(PRWEB) August 3, 2002
AUGUST 1, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Peter Canavese
pcanavese@renegadetheatre.com
RENEGADE THEATRE EXPERIMENT PRESENTS
HEAR ME ROAR: women?s images of self
WHAT: Hear Me Roar: women?s images of self, featuring ?Chocolate Cake? by Mary Gallagher, ?Inner Struggle? (choreographed by Evangeline Maynard) and ?The Most Massive Woman Wins? by Madeleine George. Two one-act plays and an original dance piece on the theme of women?s body image and self-worth in American culture. Aug. 23rd and 29th performances will be followed by a talkback with directors, cast, and community leaders (including San Jose State professor Robin Lasser and U.C. Davis professor Kathryn Sylva). A display of photography from Ms. Lasser?s and Ms. Sylva?s Eating Disorders: Disordered Culture project will be presented in the Fess Parker lobby throughout the run.
WHO: Renegade Theatre Experiment. Directors Sean C. Murphy (?Chocolate Cake?) and Elizabeth Thies (?The Most Massive Woman Wins?). Choreographer Evangeline Maynard (?Inner Struggle?). Cast: Sarah Almazol, Iris Benson, Evangeline Maynard, Janine Saunders, Whitney Q. Stebbins, Elizabeth Thies, Katie J. Thies, and Adrianne Wilkinson. San Jose-based company with all-local cast, comprised primarily of SCU alumni. RTE is a California non-profit corporation.
WHY: An appealing blend of comedy, drama, and dance on a theme of evergreen importance for both women and men, presented by a brand-new local company with deep community ties.
WHEN: August 21-24 and Aug. 28-31. 8pm each night.
WHERE: Fess Parker Studio Theatre (Santa Clara University). 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053. General Seating.
HOW (MUCH): Ticket Price: $ 15.00. Tickets available online and at the door. http://www.renegadetheatre.com. (408) 351-4440.
AUGUST 1, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Peter Canavese
pcanavese@renegadetheatre.com
RENEGADE THEATRE EXPERIMENT CONTINUES INAUGURAL SEASON WITH DRAMA, DANCE, ART, AND COMMUNITY
SAN JOSE, CA?August 1, 2002?No rest for the wicked. After a successful run of Wendy McLeod?s Sin, Renegade Theatre Experiment presents the second show of its inaugural season?Hear Me Roar: women?s images of self. Comprised of two one-act plays and an original dance piece, Hear Me Roar celebrates women while looking unflinchingly at a society which threatens their self-worth. "Everyday we are bombarded with images of what sexy and attractive women are supposed to look like,? says artistic director Sean C. Murphy. ?These messages have devastating effects on women's sense of power and self-esteem.? The evening of theatre and dance exploring this issue opens August 21. Hear Me Roar continues to perform August 22-24 and Aug. 28-31 at Santa Clara University?s Fess Parker Studio Theatre.
The first play, Mary Gallagher?s ?Chocolate Cake,? takes two very seemingly different women (one a country girl and one a city slicker) and throws them together in a hotel room during a women?s conference. In fact, both have compulsive over-eating in common, a fact revealed in funny and poignant fashion. ??Chocolate Cake? centers on the struggle for attaining the societal goal of being Barbie and the damaging effects in has on our characters' self esteem,? says Murphy, the play?s director. ?The average woman stands 5'4", has a 36-37" bust, 29-31" waist, 40"-42" hips, is 145 lbs, and wears a dress size of 14, and yet she is told she must look like a Barbie doll. How many women do you know that are 6'0" tall, have a 39" bust, 19" waist, 33" hips, weigh 101 lbs, and wear a size 4?? The play ?Chocolate Cake? was originally produced and commissioned in 1980 by the Actors Theatre of Louisville with Kathy Bates in the cast, and later produced as part of the off-Broadway hit Win/Lose/Draw.
?Chocolate Cake? is followed by ?Inner Struggle,? a premiere dance piece by Evangeline Maynard, a founding member of Renegade Theatre Experiment. Maynard found inspiration in the dramatic pieces and her own observation of modern culture: "'Inner Struggle' deals with the perceived power of the outer beauty glorified by society and each woman's daily struggle to feel sexy, beautiful and strong inside."
The evening concludes with ?The Most Massive Woman Wins,? a powerful and celebrated one-act play by Madeleine George, directed by Elizabeth Thies. Set in the waiting room of a liposuction clinic, the play uses unconventional theatrical technique?emphasizing monologue but including playground chants?to illuminate the forces which shape self-image in women. According to Thies, ?The characters move from memories of struggles and feelings of isolation to a sense of community, support and acceptance--of each other and of themselves.? ?The Most Massive Woman Wins? premiered at the Public Theater in New York City as part of the 1994 Young Playwrights Festival.
The evening?s ensemble cast of actors and dancers includes Thies and Maynard, as well as Sarah Almazol, Iris Benson, Janine Saunders, Whitney Q. Stebbins, Katie J. Thies, and Adrianne Wilkinson. All are local actors.
RTE?s newly christened technical director Jim Gross (lighting designer for Sin) heads up a technical staff including set designer Keith Marshall (Sin), lighting designer Erin Murphy, sound designer Kevin Kelly (Sin), costume/makeup designer Adrianne Wilkinson, and props designer Danielle A. Perata.
Aug. 23rd and 29th performances will be followed by a talkback with directors, cast, and community leaders (including San Jose State professor Robin Lasser and U.C. Davis professor Kathryn Sylva). A display of photography from Ms. Lasser?s and Ms. Sylva?s Eating Disorders: Disordered Culture project will be presented in the Fess Parker lobby throughout the run.
The Renegade Theatre Experiment began in May 2001 as a group of alumni from Santa Clara University joining together to develop as actors. The group practiced monologues in a workshop format for a couple of months, but then collectively decided that--rather than auditioning for local theatre companies?they could be a local theatre company. A core group of committed ?renegades? formed the board of directors, set to work picking shows, finding venues, and planning for an uncertain future. The driving force, Sean C. Murphy, stepped forward as Artistic Director of the company. The rest of the founding board of directors includes Peter Canavese, Kevin Kelly, Keith Marshall, Evangeline Maynard, Whitney Q. Stebbins, and Blythe Thomas.
Renegade?s 2002 inaugural season kicked off in June with Sin, Wendy MacLeod?s modern morality play, which blends comedy and drama in telling the story of a woman who reevaluates her life in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. In October, RTE mounts Stephen Malatratt?s baroque horror thriller The Woman in Black, in which the old-fashioned ghost story gets a spine-tingling, purely theatrical update.
HEAR ME ROAR: women's images of self
???????????? ?featuring:
?Chocolate Cake?
Written by Mary Gallagher
Directed by Sean C. Murphy & Blythe Thomas
Two secret gorgers meet in a hotel room while attending a women's conference. One is a simple, country mouse, married to a mechanic; the other a brassy city dweller whose husband is a wealthy businessman. Inevitably their conversation gets around to their favorite topic--food--but the funnier their exchanges become, the more we are made poignantly aware of the deprivation and disappointments which have led them to compensate with compulsive over-eating.
?Inner Struggle?
Choreographed by Evangeline Maynard
?The Most Massive Woman Wins?
Written by Madeleine George
Directed by Elizabeth L. Thies
Four women of different backgrounds meet in the waiting room of a liposuction clinic. While they wait, they each examine their lives to discover what led them to this moment in the clinic. They explore their feelings and share their experiences through a series of monologues, conversations, and playground chants. They ultimately provide a closer look at the forces involved in shaping a woman's self image with equal parts humor and compassion.
Performs:????21-August-2002, 22-August-2002, 23-August-2002, 24-August-2002, 28-August-2002, 29-August-2002, 30-August-2002, 31-August-2002
All performances begin at 8pm. Talkback follows Aug. 23rd and 29th performances.
Fess Parker Studio Theatre
Santa Clara University
Ticket Price: U.S.$ 15.00
General Seating
Tickets available online and at the door.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mary Gallagher
Mary Gallagher's plays FATHER DREAMS, LITTLE BIRD, CHOCOLATE CAKE, BUDDIES, DOG EAT DOG, LOVE MINUS, HOW TO SAY GOODBYE, DE DONDE? and WINDSHOOK have been published by Dramatists Play Service and produced at such theatres as the American Conservatory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Hartford Stage Company, the Alley Theatre, the Main Street Theatre and the Cincinnati Playhouse; in NYC at the Vineyard Theatre, the American Place Theatre, the Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Women's Project, HOME, the Provincetown Playhouse and the New York Shakespeare Festival; and in many other countries. DE DONDE? was published in AMERICAN THEATRE in 1989. WINDSHOOK was published in NEW PLAYS FROM ACT'S YOUNG CONSERVATORY Vol. I and BEST PLAYS BY WOMEN 1996. Many of Gallagher's short plays are anthologized. She has also published two novels, SPEND IT FOOLISHLY (Atheneum) and QUICKSILVER (Putnam), and stories and non-fiction articles.
Madeleine George
Massachusetts playwright Madeleine George wrote ?The Most Massive Woman Wins? in 1995 when she was just 19.
HISTORY OF RTE
The Renegade Theatre Experiment began in May 2001 as a group of alumni from Santa Clara University joining together to develop as actors. The group practiced monologues in a workshop format for a couple of months, but then collectively decided that--rather than auditioning for local theatre companies?they could be a local theatre company. A core group of committed ?renegades? formed the board of directors, set to work picking shows, finding venues, and planning for an uncertain future. The driving force, Sean C. Murphy, stepped forward as Artistic Director of the company. Now a California non-profit corporation, RTE expects 501(C)3 status before the end of the 2002 calendar year.
RTE presented The Ives-ing on the Cake: An Evening of One-Acts by David Ives, on three evenings in August 2001. The warmly received show?performed in downtown San Jose--consisted of five one-acts by David Ives derived from his collection All in The Timing. After the success of this trial show, RTE committed to bring a three-show season to the San Jose theatre community, beginning in June 2002. Not content to wait, RTE reimagined The Ives-ing on the Cake--with some new cast members, directors, and Ives pieces (including one from Time Flies)?for The Ives of March, presented in the March of 2002 at Santa Clara University?s Fess Parker Theatre.
Renegade?s 2002 inaugural season kicked off in June with Sin, Wendy MacLeod?s modern morality play, which blends comedy and drama in telling the story of a woman who reevaluates her life in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. In August, RTE will present Hear Me Roar: Women?s Images of Self, an evening of two one-acts and an original dance piece by RTE founding member Evangeline Maynard; the one-acts are ?The Most Massive Woman Wins? by Madeleine George?a thought-provoking look at the issues which bring a disparate group of women to the same liposuction clinic?and ?Chocolate Cake? by Mary Gallagher?a poignant and funny tale of two compulsive overeaters. The dance piece is entitled ?Inner Struggle.? Finally, in October, RTE mounts Stephen Malatratt?s baroque horror thriller The Woman in Black, in which the old-fashioned ghost story gets a spine-tingling, purely theatrical update.
As the 2002 season unfolds, Renegade Theatre Experiment is busily laying plans for its 2003 season, to be announced soon. For the latest news, check out http://www.renegadetheatre.com.
?The Most Massive Woman Wins?
Cel??????????.????????????..Whitney Q. Stebbins
Rennie????????????????.????????.Katie J. Thies
Sabine??????????????.???????????.Iris Benson
Carly??????????????????.............Adrianne Wilkinson
Understudies: Evangeline Maynard (Sabine, Carly); Danielle A. Perata (Cel, Rennie)
?Inner Struggle?
Dancers??????.?????Sarah Almazol, Evangeline Maynard,
Whitney Q. Stebbins, Elizabeth Thies, and Katie J. Thies
?Chocolate Cake?
Delia????????????.????????????..Sarah Almazol
Annemarie??????????????????.??..Janine Saunders
Artistic Director?????????????????.... Sean C. Murphy
Managing Director ??????????????.Whitney Q. Stebbins
Technical Director ????????????????????.Jim Gross
Director (?The Most Massive Woman Wins?)????Elizabeth Thies
Choreographer (?Inner Struggle?)??????.Evangeline Maynard
Director (?Chocolate Cake?)????????????Sean C. Murphy????
Assistant Director (?Chocolate Cake?)???????Blythe Thomas
Production Manager????.????????????Sean C. Murphy
Stage Manager???..???????????????. Blythe Thomas
Publicity Manager?????????????????..Peter Canavese
Scenic Design???????.?.??????????.Keith C. Marshall
Sound Design?????...??????..???.????..?.Kevin Kelly
Light Design??????.????????????????Erin Murphy
Properties Design?????????????????..Danielle Perata
Costume Design??.?????.Adrianne Wilkinson, Jean McCarron
Makeup Design??.????????????..?..Adrianne Wilkinson
More
Barbie Dress Up Press Releases
