s Pittsburgh — is a riveting theatrical experience.
PlayMakers Repertory Company has been lacking one thing in its rich 35-year history — a production of an August Wilson play.
As You Like It Paul Green Theatre, begins Sept. 22 and ends Oct. 10 Wed. – Sat. at 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 2:00 p.m. $20-$45, $10 student rush one hour before performance
Everything’s better in the Forest of Arden.
Hey kids! We know all of you are excited about the opening of PlayMakers Repertory Company’s new production of “As You Like It” — Canvas is going on Saturday — but we’re also excited about these lovely photos highlighting some of the production’s better moments.
Alive and chirping, crickets cling to a forested stage in Paul Green Theatre, awaiting the production of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.”
Joseph Haj signed up for high school drama looking for a class to sleep through.
After 34 years, Paul Greene Theatre finally got a face-lift.
We’re not kidding: Samuel Beckett’s play is, in fact, two acts.
PlayMakers Repertory Company is opening their 2010-2011 season with “Happy Days” an absurdist dark comedy about a woman, a pile sand and the husband who (kind of) loves her.