Rogue Machine Presents VIVIEN, 8/12 - 9/4

Stage and television series regular Judith Chapman portrays the fragile and mercurial movie star Vivien Leigh in the Los Angeles premiere of Rick Foster's critically acclaimed one-woman play, Vivien. Produced by The Troubadours of Daytime, Vivien will open as a limited engagement at the award-winning Rogue Machine Theatre. Elina de Santos, Rogue Machine co-artistic director, will direct. Proceeds will benefit Rogue Machine.

Opening in a darkened theatre, the play is an illuminating journey beyond Vivien Leigh's triumphs into the madness that tortured her all of her life, as she reflects on her tumultuous relationship with actor Laurence Olivier and her tragic battles with manic depression and tuberculosis. Leigh expresses her insecurities, despite winning two Oscars for her "Southern Belle" performances in "Gone with the Wind" and "A Streetcar Named Desire."

Other highlights of the play are Leigh's frank, often humorous conversations with the people who touched her most, including friend and confidanteKatharine Hepburn, Winston Churchill, Olivier, co-star and lover Peter Finch and the critic Kenneth Tynan, whose harsh stage reviews haunted the actress throughout her career.

Judith Chapman (Vivien) continues to enjoy a long career on stage, and in television and film. Her current role, as the scheming Gloria Fisher Bardwell on "The Young and the Restless," marks her sixth major daytime drama; she has also appeared in many primetime series and feature filmS. Chapman previously tackled the role of Vivien Leigh in the West Coast premiere of Austin Pendleton's play, Orson's Shadow, at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, for which the Los Angeles Times called her performance as Leigh "uncannily right," and Backstage labeled her "magical." Chapman founded The Troubadours of Daytime in 2007, and has since produced The Trial of the Catonsville 9, Night of the Iguana, andAppearances to the Contrary with her colleagues from the soap opera community. Vivien will mark Judith's third collaboration, and fundraiser production, with Rogue Machine Theatre.

RICK FOSTER (Playwright) is the author and translator of numerous plays, and was honored with a 2001 Director's Award from the California Arts Council for his "Immeasurable Contribution to the Field of Playwriting in California." His translations of Arthur Schnitzler's Reigen and Anton Chekhov's The Seagull have been produced to great acclaim. He translated Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening, which premiered at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in Los Angeles and has since been produced by universities across the country. Previous productions of Vivien have landed Foster much praise, including a letter from Tarquin Olivier, Leigh's stepson, who lauded the playwright's "range of understanding and recreating Vivien." The Bay Area Reporter called the play "a fascinating portrait that rings with veracity," and Capital Public Radio pronounced it a "complex and absorbing character study."

ELINA de SANTOS (Director) is an award-winning director who has been teaching workshops and coaching actors for two decades in Los Angeles, New York and numerous cities throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. Her most recent directing credit is a Critic's Choice production of Arthur Miller's Broken Glass at the Pico Playhouse for the West Coast Jewish Theatre. In 2010, she directed a workshop of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht at Pacific Resident Theatre Co-op and the world premiere of Yard Sale Signs by Jennie Webb at Rogue Machine Theatre. Her other directing credits includeProof by David Auburn, Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Elina received a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for her work on Orpheus Descending.

Performances of VIVIEN are scheduled for 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and at 2pm on Sundays through September 4th (exceptions are Saturday, August 27th at 5pm, Sunday, August 28th at 3pm, and an added show on Monday, August 29th at 8pm. No performance on Friday, August 26th). Rogue Machine Theatre is located at 5041 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. For more information and reservations call: 855-585-5185 or visitwww.roguemachinetheatre.com.

ROGUE MACHINE presents plays that are new to Los Angeles.
Last season the company's staging of Four Places garnered the Ovation Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Award and the Garland Award for Best Production. The cast received two LADCC Awards (Best Lead Performance, Best Ensemble), two Garland Awards (Performance, Ensemble), and three Ovation nominations (two for Best Lead Actress, and Best Supporting Actress). Since 2008 Rogue Machine's over 50 events have included 7 West Coast Premiere (The Word Begins, Wish I Had A Sylvia Plath, Four Places, MilkMilkLemonade, American Dead, Bingo With The Indians, and Half Of Plenty), 3 Los Angeles Premiere (Blackbird, Stop Kiss,and Compleat Female Stage Beauty), 1 American Premiere (Neverland), and5 World Premiere productions which include Small Engine Repair, Yard Sale Signs, Razorback, Shorts & Sweets, and the multi-award winning production of Henry Murray's Treefall (Dramatist Play Services). Last year the company worked extensively with multi-award winner Steven Sater (Tony, Grammy, Drama Desk, Outer Circle, Lucille Lortel awards for Spring Awakening) in developing his play New York Animals. Rogue Machine draws upon the diverse and extensive experience of its collective, while creating high-quality productions by contemporary playwrights who specifically address our culture and time.

John PerriN FLYNN (Producer/Artistic Director) is responsible for bringing the current WORLD PREMIERE hit play Small Engine Repair to Los Angeles. He directed the critically acclaimed Los Angeles premiere of The Sunset Limited, (CRITIC'S CHOICE-LA Times; GO- LA Weekly,CRITIC'S PICK-Backstage, Ovation RECOMMENDED), which played to sold out houses for nearly six months. He directed the multi-award winning World Premiere of Henry Murray's Treefall (now being produced regionally, and published by the Dramatist Play Service in 2010) last season, and the critically acclaimed Los Angeles premiere of Rogue Machine's inaugural production Compleat Female Stage Beauty. John helmed the Craig Lucas' hitSmall Tragedies at The Odyssey Theatre and the world premiere of John Pollono's Lost and Found at The Lounge Theatre. He is Rogue Machine's founding Artistic Director and has been the Executive Producer of all three successful seasons. John was the Executive Producer and director of Lifetime's long running award winning series Strong Medicine, has produced two other series and 14 television movies or miniseries including the Emmy nominatedBurden of Proof. He attended The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and has a MA degree in Theatre from Illinois State University.

CALENDAR LISTING INFORMATION:

Vivien by  Playwright: Rick Foster Directed by: Elina de Santos Produced by: John Perrin Flynn, The Troubadours of Daytime Presented by : ROGUE MACHINE

ROGUE MACHINE (in Theatre Theater) 5041 W. Pico Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90019
(2 blocks West of La Brea)

VIVIEN will be opening Saturday, August 12, 2011 at 8pm and running at 8pm on Fridays, Saturdays, and at 2pm on Sundays through September 4th (exceptions are Saturday, August 27th at 5pm, Sunday, August 28th at 3pm, and an added show on Monday, August 29th at 8pm. No performance Friday, August 26th) through September 4, 2011.

For reservations call: 855-585-5185 or www.roguemachinetheatre.com  Tickets are $40 and up

DESCRIPTION: Stage and television star Judith Chapman portrays the fragile and mercurial movie star Vivien Leigh. The play is an illuminating journey beyond Vivien Leigh's triumphs into the madness that tortured her all of her life, as she reflects on her tumultuous relationship with actor Laurence Olivier and her tragic battles with manic depression and tuberculosis. Leigh also expresses her insecurities, despite winning two Oscars for her "Southern Belle" performances in "Gone with the Wind" and "A Streetcar Named Desire." Often humorous conversations pop up with the people who touched her most, including friend and confidante Katharine Hepburn, Winston Churchill, Olivier, co-star and lover Peter Finch, and critic Kenneth Tynan whose harsh stage reviews haunted the actress throughout her career.

 

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