Act French Festival Plays Come to 59E59 Theatres in November
By: BWW News Desk Oct. 13, 2005
"We are thrilled to welcome Act French to 59E59 Theaters for the month of November," said Artistic Director Elysabeth Kleinhans. "We have a terrific mix of contemporary French plays, offering some of the most vibrant cutting-edge theater from small avant-garde spaces in Paris to the more established Théâtre de l'Atelier."
From Wednesday, October 27th through Sunday, November 13th, Gerard Bagardie's Take No Survivors will be presented in a production directed by Elysabeth Kleinhans. "Two ruthless, ambitious and ideological women spar for the fate of Europe on the eve of a Civil War, in this fast-paced, provocative and futuristic new play," according to press notes. It will be performed in English on Wednesday through Friday at 8:30 PM, Saturday at 2:30 and 8:30 PM, and Sunday at 3:30 PM (no 2:30 performance on Oct. 29).
Olivier Cadiot's Colonel Zoo will run on Wednesday, November 3rd and Thursday, November 4th; the show will be directed by Ludovic Lagarde in a translation by Cole Swensen (French with English titles). "Banished to the basement, a zealous servant attempts to improve his service. A hilarious 'how-to' course in domestic servitude." It will be presented on Wednesday, November 2nd and Thursday, November 3rd at 8 PM
Fairy Queen, another play by Cadiot and translated by Swenson will be directed by Ludovic Lagarde. "Lunch with Gertrude Stein? It's an avant-garde poet's dream. Sporting
a tight mini-skirt, poet Fairy runs head-on into the domestic circus of the Stein household." Presented in English and French, it will run Friday, November 4th at 8 PM and Saturday, November 5th at 3 PM and 8 PM.
Cadiot's A.W.O.L., based on his Colonel Zoo, will run from Tuesday, November 8th through Sunday, November 27th; Marion Schoevaert will direct. Swensen is again the translator. "Based on Olivier Cadiot's funny and refreshingly un-ironic novel Colonel Zoo (Le Colonel des Zouaves), A.W.O.L. begins on the streets of downtown NYC as a man begins his transformation from homeless to manservant to spy to colonel to American hero." The show will be performed in English on Tuesday through Saturday at 8 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM.
Hilda by Marie Ndiaye, directed by Carey Perloff and translated by Erika Rundle, will be performed in English from Friday, November 11th through Sunday, December 11th. The show is "a haunting story of an upper-class woman's consuming obsession with the woman she hires to care for her children." It will run on Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday through Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 and 8 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM (no 3 PM performance on Nov. 13th but an added performance at 7 PM).
Marie Ndiaye: Public Readings will be directed by Liesl Tommy and translated by Erika Rundle. The show will be performed on Wednesday, November 16 at 7 PM. "This evening will feature readings from two of Ms. Ndiaye's works – actors reading scenes from the 2003 play Papa Doit Manger (Father Must Eat), and Ms. Ndiaye reading from her prize-winning novel Rosie Carpe in French, followed by a reading of the same excerpt in the English translation by Tamsin Black." It will be in French and English.
Adramelech's Monologue by Valerie Novarina, with Hilario Saavedra, will run from Friday, November 18th through Sunday, November 20th on Friday and Saturday at. 8:30 PM and Sunday at 3:30 PM. "In this one-man tour de force, Adramelech tells of wars he lived through, of his childhood, his passions, and his numerous crimes." It will be performed in English.
Ticket prices range from $15 - $45 ($10.50 – $32.50 for 59E59 members). Tickets to the Act French events at 59E59 Theaters are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com. For more information, visit www.59E59.org.
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