Santa Monica Tennis Court To Host BIMBO TENNIS: THE PLAY Chekhov Adaptation
Six highly-trained theater actors with clown and commedia dell'arte sensibilities perform in this very physical, slapstick yet highbrow comedy.
By: A.A. Cristi May. 20, 2024
Reed Park Tennis Court, the former home of Santa Monica Shakespeare, is hosting a four-night premiere of Bimbo Tennis: The Play, a new comedic adaptation of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, written by Emma Gardner.
Inspired by the nationwide battles between tennis players and their pickleball-playing neighbors over the use of public recreation space, Bimbo Tennis: The Play, presents an epic showdown between the Cherries Valley tennis players (known as the Bimbos), who find themselves under threat from Big Dickball - the official workplace sport at the Andreessen Company, which promises to solve the age's malaise by suppressing emotion and sexual desire.
Cleavages are political as well as recreational. Opposed to the capitalist Dickballers are the socialist Bimbos, who represent a world of color, play, mess, and queerness. Bolstered by their Marxist "makeup manifesto", the socialist Bimbos will protest to defend the very last tennis court in the world from the ominous specter haunting the United States ... the scourge of Dickball.
Audience members are invited to sit courtside for this intimate, interactive play in which their sartorial choices determine which side of the protest they are on. Aesthetic is ideology.
"This is the political battle of our times," says Gardner. "This fight is happening in every neighborhood across the country, and it represents something much larger: the tension between complacency and action. I figured I'd add some levity to it."
Six highly-trained theater actors with clown and commedia dell'arte sensibilities perform in this very physical, slapstick yet highbrow comedy.
Xavier Lewis stars as Andreessen Marcus, an emotionally disregulated nepo-baby. Sheil Choksi plays Duncan Duncan, the ball boy or "Ball-ed Individual" of the court, whose housing is under threat.
Opposing Andreessen and his Duncan are the Bimbos: Sasha Buravsky as Katya Elizana, Caroline Stella as Velvet Winters, and Chas Conacher as Pepper Mills. Sophie Thomason rounds out the cast as impartial yet romantically conflicted Grouper Maxwell, the Mayor of Cherries Valley.
The creative team includes Abby Guerra as Producer and Samantha Duncan as Production Designer. Director Madeleine Woolner grew up performing Shakespeare at the Miles Memorial Playhouse, a small theater located at Reed Park.
About the Playwright:
Emma Gardner attended Santa Monica High School and the University of Chicago. She grew up playing tennis at Reed Park and watching Shakespeare on Court 1. Her previous play, Tourrorists: A January 6 Comedy, had a sold-out run in the Hollywood Fringe Festival and won the Encore Award.
Tickets
Bimbo Tennis: The Play opens on Thursday, May 23 at 7:30pm, with performances thereafter on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through May 26. Tickets range from $15-50. (Patrons are invited to attend a pre-show beginning at 6:30pm, which will include high-level tennis matches and clown comedy performances.) The Christine Emerson Reed Park Tennis Courts are located at 1133 7th St, Santa Monica, CA 90403.
Tickets and additional information can be found on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bimbo-tennis-the-play-tickets-897603053897?aff=oddtdtcreator.
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