Born and abandoned in the bathroom of a fast food restaurant, Bob travels across America determined to become a "great" man. The Echo Theater Company presents the Los Angeles premiere of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's hilarious, award-winning comedy, BOB: A Life in Five Acts. Echo artistic director Chris Fieldshelms the limited 4-week run, June 8 through June 30 at Atwater Village Theatre.
BOB is a furiously funny, madcap epic that explores the American mythology of happiness and success. Born on Valentine's Day in the bathroom of a White Castle in Kentucky, Bob is left to fend for himself by his birth mother, Helen. Determined to make his mark in the world, armed with nothing but an unfailing optimism, Bob takes off on a sweeping cross-country journey. Along the way, he encounters inspiring generosity, crushing hardships, blissful happiness, stunning coincidences, wrong turns, lucky breaks, true love and heartbreaking loss. Will Bob's real life ever be able to live up to his dream?
Originally commissioned by
South Coast Repertory, BOB received the 2010 Barrie and Bernice Stavis Award from
The National Theatre Conference. It premiered at the Humana Festival for New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville in March 2011. According to Nachtrieb,BOB is "a social satire that roasts the American dream, and celebrates its detritus."
"Bob is fast, ribald and plays like a house afire, while at the same time being very Zen," says Fields. "Bob goes on this incredible trek in his quest to become a 'great' man, to create his legacy. He suffers all this heartbreak and pain, but in the end all he has to do is look in the mirror. We are all 'great.' We just don't always know it."
In an American Theatre magazine profile of the playwright, Margot Melcon wrote, "Nachtrieb connects disconnected moments and knits them together into hilarious life... he is turning out a stream of bright, focused, bitingly witty and deeply human new plays for the American stage... [BOB] surprises with the absolute certainty of its direction, even when it appears to be leading the audience down a serious rabbit hole."
Jeff Galfer (NY theater credits include Book: The Third; The Squirrel; Midnight) takes on the title role for the Echo Theater Company. The remaining 30-plus speaking parts are all played by four actors. For the Echo production, eight ensemble members have been double-cast, with two actors alternating in each set of multiple roles: Ahmed Best (Stomp on Broadway; Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars Episode One, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith), Alana Dietze (Echo productions of God's Ear; Everything Will Be Different, for which she was Ovation nominated for Best Lead Female Performance; and Echo One Acts of 2006 and 2009), Hutchi Hancock (The Conquest of The South Pole at the Elephant Theater; Amy Randal in Tape by
Stephen Belber), Michael McColl (Circle X productions of Fathers and Sons; American Book of the Dead -the Game Show; Flu Season), Tara Karsian(Echo associate artistic director; four years on ER as social worker Liz Dade), Rich Liccardo (Three Musketeers; Charlie's Aunt; Cult Following and more for the Denver Center Theatre); Jud V. Williford (Phileas Fogg in ICT's Around the World in 80 Days; Twelve Angry Men directed by
Frank Galati; three years at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco) and Jacqueline Wright (LA Weekly awards for her recent performances as JonBenet Ramsey inHouse of Gold and Clytemnestra in Clyt at Home).
Scenic design for Bob is by Angel Herrera; lighting design is by Matt Richter; sound design is by
Drew Dalzell; and costume design is by Kathryn Poppen. Julie
Ann Harris is production stage manager, and Lauren Bass and
Chris Fields produce for The Echo Theater Company.
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is a San Francisco-based playwright whose works include boom (TCG's most-produced play 2009-10), T.I.C. ("Trenchcoat In Common"), Hunter Gatherers (2007 ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award, 2007
Will Glickman Prize), Colorado and Multiplex. His work has been seen Off-Broadway and at theaters across the country including at
Ars Nova, SPF, Woolly Mammoth Theatre,
Seattle Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Public Theatre, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep, Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theatre, Dad's Garage, and in the Bay Area at Encore Theatre, Killing My Lobster, Marin Theatre Company, Impact Theatre and The Bay Area Playwrights Festival. He is under commission from
South Coast Repertory and
American Conservatory Theater, and is a Resident Playwright at the Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco. He holds a degree in Theater and Biology from Brown and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. He is currently working on a new commission, The Totalitarians, for
New Dramatists Full Stage USA Initiative.
Chris Fields most recently directed Echo's critically acclaimed production of A Family Thing by Gary Lennon ("GO!... savvy direction" - LA Weekly). Other directing credits include the world premiere of
Kate Robin's What They Have at
South Coast Repertory, the Ovation-nominated Los Angeles premiere of
Jessica Goldberg's Body Politic,
Kate Robin's Anon,
Sarah Ruhl's Melancholy Play, the world premiere of Paul Zimmerman's Pigs and Bugs, and the world premiere of Eat Me by Jacqueline Wright, which was nominated for six LA Weekly Awards including Best Director. He produced the Echo production of Bryan Davidson's War Music at the Los Angeles Theater Center, which won three Ovation Awards, including Best Premiere Play and Best Ensemble, before transferring to the
Geffen Playhouse-a first for a 99 seat theater production. His work in film includes his adaptation of
Neal Bell's Out the Window, which he produced and directed, and his recent short Sunnyslope, which was awarded Best New York Film at the New York Film and Video Festival and nominated for Best in Fest at the Great Lakes Film Festival. Chris founded and was artistic director of the Ojai Playwrights Conference from 1996 to 2000. Under Fields' artistic leadership, The Echo has produced over 30 premieres and is the company that introduced Los Angeles to playwrights
David Lindsay-Abaire,
Adam Rapp and
Sarah Ruhl.
BOB: A Life in Five Acts runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7pm, June 8 through June 30. General admission is $25. Atwater
Village Theatre is located at 3269 Casitas Ave in Los Angeles, Calif. On-site parking is free. For reservations and information, call 877-369-9112 or go to
www.EchoTheaterCompany.com.
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