wilmabill - The Wilma Theater

2008/09 Season
wilmatheater.org
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Dear Audience Members,
Welcome to Rock ’n’ Roll, a production that marks the 30th Anniversary Season celebrating our Artistic leadership of The Wilma Theater. We are extremely proud to open
with the latest play by Tom Stoppard.
In This Issue
Sponsors...................................p.4
Production Information........p.5
Meet the Artists.......................p.7
Wilma Staff............................p.10
About the Wilma..................p.11
Supporters.............................p.12
Wilmabill Information
Layout & design......Nora Sidoti
To advertise in the Wilmabill, contact
Nora Sidoti at 215.893.9456 x102
As you may know, we have a special relationship with Tom. Like us, he was born in
Czechoslovakia, and he's our most produced playwright (eight plays in the last fourteen
years). We both very much admire his work and his unceasing pursuit of new subjects
and new ideas. Tom Stoppard is justly known for his intellect and his exceptionally well
honed craft of capturing ideas in precise language. What is less often noted, and more
impressive, is Tom’s enormous capacity to imbue his characters with an emotional
investment they put into their ideas. In Rock ’n’ Roll, arguments are never theoretical,
they are about passionate attempts to find how to live, an active search for a connection
between theory and practice.
For us, working on Rock ’n’ Roll is special and personal. The play partially deals with the
former Czechoslovakia, and some of the stories in the play are very close to our experiences. We emigrated in the summer of 1976 (the same year as Milan Kundera whose letters, in addition to Vaclav Havel and Ludvik Vaculik texts, inspired Tom while writing
the play). In the fall of 1975 our underground theater, Kresaldo, was closed down by the
government only a few months before the members of The Plastic People of the
Universe and their fans were arrested in March, 1976, an event that figures strongly in
the play. Similarly, as the lead character Jan ends up working for twelve years in a Prague
bakery, Blanka, after losing her job as a dance teacher for refusing to enter the Party, was
given a job as a cleaning woman in the Charles IV University Library (absurdly, on the
last floor cleaning in the department of censored books where there was nothing to
clean since no one was allowed to enter; it was an easy job!).
We believe that our life experiences and familiarity with living in Czechoslovakia in the
1970s will bring out the complexities, dramatic tensions, and the special self-deprecating Czech humor that Tom captured in the text. Our interpretation together with the
talent of our actors and designers will create an arousing production giving exciting and
dynamic life to this marvelous play.
Blanka Zizka
co-Artistic Director
Jiri Zizka
co-Artistic Director
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Thank you to our 2008/09 Sponsors
30th Anniversary Season Partner
Season Sponsor
Opening Night Sponsors
Media Sponsor
For information about upcoming sponsorship opportunities, please contact
Lea Montalto-Rook, Director of Individual and Corporate Relations, at 215.893.9456 x 109.
5
Blanka Zizka
Artistic Director
under the direction of
Jiri Zizka
Artistic Director
presents
James Haskins
Managing Director
featuring
(in alphabetical order)
Mark Cairns, Barnaby Carpenter*, David Chandler*, Julie Czarnecki*,
Ryan Farley*, Victoria Frings, Mary McCool*, Jered McLenigan*,
Kate Eastwood Norris*, Seth Reichgott*, Libby Woodbridge*
Set and Projection Designer
Matt Saunders
Costume Designer
Oana Botez-Ban
Lighting Designer
Joshua L. Schulman
Sound Designer
Andrea Sotzing
New York Casting
Jerry Beaver Associates
Hair & Make-up Designer
Jon Carter
Dramaturg
Walter Bilderback
Interim Production Manager
Eileen Harris
Stage Manager
Patreshettarlini Adams*
Directed by
Blanka Zizka
The Wilma deeply appreciates the generous support of Daniel Berger, Honorary Producer, for this production.
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage
Managers in the United States.
This theater operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and
Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the
United States.
Rock ’n’ Roll is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.
Rock ’n’ Roll was first presented at the Royal Court Theatre, London on 3 June 2006, and transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre on 22 July 2006, presented by Sonia Friedman
Productions, Tulbart Productions, Michael Linnit for National Angels and Boyett Ostar Productions.
The first North American performance of The Royal Court Theatre London production of Rock ’n’ Roll took place at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, New York City, on 19 October
2007, presented by Bob Boyett, Sonia Friedman Productions, Ostar Productions, Roger Berlind, Tulchin/Bartner, Douglas G. Smith, Dancap Productions, Jam Theatricals, The
Weinstein Company, and in association with Lincoln Center Theater.
For music rights see page 15.
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Cast
(in order of appearance)
The Piper/Policeman #1/Stephen...........................................................................................................................Jered McLenigan
Young Esme/Alice....................................................................................................................................................Libby Woodbridge
Jan................................................................................................................................................................................Barnaby Carpenter
Max....................................................................................................................................................................................David Chandler
Eleanor/Adult Esme.........................................................................................................................................Kate Eastwood Norris
Gillian/Magda/Deirdre...................................................................................................................................................Victoria Frings
Interrogator/Nigel............................................................................................................................................................Seth Reichgott
Ferdinand.................................................................................................................................................................................Ryan Farley
Milan/Policeman #2/Waiter...............................................................................................................................................Mark Cairns
Lenka....................................................................................................................................................................................Mary McCool
Candida..............................................................................................................................................................................Julie Czarnecki
Time and Place
Act One: August 21, 1968 to Summer, 1977
Act Two: Summer, 1987 to August 18, 1990
The play takes place in Cambridge, England and Prague, Czechoslovakia
A note on accents:
British characters speak with British accents.
Czech characters "speaking English" speak with Czech accents.
Czech characters "speaking Czech" speak with American accents.
The Wilma Theater proudly participates in the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre, Philadelphia's premier professional theatre awards
program. The Wilma Theater is a member of the following organizations: Chamber of Commerce, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, League
of Resident Theatres, The Non-profit Center at LaSalle University, Rittenhouse Row, Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, and Theatre
Communications Group, Inc.
Children Policy
Some subject matter may be deemed objectionable for children; therefore, children under 12 will
not be permitted in the theater.
Distracting Noise
The noise of cellular phones, electronic devices and candy wrappers is distracting to both
audiences and actors. Please turn off all cellular phones and electronic devices. Also, please be
sure that your watch alarm does not sound during the performance.
Smoking, eating and drinking are prohibited inside the theater.
Please note
Photography or sound recording inside the
theater, without the written permission of
the management, is prohibited by law.
Violators may be asked to leave the theater
and may be liable for financial charges.
Meet the Artists
Tom Stoppard
(Playwright) wrote
his first play, Enter A
Free Man, while working as a journalist in
Bristol. He was introduced to American
audiences in 1967
with the Broadway hit
Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead,
which was followed by Jumpers, Travesties, Dirty
Linen, Newfoundland, Night and Day, The Real Thing,
Artist Descending A Staircase, The Real Inspector Hound,
Arcadia, The Invention of Love, The Coast of Utopia,
and Rock ’n’ Roll. His off-Broadway productions
include Enter A Free Man and the double bill of
Dogg’s Hamlet and Cahoot’s Macbeth. For television,
Stoppard’s work includes the highly-acclaimed
adaptation of the 1889 British novel by Jerome K.
Jerome called Three Men in a Boat, seen on American
public television in 1979. Professional Foul, a play he
wrote for television, has won awards from BAFTA
and the Broadcasting Press Guild. His radio plays
include If You’re Glad, I’ll Be Frank, Albert’s Bridge
(Italia Prize Winner), ‘M’ Is for Moon Among Other
Things, The Dissolution of Dominic Boot and Artist
Descending a Staircase. Tom Stoppard has written
screenplays for the films Despair, The Romantic
Englishwoman, The Human Factor, Brazil, Empire of the
Sun, The Russia House, Billy Bathgate, Tulip Fever, The
Golden Compass, and he is co-screenwriter of
Shakespeare In Love for which he received an
Academy Award. He directed and wrote the screenplay for the film version of Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead. The Wilma Theater productions of Stoppard’s plays include Arcadia, Travesties,
On The Razzle, The Invention of Love, The Real Inspector
Hound, Indian Ink, Night and Day, Every Good Boy
Deserves Favor, and now Rock ’n’ Roll.
Blanka Zizka
(Director, co-Artistic
Director) has been
Co-Artistic Director
of The Wilma
Theater since 1981.
Blanka’s last production Eurydice was
nominated for 7
Barrymore Awards.
Recently she directed
the opera Kát’a Kabanová by Leoš Janáček for AVA,
Age of Arousal, The Life of Galileo, My Children! My
Africa!, Ariel Dorfman’s The Other Side starring
Rosemary Harris and John Cullum at Manhattan
Theatre Club, Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill, I Am My
Own Wife by Doug Wright, the World Premiere of
Raw Boys by Dael Orlandersmith, Jesus Hopped the ‘A’
Train by Stephen Adly Guirgis (Barrymore Winner,
Best Overall Production and Best Director), the
World Premiere of Embarrassments by Laurence
Klavan and Polly Pen, and the Philadelphia
Premieres of Lillian Groag’s The Magic Fire and
Chay Yew’s Red. In 2002 she directed the World
Premiere of Dael Orlandersmith’s Yellowman at
ManhattanTheatre Club, McCarter Theatre Center,
Long Wharf Theatre, ACT in Seattle, and at The
Wilma Theater. She was awarded the first
Barrymore Award for Best Direction of a Play for
Cartwright’s Road. She directed Jiler and Leslee’s
Avenue X (Barrymore Winner, Best Overall
Production of a Musical and Best Direction of a
Musical), Wright’s Quills (Barrymore Winner, Best
Overall Production of a Play), and the East Coast
Premiere of The Invention of Love by Tom Stoppard
(Barrymore Winner, Best Overall Production of a
Play and Best Direction of a Play). Her other
favorite productions include Orwell’s Animal Farm,
O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape, Ionesco’s Macbett, Fugard’s
Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act and
Playland, Dulack’s Incommunicado, Sherman’s When
She Danced, Stoppard’s Travesties, Brecht’s The
Threepenny Opera, Freed’s The Psychic Life of Savages,
Klavan and Pen’s Bed and Sofa, Sherwood’s Spin,
Thompson’s Perfect Pie, Carr’s Portia Coughlan and
Sherman’s Patience.
Mark Cairns
(Milan/Policeman
#2/Waiter) is thrilled
to be making his
Wilma debut. He was
recently seen on this
stage as part of
PDC’s Anonymous
Theatre. He performed this summer
in 50% of the short
plays in the Theatre Alliance of Greater
Philadelphia’s annual Spark Festival. He performed
in the 2008 Season for the Philadelphia Shakespeare
Festival: Romeo and Juliet and Pericles (Prince Escalus,
Ensemble). Before that he was seen in BCKSEET
Productions’ The Reindeer Monologues (Donner),
Simpatico Theatre Project’s Angels Fall (Niles), Pros
From Dover's Dealers Choice (Ash), Vagabond
Acting Troupe’s Romeo and Juliet (Benvolio), and
Flashpoint Theatre Company’s The Faculty Room
(Adam, Honorable Mention Philadelphia Weekly
Theatre Year-In-Review). Mark is a member of
Simpatico Theatre Project, and a “stage” manager
for Historic Philadelphia, Inc. He would love to
thank Blanka, Carol, and Richard for this opportunity, his best gal Aileen for her love & support, and
his brother Mike for keeping us safe overseas.
Barnaby Carpenter
(Jan) Off Broadway:
The Cataract (Women’s
Project); Humble Boy
(Manhattan Theatre
Club); Observe the Sons
of Ulster Marching
Toward the Somme and
Far East (Lincoln
Center). Other New
York credits include
Don’t Lose Your Head (Women’s Project, The Culture
Project, Timsloft); The Bigger Man (Center Stage).
Regional: A Christmas Carol (McCarter Theater);
Proof (Arena Stage); Top Ten People of the Millennium
(Victory Gardens Theater); Far East (Westport
Country Playhouse); A Baltimore Waltz (Henlopen
Theater); The Importance of Being Earnest (La Jolla
Playhouse) for which he won a Drama-Logue
Critics Award. Film and TV: Shuffle, Conversations
with Id, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicle and American
Gothic. Training and Education: BS from Duke
University and an MFA from the University of
California, San Diego.
David Chandler
(Max) appeared previously at the Wilma
in Patience. Broadway:
Lost In Yonkers, Death
of a Salesman, and
American Clock. OffBroadway: Underneath
the Lintel
(SohoPlayhouse);
Private Jokes, Public
Places (LaMama); The Swan (New York Shakespeare
Festival); Slavs! (New York Theatre Workshop);
Phaedra (Vineyard Theatre); Doris to Darlene, Black
Sea Follies (Playwrights Horizon); The Grey Zone
(Manhattan Class Company); Cellini (Second Stage).
Regionally: Berkeley Rep, The Guthrie, Long
Wharf, McCarter, Yale Rep, Actors Theatre of
Louisville, Williamstown amongst others. London’s
Bush Theatre Question of Mercy. Film and television:
The Grey Zone, Hide and Seek, Death of a Salesman,
Upheaval, The Portrait, Her Alibi, Seinfeld, 3rd Rock
from the Sun, Arliss, and Law & Order in all its iterations.
Julie Czarnecki
(Candida) has worked
extensively throughout
the Philadelphia area,
as well as regionally.
Some Philadelphia
credits include My Fair
Lady (Walnut Street
Theatre); Daedalus, The
Baker's Wife (Arden
Theatre); Big Blonde,
Hearts & Soles (Theatre Exile); Two Rooms (Azuka
Theatre/Blue Ridge Theatre Festival); Into the Woods,
The Passion of Christ, On The Verge, The Art of Dining
(Villanova Theatre). Julie received her MA in
Theatre from Villanova University, where she was
the recipient of a Brian Morgan Acting Scholarship.
Recent film credits include Blanche in Good
Morning, Roscoe, as well as Frayed. Julie is a member
of Actors' Equity Association. She is currently
working on a lullaby cd, featuring original and international songs. For more, visit
www.JulieCzarnecki.com. For C. Sebastien.
Ryan Farley
(Ferdinand) was last
seen in the title role of
Henry VI: Blood and
Roses at the
Shakespeare Theatre
of New Jersey. Other
Regional credits
include: Titus
Andronicus
(Shakespeare Theatre
Company in Washington D.C.); Macbeth, King John,
Henry V, Henry VIII, Richard III (Utah
Shakespearean Festival); A Christmas Carol
(American Conservatory Theater); Arms and the
Man, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
(Abridged) (California Theatre Center). New York:
The Revenger’s Tragedy (Red Bull Theater Company);
Crave (Bosley Theatrical Productions); Diary of a
Chambermaid (Dramahaus, NYC). In addition, he
developed the role of Dr. Dmitri Ramsov in
Serendib (Ensemble Studio Theatre). Ryan is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater’s MFA
actor training program.
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Victoria Frings
(Gillian, Magda,
Deirdre) is thrilled to
be making her Wilma
debut with the wonderful cast of Rock ’n’
Roll. She is a recent
graduate of the
University of
Pennsylvania, where
she received a degree
in Environmental Studies and Science, Technology
and Society Studies. While at Penn, she worked
extensively with a variety of on-campus theater
companies. Her favorite roles include Jen in John and
Jen, Stevie in The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, the Emcee
in Cabaret, Meredith in Bat Boy: The Musical, and
Margrethe in Copenhagen. Her ever-increasing love of
acting also prompted her to pursue more intensive
training at the American Conservatory Theater.
Thank you Blanka Zizka for this incredible experience, and thanks to my family, Ryan, and friends for
their unshakable love and support.
Mary McCool
(Lenka) is happy to
be a part of Rock ’n’
Roll. Her previous
work with the Wilma
includes Les Liaisons
Dangereuses and Big
Love. Most recently,
she played
Desdemona in
Lantern Theater’s
Othello, and Mimi in An Empty Plate at the Arden.
Favorite roles include Celia in As You Like It with
Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and the Pizza Guy, et al. in
New Paradise Laboratories’ BATCH, commissioned
for the 2007 Humana Festival. Mary’s work with
New Paradise Laboratories will continue with Ruby
Ruby Ridge, a collaboration with NYC’s The Riot
Group presented by the Princeton Atelier. Up next:
Brat Productions’ Naked Cocktail at the Painted
Bride, part of the Greg Giovanni RetroFestival, and
1812 Productions’ exciting new musical, Cherry
Bomb. Thanks to Blanka for this opportunity.
Jered McLenigan
(The Piper/
Policeman
#1/Stephen) is
happy to return to the
Wilma, where he
appeared in last year’s
Amadeus and 2006’s
The Pillowman
(Barrymore nominee,
Outstanding
Ensemble). Other Philadelphia credits include The
Elephant Man (Iron Age Theatre, Barrymore nominee, Outstanding Leading Actor); all characters but
Scrooge in a 2-person A Christmas Carol (Mum
Puppettheatre); Lady From the Sea (Lantern Theater);
The Violet Hour (Theatre Horizon); Terra Nova (Iron
Age Theatre, Barrymore nominee, Outstanding
Ensemble). Look for Jered in 1812 Productions’
World Premiere of P. Seth Bauer’s The Karma Cookie
in March.
Kate Eastwood
Norris (Eleanor/
Adult Esme) is a
gypsy regional actress
and delighted to be in
her first production at
the Wilma. Favorite
regional credits
include, PA: Picasso at
the Lapin Agile (Arden
Theatre Company);
The False Servant, Uncle Vanya, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2
(Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre). CA: Much
Ado About Nothing, Playboy of the Western World, As
You Like It, King Lear (Shakespeare Santa Cruz). NJ:
Macbeth, The Pavilion (Two River Theater Company).
DC: School for Scandal, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream (Helen Hayes Award), Much Ado About
Nothing, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night,
She Stoops To Conquer, As You Like It, The Tempest,
Hamlet (Folger Theatre); Boston Marriage (ATW); She
Stoops To Comedy (Helen Hayes award) Big Love, Bug
(Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company); Intimate
Exchanges, Private Eyes (Source Theatre); Strange
Interlude, The Taming of the Shrew (Washington
Shakespeare Company). MD: A Body of Water
(Round House Theatre). VA: The Taming of the
Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III, Love’s Labour’s
Lost (American Shakespeare Center). For Cody.
Seth Reichgott
(Interrogator,
Nigel) is pleased to
be back on the Wilma
stage, where he was
last seen as Edmund
in Wintertime. A
Philadelphia-based
actor, director, and
writer, Seth has
worked with InterAct,
the Walnut Street Theatre, the Arden, the Lantern,
Cape May Stage, and Mum Puppettheatre, among
others. He has twice been a co-recipient of the
Barrymore Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a
Play. When not on the Philadelphia stage, Seth
tours his solo Greek mythology show, Chariot of the
Sun, to elementary and middle schools each year in
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. Seth is an
associate member of the Bloomsburg Theatre
Ensemble, and a graduate of Wesleyan University
and the Dell’Arte International School of Physical
Theatre. For more, visit www.sethreichgott.com.
Libby Woodbridge
(Young Esme/
Alice) graduated
from Boston
University with a BFA
in Acting in May.
While in Boston she
understudied the role
of Emily in the
Huntington Theatre
Company's production of Third and participated in the Huntington
Theatre Company’s Breaking Ground Festival.
Boston University credits include Genet’s The Maids
(Claire), Under Milk Wood (Mrs. Utah Watkins/Mary
Ann Sailors), and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are
Dead (Alfred). Libby studied for a semester at the
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Matt Saunders (Set
and Projection
Designer) is a
Barrymore Awardwinning performer
and designer. Matt
graduated magna cum
laude from Virginia
Tech in 1998 with a
BA in Theatre and
Visual Art. He is also
a graduate of the Scuola Internazionale dell'Attore
Comico in Reggio Emilia, Italy conducted by
master teacher Antonio Fava. Matt is a co-founding
company member of New Paradise Laboratories,
an OBIE Award-winning theater company based in
Philadelphia. Matt is the proud recipient of the
2007 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging
Philadelphia Theatre Artist. In his nine-year career
as a professional, he has designed over sixty shows
for such companies as Arden Theatre Co., Pig Iron
Theatre Co., Theatre Exile, Brat Productions,
Walnut Street Theatre, InterAct Theatre Co., Azuka
Theatre, MOXIE Dance Collective, the Bessie
Award-winning Headlong Dance Theater, and the
Tony Award-winning Children's Theatre Company
in Minneapolis. Matt is pleased to be designing his
third show at the Wilma and wishes to thank the
staff for a delightful process.
Oana Botez-Ban
(Costume
Designer), a native
of Romania, has
designed for major
theater and dance
companies including
The National Theater
of Bucharest and was
involved in different
international theater
festivals such as the Quadrennial Scenography
Show in Prague. Oana is part of the first Romanian
theater design catalogue, Scenografica. Since 1999, her
New York costume collaborations in theater and
dance include Robert Woodruff, Richard Foreman,
Maya Beiser, Richard Schechner, Blanka Zizka,
Brian Kulick, Zelda Fichlander, Karin Coonrod, Jay
Scheib, Eduardo Machado, Gus Solomon Jr. &
Paradigm, Carmen deLavallade, Dusan Tynek,
Gisela Cardenas, Pavol Liska, Matthew Neenan,
Molissa Fenley, Zishan Ugurlu, Erin Mee, Judith
Ren-Lay, Michael Sexton, Pig Iron Theatre Co., Play
Company, Charles Moulton, Loy Arcenas, Ripe
Time. MFA in Design from NYU/Tisch School of
the Arts. Princess Grace Recipient.
Joshua L. Schulman (Lighting Designer) has an
MFA from Boston University. Josh has designed for
Flashpoint Theatre Company, Media Theater, City
Theatre Company, Straw Flower Productions,
Azuka Theatre, The Tribe of Fools, Theatre Exile,
Dance Theatre of Pennsylvania, Lantern Theater,
Eternal Spiral Project, Simpatico Theatre Project,
Madhouse Theater Company, Rebecca Davis Dance
Company, and a few others. Josh is the programmer
for Boathouse Row here in Philadelphia. He’d like
to thank Blanka for this amazing opportunity. Love
to Karen.
Andrea Sotzing (Sound Designer) is thrilled to
be making her design debut at the Wilma with Rock
’n’ Roll! Andrea is also the Wilma's resident sound
engineer. She has engineered for a number of
Philadelphia theater companies, including: The
Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre Company,
Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, and Drexel Players.
Some of her favorite shows include Ying Tong
(Wilma), Pacific Overtures (Arden), and Baby Case
(Arden). Special thanks to Jorge for your continued
guidance and to Blanka for this amazing opportunity. Love to Mom.
Jon Carter (Hair & Makeup Design) Has
enjoyed collaborating on nine shows for the Wilma,
among them last season’s Eurydice and Amadeus.
Recently he designed The Good Negro (Public
Theater, Dallas Theater Center), End Game
(Brooklyn Academy of Music) and worked as associate hair designer on Shrek The Musical.
Philadelphia area designs include productions for
Philadelphia Theater Co., Prince Music Theater,
Walnut Street Theater, Arden Theater Co., Pig Iron,
Bratt, The Curtis Institute, CenterStage and
Delaware Theater Co. On Broadway he has
designed the makeup for A Tale of Two Cities,
Xanadu and is the associate hair designer for The
Little Mermaid. Jon attended The Pennsylvania
Academy of the Fine Arts.
Walter Bilderback
(Dramaturg/
Literary Manager)
has been the Wilma’s
Dramaturg since
2004. In addition to
assisting in all aspects
of season planning,
he also helps to communicate the Wilma’s
mission through editing and writing for Open Stages, pre- and postshow discussions, and the Wilma’s Symposium
Series, bringing leading thinkers in a wide range of
subjects to the Wilma stage for informed and stimulating conversations with Wilma patrons. Walter
has worked as a dramaturg for more than 20 years,
working at regional theaters across the country and
on Broadway. Walter has contributed numerous
articles to American Theatre magazine and the
newly-published Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern
Drama. He was also an NEA site visitor for the last
15 years of that program.
Patreshettarlini
Adams (Production
Stage Manager/
AEA) has been the
production stage manager at The Wilma
Theater since the theater made their new
home on the Avenue
of the Arts. She is
celebrating her
“Bakers’ Dozen” as the Wilma celebrates 30 years
of outstanding theater! She is very happy to be a
part of the Philadelphia theater family. Prior to her
coming home to Philly, “Pat” was stage manager at
the Tony Award winning Crossroads Theatre in
New Brunswick, NJ. She was privileged to work
with an awesome array of playwrights, directors,
designers, musicians and actors. Some of her fondest memories encompass the productions of Sheila’s
Day, Mothers, The Screened-In Porch, Betsey Brown,
Harlem Nocturne, The Love Space Demands, and Two
Hah-Hahs and a Homeboy. In past years, Pat has
worked the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta
and the National Black Theater Festival in WinstonSalem. When not at the Wilma, she has found herself traveling the world with critically-acclaimed
dance company Noche Flamenca! Recently, Pat
became the proud grandmother of Isaiah
Nathaniel. God Is Good!
Jerry Beaver Associates (New York Casting)
Jerry Beaver has been casting for The Wilma
Theater for 12 years. His credits include Eurydice,
Ying Tong - A Walk with the Goons, Age of Arousal,
Amadeus, Enemies, A Love Story, The Pillowman, A
Number, 9 Parts of Desire, Shakespeare in Hollywood,
Raw Boys, The Clean House, Night and Day, Jesus
Hopped the ‘A’ Train, Wintertime, Embarrassments,
Resurrection Blues, Red, Big Love, The Magic Fire, Every
Good Boy Deserves Favor, Dirty Blonde, Indian Ink,
Yellowman, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Passion, Patience,
Cherry Docs, Black Comedy, Perfect Pie, Arcadia, On the
Razzle, The Invention of Love, and many others. In
New York, Jerry was the resident casting director of
the Signature Theatre Company for ten years
casting plays by Romulus Linney, Lee Blessing,
Edward Albee, Horton Foote, Adrienne Kennedy,
Sam Shepard, Arthur Miller, John Guare, Marie
Irene Fornes, and Lanford Wilson. He has worked
for Seattle Repertory Theatre, Alley Theatre,
Hartford Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The
O’Neill Playwrights Conference, and is the
Founding President of the Black Bear Film Festival
in Milford, PA.
Jiri Zizka (coArtistic Director),
born in Prague and
educated at Charles
University, became an
Artist in Residence at
the Wilma in 1979 and
Artistic Director in
1981, where he has
directed over 60 productions. Some of the
highlights included Orwell’s Animal Farm, Camus’
The Stranger, Brecht’s Mother Courage, Capeks’ The
Insect Comedy, Weiss’ Marat/Sade, his own adaptation
of Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Brecht/Weill’s
Happy End, Orwell’s 1984 (also at the Kennedy
Center and Off-Broadway), Fo’s Accidental Death of
an Anarchist, and the U.S. Premiere of Havel’s
Temptation (a co-production with Joseph Papp’s
New York Shakespeare Festival). Jiri has also directed a feature film of Vaclav Havel’s Largo Desolato,
adapted by Tom Stoppard, starring F. Murray
Abraham for PBS’s Great Performances. He wrote
and directed Inquest of Love, a film nominated for an
Emmy Award. His theater credits also include
George F. Walker’s Love and Anger, Martin
McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan, David Gow’s
Cherry Docs (with David Strathairn), Stoppard’s The
Real Inspector Hound, Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy,
Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, Christopher Hampton’s
Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Stoppard’s Indian Ink,
Arthur Miller’s Resurrection Blues, Charles L. Mee’s
Big Love and Wintertime. He also directed a co-production between the Wilma and The Philadelphia
Orchestra of Tom Stoppard’s and André Previn’s
Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, a play for actors and a
philharmonic orchestra, at The Kimmel Center’s
Verizon Hall. Jiri directed Tom Stoppard’s Night and
Day, Itamar Moses’ Outrage, Ken Ludwig’s
Shakespeare in Hollywood, Mark Saltzman’s The Tin
Pan Alley Rag (Carbonell Award for Best Director),
Caryl Churchill’s A Number, Martin McDonagh’s
The Pillowman (6 Barrymore nominations), Sarah
Schulman’s adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s
novel Enemies, A Love Story, Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus,
and most recently Roy Smiles’ Ying Tong - A Walk
with the Goons.
James Haskins
(Managing Director)
joined the staff of
The Wilma Theater as
Managing Director in
June 2006. He began
his work in theatre
administration as Box
Office Manager of
Circle Repertory
Company and went on
to work with a number of New York theatres,
including National Shakespeare Company,
Symphony Space, Provincetown Playhouse, Actor’s
Playhouse, Triplex Performing Arts Center and
Astor Place Theatre. In Seattle, he served as
Business Manager of Seattle Group Theatre and
worked for Ticket/Ticket, Seattle’s half-price ticket
booth. In 1999, James moved to Philadelphia and
worked as Managing Director of InterAct Theatre
Company, while also serving for three years on the
Board of the Theatre Alliance of Greater
Philadelphia as Chair of the Barrymore Awards
Oversight Committee. He later moved into the
Executive Director position of the Theatre Alliance
and now serves on the Board. Also an actor and
director, James holds an MFA from the University
of Washington and a BA from the College of
Wooster (Ohio), where he currently serves as
President of his alumni class.
Rock ’n’ Roll
Production Crew
Assistant Director........................................Carol Laratonda
Video Consultant...........................................Jorge Cousineau
Fight Consultant.........................................Michael Cosenza
Philadelphia Casting..............................Richard W. Kotulski
Assistant Stage Manager......................................Debby Lau
Assistant Costume Designer..............................Abby Walton
Assistant Lighting Designer...............Peter Escalada-Mastick
Dialect Coach............................................Marla Burkholder
Prop Master..................................................Kimitha Cashin
Light Board Programmer...............................Andrew Cowles
Light Board Operator...................................Ashley W. Mills
Sound Board Operator...................................Andrea Sotzing
Projections Programmer............................Georgia Schlessman
Projections Operator.........................................Melanie Leeds
Wardrobe Mistress............................................Regina Rizzo
Dressers.....................................Alison Levy, Kathryn Rauch
Running Crew................Lance Kniskern, Christine Richards,
Matt Zumbo
Carpenters.....Chris Butterfield, Scott Cassidy, Steve Gravelle,
Lance Kniskern, Alison Levy,
Georgia Schlessman, Matt Zumbo
Electricians.....................Chris Butterfield, Kristy Chouiniere,
Andrew Cowles, Peter Escalada-Mastik,
Sam Henderson, Georgia Schlessman
Scenery Constructed by........................Proof Productions, Inc.
Special Thanks:
Mary Lefkowitz
Jacky Mathews
Jason Nethercut
Philadelphia Theatre Company
Terry Smith
Tom Stoppard
Paul Wilson
9
10
The Wilma Theater Staff
Tony Lankford’s DOWNTOWN
The Actors Lounge
Actors.
what they
do and
why they
do it.
Watch us on
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Video interviews
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Also watch The Actors Lounge on
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and The Internet!
Produced by the downtown television network
For more info contact 215 253 1677
Artistic Director...............................................................................................Blanka Zizka
Artistic Director......................................................................................................Jiri Zizka
Managing Director........................................................................................James Haskins
Artistic
Dramaturg/Literary Manager................................................................Walter Bilderback
Literary Programming Assistant.......................................................Richard W. Kotulski
Literary Interns..........................................................Emer O'Callaghan, Lana Z. Porter
Marketing
Marketing Director..................................................................................Aaron Immediato
Group Sales & Special Events Manager...................................................Julie Rossnagle
Marketing Assistant............................................................................................Nora Sidoti
Telemarketing Sales Representatives.........Janet Chaffin, Dennis Leo, Shawn O’Shea
Marketing Interns..............................................................Cara Sogliuzzo, James Yandoli
Development
Director of Individual and Corporate Relations............................Lea Montalto-Rook
Grants Manager.................................................................................................Justin Bauer
Education
Education Director..................................................................................Anne K. Holmes
Education Fellow...................................................................................Nickclette Izuegbu
Teaching Artists..................................Kristyn Chouiniere, Mike Dees, Madi Distefano
Liz Filios, Tara Keating, Carol Laratonda,
Mary McCann, Benjamin Lloyd, Kathryn Nocero,
Aaron Oster, Greg Romero, Catherine Rush,
Jay Wahl, Celeste Walker
Business
General Manager......................................................................................Maggie Arbogast
Business & IT Assistant.................................................................................Beth Bannon
Production
Interim Production Manager.........................................................................Eileen Harris
Production Manager......................................................................................Iain Campbell
Technical Director........................................................................................Clayton Tejada
Production Stage Manager............................................................Patreshettarlini Adams
Company Manager/Administrative Director..........................Maribeth Maksymowich
Facilities Manager......................................................................................Kenneth Deprez
Master Electrician........................................................................................Ashley W. Mills
Sound Engineer...........................................................................................Andrea Sotzing
Wardrobe Supervisor.......................................................................................Regina Rizzo
Production Fellow..........................................................................................Melanie Leeds
Stage Management Fellow..................................................................................Debby Lau
Front of House
Box Office Manager........................................................................................James Specht
Assistant Box Office Manager................................................................Crystal Whybark
Box Office Staff.............................................................................................Joel Chartkoff
Volunteer Coordinator..........................................................................Cynthia DiClaudio
House Management Staff.....Tim Barnes, Ron Hunter, Darren Joyner, Javier Mojica
Services
Publicity....................................................Megan Wendell, Canary Promotion + Design
Sales Manager..................................................................................................Mark A. Dahl
Campaign Sales Manager............................................................................Tony Lankford
Graphic Designer.......................................................................................Caren Goldstein
Photographer...................................................Paola Nogueras, Jim Roese Photography
Printing Services.................................CRW Graphics, Color Reflections, Media Copy,
Quaker Printing Group, Spectrum Printing
Collateral Distribution...............................................A-List Promotions, Jere Edmunds
Catering............................................Bacchus Market & Catering, J. Cabot Catering Co.
Technology Services.....................................................................................Ready, Net Go
Auditors................................................................................................Horty & Horty, P.A.
Cleaning Service.............................................................................................1010 Cleaning
Insurance Brokers...........................................Corporate Synergies, SKCG Group, Inc.
How to contact us
The Wilma Theater, 265 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Administrative: 215.893.9456
Box Office: 215.546.7824
Fax: 215.893.0895
Website: www.wilmatheater.org
SEPT/OCT 2008
THE WILMA THEATER
Newsletter Editor
Walter Bilderback
co-Artistic Director
Blanka Zizka
Newsletter Designer
Nora Sidoti
co-Artistic Director
Jiri Zizka
Managing Director
James Haskins
Stories and History
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE WILMA THEATER
Contributing Writers
Walter Bilderback
Richard W. Kotulski
Rock ’n’ Roll September 17 - October 26, 2008
In both 1968 and 1989, Czechoslovakia
played a significant role. Early in 1968 reformers gained control of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, starting a period
of openness that came to be called the
Prague Spring, a season of hope crushed
when 500,000 Soviet and Warsaw Pact
troops invaded on the night of August 20.
In Rock ’n’ Roll, Tom Stoppard takes on a
wide range of truths, logics, “agents of decision,” and “manner of behavior:” Communism, classics, consciousness, along
with rock ’n’ roll itself, make up just a few
of them. The story begins and ends
with two significant historical events: the Soviet-led
Every story begins with an event. This
invasion of Czechoslovakia
event – understood as the incursion of one
in 1968, and the fall of the
Iron Curtain in 1989 (along logic into the world of another logic –
with its immediate, euinitiates what every story grows out of and
phoric, aftermath).
City, and London, “the Czechoslovak
Prague Spring was perhaps the only one
that was not a generational conflict.” In
1989, the Velvet Revolution, so-called because of the non-violence and good
humor that characterized it, became a lasting symbol for democratic reform in the
former Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union.
draws nourishment from…. Every story
Between 1968 and 1989, the way people looked at the world changed as
well. In Postwar, his history of Europe
from World War II to the end of the
Cold War, Tony Judt notes, “In the
East as in the West, the Seventies and
Eighties were a time of cynicism. The
energies of the Sixties had dissipated,
their political ideals had lost moral
credibility, and engagement in the
public interest had given way to calculations of private advantage.”
d) Downloaded from the Wilma's website at your convenience
2) Are you a current Wilma Subscriber? If yes, for how long?
3) Please provide your name and phone number so that we may contact you if your name is
drawn as a winner.
“the general unwillingness of consumption-oriented people to sacrifice some
material certainties for the sake of their
1968 and 1989 are waterpresupposes a plurality of truths, of logics, of
shed years: Mark Kurlansky
agents of decisions, and of manners of
begins his book 1968: The
behavior.
Year That Rocked the World
Vaclav Havel,“Stories and Totalitarianism”
saying "There has never
been a year like 1968, and it
In the former Czechoslovakia, the very nois unlikely that there will ever be one
Writing about the 40th anniversary of the
again." Writing in 2000, journalist Timothy Soviet invasion, National Public Radio cor- tion of an East/West split in Europe was
troubling, since it dissolved the centuriesGarton Ash wrote that “1989 had results
respondent Sylvia Poggioli noted that, in
old notion of “Central Europe.” (Prague is
that place it beside 1789 as a date in world
contrast to the 1968 movements in Paris,
far west of Vienna, for example.) Several
history."
Columbia University, Chicago, Mexico
Czech writers drew the same comparison
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!
as
Judt. The novelist Milan Kundera, who
We are surveying our audience members to find out the best way to provide Open Stages had
left Prague for Paris, said that Central
The Newsletter of The Wilma Theater. As a Thank You for participating, you will be entered
Europe was the “destiny of the West, in
into a drawing to win 2 tickets to an upcoming production at the Wilma. At your convenience,
please call us at 215.893.9456 x136 or send us an email at [email protected] with
concentrated form.” And Vaclav Havel, in
the following information:
his important essay “The Power of the
1) How would you like to receive Open Stages?
Powerless,” asked whether the inability of
a) In the mail 1 week prior to the show’s first performance
his countrymen to “live in truth” in the
b) Emailed 1 week prior to the show’s first performance
1970s
was due to:
c) Inserted in your Wilmabill when you attend the performance
2
own spiritual and moral integrity? …
And in the end, is not the grayness and
the emptiness of life in the post-totalitarian system only an inflated caricature
of modern life in general? And do we
not in fact stand…as a kind of warning
to the West, revealing to it its own latent
tendencies?”
The characters in Rock ’n’ Roll, whether
they live in Cambridge or Prague, all face
these questions of finding meaning in their
lives.
“I’m as Czech as Czech can be”
Rock ’n’ Roll also allows Tom Stoppard to
examine both of his national identities:
born Tomas Straussler in Zlin, Czechoslovakia, his family was able to escape the
country before the Nazi Occupation.
Young Tom spent the war years in Singapore and India before arriving in England
with a new last name.
Stoppard’s writing has always been identified with a variety of English moderation
and humor, but he has said “I’m as Czech
as Czech can be.” Viewed as an apolitical
writer for the first decade of his writing
career, his interest in human rights in the
Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia
prompted a greater involvement in politics
at the time of the arrests following Charter
77 (roughly the end of the first act in Rock
’n’ Roll, Charter 77 is described
in Tom Stoppard’s
conversation with Blanka Zizka). His first
work set in Czechoslovakia was written in
1977, the television drama Professional Foul
(which also focused on an English philosophy don and a former student turned dissident, although these
characters are very different from Rock ’n’
Roll’s Max and Jan).
plays. Stoppard’s image as a young man
was very much a London Mod, and rock
and pop music has always been important
to him. He’s said that he usually listens to a
single song repeatedly while he’s writing a
play: he was very disappointed when he learned
that he couldn’t use the
Rolling Stones’ “You
Can’t Always Get What
You Want” in the final
moments of Arcadia because the song isn’t in
waltz time.
Stoppard has said that
one of the impulses
leading to this play
was trying to imagine
what his life would
have been like had his
In Rock ’n’ Roll, the music
mother returned to
is often front and center.
Czechoslovakia in the
Period songs chosen by
late 40s instead of movStoppard play between
ing to England. Would
the scenes. The stories
he, in the Orwellian
of Syd Barrett, founder
“normalization” that folof Pink Floyd, and Ivan
lowed the Prague Spring,
Jirous, Artistic Director
have behaved with the
of The Plastic People of
Tom Stoppard, late 1960s
moral courage of his
the Universe, both refriend and contemporary, Vaclav Havel?
lated to pre-Olympian god Pan, float in
and out of the lives of Esme
“And don’t forget the rock ’n’ roll”
and Jan.
The play also allows Stoppard to write
about another preoccupation of his, but
one he hasn’t touched upon
LINE
E
M
I
directly in previST
OLL’
R
’
N
ous
CK ’
RO
1967
The Velvet Underground join Nico to record an album
Pink Floyd’s Piper at the Gates of Dawn is released
1956
Soviets brutally crush Hungarian uprising
Bolsheviks seize the Winter Palace
1948
Jan returns to Czechoslovakia with his mother
Communists gain control of Czech government
1938
Jan’s family flees Czechoslovakia for England
Tom Stoppard’s parents flee Czechoslovakia for Singapore
Nazis occupy Bohemia and Moravia
1917
Max Morrow born
Bolsheviks seize control of Russian Government in October Revolution
A Czech youth holds a flag during 1968
protests of the invasion
The contrasting fortunes of Barrett and
Jirous may reflect Philip Roth’s comment
in the 1980s that in Eastern Europe, because nothing was allowed,
everything mattered, while
in the West, everything was
allowed and as a result,
Roth felt, nothing really
mattered.
their actions, their beliefs, and their
emotions.
Stoppard echoes Havel when he writes of
Rock ’n’ Roll:
“When you take away
everything plays think
they’re about, what’s
left is what all plays –
all stories – are se“the unceasing ticktock
cretly about, and
of the universe”
what they’re really
A final concern of the play
about is time. Events,
is mortality and morality.
things happening –
Havel suggested that ComOphelia drowns!
munism in Czechoslovakia
Camille coughs!
had put an end to stories,
Somebody has
and hence to identity. In the
bought the cherry orwake of 1989, the political
chard! – are different
From left to right: Ryan Farley as Ferdinand &
analyst Francis Fukuyama op- Barnaby Carpenter as Jan; photo: Jim Roese manifestations of
timistically proclaimed “The End of Hiswhat governs the narrative we live in:
tory.” Despite the historical setting, the
the unceasing ticktock of the unicharacters in Rock ’n’ Roll have much in
verse. There is no stasis, not even in
common with most of Stoppard’s characdeath, which turns into memory.”
ters: they all seek “a decent fit” between
PRAGUE SPRING
In early 1968 the new leader of
Czechoslovakia, Alexander
Dubček, responded to the growing
groundswell of dissatisfaction in the
country by introducing a series of
fundamental reforms, including
broader freedom of speech, movement, association, and of the
press. In late August, this experiment in “socialism with a human
face” was crushed by the invasion
of Warsaw Pact forces.
VELVET REVOLUTION
In November 1989 Czechoslovakia
engaged in a bloodless revolution
that peaceably overthrew the Communist dictatorship of Gustav
Husák and replaced it with a democratically elected government.
Playwright and former dissident
Vaclav Havel was tapped to be the
President of the new Czechoslovak
Federal Republic.
1970
Ivan “Magor” Jirous joins the Plastic People
January, Syd Barrett releases The Madcap Laughs, featuring song “Golden Hair”
May, Ohio National Guardsmen kill four during demonstrations at Kent State
June, Dubček expelled from Communist Party
Czechs protesting the Soviet Occupation
1969
April, Gustav Husák replaces Dubček as leader of Czechoslovakia
May, new hard-line Czech government begins purging reformers
1968
JANUARY
Alexander Dubček becomes the leader of Czechoslovakia
Syd Barrett performs for the last time with Pink Floyd
Tet Offensive in South Vietnam
MARCH
Angry protesters try to storm American embassy in London
APRIL
Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated
Students occupy buildings at Columbia University
MAY
The London School of Economics and other British schools are occupied by students
JUNE
Robert Kennedy assassinated
JULY
Soviet and Czech leaders meet to resolve differences over Prague Spring
AUGUST
August 21, Soviet and Warsaw Pact tanks cross Czech border
August 27, Dubček and other kidnapped Czech leaders return from “negotiations” in
Moscow; Dubček announces that the occupation is “temporary”
SEPTEMBER
Milan Hlvasa forms The Plastic People of the Universe
The 1974 “Debut” album of the Plastics, it was
smuggled out of the country and released in France
3
4
IVAN JIROUS
Ivan Jirous was Artistic Director of The Plastic People of the Universe.
He is nicknamed “Magor,” derived from “phantasmagoria.” The Plastic
People of the Universe held a Second Music Festival of the Second Culture, also known as “Magor’s Wedding,” on February 21, 1976. On
March 17, 1976, in response to this festival, the Secret Police arrested
27 individuals, including all the Plastic People. Seven of those arrested,
including Jirous, were convicted. This incident prompted international response and was a strong influence behind the writing of Charter 77.
Ivan Jirous (above right) in 1968
From 1976 to 1983, Jirous would be arrested and imprisoned for months, released, and then thirty days later arrested and imprisoned again. In the 1990s, The Plastic People of the
Universe reunited. They perform internationally and last year they played before and after performances of
Rock ’n’ Roll in its Prague premiere.
ROCK ’N’ ROLL GLOSSARY
Want to know more about Syd Barrett? The Plastic People of the Universe? Sappho? Where did Ferdinand get his name?
What’s “Wapping?” All this and more is in The Rock ’n’ Roll Glossary, The Wilma Theater’s illustrated guide to the play.
Copies of the Glossary (including an expanded timeline and interview with Tom Stoppard) are available at the Box Office or
online at wilmatheater.org.
Get yours now! $5.00 each
1976
Vaclav Havel’s mugshot from one of his many arrests
1975
Vaclav Havel writes his “Letter to Dr. Husák”
July and August, Thirty-five nations, including
Czechoslovakia, sign the “Helsinki Accords.” Among the
provisions is “Respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience,
religion or belief.”
1974
SPRING
February, “Jirous’ Wedding,” a Plastic People
concert takes place
March 17, All the members of the Plastic People
are arrested
SUMMER
July, Blanka Zizka and Jiri Zizka escape
Czechoslovakia
Ivan Jirous and six others receive prison
sentences for spreading anti-socialist ideals
FALL
As a result of the trial, 240 citizens of
Czechoslovakia sign what comes to be known as
Charter 77, calling upon the government to honor
the Helsinki Accords’ commitment to human rights
Police beat up and arrest fans attending a concert of the Plastic People
Vaclav Havel spends nine months working in a brewery
1972
February, Syd Barrett’s last performance
Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the U.K. (right)
with French President Francois Mitterant
ROGER “SYD” BARRETT
In the mid-sixties, along with a Cambridge school friend, Roger Waters, Roger
“Syd” Barrett founded the band Pink Floyd. The 1967 debut album, The Piper at
the Gates of Dawn, was well-received by critics and is considered a prime example of British psychedelic music. As the band became popular, however,
Barrett’s behavior became increasingly erratic. His last performance with Pink
Floyd was on January 20th, 1968. He returned home to Cambridge and released two solo albums (The Madcap Laughs and Barrett) in 1970. His last
public performance was at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge in 1972. He went
into seclusion, going by his given name of Roger and lived a quiet life until his
death in 2006, three weeks after the London premiere of Rock ’n’ Roll.
GUSTAV HUSÁK
Gustav Husák was a political prisoner in the 1950s and early 1960s. He was appointed leader of the Communist Party of Slovakia days after the Soviet invasion and
became first secretary (title changed to general secretary in 1971) of the Communist
Party of Czechoslovakia in April 1969. He reversed reforms and purged the party of
its liberal members from 1969 to 1971. In 1975, Husák was elected President of
Czechoslovakia. In the first years following the invasion, Husák managed to appease
the outraged civil population by providing a relatively satisfactory living standard and
avoiding any overt reprisals as was the case in the 1950s. Milan Kundera called him
“the President of Forgetting”.
ROCK ’N
’ ROLL’S
TIMELIN
E
1977
Vaclav Havel is arrested attempting to mail Charter 77 to
Husák and the international press
April, Havel released from prison
1979
May, Margaret Thatcher becomes British Prime Minister
Havel and 11 other “Chartists” are arrested; In October,
six receive prison sentences of 2 to 5 years
1980
December, John Lennon shot dead in Manhattan
Mikhail Gorbachev greeted by throngs of supporters
1985
March, Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader
5
6
VACLAV HAVEL
Vaclav Havel was born in Prague in 1936. His first play was The Garden Party in 1963. By the time of the Prague
Spring, he had gained an international reputation for his plays, including The Memorandum. Following the invasion,
Havel’s works were banned onstage in Czechoslovakia. He
continued to write, and engaged in political debates,
most notably the private debate
with Milan Kundera on “Czech
Destiny” and the public “Letter
to Dr. Husák.” He became a
leading symbol of opposition to
the Communist government. In
late 1976, following the trial of
the Plastic People, Havel
helped write Charter 77. He
was arrested and jailed when
he and several friends were
caught trying to mail the document to Husák and the foreign
press. Imprisoned for 4 years
Havel with wife Olga in 1974
from 1979 to 1983, Havel was
released after he suffered a collapsed lung. Following the Velvet Revolution, he was elected President of
E
LIN
Czechoslovakia. He served as President of Czechoslovakia until 1993, and then as President of
E
M
TI
the Czech Republic until 2003. Among his many awards is the Liberty Medal, which he
L’S
L
O
was awarded by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia in 1994. The
’N’ R
K
C
O
Wilma Theater produced Havel’s Temptation, and Jiri Zizka directed a
R
film version of Havel’s Largo Desolato starring F. Murray
Abraham. Havel’s newest work, Leaving, premiered
in Prague in June and will receive its London debut concurrently with the
Wilma run of Rock ’n’ Roll.
2006
1990
June 14, Rock ’n’ Roll premieres in London
July 7, Syd Barrett dies at the age of 60
Feburary, Havel meets Gorbachev in Moscow to agree to the immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops
March, Soviet Congress of People’s Delegates strips the Communist Party of monopoly power
August 18, The Rolling Stones play in Prague, to a crowd of 107,000
1989
Czech Communist government resigns in midst of massive
peaceful demonstrations known as the Velvet Revolution
December 10, non-Communist government is sworn in by
Husák who resigns immediately afterward
December 29, Havel is elected President of Czechoslovakia
1988
Syd Barrett’s Opel is released
1987
January, Gorbachev announces “perestroika” (restructuring)
April, Gorbachev visits Prague
Vaclav Havel with The Rolling Stones
A Conversation with Tom Stoppard
The following is excerpted from an interview of
Tom Stoppard conducted here at The Wilma Theater by Blanka Zizka on March 8th, 2008. To
read more of the interview, please visit The
Wilma Theater’s website: wilmatheater.org
Blanka Zizka: I want to ask you about
your relationship to Vaclav Havel because
you dedicated the play to him. You met
him in 1977 for the first time, right?
Tom Stoppard: I went to Prague to write
an article for the New York Review of Books,
and I met Havel when I went. Poor man,
you know, he was on the tourist route, as
were other writers of the period. There
was a period after Charter 77, where people like me would show up. And these dutiful, willing, rather irritated young men
would have to present themselves for some
kind of conversation with the visiting
American or Frenchman or Englishman.
That’s how I met Havel, when he was
under house arrest in
his house outside of
Prague. I just spent a
few days there, listening and probably talking too much. He’s
my age. I think he’s
almost precisely my
age. He started writing plays about the
same time I did. I
liked his plays very
much. So I felt a
tremendous kind of empathy with him. So,
not to sentimentalize this, but he’s been
lodged in my heart since that time.
BZ: Let’s talk about The Plastic People of
the Universe.
TS: One of the strands in the play is about
what happened to this offstage band because under communism you don’t get to
do anything without a license. And they
lost their license, which meant that what
they were doing was literally illegal. It was
illegal even to rehearse. And anyway peo-
ple who leant them rehearsal space tended
to put themselves in danger of one sort or
another. So they were truly an underground band, which survived from ’68
until ’76, when finally the state security
came down on them very hard. They were
arrested in the spring of ’76. The trial of
the four occurred in September ’76, and it
was as a direct result of the trial that
Havel, who’d been an observer at the trial,
came away from the trial thinking, “well,
things now got to a point where prudence
is not enough.” And the document that became Charter 77 was thereupon written.
And that was why you could really say that
this very important social political watershed in European affairs in the ’70s came
directly from what happened to a rock and
roll band.
BZ: Let’s talk a little bit about Max, the
communist academic.
TS: He’s
something of
an archetype
in English social and academic life. He
was born in
1917, so he is
the child of
modern revolution.
Now, Max is a
highly intelligent man and a Communist, and a Marxist.
To be a Marxist is one thing, but to be a
member of the Communist Party is something else again. And he stays in there
faithful to this little flame. That needs accounting for. Because he’s not a thug. And
he’s not stupid. I remember meeting somebody who wasn’t actually like Max, he wasn’t actually an academic, but I got into one
of those conversations where you think
“how can you possibly go along with what
you know is happening over there?” And I
got an answer which was something to the
effect that when you’re a true believer
you’re a member of a family. And
every family includes people who do
things that you don’t approve of. You
don’t leave the family. It’s just an unfortunate fact about this family. And I
began to understand that, which I
didn’t understand before. I’m now
sounding a little like an apologist for things
which I actually feel absolutely inimical to.
7
BZ: Talking about family, there is an amazing riveting scene in the play between
Eleanor, who is dying of cancer, and
whose body has been mutilated by many
different surgeries. And she tells Max, “I
want your grieving soul or nothing. I do
not want your amazing biological machine.
I want what you love me with.” And Max
answers, “But that’s what I love you with.
That’s it. There is nothing else.” And this is
an argument obviously, a really important
argument, that has been going on now for
several decades. And I was wondering
whose side you’re on in this one?
TS: I’m on her side. It’s the mystery of
consciousness, of how one accounts for
emotion and thought and everything that
is mental, because now, believing in a dualism of body and mind isn’t that much
more respectable than believing in a flat
earth. I may be the last person that has a
sneaking suspicion that mind and body are
two kinds of different stuff. But when
people say how does one affect the other, I
can only reply, “that’s the bit I’m still working on.” So, ok, Max’s wife is dying—and
Marxism you know is the scientific world
view, it’s the scientific ideology, it’s the materialist ideology. It’s all about that there is
only matter. There’s nothing metaphysical
out there. And what he’s saying is that our
mental life is a kind of illusion, delusion if
you like, a sort of trick of the brain, that
there is in fact no reality which one could
call a mental life. Everything is chemical
and electrical and so on. And he’s very,
very surprised when his dying wife gets
upset by this thesis. And to his great credit,
to the credit of his intellectual honesty,
that’s what he says to her, “but that is what
I love you with. There’s nothing else.” And
that’s one of the things I like about him.
But I think he’s wrong.
FR O M T H E D I R ECTOR’S CHAIR:
Director Blanka Zizka takes a break from rehearsing Tom Stoppard’s
Rock ’n’ Roll and shares her thoughts on creating the production...
I’m writing this letter after two weeks of rehearsals. It’s always inspiring to work on one of Tom Stoppard’s plays: our rehearsal room is buzzing with energy, and there's enormous talent on display. By the time the actors arrived for the first
day of rehearsal, Dramaturg Walter Bilderback and I had gone through extensive research. We spent the first week with
the cast discussing background information, analyzing every line in the play, and making sure that we not only understood all the ideas in the text, but also the personal investment the characters put into their ideas.
Tom’s characters are not just smart, they’re also deeply passionate about their ideas. In Rock ’n’ Roll, arguments are
never theoretical: they are passionate attempts to find how to live, an active search for a connection between theory and
practice. To find the dynamics of each scene, I sometimes encourage actors to improvise. The improvisations help actors imbue the play’s ideas with emotional depth. These improvisations are highly exciting, and in many cases they
forced us to make adjustments to previous choices we’d made.
Set design meetings with Matt Saunders began in May, almost immediately after Eurydice opened. Matt and I have decided to add images to the rock ’n’ roll songs that Tom specifies for the play. By combining images of life in Czechoslovakia during ‘normalization' with the sound of rock ’n’ roll, we will further support a dynamic tension that is inherent in the
play. As the only Czech speaker on the design team, I did all the video research myself. After three weeks in the ‘rabbit
hole’ of the internet, I realized that it has a very subjective memory of history. 1968 (The Warsaw Pact Invasion) and
1989 (The Velvet Revolution) are amply represented with images, but the years in between are lost. I had to involve all my friends (especially my sister's family)
living in Prague to get to the materials we needed.
Over the next few weeks we’ll start rehearsing
on stage, adding in the work of the designers.
It’s going to be a very exciting time, and I’m
looking forward to it. I trust that we are going to
create for you a vibrant and memorable
production of Tom’s remarkable play.
Tom Stoppard’s
ROCK ’N’ ROLL
Sept 17 - Oct 26, 2008
directed by Blanka Zizka
Director Blanka Zizka, Barnaby Carpenter as Jan
265 South Broad St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
For tickets, call 215.546.7824
or visit wilmatheater.org
NON-PROFIT
ORG.
US POSTAGE
PAID
WILMA THEATER
About the Wilma
Beginning with their adaptation of George
Orwell’s Animal Farm in 1979 for The Wilma
Project, Blanka Zizka and Jiri Zizka have
created some of the most memorable
theatrical productions in Philadelphia for 30
years.
The Wilma Project, founded in 1973,
challenged Philadelphia audiences with
productions from avant-garde theater troupes
such as Bread & Puppet Theatre, Mabou
Mines, Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous
Theatrical Company, The Wooster Group,
Ping Chong & the Fiji Company, and
Spalding Gray. The Zizkas arrived in
Philadelphia from their native Czechoslovakia
in 1977, and soon after they joined The
Wilma Project as artists-in-residence.
In 1981, following the Board of Directors’
offer to assume the artistic leadership of the
project, the Zizkas converted an old warehouse on Sansom Street into a 100-seat space
where The Wilma Theater, as it is known
today, was founded. On Sansom Street, the
Wilma mounted 16 acclaimed seasons, operating to full capacity.
for more spectacular productions.
Productions by the Wilma have been seen at
the International Theater Festival in the
Czech Republic; in New York at the Public
Theater and Manhattan Theatre Club; The
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in
Washington, DC; McCarter Theatre Center in
Princeton, NJ; Long Wharf Theatre in
Connecticut; and ACT Seattle. In addition to
their presentations and festivals, the Wilma
has produced over 100 productions, including
16 World Premieres, 12 US Premieres, 3 East
Coast Premieres, and 64 Philadelphia
Premieres. The Wilma co-produced a feature
film broadcast nationally on Great
Performances. The theater has worked with
notables such as Stephen Sondheim, Tom
Stoppard, Christopher Hampton, Doug
Wright, and Arthur Miller as well as playwrights such as Claudia Shear, Lillian Groag,
Chay Yew, Charles L. Mee, Jason Sherman,
Dael Orlandersmith, Robert William
Sherwood, Sarah Ruhl, Polly Pen, and
Laurence Klavan.
The theater has won 39 Barrymore Awards
for Excellence in Theater and has received
high critical acclaim from many publications
throughout the tri-state region and from
national publications such as: The New York
Times, The New York Post, TIME, USA Today,
The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and
The Wall Street Journal.
Why the Name
Wilma?
In 1985, a decision was made to find a larger
space for the theater and in 1989, a location
was identified at the corner of Broad and
Spruce Streets. The Wilma opened its new
facility on Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts
in 1996. The first new theater to be built in
Center City since 1928 was designed by
renowned theater architect Hugh Hardy. The
300-seat theater allows for intimacy and
closeness between the audience and the
actors, while providing ample space on stage
In A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf
imagines Shakespeare’s sister Judith, as
brilliant as her brother but beaten into
silence—both literally and figuratively—by
the age she lives in. To explain how the lives
of two siblings could so dramatically diverge,
Woolf recalls a bishop who explained to an
inquiring parishioner that, just as cats don’t
go to heaven, so cannot any woman possess
the talent of Shakespeare: “How much thinking those old gentlemen used to save one!
How the borders of ignorance shrank back at
their approach! Cats do not go to heaven.
Women cannot write the plays of
Shakespeare.” It was simply a given.
The Wilma Theater inherited its name from
the original Wilma Project, which began in
1973 as a feminist collective. They chose to
name their theater after an invented sister of
Shakespeare, but not after Woolf ’s Judith.
The founders created the fantastical Wilma, a
talented sister with a room of her own, the
means and freedom to express herself. When
Blanka Zizka and Jiri Zizka took over The
Wilma Project, they did not abandon its
namesake. The Zizkas’ The Wilma Theater
does not take the status quo as a given.
Instead, it constantly strives for new ways of
expression and revelation, social significance
and impact.
Mission
The Wilma Theater exists to present theater
as an art form, engaging artists and audiences
in an adventure of aesthetic philosophical
reflection of the complexities of contemporary life. We accomplish our mission by producing thoughtful, well-crafted, productions
of intelligent, daring plays that represent a
range of voices, viewpoints, and production
styles.
Board of Directors
Officers
Peggy Greenawalt, Chair
Lewis H. Johnston, Vice Chair
John D. Rollins, Vice Chair
A. E. (Ted) Wolf, Vice Chair
David E. Loder, Secretary
Thomas Mahoney, Treasurer
Board Members
Autumn Bayles
Arjun Bedi
Clare D’Agostino
Mark S. Dichter, Esq.
Herman C. Fala, Esq.
Linda Glickstein
Sudhakar Goverdhanam
Jeff Harbison
Erin Kuhls
Robert E. Linck
Sissie Lipton
James F. McGillin
Donald F. Parman
Ronald Rock
Mary Rucci
Dianne L. Semingson
Ellen B. Solms
Evelyn G. Spritz
Gillian Wakely
Andrew B. Williams
Elizabeth A. W. Williams
Jeanne P. Wrobleski, Esq.
Ex-Officio
James Haskins
Dr. R. J. Wallner
Blanka Zizka
Jiri Zizka
11
12
A Special Note to Our Donors
Thank you to all of our donors, including those who donate
through our Ticket Exchange Program. This list acknowledges all donors above $150 from August 1, 2007 through
August 12, 2008. If your name has been omitted or misprinted, please accept our apologies. Notify us of the change by
contacting Lea Montalto-Rook, Director of Individual and
Corporate Relations, at 215.893.9456 x109.
Thank you for all your kind support.
FOUNDATION,
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XIX (Nineteen)
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The Premiere Circle is a group
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Student Sunday Evenings
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This program provides $10 tickets to students.
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30th Anniversary
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13
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14
30th Anniversary
Season Annual Fund
Continued
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215.978.4545
Mantra*
122 S. 18th St.
215.988.1211
Mercato Restaurant &
BYOB
1216 Spruce St.
215.985.2962
Meritage Restaurant
500 S. 20th St.
215.985.1922
Mexican Post*
1601 Cherry St.
215.568.2667
104 Chestnut St.
215.923.5233
Moriarty’s Restaurant
1116 Walnut St.
215.627.7676
Naked Chocolate Café
1317 Walnut St.
215.735.7310
(XIX) Nineteen
Park Hyatt Philadelphia at
the Bellevue (19th Floor)
Broad and Walnut Sts.
215.790.1919
Mr. and Mrs. Norman
Stuessy+
Mr. Stephen A. Stumpf+
Ms. Nina E. Tafel+
Bruce and Christina Tarkoff+
Tonto II
Marit and Willem
Vanderlinde+
Barbara Ventresco+
Eddie Wallace
Ms. Wendy Warner
Mr. Vince Webb
John Weidman and Ebony
Staton
Ms. Margie Weingarten
Bernhard and Elizabeth
Witter+
Ms. Mary Ann Woodcock+
In Honor of Mark
Dichter (1)
Philadelphia Fish and
Co.*
207 Chestnut St.
215.625.8605
The Prime Rib*
1701 Locust St.
215.772.1701
Ristorante La Buca
711 Locust St.
215.928.0556
Ruth’s Chris Steak
House
260 S. Broad St.
215.790.1515
Upstares & Sotto Varalli
231 S. Broad St.
215.546.6800
Valanni Restaurant &
Lounge
1229 Spruce St.
215.790.9494
Warsaw Café
306 S. 16th Street
215.546.0204
World Cafe Live*
3025 Walnut St.
215.222.1400
*Client of The Restaurant Collection: www.therestaurantcollection.com
The Wilma Theater would like to thank the following
audience members for their participation in the
Audience Advisory Committee:
Mary Ellen Byrne, Richard Drucker, Ilene Lefko, Karlyn Messinger,
John Piston, Leslie Ryan, Karen Scholnick, Jim Shaw, John Shirley,
Lewis Silverman, Patricia Sollimo, Joseph Waldo, Frank Zampiello
There are other ways you
can make a difference!
1) You can double or triple your donation to
the Wilma by asking your workplace if they
have a Matching Gifts program.
2) You can give to the Wilma through The
United Way.
3) You can donate In-Kind Gifts, or Gifts of
Stock, or Real Estate.
4) You can remember the Wilma through
Planned Giving.
Please contact our Development Office at
215-893-9456 x109 for more information.
15
Music Featured in Rock ’N’ Roll
Billing, Credit and Permission
“Goldenhair” written by Syd Barrett. Published by Universal Music – MGB Songs o/b/o Universal Music Publ. International MGB Ltd. and Lupus Music
Company Limited.
“I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” written by Bob Dylan, © 1968; renewed 1996 Dwarf Music.
“The Last Time” written by Mick Jagger &
Keith Richards. Published by ABKCO Music, Inc. www.abkco.com.
“It’s All Over Now” written by Bobby Womack & Shirley Womack. Published by ABKCO
Music, Inc. www.abkco.com.
“Venus in Furs” written by Lou Reed. Copyright © 1967 Oakfield Avenue Music, Ltd. (BMI). Rights for Oakfield Avenue Music,
Ltd. (BMI) administered by Spirit One Music (BMI). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
“Break on Through (to the Other Side)” written by Jim
Morrison, John Densmore, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger. Published by Doors Music Company (ASCAP). Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“I’m
Waiting for the Man” written by Lou Reed. Copyright © 1967 Oakfield Avenue Music, Ltd. (BMI). Rights for Oakfield Avenue Music, Ltd. (BMI) administered by
Spirit One Music (BMI). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
“Astronomy Domine” written by Syd Barrett. All rights Essex Music.
“Terrapin” written
by Syd Barrett. Published by Universal Music – Careers o/b/o Universal Music Publ. International MGB Ltd. and Lupus Music Company Limited.
“Jugband
Blues” written by Syd Barrett. All rights Essex Music.
“It’s Only Rock n Roll” written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards.
“Chinatown Shuffle” written by
Ron McKernan. Copyright © 1972 Ice Nine Publishing Company, Inc. (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
“Welcome To The Machine”
(Roger Waters), © 1975 Muziekuitgeverij Artemis B.V. (Buma). All rights on behalf of Muziekuitgeverij Artemis B.V. (Buma) administered by Warner-Tamerlane
Publishing Corp. (BMI). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” written by Tony Asher, Mike Love and Brian Wilson. Published by
Irving Music, Inc.
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” music by U2. Lyrics by Bono & The Edge. Published by Universal-Polygram Int. Publ., Inc.
on behalf of Universal Music Oubl. Int. B.V.
“Wish You Were Here” (Roger Waters, David Gilmour), © 1975 Muziekuitgeverij Artemis B.V. (Buma) and © Pink
Floyd Music Publishers, Inc. (BMI). All rights on behalf of Muziekuitgeverij Artemis B.V. (Buma) administered by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI). All
rights reserved. Used by permission.
“Bring It On Home To Me” written by Sam Cooke. Published by ABKCO Music, Inc. www.abkco.com.
“Don’t Cry”
written by Saul Hudson, Duff Rose McKagan, W. Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin.
“Vera” (Roger Waters), © 1976 Muziekuitgeverij Artemis B.V. (Buma). All rights on
behalf of Muziekuitgeverij Artemis B.V. (Buma) administered by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
“Rock
and Roll Music” written by Chuck Berry. Published by ARC Music Corp.
“You Got Me Rocking” written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards. © 1994
Promopub B.V.
16
Revolutionize the way you plan and hold meetings.
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Designed to meet even your most exacting needs,
our innovative new meeting center is an ideal venue for groups from 10 to 60.
Call us today to learn more about making your next meeting a successful and
enjoyable experience for everyone.
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• Catering Plus
• Friendly, attentive professional events staff
• Multiple meeting package options, one simple bill
• And of course, our warm Chocolate Chip Cookies by Doubletree!
Broad & Locust Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-893-1679
www.philadelphia.doubletree.com
All meeting centers are not created equal.
SM
17
18
Introducing Pre-Theater Dinner
Above the Avenue of the Arts
Experience the Flavors of XIX
with a Three-Course Cafe Table Dinner
M O N D AY – S AT U R D AY
5:30-9:30PM
$30 PER PERSON
Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue. 19th Floor.
Broad and Walnut Streets. Philadelphia. Pennsylvania 19102
TE L E PHO N E
215.790.1919
FA C SIMIL E
215.732.8518
www.nineteenrestaurant.com
19
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subscribe
TO THE WILMA’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
ROY SMILES
directed by JIRI ZIZKA
by
December 3, 2008 - January 4, 2009
Groucho Marx meets Lenny
Bruce! Fasten your seatbelts
’cause all hell’s about to break
loose in this imaginative comedy.
“An evening of total comic
virtuosity...another success for
the aptly named Roy Smiles!”
-THE EVENING STANDARD (LONDON)
WAJDI MOUAWAD
translated by LINDA GABORIAU
directed by BLANKA ZIZKA
by
February 25 - March 29, 2009
A tour-de-force epic mystery
surrounding a war-torn Middle
Eastern country and its vicious
cycle of war and revenge.
“Scorched introduces a playwright
with an important voice to the
English language theater.”
-VARIETY
Save up to 30% off regular ticket prices!
3 and 4-Play Flex Subscriptions available, plus great
discounts for Students, Educators, Seniors, and
Under-35 Patrons!
TERRY JOHNSON
directed by JIRI ZIZKA
by
May 13 - June 14, 2009
Based on an historical meeting
between Sigmund Freud and
Salvador Dalí, Hysteria is a madcap
comedy full of dazzling surprises!
“Hysteria is an exuberant
surprise...as unexpectedly
resonant as a crazy sonnet!”
-THE NEW YORK TIMES
CALL TODAY!
215.546.7824
or visit online:
wilmatheater.org