Rubicon Theatre Presents Special Performance of MOLLOY for BECKETTFEST Today

For one performance only, Rubicon Theatre Company presents Molloy by Samuel Beckett.

Those who attended Rubicon Theatre Company's WEST COAST BECKETTFEST on the eve of the Beckett Centennial remember the extraordinary work of renowned Irish actor Conor Lovett. He returns to Ventura again as Rubicon presents a special one-day-only matinee performance of Gare St Lazare Ireland's production of MOLLOY, part of The Beckett Trilogy, today, June 8 at 2:00 p.m.

Many experts consider the three novels which make up the trilogy the core of Beckett's achievement as a prose writer. They are written as first-person narratives so they lend themselves to performance. Molloy carries all of Beckett's celebrated signature effects - rhetorical shapeliness, scabrous wit, poetic lyricism, shocking crudity and piercing insight. Conor Lovett, under the direction of Judy Hegarty Lovett, captures the essence of Beckett's voice.

The character of Molloy is a bedridden vagrant and one of Beckett's most poignant figures. The story recounts his rather tumultuous attempt to visit his mother. Actor Conor Lovett was just nominated for an Obie in New York for his performance in the critically acclaimed production of TITLE AND DEED by Will Eno at Signature Theatre. He trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris and has been with Gare St Lazare Players since 1991. He has performed in The Homecoming, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Bouncers, Waiting for Godot, Marie and Bruce, The Possibilities, The Dumb Waiter and The Three Legged Fool. At Rubicon, Lovett premiered A Piece of the Monologue by Beckett, played Lucky in Waiting for Godot (both under the direction of Walter Asmus), and played the title role in The Good Thief by Conor McPherson. Conor first performed Molloy at Battersea Arts Centre London in 1996 and has since presented the work in over 100 venues. He has performed with Dublin's Gate Theatre in their Beckett Festival and in their signature production of Waiting for Godot directed by Walter Asmus which toured to China. Other Beckett roles include Lucky and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, Hamm in Endgame, Bem in What Where, The Man in Act Without Words 1, B in Rough for Theatre 1 and B in Act Without Words 2. On film, Lovett has appeared in "Moll Flanders" directed by Pen Densham, "Intermission" directed by John Crowley, and "Shut Eye" directed by Jon Tompkins. On television, Conor has appeared in the 3rd series of "Father Ted."

Judy Hegarty Lovett has a degree in Performance Art/Mixed Media from The Crawfrord College of Art & Design in Cork and a post graduate diploma in Dramatherapy from the University of Hertfordshire (UK). As an undergraduate in Cork, she worked as a photographer and set designer with a number of Cork theatre companies. In 1991, she joined Gare St Lazare Players as an assistant to Artistic Director BOB MEYER. She has directed Bouncers by John Godber, The Possibilities by Howard Barker, The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter, and most recently Swallow by Michael Harding. Her Beckett directing credits include Waiting for Godot and Rockaby, as well as the recitals of Access All Beckett. Judy and Conor were asked by RTE Radio to produce the 7 radio plays that Samuel Beckett wrote for broadcast during the 2006 Centenary of the writer's birth.

Molloy is presented in honor of Micheline Sakharoff's 90th birthday by Jan and Hal Wasserman, Ventura College Foundation (Norbert Tan and Diana Dunbar), and Culture Ireland. The performance will be held at Rubicon Theatre today, June 8 at 2:00 p.m. Admission is free to Rubicon Subscribers, although advance reservations are strongly recommended. General Admission tickets are $25 for non-subscribers.

Tickets for Molloy may be purchased in person through the Rubicon Theatre Box Office, located at 1006 E. Main Street (Laurel entrance). To charge by phone, call (805) 667-2900 or visit Rubicon online at www.rubicontheatre.org. Twenty-four-hour-a-day ticketing is available online, thanks to a grant from the Irvine Foundation Regional Arts Initiative.

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