Producer Ellen Berman (Enchanted April) presents a reading of the new play, Operation Epsilon by Alan Brody (The Housewives of Manheim) with direction by Tony Award-winning director/producer Andy Sandberg (Hair, The Last Smoker in America).
The cast features Tony Award-winner Michael Cerveris (Sweeney Todd, Assassins, In the Next Room), Drama Desk Award-nominee Alexander Gemignani (Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd, Assassins), Michael Izquierdo (New Jerusalem), Drama Desk Award-winner Byron Jennings (The Merchant of Venice, Sight Unseen), Ian Kahn (Enron, Still Life), Greg Keller (Smudge), Jay Klaitz (Lend Me a Tenor, Rock of Ages), Drama Desk Award-winner Lorenzo Pisoni (Equus, Humor Abuse), stage and screen star James Rebhorn (Twelve Angry Men, "Independence Day"), Brian Russell (The Farnsworth Invention), and Kenneth Tigar (Translations). The invitation-only reading is set for Friday afternoon, December 10th.
The play is based on the transcripts from Operation Epsilon at Farm Hall, 1945. The reading is supported in part by a grant from MIT. Casting by Michael Cassara, CSA.
SYNOPSIS:
Operation Epsilon is the true story of ten German nuclear scientists, including two Nobel Prize winning physicists, who were interned at Farm Hall, England, by the British and American authorities just after the fall of Germany in World War II. All the rooms in Farm Hall were under surveillance and all conversations recorded on wax disc. These conversations were later transcribed, translated, and sent to the military authorities in Washington and London. Much of that material appears in this play interwoven with scenes that have been imagined within the documented events.
Alan Brody (Playwright) is Professor of Theater Arts at MIT. For ten years he was Associate Provost for the Arts. His plays have won numerous awards and had productions at such theaters as The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Aspen Playwrights Conference, The Live Oak Theater in Austin, Texas, The Berkshire Theater Festival, and The Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. His play, Invention for Fathers And Sons, was the first winner of the annual Rosenthal Award at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in 1989. It was subsequently produced at the American Jewish Theater in New York City. The Company of Angels was the recipient of the 1990 Eisner Award from the Streisand Center for Jewish Culture in Los Angeles. It had its world premiere at the New Repertory Theater in Massachusetts in the spring of 1993, and has been produced at the T. Schreiber Studio in New York and Theater Emory in Atlanta. Three of his plays, Five Scenes From Life, Greytop in Love and One-on-One were developed at the Missouri Repertory Theater. Greytop in Love was subsequently seen at the Walnut Street Theater, Philadelphia, in 1998 starring Kim Hunter. The dramatic oratorio, Reckoning Time: A Song of Walt Whitman, which he wrote in collaboration with composer Peter Child, had its world premiere at Jordan Hall with the John Oliver Chorale in March of 1995. Mr. Brody is also the author of two novels, Coming To (1973) and Hey Lenny, Hey Jack (1975). The Housewives of Mannheim had its world premiere at the New Jersey Repertory Company in 2009, followed by productions at the Ensemble Theatre Company (Santa Barbara, CA) and 59E59 Theatres (New York, NY) in 2010.
Andy Sandberg (Director) recently directed the world premiere of The Last Smoker in America, by Tony Award nominee Bill Russell (Side Show) and Drama Desk nominee Peter Melnick (Adrift in Macao); New York premiere in spring of 2011. He has been represented on Broadway and London's West End as a producer of HAIR: (2009 Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle Awards). As a director, Andy's other recent credits include R.R.R.E.D. (NYMF), Bernice Bobs Her Mullet (NYMF), Into the Woods (Blue Hill Troupe), "Eli's Comin' to Broadway," a BC/EFA benefit hosted by Nathan Lane (Lincoln Center), and multiple Sing for Hope benefits featuring the talents of Dick Cavett, Michael Cerveris, and Richard Kind, among others. Recent Workshops/Readings: Operation Epsilon, Garbo & Me, and Mother Russia. As producer: Vigil, starring Tony nominees Malcolm Gets and Helen Stenborg; Paradise Found (Menier Chocolate Factory, London; dir. Hal Prince and Susan Stroman); and A Perfect Future, by David Hay (dir. Wilson Milam). In 2007, Andy worked with Hal Prince on the Broadway production of LoveMusik (SDCF Observership). B.A. Yale University, where he has directed over thirty productions. Proud member of the SDC and AEA. He currently sits on the boards of Sing for Hope, The Yale Dramat, and The Whiffenpoof Alumni.
