CRT Presents World Premiere Of ENDOURANCE 6/24-27

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT), the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, continues its Nutmeg Summer Series with the Split Knuckle Theatre Production of Endurance, playing June 24-27 in the Nafe Katter Theatre. The Nutmeg Summer Series also features the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller musical revue Smokey Joe's Café, playing June 24 through July 4, 2010 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre. Tickets are now available for both productions by calling the Jorgensen Box Office at 860-486-4226 or visiting www.crt.uconn.edu.

THE PRODUCTION

CRT presents the World Premiere of the Split Knuckle Theatre Production of Endurance
Written by Nick Ryan in Collaboration with Split Knuckle Theatre
June 24 - 27
Nafe Katter Theatre

Office gymnastics meets daring Antarctic exploration in the unlikely setting of a Hartford insurance office, as masters of movement Split Knuckle Theatre bring the World Premiere of Endurance to Storrs.

Two survival stories collide in this imaginative ensemble piece. In Split Knuckle's inventive and surprising adventure, desks become ship decks and four actors become dozens of characters in a story that spans 95 years and 8000 miles. Trapped in Antarctica with no hope of rescue, the great British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton kept 27 men alive for two years in the most inhospitable climate on earth. Ninety-five years later, in the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression, Hartford insurance man Walter Spivey, struggling to justify his recent promotion and save his employees' jobs, relives Shackleton's story. Can one of the greatest leaders in human history inspire him to conquer the corporate world?

SPLIT KNUCKLE THEATRE

Split Knuckle Theatre is a critically acclaimed company that creates dynamic, physical, visually striking theatre from simple materials. Through imagination, text, and movement, Split Knuckle creates vast landscapes, vivid characters, and epic stories. Its powerful theatre engages the audience and performers in collective acts of imagination. Using the expressive power of the human voice and body, Split Knuckle tells stories confronting the wonders and challenges of life in our world.

Split Knuckle is actively developing innovative theatre and performs, directs, teaches, and leads workshops in the USA, UK, Argentina, and other communities around the globe. Its company members were trained at the London International School of Performing Arts in the methods of Jacques Lecoq. Company members also bring individual experiences from Shakespeare & Company, MFA acting programs around the USA, and many years professionally treading the boards.

Endurance performances will take place in the Nafe Katter Theatre. Evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Matinee performances start at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Single ticket prices for Endurance range from $6 to $13. The Nafe Katter Theatre is located on the campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, and offers air-conditioned comfort and ample free parking. Children must be at least 4 years old to attend CRT productions. Not all productions are suitable for young children; please call 860.486.1629 for more information. CRT's Corporate Sponsors for the Nutmeg Summer Series are Hamilton Sundstrand, Tim Hunter Design and Leyland Alliance. CRT's Community Partners for the Nutmeg Summer Series are Mansfield Community Center, Nathan Hale Inn, UConn Dairy Bar, WHUS 91.7FM and Willimantic Chronicle.

THE CAST

JASON BOHON (Larry, James Hurley, Tomas Orde-Lees), a member of Actors' Equity Association, is a director, actor, and teaching artist living in New York. He is a founding member and Producing Artistic Director of 3 Sticks Theatre Company in Minneapolis and a member of Split Knuckle Theatre Company. He has worked with Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Theater Latte Da, Children's Theatre Company, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. He recently directed An Absolute Turkey at New Players, Uncanny Valley at Arts Nova, and Love Monster at Dixon Place. He holds an MFA from the London International School of Performing Arts and a BFA from the University of Central Missouri.

Andrew Grusetskie (Mark, Frank Worsley, Chippy McNish), a member of Actors' Equity Association, is a founding member of Split Knuckle Theatre and has created and performed in both Endurance and John Steinbeck's The Pearl. An Associate Artist with the New York-based ACTIVE EYE Theater Company, Andrew has appeared in its productions of Hard Lovin' Ever After, Woyzeck and Senjo, and wrote the adaptation of Dojoji, which premiered at the Cleveland Public Theater in 2004. Other New York credits include Billy Budd (Metropolitan Playhouse), Voyage of the Carcass (Stage 13), Corporate Carnival (Women's Project), and Life is a Dream (Edge Theater Company). Regional work includes Around the World in 80 Days (Westport Country Playhouse), The Mousetrap (Olney Theatre), Arabian Nights (CRT), School for Scandal and The Odyssey (McCarter Theatre), Proof, Stones in His Pockets and Rough Crossing (Northern Stage). Andrew is a graduate of Yale and the London International School of Performing Arts.

MICHAEL F. TOOMEY (Walter Spivey, Frank Wild), a member of Actors' Equity Association, is a founding member/trustee of Split Knuckle Theatre and co-creator of Endurance. He has also been a member of the nationally acclaimed Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA since 1998, where he appeared in such roles as Macbeth (title role), Hamlet (Polonius), The Ladies Man (Bassinet), Henry V (Bardolph), Scapin (title role), and Caesar (title role). Michael appeared on PBS' Brush Up Your Shakespeare (Mercutio) and BBC Radio Four's American Heavy (Hank). Michael is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Binghamton University, where he teaches Clown and Stage Violence and recently directed Henry V.

GREG WEBSTER (Ben, Sir Ernest Shackleton), a member of Actors' Equity Association, is a founding member and the Artistic Director of the Split Knuckle Theater Company. He last appeared on the CRT stage as The Common Man in A Man for All Seasons. In an addition to a long career as an actor, he is on faculty as a professor of Movement Theater at UConn. Greg is the primary movement coach and the resident fight choreographer for CRT. He is also a founding member of the Bated Breath Theater Company in Hartford, currently in production at Playhouse on Park. As a performer, choreographer, and teacher, he has worked from Broadway to the West End. Greg holds an MFA in acting and directing from the University of Missouri Kansas City and is a graduate of London International School of Performing Arts, where he was also an instructor. Greg is a certified teacher of Authentic Pilates Method of body conditioning and the Gyrotonic expansion system. He has been a licensed personal trainer for more than ten years, is a former Golden Gloves boxer and holds a black belt in Aikido.

THE CREATIVE TEAM

SETH BLOOM (Performance Development) is a street performer, mask-player, juggler, and mask-maker. His specialty, non-verbal slapstick comedy, has enabled him to perform around the world without a language barrier. He is the rare entertainer who performs in the street, creates critically acclaimed theatre, and develops social circus projects for children and adults in Afghanistan. He is the co-creator of The Acrobuffos, co-founder of Split Knuckle Theatre, and the International Artistic Director for the Mobile Mini Circus for Children, headquartered in Kabul, Afghanistan. This year, he will teach and perform in 13 countries.

NICK RYAN (Playwright) is a founding member and resident playwright of Four Humors Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has written seven shows for the company including Bards, Deviled Eggs and Harold. The Four Humors production Mortem Capiendum was featured in Singled Out: A Festival of Emerging Artists at the Guthrie Theater. He recently collaborated with the New York City based Three Sticks Theater, providing text for their new musical Uncanny Valley at Ars Nova Theater and performing the role of Donkey in the animal glam rock band The Traveling Musicians of Brementown.

Ken Clark (Music Director) has been a lecturer in the UConn Music Department since 1981, and has worked with the UConn Drama Department since 1979. Ken's recent work includes The Who's Tommy, Hair, and Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party, Galileo (CRT); Orphan's Home Cycle, Our Town, and A Christmas Carol (Hartford Stage); The Fantasticks (Windham Theater Guild); and Sweeney Todd (EO Smith High School). In addition to Endurance (CRT), his new projects include All Shook Up for Windham Theater Guild.

 

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