Chautauqua Theater Company Artistic Directors Vivienne Benesch and Ethan McSweeny are proud to announce the final New Play Workshop (NPW) of the 2009 season, The Further Adventures of Suzanne and Monica by Alex Lewin.
In Further Adventures, aging screen star SuzAnne Baxter comes into her trailer to find Monica, her new body double, waiting to stand in for her in more ways than one. A profane riff on Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'avventura" with a whiff of "All About Eve," Further Adventures probes the vagaries of celluloid identity.
Playwright Alex Lewin has had plays developed at Arena Stage, GeVa Theatre Center, MCC Theater, The New Group, Ensemble Studio Theatre, O'Neill Playwrights Conference, Lark Play Development Center, Emigrant Theater (Minneapolis), Bailiwick Repertory Theatre (Chicago), and New York Theatre Workshop, where he is an Artistic Associate. His play, The Near East, will be produced at Arena Stage and Mixed Blood Theatre in the 2010-11 season and was a finalist for the L. Arnold Weissberger Award, Alliance Theatre's Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition and the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival's Quest for Peace Award. In addition to his work with CTC this summer, Mr. Lewin is in residence at New York Theatre Workshop's summer development retreat at Dartmouth College. He is a member of the MCC Playwrights' Coalition and the Dramatists Guild.
"Alex is one of the most exciting young writers in the nation," says McSweeny, "He is about to really burst onto the American theatre scene and we are thrilled to host him here at CTC for a workshop of one of his newest plays."
Now in its fifth season, CTC's New Play Workshop series introduces Chautauqua audiences to important new voices in the theater and to the staged reading as a thrilling theatrical event in its own right. In a uniquely Chautauquan twist, CTC/NPW selects plays that correspond with the Institution's weekly lecture theme. Further Adventures was chosen to complement and reflect the theme of Week Six: "On Cinema." Each performance is followed by a discussion with the playwright, director and cast.
Bringing Mr. Lewin's Hollywood tale to the stage is director Ethan McSweeny. In his fifth summer as artistic director of CTC, he recently helmed The Glass Menagerie. Other CTC credits include lauded productions of Death of a Salesman, The Just, The Cherry Orchard and All My Sons. A nationally known director of new plays, classics and revivals, his 2008-2009 season included major productions at the Guthrie, Center Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre and The Old Globe. His New York direction includes the premieres of 100 Saints You Should Know (Entertainment Weekly and TimeOut Top Ten of 2007) and 1001 (TimeOut Top Ten of 2007), the Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man (Tony Award nomination, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards) and the Off-Broadway premiere of John Logan's Never the Sinner (Outer Critics Circle Award).
Guest artist Carol Halstead returns to the Bratton Stage for her fifth season to play megastar Suzanne. Chautauqua audiences will remember her from last season's box office smash, Reckless, and her hysterical turn playing a collection of psychologists. She most recently appeared as Raymonde Chandebise in A Flea In Her Ear directed by Gary Griffin at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, has performed on Broadway in Gore Vidal's The Best Man, and has numerous Off-Broadway and regional theater credits. Susan Pourfar makes her CTC debut as Suzanne's body double Monica. She recently appeared Off-Broadway in the New York premiere of The Singing Forest at the Public Theater and has performed in theaters across the country including Yale Repertory Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf Theatre and Denver Center Theatre Company.
Completing the cast are members of CTC's Conservatory. Playing biographer and journalist Pepper is Amelia Pedlow (Julliard) who recently appeared as Laura in the The Glass Menagerie. Suzanne's long lost niece is portrayed by Auden Thornton who made her CTC debut as Thomasina in CTC's dazzling opener, Arcadia.
After collaborating on the first NPW of the 2009 season, Rx by Kate Fodor, the Conservatory's design fellows return to once again showcase their respective talents on Further Adventures. Set Design Fellow Catie Hevner is currently pursuing her M.F.A. at NYU's Tish School and has designed for Columbia University and Access Theater in New York. Lighting Design Fellow Annie Wiegand is completing her M.F.A. at Boston University. She was previously a lighting fellow at Hangar Theatre and has designed for Boston Center for the Arts and Boston Playwrights' Theatre. Costume Design Fellow Crystal Gomes is pursing her M.F.A. at Carnegie Mellon University and has designed for New Repertory Theatre, The Nora Theatre Company, and Boston Children's Museum.
Now in its 26th season, the Chautauqua Theater Company is the resident professional theater and Conservatory for the Chautauqua Institution. Internationally known actors, directors, designers and writers join eighteen emerging artists from the nation's top training programs to form a unique company that produces a vibrant summer of work in the historic Bratton Theater.
Patrons seeking further information about The Further Adventures of Suzanne and Monica or other CTC programming are encouraged to visit our website: www.CTCompany.org. The site also provides useful links to information about other events at the Institution. Off-grounds ticket buyers may, at no additional charge, enjoy the Institution grounds from noon until 8 p.m. with a matinee ticket or from 4 p.m. to midnight with an evening ticket.
