The A.R.T. Brings Mamet's ROMANCE To The MA Stage, Opens 5/9

If you think you know David Mamet, think again. This famously terse playwright is a master of biting comedy. The A.R.T. - producer of the world premieres of Mamet's Oleanna, Cryptogram, The Old Neighborhood, and Boston Marriage - is pleased to present Mamet's wildest and most politically incorrect farce - Romance. The production opens Sex, Satire, Romance, and Ducks - a celebration of comic work spanning Mamet's career that also includes Seriously Funny - short plays by David Mamet, Harold Pinter, and Shel Silverstein, directed by Jim Frangione; and the double bill Sexual Perversity in Chicago, directed by Paul Stacey partnered with Duck Variations, directed by Marcus Stern.

Lawyers and judges, Jews and Christians, homosexuals and chiropractors - no one gets off easy in Mamet's madcap skewering of the American legal system. As a Mideast Peace Conference convenes nearby, an ambiguous court case is persistently interrupted by domestic squabbles, ethnic slur-slinging, and a hallucinating judge. The esteemed, noble practice of Law degenerates into sheer comic chaos as Mamet ponders the most fundamental human question: Why can't we all just get along?

The A.R.T. Acting Company includes:

• Remo Airaldi (fifty-nine productions at the A.R.T., including Endgame, The Seagull, and No Exit) as the Defendant;

•Thomas Derrah (one hundred and fifteen productions at the A.R.T., including Endgame, The Seagull, Julius Caesar, Highway Ulysses) as the Prosecutor;

•Will LeBow (fifty-six productions at the A.R.T., including Endgame, Copenhagen, and The Miser) as the Judge;

• Jim True-Frost (Julius Caesar at the A.R.T., The Rivals, August: Osage County on Broadway, The Wire on HBO) as the Defense Attorney;

• A.R.T. Institute actors Doug Chapman as the Doctor, Carl Foreman as Bernard, and Jim Senti as the Bailiff.

Creative Staff:

• David Mamet is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, director, author, translator, cartoonist, and teacher. His plays include the A.R.T. world premieres of Oleanna, Cryptogram, The Old Neighborhood, and Boston Marriage, all of which went on to Broadway and national tours; Glengarry Glen Ross (Pulitzer Prize), American Buffalo (Obie Award, Drama Critics Circle Award), Speed-the-Plow, Edmond, and A Life in the Theater. His films include The Winslow Boy, The Verdict, The Untouchables, House of Games, The Spanish Prisoner, and Homicide, among many others.

• Director Scott Zigler is a longtime collaborator of Mamet, a founding member of Atlantic Theater Company and its past Artistic Director. His A.R.T. credits include Copenhagen, The Cripple of Inishmaan and The Old Neighborhood (at A.R.T. and on Broadway), as well as numerous Mamet works nationwide. He is the Director of the A.R.T. Institute.

• Set Design is by J. Michael Griggs (No Child, No Man's Land, Boston Marriage, among others at A.R.T., many Boston area productions).

• Costume design is by Miranda Hoffman, (Well on Broadway, productions in New York and nationwide).

• Lighting Design is by D.M. Wood (Romeo and Juliet at A.R.T. numerous opera and theater productions nationwide and in Europe).

• Sound Design is by David Remedios (forty seven productions at the A.R.T., numerous regional and local productions).

The performance schedule of Romance is as follows:

May 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30 June 5, 6 at 8:00pm; May 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 31, June 2, 3, 4 at 7:30pm; May 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31, June 6 at 2:00pm. Special performances include Under 35 Night on Thursday, May 14 with a post-show reception, and Out at A.R.T. for the GLBT community on Friday, May 22, with post-show reception.

Following the run of Romance the A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theater Training will present its production of Seriously Funny (directed by Jim Frangione) May 29 - June 6 at Zero Arrow Theater; and the double bill Sexual Perversity in Chicago (directed by Paul Stacey) and Duck Variations (directed by Marcus Stern), June 11 - 28 at the Loeb Drama Center, presented jointly by the A.R.T. and the A.R.T. Institute.

To learn more about these productions, the A.R.T.'s summer plans and upcoming season, log onto the A.R.T. website at www.americanrepertorytheater.org or call the A.R.T. InfoLine at (617) 547-8300. The InfoLine is also available 24 hours a day to provide directions to the theater; to order brochures, calendars, and newsletters; and to allow direct access to the A.R.T. Box Office (hours are noon to curtain time on performance days, noon to 5 pm on non-performance days, closed on Mondays).

The AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER (A.R.T.) is one of the country's most celebrated resident theaters and the winner of numerous awards - including the Tony Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and numerous local Elliot Norton and I.R.N.E. Awards; it was recently named one of the top three theaters in the country by Time magazine. Over its twenty-eight-year history the A.R.T. has welcomed major American and international theater artists whose singular visions generate and define the theater's work, presenting a varied repertoire that includes new plays, progressive productions of classical texts, and collaborations between artists from many disciplines. The Company has performed throughout the country, and worldwide in twenty-one cities in sixteen countries on four continents. A.R.T. Artistic Director, Diane Paulus recently unveiled her plans for the 2009-10 Season, the Company's 30th in Cambridge.

The A.R.T., located at the Loeb Drama Center at 64 Brattle Street, and at the Zero Arrow Theater at the corner of Arrow Street and Massachusetts Avenue, Harvard Square, Cambridge, are accessible to persons with special needs and to those requiring wheelchair seating or first-floor restrooms. Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons can also reach the Theater by calling the toll-free N.E. Telephone Relay Center at 1-800-439-2370.

Public transportation and discount parking are available nearby.

Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Harvard Square.

TICKETS: $25-79
Students: $25 Student rush: $15
Seniors: $10 off ticket price
HOT DATE: $25 tickets available at these performances.

Tickets may be charged to American Express, Visa, or MasterCard.

Group discounts are available.

Box Office Phone and A.R.T. InfoLine: (617) 547-8300 www.americanrepertorytheater.org

Web address: www.americanrepertorytheater.org

 

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