The Trap Door Theatre Presents They Are Dying Out 2/16-3/24

The Trap Door Theatre presents the midwest premiere of They Are Dying Out.

Written by: Peter Handke
Translated by: Michael Roloff
Directed by: Max Truax
Cast: Malcolm Callan, Casey Chapman, Jeremy Clark, Kevin Cox, Kasey Foster, Alex Levin, Holly Thomas, Sam Quinn

Peter Handke (playwright) is a journalist, translator and highly successful writer of plays and prose. Born Dec. 6, 1942 in Griffen, Austria, Handke studied law before beginning to write seriously. He earned an early reputation as a member of the avant-garde with his plays Publikumsbeschimpfunge (Offending the Audience) (1966), in which actors analyze the nature of theatre and alternately insult the audience and praise its “performance,” and Kaspar (1968). His novels, mostly ultra-objective, deadpan accounts of characters in extreme states of mind, include The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1970) and The Left-Handed Woman (1976). A dominant theme of his works is the deadening effects and underlying irrationality of ordinary language, everyday reality, and rational order. His style is largely influenced by the aesthetics and theory of postmodernism. In line with postmodern tradition, Handke blurs the limitations of literature and genre, freely mixing styles and disappointing conventional expectations of his readers and audience. Handke also worked as translator and for radio and television. Wim Wenders turned one of Handke's screenplays into the legendary film: Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire).

Max Truax (director) is a Resident Director at Trap Door, where he has directed productions of A Couple of Poor, Polish-Speaking Romanians, by Dorota Maslowska, No Darkness Round My Stone, by Fabrice Melquiot, and composer Jonathan Guillen’s original operatic interpretation of Heiner Muller’s Hamletmachine. His production of A Couple of Poor, Polish-Speaking Romanians performed at the Fun Underground Festival in Arad, Romania and at the Bagatela Theatre in Krakow, Poland. Max also directed Trap Door’s staged reading of Matei Visniec’s What Shall We Do With the Cello for the 2010 International Voices Project. Other recent directing credits include Brand (Red Tape Theatre Company), In the Jungle of Cities (Ka Tet Theatre Company), and Woyzeck, Ghost Sonata, The Adventures of Philip Marlowe: The Hairpin Turn, and Termen Vox Machina for Oracle Theatre, where he is serving as Artistic Director. Max studied visual art, performance art, and choreography at Oberlin College and received his MFA in Theatre Directing from California Institute of the Arts.

Set Designer Mike Mroch / Lighting Designer Eric Van Tassell / Costume Designer Tonette Navarro /Sound Designer Jonathan Guillen/ Stage Manager Gary Damico/ Make up Designer Zsofia Otvos / Graphic Designer Michal Janicki/

When: Opens: Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 8PM
Closes: Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 8PM
Runs: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8PM
Admission: $20, with two for one admission on Thursdays, $25 on Saturdays
Where: TRAP DOOR THEATRE 1655 West Cortland Ave. Chicago, IL 60622
For Information/Reservations: 773-384-0494 To purchase online www.trapdoortheatre.com

What: Riddled with absurdity and farce, Handke’s They Are Dying Out is an epic meditation on the corporate mindset and how it infects the souls of those who engage it. Business mogul Hermann Quitt knows that it is impossible for him to live up to his own ideal image. This knowledge makes him an amoral monster who humiliates his wife and mistress, breaks agreements and contracts, betrays and ruins his business associates, and leads him to commit the ultimate crime.

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