Antaeus Company Continues ClassicsFest 2010 7/6-8/15

The Antaeus Company, L.A.'s classical theater ensemble, continues ClassicsFest 2010 with an invigorating "summer splash" of actor-initiated workshops, readings, and special events. Audiences can choose from a veritable smorgasbord of the classics between July 6 and August 15 at the company's interim home, Deaf West Theatre in the NoHo Arts District. All readings and workshops are $10.

"ClassicsFest is a way for the members of our ensemble to initiate the projects they're dying to do," explains Antaeus artistic director Jeanie Hackett. "It gives our actors the chance to play some really great roles - and for our audiences to see a lot of different classical plays over a short period of time. It all takes place in a fun setting where anything can happen, because the productions are still in development - and all for a really low ticket price. We've got something going on just about every night of the week and twice daily on weekends. It's like a crash course in the classics."

The series of fully staged works-in-process and "first look" readings starts two weeks after ClassicsFest 2010 opens with King Lear on June 26 and 27. In Lear, Harry Groener and Dakin Matthews will alternate in the title role, heading up two fully-cast ensembles. Between July 6 and August 15, during the evenings and afternoons that Lear is not performing, audiences can return to sample Peace In Our Time by Noël Coward; Les Femmes Savantes by Molière; Puntila and Matti by Bertolt Brecht; The Helen Fragments by Euripides and others; Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry; Arcadia by Tom Stoppard; The Malcontent by John Marston; Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey; The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare; Faith Healer by Brian Friel; and The Capulets and Montagues by Lope De Vega. In addition, there will be a host of late night events, a cabaret, and other special surprise events.

Following the opening of King Lear, ClassicsFest 2010 continues with a series of fully staged works-in-process and "first look" readings between July 6 and August 15. All tickets are $10. Scroll down for a complete schedule; check the website at www.antaeus.org for updates and added events including late night performances and cabarets.The Antaeus Company's interim home is located in Deaf West Theatre, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601 (in the NoHo Arts District). For reservations and information, call (818) 506-1983 or visit online at www.Antaeus.org.

SCHEDULE FOR CLASSICSFEST 2010

JULY 6, 7, 8 & 10:
Peace In Our Time by Noël Coward, directed by Jessica Bard
What if the Nazis had successfully invaded Britain? Coward explores this scenario in his first post-World War II play, in a new adaptation by Barry Creyton. A U.S. Premiere, funded in part by a generous grant from The Noël Coward Foundation. (A fully-staged Work-in-Process)
Tuesday, July 6 @ 8 pm
Wednesday, July 7@ 8 pm
Thursday, July 8 @ 8 pm
Saturday,July 10 @ 3 pm

JULY 13, 14, 15 & 17:
Les Femmes Savantes (The Learned Ladies) by Molière, directed by Robert Goldsby.
Social folly and hypocrisy exposed by Molière's comic genius. Henriette's dreams of love have fallen victim to the pseudo-intellectual pretensions of her social-climbing mother. What's a girl with a body and mind to do? (A fully-staged Work-in-Process)
Tuesday, July 13 @ 8 pm
Wednesday, July 14 @ 8 pm
Thursday, July 15 @ 8 pm

Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey, directed by Allan Miller
It's 1922, and Ireland is racked by internal warfare. One of the greatest prose writers of our time pits loyalties vs. moralities, and thrusts a family into the vortex to see who can survive. ("First Look" reading)
Saturday, July 17 @ 3 pm

JULY 20, 21, 22 & 24:
Puntila and Matti by Bertolt Brecht, directed by John Apicella
Karl Marx meets Groucho Marx in Brecht's comic parable of an ambitious but pragmatic chauffeur's efforts to negotiate the Jekyll-and-Hyde moods of his boss. (A fully-staged Work-in-Process)
Tuesday, July 20 @ 8 pm
Wednesday, July 21 @ 8 pm
Thursday, July 22 @ 8 pm

The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare, directed by Armin Shimerman
The brazen Falstaff suffers a series of humiliations when his scam to simultaneously seduce two wealthy married women goes hideously - and hilariously - awry. ("First Look" reading)
Saturday, July 24 @ 3 pm

JULY 27, 28, 29 & 31:
The Helen Fragments by Euripides/Homer/Ovid/Sappho, directed by Michael Hackett
Did Helen have an impetuous affair with Paris and provoke the Trojan War? Or was she kidnapped by the gods and innocent of all crimes? The face that launched a thousand ships... in antiquity's variety of interpretations. (A fully-staged Work-in-Process)
Tuesday, July 27 @ 8 pm
Wednesday, July 28 @ 8 pm
Thursday, July 29 @ 8 pm

Faith Healer by Brian Friel, directed by Bart DeLorenzo
A transient healer, his wife, and his manager in the aftermath of a catastrophe. Charlatanism vies with truth, artist with con artist. Rashomon-like, all three share their perspectives of a wildly unbelievable event. ("First Look" reading)
Saturday, July 31 @ 3 pm

AUGUST 3, 4, 5 & 7:
Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by Gregg Daniel
A striking tale of an African from England who becomes entwined in conflict and rebellion on the continent. Hansberry's fiercest outcry during the civil rights movement in America, viewed through the struggles in Africa. (A fully-staged Work-in-Process)
Tuesday, August 3 @ 8 pm
Wednesday, August 4 @ 8 pm
Thursday, August 5 @ 8 pm
The Capulets and The Montagues by Lope De Vega, directed by Anne McNaughton
Romeo and Juliet as you've never seen them before. An outrageous take on the classic love story from Spain's greatest playwright (and Shakespeare's contemporary) in a new rhyming verse translation by Dakin Matthews. ("First Look" reading)
Saturday, August 7 @ 3 pm

AUGUST 10 - 15:
Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, directed by Andrew Traister
"It's the wanting to know that makes us matter." Art and science, chaos and order, intellect and passion, high wit and low comedy combust across two centuries in this exhilarating and heartwrenching masterpiece. (A fully-staged Work-in-Process)
Tuesday, August 10 @ 8 pm
Wednesday, August 11 @ 8 pm
Thursday, August 12 @ 8 pm

The Malcontent by John Marston, directed by Elizabeth Swain
A Duke returns disguised to his corrupt court to take revenge with the only weapon he needs - his savage wit. A satiric gem of inventive language, lurid acting and moral ambiguity, by the great rebel genius of Jacobean theater. (A fully-staged Work-in-Process)
Friday, August 13 @ 8 pm
Saturday, August 14 @ 8 pm

The Third Act Project from the plays of Anton Chekhov, directed by Jeanie Hackett
Act III: Chekhov's dark night of the soul. Fires, storms, gunshots, confessions, magic, triumph and loss - in ways equally comic and tragic. A gallery of Uncle Vanya, The Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard and The Seagull. ("First Look" reading)
Saturday, August 14 @ 3 pm

WILD CARD
Sunday, August 15 @ 4 pm

PLUS: Late-night performances, a cabaret, special closing day event, and more! Visit the website at www.antaeus.org for details!

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.