Notes from the director of Circle Mirror Transformation

For the past three years, Immediate Theatre Project (or ITP) has produced two shows each year, both in collaboration with NC Stage. The first is our yearly production of Live From WVL Radio Theatre: It's A Wonderful Life, and the second is ITP's contribution to the NC Stage MainStage series.

This means, because half of our season is pre-determined, that we only get one shot: one chance to choose the perfect play. No pressure there, right? It's important to us to choose plays that excite us creatively, that will honor and challenge the intelligence of our audience, and that feel vital and relevant to Right Now. And, of course, they have to represent a theatrical challenge that we can reasonably expect to meet, fit within our budgetary constraints, and be available for production.

Between artistic and practical considerations, the play selection process can be daunting, but every year, we hope, we find just the right gem of a play, polish it up and present it to you. And we hope that you connect to it in performance as deeply as we did when first reading it and dreaming of production.

Circle Mirror Transformation stood out for a number of reasons when we first discovered it. Sure, it was relatively easy to produce (small cast! contemporary costumes! single setting!), but more importantly it clicked immediately as something different, something unlike any of us had ever seen onstage before.

It was a theatre-centric play that was free of backstage antics and stereotypes. It celebrated the unknown, but was anchored in the ordinary. It lived comfortably in the uncomfortable silences that pepper our everyday speech and thoughts, as our brains and tongues try to catch up to our feelings. It gave voice to the inexpressible, sometimes without words. It felt, in a very unusual and exciting way, that we were witness not to a play, but to an intimate discovery of five real people interacting as real people do every day, of their very lives being shaped in subtly and often completely unknown ways at each seemingly unimportant moment.

In short, it defied our expectations, excited our senses, and made us cry out, “This is it! This is our play!”

The conceit of Circle Mirror Transformation is also unique-- we only see the characters interact in the context of a six-week community drama class in which they have enrolled. Most of what we learn about them is a sideways view into their lives, revealed though simple acting exercises that are designed more to foster trust and bridge differences than to explicitly teach acting. Of course, as all of us in the theatre realize, it is only by building the capacity for trust, openness, creativity, and commitment do we start to become better actors.

And hopefully, like the characters in this tiny play with a big title, we find that the joy, the delight, and the raw, painful emotional discoveries we make along the way can make us better people, too.

Willie Repoley
Director

Introducing the Fight Girl Cast

Like I promised, here's a little info about the cast of characters, the actors playing them, and, consequently, a little about the story of Fight Girl Battle World.  FYI, the play is in many ways an homage to sci-fi, action, and cult films and TV series, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, Blade Runner, and others, so it'll be a fun ride.  Now, presenting the cast of Fight Girl Battle World!

Rebecca Morris plays E-V, a street prize fighter who also happens to be the last human female in all the known galaxies.

Rebecca is a local actor, performing in plays and movies.  If you saw our production of Angels in America this fall, you'll remember her as Harper Pitt.  Badass that she is, Rebecca choreographed most of the fights in the show.

Jake Bowden is GENERAL DAN'H, leader of the insurgency against the United Galactic Alliance/Council (UGC), the intergalactic government.

Jake is a student at UNCA studying theatre.  In addition to his acting, Jake built many of the set pieces you'll see in the production.  Little known fact: He and Charlie went to the same high school, but in different centuries.

Lauren Kriel (that's me!) plays J'AN JAH, Dan'h's Ursalean, gender-bending pilot.

Lauren is graduate of Warren Wilson College, where she majored in theatre/English.  As a younger sibling, she's glad she finally gets to be on the winning side of fights (although choreographed).

Bobby Abrahamson is ADON-RA, the last human male in the known galaxies, notoriously known as a vengeful psychokilling space terrorist.

Bobby is a theatre student at UNCA and was recently an administrative intern for NC Stage.  Do you know any good jokes? You want to hear this guy's laugh -- it's infectious. 
 

Jason Williams is LC-4, a "robot robot" who was once a robot playwright and soon becomes E-V's right-hand tin can.

Jason does it all.  He not only plays two other roles besides LC-4, but he also designed the lights for this production.  Jason directs as well, and his next project is As You Like It with the Montford Park Players.

Jessica Lewis is MIKAH MONOCH, a torture-obsessed agent for the UGC.

Jessica is yet another lover of sci-fi.  She's a big "Dr. Who" fan and a "Firefly" fan, too.  (The list goes on, of course.)  She is studying literature at UNCA.   

Alison Young plays both ZIMLEK, E-V's bookie/coach on Battle World, and COMMANDER G'BRIL, the UGC's second in command to the president.

Alison is a graduate of Mars Hill College and is a performer of all kinds.  She sings, acts, and performs burlesque! Did you see the New Year's Eve eve performance by Bombs Away Cabaret here at NC Stage? If so, then you've seen her do her thing.

Travis Kelley is PRESIDENT YA-WI, commander in chief of the UGC, who initiated the Human Wars, an almost successful attempt to wipe out all human life.

Travis is a sci-fi movie devotee.  You might recognize him from local theatre productions around town, or perhaps you've seen him at the Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company, where he works.

Bradshaw Call plays both the ZOOKEEPER, a trained keeper of the most endangered species in the galaxy, as well as the ANCHOR, the glamorous newscaster spreading news to the farthest reaches of the UGC core planets.

Bradshaw is a man of many talents.  The spaceships? He built them.  The term 'space galactica?' He coined it.  Just wait til you hear all the excellent character voices he uses in the show...




We open this Thursday, January 19, so grab a friend or two, don a costume if you like, and get your qwarding blarkbutt down to the theatre to see this show.  We've got one hell of show for you.

Gearing up...

Fight Girl Battle World: January 19-February 4

Here we are in the second week of January 2012, and here at NC Stage, we've hit the ground running in this new year.  We're gearing up for our next Catalyst Series production, Fight Girl Battle World by Qui Nguyen, which opens next week.  Just yesterday, cast member Rebecca Morris (remember Harper Pitt from Angels? That's her!) and director Charlie Flynn-McIver were interviewed by Dick Kowal on WCQS about the show.  Cast members are going all over town putting up posters and getting the word out about the production.  The cast also recently filmed some promotional videos in character about the play (which we'll post here once they're done).  In the mood for pizza? You might just find a flier for Fight Girl... atop your pizza box from Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company.  We're excited about this play, so understandably, we want everyone to know about it.  In fact, thanks for reading this! Now buy a ticket and go tell 10 friends to do the same.  Joking! But not really.  

So, Charlie is directing this production, but the big question is, "Where did you even find this play in the first place, dude?" More on the cast and their work on the production later, because what I have for you today is a link to an article from American Theatre magazine from October 2010.  Perhaps you recall lots of social media posts around that time from NC Stage telling you to read an article about Charlie Flynn-McIver and Scott Treadway.  Well, the article just after it in the print version of the magazine is about the Fight Girl Battle World playwright, Qui Nguyen, his aesthetic, and his work with Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company.  It's worth a read, and it's fascinating! 

More to come later on about FGBW and other upcoming productions (Love Child opens in a little over a month!) so subscribe to the blog if you like, or just keep your eyes peeled.  Until next time...

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone’s having a great Holiday, whatever way you celebrate. I also hope everyone’s had a great year. NC Stage has had a tremendous season so far with a production of Hedwig And The Angry Inch and both parts, count ‘em, BOTH parts of Angels In America, and then two companies of Live From WVL Radio Theatre: It’s A Wonderful Life and, of course, The 12 Dates Of Christmas. Dozens of actors, designers, technicians, volunteers and administrators have been making it all happen and more than 5,000 seats have been occupied during all this. All in all one of the biggest seasons we’ve ever done.

And we can’t thank you all enough. If you’ve bought a ticket for one of those seats, given a donation, told or brought a friend, hell, even if you’ve just “retweeted” one of our twitter posts, you’re a big part of the success of NC Stage. If you would still like to make a donation, you still can. And what a great time to get in that last minute tax deduction before the New Year!

But we’re not done for the season! We’re just getting started! Our New Year starts off when Neela Munoz (director, Boeing Boeing) and I team up again as she directs me and her husband Billy (actor, Fully Committed) in Love Child. These are two of the nicest, most talented and funniest people I know and I can’t wait to work with them again.

Immediate Theatre Project returns after their brilliant production of The Glass Menagerie last season with a great new play, Circle Mirror Transformation. And the season finishes up in May with one of the best new comedies of the past several years, In The Next Room Or The Vibrator Play.

We wish you a terrific New Year with lots of laughs and good times. And we hope that some of those good times happen at NC Stage! Be safe out there and watch out for others.

Last minute shopping! Yikes!

Okay. So it’s just you and me, right? Here’s the deal. I am NOT a procrastinator. Okay maybe I am a little bit but I’ll talk about that later. Truth is, December has snuck up on me as the Fall has been killer busy with over 90 performances at NC Stage and more than 5,600 tickets sold to those events, plus the education program and fundraising, (more on that in a later post). Anyway, I’m just peeking up and it’s December??? The week of Christmas??? How did THAT happen?

So I’m finishing up some work at the office and getting my Christmas shopping done. And I’m looking to you for last minute gift ideas. We’re offering $25 Anytime tickets for any of our mainstage productions the remainder of the season but Angie is already going to those. Heh, heh. There is also some great art out there and I’ve got my eye on a few things. In fact I was recently linterviewed about that in the Mountain Xpress. Check it out!

But I’m looking for something like that. Local, experiential, meaningful. Art or performances? Lessons? Memberships to cultural institutions?

So what’s the best thing you’ve either given or received that can be gotten last minute that you think that special someone I’m related to might really like? Please post a comment! I’m serious!

Charlie

Will you help NC Stage create great theatre?

After a recent performance of Angels in America, a long time audience member of NC Stage stopped me in the lobby. She said, “I know that people in the theatre don’t make a lot of money and I know this show was hard work, but the experiences I have at this theatre like I did tonight make me realize, yet again, that theatre is important. It really is. Thank you for being here.”

I share this story with you because it’s not just the people on stage or behind the scenes she is thanking. It's all the folks like you who contribute to our Annual Fund that make our work possible.

Anyone who’s attended a free (For)Play reading, participated in a post-show discussion, enjoyed a Happy Hour and A Half reception, or been able to attend for as little as $6 on a Pay What You Can Night has benefitted from annual fund support.

Students in our community benefit from annual fund support as well. Thomas is a student in our “On the Fly” after school workshop for at-risk middle school students. Through On the Fly, Thomas learns self-esteem and creative problem solving while focusing youthful energy during those empty hours after school.

Contributions to our annual fund from members of the community make it possible for us to offer all these experiences and more. Ticket income covers only 63% of the costs of producing our season and providing educational programs in schools. Picture a favorite experience at NC Stage that captured your imagination, made you think or wonder, or simply made you laugh. Now picture only 63% of it!

Will you consider making a gift of $25, $100, $500 or more to help us enrich your life and the lives of young people like Thomas? You can even join the Green Room Society with a gift of $1,000 or more and participate in special conversations with us as we plan the future of NC Stage.

Partner with us to develop local actors, directors and designers, and ensure NC Stage’s position as one of the leading non-profit theatres in North Carolina.

Give online today!

Thank you,

Charlie and Angie Flynn-McIver, and the rest of the NC Stage team.

Previously on Angels in America…

This is a spoiler alert for anyone who has not seen Part 1: Millennium Approaches. Don't read! But we don't want you to leave this blog empty handed. So here's something I thought was funny.

Previously on Angels in America…

In the last moments of Part 1: Millennium Approaches, Prior Walter, a gay man who has been diagnosed with AIDS, was sleeping fitfully when an Angel crashed through the ceiling of his bedroom. The Angel greeted him as a prophet, announcing “The Great Work begins.”

It wasn’t the first strange thing that had happened to Prior since his diagnosis. Two of his ancestors had visited him in the middle of the night, claiming they were heralds. A flaming book appeared to him while he was at the AIDS clinic, and he heard his perfectly ordinary Italian-American nurse suddenly begin speaking a Hebrew prayer. His cat ran away, his lover left, and the only bright spot left in his life was his old friend Belize. Belize is a nurse, and visited Prior at St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he also works, promising that he will be there for Prior, no matter what.

When Prior’s health began to decline, his lover Louis couldn’t handle the pressure and left him, moving out of the apartment they had shared for four and a half years. Louis works in the Brooklyn Appellate Court as a word processor, where he met Joe Pitt, a law clerk. He and Joe have been having a low-key flirtation, and at the end of Millennium Approaches, Louis and Joe leave Central Park together, presumably to go to Louis’s apartment.

Joe Pitt is a conservative Mormon Republican lawyer who has wrestled with his sexuality for his whole life. He is dissatisfied with his job clerking for Justice Wilson, but feels compelled to stay in Brooklyn because of his mentally unstable wife, Harper. Joe admits to Harper that he has never had sexual feelings for her, and he comes out to his mother, Hannah, during a very difficult phone call to her home in Salt Lake City.

Joe’s mentor is the notoriously powerful Roy Cohn. Roy very much wants Joe to move to Washington D.C. to take a position in the Justice Department, where he can be Roy’s man on the inside, helping Roy combat a committee that wants to disbar him.

Roy is also fighting, more privately, an AIDS diagnosis. When we last see him, he and Joe have a fight that turns physical when Joe refuses to go to Washington, and Roy confesses that he engaged in unethical behavior to make sure convicted spy Ethel Rosenberg got the death penalty. After Joe leaves, Roy collapses in pain, and Ethel herself appears, telling him ”The shit’s about to hit the fan, Roy. Millennium approaches.” Ethel calls 911 for Roy, and an ambulance is dispatched to take him to St. Vincent’s Hospital.

Harper Pitt is married to Joe. She is agoraphobic and stays in their Brooklyn apartment all day, taking Valium and talking to imaginary people. One of these people is Mr. Lies, a travel agent who tempts her with a vacation to Antarctica. During one Valium-induced hallucination, she and Prior meet, bewilderingly. Harper intuits that Prior is very sick, and Prior has a similar intuition that her “husband’s a homo.” After Joe comes out to her, she calls to Mr. Lies in anguish, who offers to take her away. They vanish together.

Hannah Pitt is Joe’s mother. After Joe calls her, drunk, in the middle of the night and comes out to her, Hannah immediately sells her house and flies to New York. Joe fails to meet her at the airport, so she sets out on her own, accidentally ending up in the Bronx before getting directions from a homeless woman to the Mormon Visitors’ Center.

Millennium Approaches ends in turmoil, all of its characters on the brink of some cataclysmic change. The action of Angels in America: Perestroika picks up immediately after Angels in America: Millennium Approaches.

Now, stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of…

Angels in America.