Bullying: - KATHIE RASMUSSEN WOMEN`S THEATRE
Transcription
Bullying: - KATHIE RASMUSSEN WOMEN`S THEATRE
Curl Your Hair OR Straighten Your Hair HELEN OF TROY FLAT IRON Kathie Rasmussen Women’s Theatre presents Complimentary style for those who mention this Amazing offer Exclusively, 425 South Yellowstone Dr. Corner of Mineral Point Road, Next to Summit Credit Union 608.271.2771 www.BeInspiredSalon.com Bullying: Congratulations cast The Musical A TAPIT/new works Ensemble Theater production Auditions For the All-Youth Cast Friday, December 3rd 6:00 – 9:30 pm Saturday, December 4th 11:00 am – 2:00 pm to the crew of HELEN and - Smooth Sailing! TAPIT/new works Studio Theater www.tapitnewworks.org Performances Friday March 11, 2011 Barrymore Theatre Creative Spark Writing Workshops [email protected] Directed by Jan Levine Thal November 5-7 and 11-13, 2010 Why a Women's Theater Company? Helen To build gender equality so firmly entrenched that women have full artistic voices, that women's visions are honored side by side with men's, in all aspects of performance. Presented By KRASS Historically, many performance companies have assigned artistic vision to men and practical tasks to women, who nonetheless volunteered in greater numbers. Failure to recognize women playwrights and directors is a national phenomenon in professional theater. To wit: In the 91 years of the Pulitzer Prize, 13 women won for drama versus 64 men (13 years no awards were given). Over six decades, only three women have won the Tony Award for Best Play and only four for Best Director of a Play or Musical. Madison-area community theater companies are ahead of the mainstream—increasingly perform plays written or directed by women— but parity has not been reached or even approached, even here. Our focus—promoting women playwrights and directors—provides consistent openings for women artists, as well as opportunities for audiences to see work not routinely available. We welcome men and women as participants in this exciting endeavor. Kathie Rasmussen (1949-2007) was an actor, playwright, poet, stage manager and props mistress, but her skill set doesn’t capture her brilliance and wit—acerbic, insightful, and always aimed at promoting the greater good. She helped envision Krass and expected to create it in collaboration with others. Sadly, she left us for the Greatest White Way. Three dedicated people formed the Kathie Rasmussen Women’s Theatre in 2008: Heather Renken, Ben Emerick, and Jan Levine Thal. Since then, a group of hard-working, inventive people have come forward, contributing wonderful ideas as well as time, effort, and money to help our company thrive. Our first season, 2009-2010, was successful and exciting. Special thanks go to Kathie’s family members, who supported us from the start. In the years ahead we will need volunteers in every area, from the business to the artistic end of our work. We hold regular readings and discussions of published plays, as well as potlucks, original one-time improvised mysteries, and occasional examination of works in progress. Our dream is to have our own space where we conduct workshops and classes in addition. We welcome you to come with us on our journey. Why a women's theater? Because it's time. Jan Levine Thal Artistic Director Adapted By Ellen McLaughlin Cast Helen................................................................Autumn Shiley Servant...........................................................Heather Renken Athena..................................................................Nancy Craig Io..........................................................................Carrie Masse Menelaus..............................................................Jess Williard Understudy.....................................................Marcy Weiland Production & Management Staff Director & Co-Producer..................................Jan Levine Thal Stage Manager....................................................Teresa Rode Co-Producer, Publicity & Program..............Alanna Medearis Technical Director.............................................Ethan Rosing Assistant Technical Director...........................Taylor Kokinos Set Designer...................................................Jennifer Pendur Lighting Designer...........................................Patricia Micetic Sound Designer.....................................................Shaun Petts Graphic Designer................................................Ingrid Kallick Costume Designer.............................................Sharon White Props Designer.............................................................N-Dig0 Props Acquisition...................................Wendy Fern Hutton Play Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. (www.playscripts.com) The Playwright Hire Madison’s Favorite Disco-licious Rock Band for your event! Randall Hopkins Art& Antiques 807 East Johnson Street Madison, Wi 53703 608-255-6222 randallhopkinsartantiques.com Ellen McLaughlin is a playwright and actor, perhaps best known as originating the part of the Angel in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. Besides Helen, her plays include Days and Nights Within, A Narrow Bed, Infinity’s House, Iphigenia and Other Daughters, Tongue of a Bird, The Trojan Women, The Persians, and Oedipus. Her work has been produced all over the country and has won numerous prizes and awards including the Great American Play Contest, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the NEA, the Writer’s Award from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, and the Berilla Kerr Award for playwrighting. Her regional theater roles include The Homebody in Homebody/ Kabul (Intiman Theater, Seattle), Pirate Jenny in Threepenny Opera (Trinity Rep. Elliot Norton Award), Mrs. Alving in Ghosts (Berkeley Rep.) and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the McCarter and the Paper Mill Playhouse. Screen acting credits include Everything Relative, The Bed You Sleep In, with guest appearances on Law & Order. She has taught playwrighting in numerous venues from Yale School of Drama to Princeton University. She currently teaches at Barnard College in New York City. KRASS Board of Directors President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Alanna Medearis Andrew Miller-Rhoads Nancy Craig Jan Levine Thal Board Members Betty Diamond, MJ Jones, Heather Renken, R. Elena Tabachnick Director’s Note Ellen McLaughlin’s dramas are “predicated on a deep faith in human sympathy,” Tony Kushner writes in his forward to McLaughlin’s remarkable volume of plays, The Greeks. Sympathy? Surely not for Helen of Troy, a queen with everything who ran off with an exotic foreigner. Or Paris, who took a bribe and set off a firestorm. Or Menelaus, who launched a bloody ten-year war for the gods and country but mostly for personal revenge. But what if Helen was framed? Menelaus duped? What if the war started because of a lie? In this play, Helen, innocent of all charges, waits uneasily in an imaginary ancient Greece where television is vital to daily life and yet provides no information, while a lazy servant offers truths in the guise of mythology. Today for the first time in 17 years she has visitors: Io, the refugee who travels the world while enduring its indignities; Athena, the goddess of both war and wisdom who finds life more valuable than death despite prevailing ideology; and Menelaus, the warrior driven to find honor in sacrifice. Yes, beauty can be a burden, they acknowledge. And a weapon. But not an excuse. Not for war, not for apathy. Helen’s not so sure. Helen offers no easy answers. I have wanted to stage this play since I saw it, directed by Kushner at the Public Theater in NYC. Adaptation or not—this is not Euripides’ Helen. It evokes conflicts and standards of beauty from all epochs and McLaughlin’s clever poetic voice embraces our power to turn sympathy into action. The team that created Helen is as legendary as the story they tell. The play requires brilliant actors dedicated to assiduous hard work. This cast has risen to those demands and exceeded my imagination. Each designer brought glorious inventiveness to Helen’s world despite our limited budget and resources. Special thanks to Co-Producer Alanna Medearis, Stage Manager Terri Rode, Wendy Fern Hutton for daily support, and the staff for their many contributions. Let us put down our weapons and share our stories. Jan Levine Thal, November 2010 Show Your Support In Style! STIX LAW OFFICES Support KRASS by ordering Helen or owl products online. (608) 271-9888 www.stixlaw.com Representing unions & employees for 30 years CONGRATULATING KRASS ON YOUR THIRD PRODUCTION! • T-Shirts • Water Bottles • Mugs & More! Shop the owl at: cafepress.com/kathie in partnership with presents... by Fred Alley and James Valcq December 3-18, 2010 Drury Theatre at the Bartell Visit www.fourseasonstheatre.com The Cast In Order of Appearance Autumn Shiley - Helen Autumn Shiley, Helen, began her acting career at the New Vic Theatre in Kalamazoo where she received her BA in Theatre Performance from Western Michigan University. She has trained BADA in Oxford and with SITI company members various times, and has performed in Edinburgh. Autumn received her MFA from the University of Virginia. She would like to thank all the women in her life. They have taught her what it is to be beautifully real. Autumn believes everyone has a story to tell. She wants to hear yours. Heather Renken - Servant Heather Renken, Servant, has been active in theater for more than twenty years. Recently named Artistic Director of Broom Street Theater, she is a cofounder and board member of the Kathie Rasmussen Women’s Theatre. Heather has lived and done theater in Chicago, Indianapolis, Denver and Norfolk, Virginia. Heather wrote and directed three plays at Broom Street Theater: Oh God, There’s Baptists at the Door in 2006; Shiny Things in 2008; and A Woman on Paper in 2010. She teaches theater classes for youth at the NorthEast YMCA in Sun Prairie, and is an acting specialist and Stage Manager for Proud Theater, a company that promotes and supports LGBT and allied youth. With companies such as StageQ, Madison Theater Guild, and Children’s Theater of Madison, she has worked as a performer, costumer, sound board operator, stage manager, and properties manager. She thanks her husband and sons for all of their patience and support. The Cast Nancy Craig - Athena Nancy Craig, Athena, is a member at-large for the company. She has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Theater from Missouri Southern State College (now University) in Joplin, MO. Since moving to Madison in 2004, she has become active at Broom Street Theater, both acting and technical work. She has been associated with KRASS since 2009. Carrie Masse - Io Carrie Masse, Io, remembers that when the fabulousJanLevineThalsaidshehadtheperfectrolefor Carrie in the play Helen, she was excited and flattered. Carrie then found out she’d be playing the role of a cow. “Hmmm,” she thought to herself, for Carrie has a tendency to eat rather sloppily and leave the door open when visiting Jan’s home. She sees how a cow could be the perfect role and a great opportunity to display her animalistic barn-yard nature. It is amazing how well Carrie can relate to this character, and not just because she’s a little slow at times. Carrie is a cow and she invites everyone to displace the shame attached to our more primitive human urges. She thanks all and hopes you all take something away from this play that you can chew on later. -Moo Jess Williard - Menelaus “Is she dead?” “No, better. She’s perfect.” Jess, Menelaus, would like to thank Jan Levine Thal for her creative encouragement and patience. He would also like to thank Autumn Shiley for being neither dead nor perfect, but really, really great to work with. Production & Management Staff Jan Levine Thal - Director & Co-Producer Jan Levine Thal, Co-Producer & Director, was introduced to prejudices about appearance at an early age when her family joined the Civil Rights Movement. As a life-long anti-war activist, she appreciates Ellen McLaughlin’s vision that peace and beauty are inextricably linked. Jan is grateful to the amazing cast, staff, and crew for this exquisite production and thanks her fabulous family and friends, especially her son, Jeremy Thal. Teresa Rode - Stage Manager Having previously acted at Broom Street Theater in John Sable’s Multiple O & Multiple O 2: Women On Top, and Heather Renken’s Shiny Things & A Woman On Paper, Teresa has truly loved her first time stage managing, she thanks Jan for the opportunity. She sends all her respect and adoration to one of the most amazingly talented, wonderful casts ever, and all her love always to Miss H.B. and Sir Dork. Tons of thanks to all the friends who’s support has meant the world to her. “I’LL “I’LL TAKE A TAKE A KITCHEN” KITCHEN” Save the world and save money! Save the world and save money! New and used building materials for your home. New and used building materials for your home. NEW NEWHOURS: HOURS: NEW HOURS: NEW HOURS: Tuesday––Saturday Saturday Tuesday Tues-Sat 9-5 Tues-Sat 9-5 a.m.––55p.m. p.m. 99a.m. www.restoredane.org www.restoredane.org (608) 661-2813 (608) 661-2813 208 Cottage Grove Road 208 Madison, Cottage Grove Road WI 53716 Madison, WI 53716 Among the oldest species of vertebrates, owls are associated with many myths, including the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena. The Krass Owl was designed by Ingrid Kallick. www.ikallick.com Alanna Medearis - Co-Producer A staunch believer that beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder, Alanna has worked in theater for fifteen years, both on and offstage and currently serves as the President for the KRASS Board of Directors. Alanna is excited to be involved with this inspiring production and thanks the unbelievable cast and crew of Helen who have made this a rewarding experience. Ethan Rosing - Technical Director Ethan Rosing, technical director of Helen, thanks Jan for the opportunity to work together. He thanks his fiancée, Aubrey, for her patience. Ethan also serves on the Board of Directors for the Madison Theatre Guild. Production & Management Staff Production & Management Staff Taylor Kokinos - Assistant Technical Director Sharon White - Costume Designer Taylor Kokinos, Assistant Tech Director, first got enmeshed with this zany group of people working on Heather Renken’s A Woman on Paper at Broom Street Theater. Earlier experiences with the Actor’s Factory in Stoughton misled him into believing theater people were sane. He intends to let the current crowd down easy with songs about binary representations, base thirteen, and Tibetan monks—as soon as he completes his teens. Sharon White, Costume Mistress, is happy to be a part of Helen. Sharon has worked as a costumer on several productions within the Madison and surrounding areas. She feels that theater continues to be important because, as Keats said, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all/ Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” Jennifer Pendur - Set Designer N-dig0 supports the Arts (not the wars) and encourages you to Live, Love, and Create! He also chases dragons and truths, gods and monsters. N-dig0 would like to thank all of his family and friends (past, passed, and present) for all of their love and support. Fn0rd! Jennifer Pendur, Set Design, finds the stresses of finding herself to be taken for a goddess (or was it a cow?) herself, nothing more than a mirror bombarded by the projections of others, to whom she seemed to be invisible. Early on it caused in her a sense of cognitive dissonance from which she has yet to fully recover. Particia Micetic - Lighting Designer Patricia Micetic has designed lighting for professional and amateur theaters in the Madison area. She is an architect in private practice in Stoughton. Shaun Petts - Sound Designer Shaun Petts, Sound Designer, is thankful for much. Especially YOU! :) Ingrid Kallick - Scenic Artist & Graphic Designer Ingrid Kallick is a writer, freelance artist and graphic designer. She has done graphics and set painting for KRASS, The Madison Theater Guild, Broom Street Theater and The Madison Savoyards. Many thanks to Jan Levine Thal and the cast and crew of Helen for this opportunity. N-dig0 - Props Designer Wendy Hutton - Props Acquisition Wendy Fern Hutton (Props Acquisition) is a mermaid and is happy to help finding props for this beautiful production. She offers kudos to Jan and the cast and crew. Marcy Weiland - Understudy Marcy Weiland is a charter member of Mercury Players Theatre and was artistic director from 1995 to 2001. Favorite roles at Mercury include the one-actor play Chesapeake by Lee Blessing, Lisa in Well by Lisa Kron, and a missing-link Mama in In the Beginning by Catherine Capellaro and Andrew Rohn. In 2005, the stage manager for Chesapeake and rock of strength for Weiland was the wonderful Kathie Rasmussen. Weiland is a pacifist who always wished she could be drafted, just so she could resist! Are you interested in getting involved with the Kathie Rasmussen Women’s Theatre? Visit madwomenstage.org to find out how! Thank You a Betty Diamond & Madison Theatre Guild Tara Ayres & StageQ a Gail Sterkel, Mari Mitchell & Monona Grove High School a Jonathan Zarov & WORT-FM TAPIT/New Works a Broom Street Theater Cathleen Blair a Kurt Brown a Lindsay Christians Mary Conroy a Walter Elmore a Kristin Forde Al Hart a David Harvey a MJ Jones a Teri Kahel Ric Lantz a Lynette Margulies a Fran Metcalf Mary E. Myers a Andrew Miller-Rhoads Karen Milstein a Deanna Reed a Ilsa Reed Laszlo Reed a Patrick Robbins a Jane Schroeder Cam Shimniok a Charles Stephens a Stephanie Turner Mary-Ann Twist a Marcy Weiland a Sarah Whelan