Samadahi Entertainment, The Actorhood and The Lounge Theatre thrilled to present THE DREAMER EXAMINES HIS PILLOW with an all star cast of Scottie Thompson (The Blacklist, Graceland and NCIS), Sal Landi (How To Get Away With Murder, Scandal, Independents' Day), Ade M'Cormack (NCIS, Blood Diamond, 24). Mark Blanchard will direct the intense Shanley dramedy opening Aug. 26th at The Lounge Theatre. Tickets: www.plays411.com/dreamer
ABOUT John Patrick Shanley's THE DREAMER EXAMINES HIS PILLOW
A striking, surreal study of the often-bizarre byways that love between men and women can follow. Told in three related scenes, the play uses indirection and richly evocative language to make its unsettling but ultimately illuminating points. The Dreamer Examines His Pillow is a philosophic dream-comedy full of rich symbolism, magical realism, emotional intensity about love, marriage and maturity.
ABOUT THE ORIGINAL NYC PRODUCTION
The first scene of the play is a conversation between two lovers. Tommy and Donna, who broke up some time earlier but who are obviously still attracted to each other. Donna is enraged because Tommy, a would-be artist, is now having an affair with her younger sister, but Tommy, stretched out on his recliner seemingly unmoved by her harangue. In the second scene Donna visits her father, a once successful artist who stopped painting at the death of his wife, whom he had bullied and betrayed despite his professed love for her. Combative and complex but also very funny, the father sits and drinks and eventually gives in to his daughter's demand that he force Tommy to marry her or beat him up. The third scene involves the confrontation, with results that ultimately lead to a sort of tenuous truce. A grudging recognition of the responsibility that love, in its various guises, imposes.
BIOS
SCOTTIE THOMPSON - "Donna"
Scottie Thompson grew up in Richmond, Virginia, where she first fell in love with the stage as a dancer. She danced professionally with the Richmond Ballet before heading to Harvard, where she got a degree in Performance Studies. After graduating, she returned to her first love of performing, and landed her first role recurring on the show Brotherhood on Showtime.
She is thrilled to return to stage for the first time since college, where she performed at the American Repertory Theater in The Oresteia, directed by Mike Donahue, and Balm In Gilead, directed by Scott Zilger, as well as production of Reason directed by O.B.I.E award winner Ping Chong.
On the TV and film front, Scottie recently recurred in the SyFy series 12 Monkeys, and has recurred in other series including The Blacklist, Graceland and NCIS. Her film credits include The Lookalike, Sklyine, Star Trek, and 37: A Final Promise, among others.
Outside of acting, she enjoys being in nature - especially the water, yoga, pilates and writing. And is a big fan of dreaming, and examining that pillow. She is happy that you came out to support local theater here in LA.
SAL LANDI - "Dad"
Mr. Landi was born in New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, is a familiar face with a long list of credits for over 100 Television and film roles, most recently How To Get Away With Murder, Independents' Day, Scandal, Days Of Our Lives, Revenge, American Horror Story, General Hospital, and upcoming projects including A World Away, Mission: S.O.P., Soulmates, Burning Shadow.
ADE M'CORMACK - "Tommy"
A veteran of Stage and Screen, Adetokumboh M'Cormack has been in the international entertainment industry for over 20 years. He is also a graduate of the prestigious Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film at SUNY Purchase College where he studied Acting. His recent stage credits include the role of Pastor Murinzi in the Red Soil Theatre adaptation of Left Tell about the Rwandan Genocide. Other acting credits include leading roles in movies like Columbia Pictures' Blockbuster Battle Los Angeles, Blood Diamond alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, and Captain America: Winter Soldier. He has also starred in hit TV shows such as Lost, Heroes, 24 and NCIS. M'Cormack is also a Director having recently directed and produced Me + 1 starring Straight Outta Compton's Neil Brown Jr and NCIS star Scottie Thompson. He also directed the powerful short film "Irish Goodbye" about a Syrian refugee who escapes persecution to live in the United States.
Mark Blanchard - (Director, Producer)
Mark's interest in directing began at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NY. He moved on to a prestigious film directing program at Hofstra University (where he also played football and baseball), USC Film School and AFI. In NYC he directed productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream (Long Island Shakespeare Festival), Middle of the Night (Uta Hagen's and Herbert Bergdoff's HB Studios), The Rimers of Eldrich, Waiting for Lefty and Buried Child. In Los Angeles Mark directed the West Coast premiere of Arthur Miller's, Memory of Two Mondays, for which he won the Dramalogue Award as well as an L.A. Drama Desk nomination. Blanchard took home Dramalogue and Drama Desk Awards for the world premiere of One Last Ride at the Court Theatre, as well as True West at The Palm Canyon Theatre (Palm Springs). Other notable credits include Cody Angelimo is Coming (World Premiere, Met Theatre), True West (Zephyer Theatre, co-starring Sean Kanan), It's Just Sex (L.A. People's Choice Award for Best Play 2008-09) and most recently he directed the World Premier of Hugh Gross's Stated Income. L.A. Weekly named Mark their "Pick of the Week" and called him "Howard Hawksian". Mark created Mark Blanchard's Power Yoga which became a staple in L.A. with numerous studios. Mark is most proud of his magical children: Rowan, age fifteen, Carmen, age thirteen, and Shane, age eleven, and his lovely wife Elizabeth. All of his children are working actors who have only been coached by Mark.
THE DREAMER EXAMINES HIS PILLOW will open August 26 - September 24, 2017, at The Lounge Theatre. Located at 6201 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. 90038. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday 8:00PM and Sunday 3:00PM. There will be one preview Aug. 25 @ 8:00PM.
Tickets available at: www.plays411.com/dreamer.
General Admission: $30.00 (Preview: $25.00)
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