Theatre on Fire and the Charlestown Working Theater to Present ALMOST AN EVENING

Theatre on Fire opens its sixth season at the Charlestown Working Theater with Ethan Coen's ALMOST AN EVENING, October 8 - 23, 2010.

The evening in question consists of three light plays on weighty topics. In Waiting, a dead man waits, waits, waits...then waits some more to grab the shuttle to Heaven; in Four Benches, a British secret agent visits steam baths and park benches on a less-than-successful journey to reinvent himself; and in Debate, cosmic and not-so-cosmic questions are raised. Little is learned. ALMOST AN EVENING was first performed in a limited run at Atlantic Theatre Company's Stage 2 in New York City on January 22, 2008, before transferring Off-Broadway to The Theatres at 45 Bleecker Street. The original cast featured F. Murray Abraham, Joey Slotnick, and Mark-Linn Baker, among others.

Ethan Coen is an iconic filmmaker who is responsible, along with his brother Joel, for such films as BLOOD SIMPLE, RAISING ARIZONA, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, FARGO, O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?, and the recent multiple Academy Award winner NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Together the brothers have been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning four times: Best Screenplay (twice), Best Director and Best Picture. They have also received countless other awards and nominations, including BAFTAs, Golden Globes, London Critics Circle Awards, and Writers Guild of America Awards. ALMOST AN EVENING marks Ethan Coen's first foray into the theatre. "I love the humor in ALMOST AN EVENING," says Artistic Director Darren Evans. "It's very dry and doesn't try too hard - there are no forced punchlines or too-obvious laugh lines. It's classic humor."He continues: "It's a perfect play for Theatre on Fire because it has a film-like intimacy. In film, of course, you can have close shots that really allow an audience member to get inside a character's head, see the gears turning. That's much harder in most theatres, but it's what we specialize in: getting the audience up close and personal with the action."

"I want to produce shows that are what I call 'actor-driven,' which means that the focus is on the quality of the acting, not on special effects or big musical numbers or elaborate sets and lights. ALMOST AN EVENING fits the bill perfectly - come to this show and you will see a range of amazing, subtle moments to big, bombastic characters, and you can appreciate it all because you're not three miles away in some upper balcony."

ALMOST AN EVENING features a cast of Theatre on Fire all-stars including Kate Donnelly, Lisa Caron Driscoll, Jeff Gill, Craig Houk, Marc Harpin, and Phil Thompson, along with TOF newcomers Bryan Daley, Bill Doscher, and Jorge Martinez.

The design team features Eric Jacobsen (Lighting Design) and Luke Sutherland (Scenic Design), both returning from TOF's Spring success ACT A LADY, along with Darren Evans (Sound Design).

Theatre on Fire is small theatre company dedicated to producing hot, high-quality shows that take you out of your comfort zone. We don't do cute and we don't do boring. TOF has been nominated for nine IRNE awards in its first five seasons, winning once for 2009's "Bash." Now in its sixth season, Theatre on Fire is proud to be a Resident Company at the Charlestown Working Theater (CWT). Darren Evans explains: "CWT has given us a wonderful opportunity to grow and thrive. It's a great organization, a funky facility, and a truly welcoming environment."

TOF is also a member of the Small Theatre Alliance of Boston.The Charlestown Working Theater was founded on the idea that a theater and a community can engage in a dialogue which results in creative, artistic expression, an exciting exchange of ideas, and a deeper understanding of the people who make up the community. CWT has maintained this philosophy throughout its history and has remained dedicated to serving the cultural needs of Charlestown and greater Boston. CWT's Resident Artists Program was established in 1997 to create the opportunity and environment for area theatre artists to develop, rehearse, and perform creative theatre productions, teach workshops, and engage with our community.

Today, the Resident Artists Program features the work of local, national, and interNational Theatre companies and artists. For more information on ALMOST AN EVENING or Theatre on Fire, please visit www.theatreonfire.org

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