April 11, 2011

It's been a while . . . Boston Marriage closed over a week ago, so I guess it's time to put up some photos from the production. Here goes -

Anna and Claire imagining "Susan" baking a pie

Anna tells Claire she's romanticizing the mating instinct

Anna thinks Catherine should go home to Ireland

Catherine demonstrating a carnal balance posture

Claire standing vigil for her lost love

Anna fears being rebuked or arrested

Catherine with a particularly unhelpful observation

So the period of working with these wonderful actors has ended, but next week begins work on another play, with more wonderful actors.

Big announcement. Jim Handy (for a variety of reasons beyond his control) won't be able to come to Shaker Bridge to do our scheduled production of The Drawer Boy.  The last several weeks have been a crazy and frenetic re-shuffling. I've decided to do a production of Sarah Ruhl's wonderful play, Dead Man's Cell Phone. It is both funnier and more touching than you can imagine. The two leads will be played by a couple of actors I cast in New York a few weeks ago, and the others in the production will be familiar to much of our audience.

Here's the scoop on the play: Jean spends her free-time reading at coffeehouses whilst the world hums and haws around her.  One day, however, while engrossed in a book, a man next to her refuses to answer his cellphone.  After repeatedly admonishing the man to answer his phone, Jean ventures over to his table, and discovers the stunning reason why the phone was not answered – the man is dead.  As this morbid realization overtakes her, the cellphone again begins to ring; Jean answers it.  So starts the beginning of Jean’s madcap, surreal and at times frustrating journey as created by playwright Sarah Ruhl  – a journey that steamrolls Jean from a dinner with the family of the dead guy (Gordon), a tryst with Gordon’s brother Dwight, separate outings with Gordon’s wife and mistress, a zany afterlife detour, and culminating with a tumultuous rendezvous with underworld dealers of body-organ smuggling.  Whew!


Jean will be played by Jenny Strassburg:

and Gordon (and his brother Dwight!) will feature Alex Dittmer:

The rest of the cast will feature Robin Ng as Gordon's mother, Jeannie Hines as his wife and Caitlin Glasgo as "the other woman." We're all excited to get going on this one, and you'll be able to begin watching the fruits of our labor on May 6, when the production opens. 


Here we go! See you soon,
Bill