Thursday, June 10, 2010
New Harmony Theatre staged readings series opens June 16
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According to Amy Estes, managing director, New Harmony Theatre has developed a loyal following for the staged readings, which feature New York and local actors performing in the company's mainstage offerings. Estes said, "Audiences enjoy the intimacy of the staged reading format, which removes all production elements and allows us to focus completely on the actors bringing the text to life." The Lady from the Sea will be directed by Daniel Harray, a New York-based actor playing the role of Joseph Surface in New Harmony Theatre's current mainstage production of The School for Scandal. In The Lady from the Sea, Ellida, the grown daughter of a lighthouse keeper, longs to return to the sea. Lenny Leibowitz, New Harmony Theatre's artistic director, explained that she is "filled with an unquenchable longing for lost love that is as deep and unfathomable as the sea itself." One of Ibsen's greatest modern translators, Rolf Fjelde, said, "To interpret [his]]]] plays is to rediscover life," and the actress who originated the role of Ellida called Ibsen "A genius who tells us the truth about ourselves and points to paths ahead." According to Leibowitz, "A century later, Ibsen's work feels completely fresh." Other plays in the staged readings series include: June 23 at 7:30 p.m. - The Dybbuk, by S. Ansky, a seminal work of Jewish theatre that recounts the fable of a young woman possessed by a dybbuk, "a spirit caught between two worlds", on the eve of her wedding. July 13 at 7:30 p.m. - Barefoot in the Park, a romantic comedy by Neil Simon, directed by Evansville native and New York-based director Laura Savia. August 8 at 7:30 p.m. - Before the Rain, a new gospel- and jazz-infused musical set in an African American community in the 1930s, written by Lenny Leibowitz, Robert Blackwell, and Dianna Russell, and directed by Jasmine Ruckriegel. All readings take place at the Mallette Studio Theatre in the Liberal Arts Center at USI. Tickets are $10. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the box office at 812/682-3115 or toll free at 1-877-NHT-SHOW (648-7469), or visit the theatre's web site at www.newharmonytheatre.com. |
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