THE RIDICULOUS DARKNESS to Make U.S. Premiere Next Month at Son of Semele

Award-winning Son of Semele Ensemble announces the final production of its 2017 season, The Ridiculous Darkness, adapted from a radio play by Wolfram Lotz. The U.S. premiere of this internationally acclaimed satire will be presented at the Son of Semele Theater, 3301 Beverly Boulevard, from October 21 to November 12, 2017.

Deep in the rainforests of Afghanistan, two soldiers on a top-secret mission collide with Somali pirates, a horndog missionary, a depressed parrot and more, egged on by a playwright struggling to tell a story that may not even be his to tell. Wolfram Lotz casts a timely, absurdist eye on cultural and economic colonialism in this send-up of the classic Heart of Darkness and its hallucinatory 1979 film adaptation, Apocalypse Now.

German playwright Wolfram Lotz takes these well-known reference points and deploys comic inventiveness to probe the echoes of colonial attitudes in an allegedly post-colonial world. In an interview with The Theatre Times, Lotz said, "It's not helpful to think that it's just a matter of understanding others. When we focus on understanding as a solution to the problems, on emphasizing commonalities, then we create an increasingly violent relationship to these actually 'foreign' things. That which cannot be resolved through understanding in some form of commonality must then be combated all the more," he said. "In my opinion - and this is what the play points out - it is about better learning how to deal with what is left in the dark for one's self, what simply cannot be appropriated through understanding."

Although The Ridiculous Darkness was written as a radio play, its inherent theatricality has inspired staged versions in his home country and around the world. (In an author's note in the script, Lotz welcomes creativity in making the radio-to-stage transition and urges those tackling the play to "have fun.") The play received the prestigious Nestroy Theatre Prize and Lotz was named Theater heute's playwright of the year in 2015. The English translation is by Daniel Brunet.

Son of Semele artistic director Matt McCray directs the production, which features Son of Semele Ensemble members Sarah Rosenberg, Ashley Steed, Dan Via and Alex Wells, plus Taylor Hawthorne, who makes her first appearance with the company.

The design team comprises Michael Fitzgerald (set), Vicki Anne Hales-Daly (costumes), Shen Heckel (props), Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh (video), azra King-Abadi (lighting), Alex Mackyol (sound), and Dorothy Zhu (assistant, costumes). Son of Semele Ensemble members Kate Motzenbacker and Flor San Roman are the production's assistant director and dramaturg, respectively. Beth Scorzato is the stage manager.

PERFORMANCES OCTOBER 21 - NOVEMBER 12, 2017
Fridays and Saturdays @ 8pm
Sundays @ 5pm
Mondays 10/30 & 11/6 @ 7pm

TICKETS $20
$5 discount for patrons 25 and under (must show photo ID at the door)
Advance online purchases at sonofsemele.org. The Son of Semele box office is open on performance days only, 30 minutes prior to curtain.

LOCATION/PARKING:
Son of Semele Theater
3301 Beverly Blvd. (@ Hoover), Los Angeles CA 90004
There is free street parking in the surrounding neighborhood. Son of Semele offers a complimentary beverage with taxi, Uber or Lyft receipt/proof of ride. ABOUT SON OF SEMELE ENSEMBLE: Son of Semele Ensemble is a Los Angeles-based ensemble theatre company comprised of 30+ actors, directors, designers, dramaturgs and producers. In its 16-year history Son of Semele Ensemble productions have been honored with two LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards (nine nominations), five LA Weekly Theatre Awards (eleven nominations), four Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, two SAGE Awards, and an NAACP Theatre Award (four nominations). The company was also nominated in six categories at the inaugural Stage Raw Awards.

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