ORSON'S SHADOW Comes to Theater For the New City

To share a hit show of its Spring season with the largest possible audience, Theater for the New City (TNC), Crystal Field, Executive Artistic Director, will remount its production of "Orson's Shadow," written by Austin Pendleton and directed by Mr. Pendleton and his longtime close friend and colleague David Schweizer, from November 8 to December 1. The reprise is a production of Axial Theatre, Oberon Theatre Ensemble and Strindberg Rep in association with Fortify.space and Michael Howard Studios. 

Originally mounted as an Equity showcase last March by TNC in association with Oberon Theatre Ensemble and Strindberg Rep, it was the first time Mr. Pendleton had ever directed his own work. TNC encourages authors to direct their own plays because it ensures that their philosophy and values are kept intact. The theater is a playground for emerging writers in which they can express divergent views, sometimes unique to themselves, because later productions will allow the director's view to influence the work.

Reviewers praised TNC's original OOB mounting March 14 to 31, 2024, as beautifully cast and acted, contemporary, entertaining and insightful.  David Soloway, writing in Encore Theatre Reviews, quipped "The play, although it’s called 'Orson’s Shadow,' ... is really Austin’s Shadow, as Austin Pendleton, so central to theater for so many years, casts his shadow on the stage as a writer." Soloway deemed the play "the best kind of drama and comedy, one rooted in character, not simply situation with a plot blending reality and speculation."

"Orson's Shadow," based on true events, takes place on the stage of the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin and later on the stage of The Royal Court Theatre. Orson Welles is directing a production of Eugène Ionesco's "Rhinoceros," starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright. Olivier is fresh from his triumphant theatrical portrayal of vaudevillian Archie Rice in John Osborne's "The Entertainer" and is about to reprise the role in its film adaptation. He and Plowright are in the early stages of a romantic liaison and his turbulent marriage to Vivien Leigh is all but ended. The noted critic Kenneth Tynan becomes entangled in the conflicts between Welles, Olivier, and Leigh, adding tension and complexity to their relationships and influencing their decisions and perceptions. The play debates the merits of stage versus screen, the internal struggle that theatrical performers endure when contemplating a leap to films, and the ways the studio system frustrated the careers of individual artists. It is also a study of theatrical egos, each of the protagonists living more on the stage than in real life, each one feeling insecure while jockeying for power.

The piece, originally conceived by Judith Auberjonois and scripted by Austin Pendleton, received critical note during its first production at Steppenwolf in 2000 and its New York debut at Barrow Street Theater in 2005. Its sharp writing and engaging performances contributed to its favorable reception, establishing it as a noteworthy work in contemporary theater. Since that time, Mr. Pendleton has worked on the play, making revisions and further developing the script.  This production is historic, as it is not often that TNC productions are remounted.

Austin Pendleton is an actor, director, and playwright. He has acted in about 250 movies and appeared several times in such TV shows as "Homicide," "Oz" and the different versions of "Law And Order." Onstage in New York he has acted on Broadway ("Choir Boy" at Manhattan Theatre Club, "The Diary Of Anne Frank" with Natalie Portman, Motel the Tailor in the original cast of "Fiddler on the Roof"), Off-Broadway (Obie winner for "The Last Sweet Days Of Isaac," "Rosmersholm" at Manhattan Theatre Club, "Up From Paradise," a musical by Arthur Miller and Stanley Silverman at Jewish Rep; "Educating Rita" with Laurie Metcalf), and Off-off Broadway (title roles in "King Lear," "Hamlet," "Richard The Third," "Richard The Second"; new plays including "City Girls And Desperadoes," "Dress Of Fire," "Consider The Lilies"). As a director he has been represented by the premiere productions of "A Thousand Pines" by Matthew Greene, "Between Riverside And Crazy" by Stephen Adly Giurgis, which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize; "Fifty Words" by Michael Weller with Elizabeth Marvel and Norbert Leo Butz; Chekhov productions at Classic Stage Company such as "Three Sisters" (for which he won the Obie, and which starred Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jessica Hecht), "Ivanov" starring Ethan Hawke, and "Uncle Vanya with Mamie Gummer; "A Lovely Sunday For Creve Coeur" by Tennessee Williams with Kristine Nielsen and Annette O’Toole, "War Of The Roses" (Shakespeare, at HB Studio), "Hamlet" (also at CSC, with Peter Sarsgaard), and "The Little Foxes" on Broadway with Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton (five Tony nominations, one for direction and three for actors including Ms. Taylor and Ms. Stapleton). He has written three plays: "Orson’s Shadow" (NY/London), "Uncle Bob" (NY/Paris) and "Booth," which was done in New York starring Frank Langella and has just now been substantially revised.

David Schweizer, co-director, has been devising and directing new theater work, performance art, and opera theater since he emerged from Yale Drama School to make his 1974 debut mentored by Joseph Papp opening the Mizi Newhouse Theater in Lincoln Center with Shakespeare’s "Troilus And Cressida" starring Christopher Walken. Subsequently, based in both New York City and Venice, California he has traveled the country and the world with his productions of new and old plays and new and old operas. These include "The Mines Of Sulphur" by Richard Rodney Bennett at New York City Opera, "The Greater Good" by Stephen Hartke at Glimmerglass Opera and "Powder Her Face" by Thomas Ade at Long Beach Opera, among many others. His work in New York City includes "God Created Great Whales," an OBIE Award winner by Rinde Eckert, "Winter Time" by Charles Mee Jr at Second Stage Theater starring Marsha Mason and Michael Cerveris, and "Horizon" at New York Theater Workshop also by Rinde Eckert. His intense creative friendship with Austin Pendleton was launched with a production of Pendleton’s play "Booth" in 1994 at the York Theater starring Frank Langella.

TNC's Executive Artistic Director, Crystal Field, has been a fan of Austin Pendleton and followed his career since their time together as young actors in the Lincoln Center training program and the opening of Lincoln Center under the direction of Robert Whitehead and Elia Kazan.

“This production of 'Orson's Shadow' is one of the high points of my artistic life, and I'm so happy that it just keeps rolling along,” says Austin Pendleton. “I’ve worked several times over the years at Theater for the New City.  Every single one of those times I had a productive, enriching, and exciting time.  Crystal provides loving, comprehensive, and productively stern support.  It’s wonderful just knowing that her theater is there.  And I’ve never seen a show there, either, that wasn’t eminently worth seeing.”

“While co-directing the spring run, it was very clear that this witty, passionate play was making an immediate and acute connection with its audiences,” adds co-Director Schweizer. “The excitement was palpable. It’s a play that deals so entertainingly with the foibles of live theater, but also probes beneath the surface for their heart-breaking consequences.”

The actors are Brad Fryman as Orson Welles, Ryan Tramont as Laurence Olivier, Patrick Hamilton as Kenneth Tynan, Luke Hofmaier as Sean, the Stage Manager and Natalie Menna as Vivien Leigh.  Cady McClain succeeds Kim Taff in the role of Joan Plowright. 

Lighting Design is by Alexander Bartenieff. Costume Design is by Billy Little. Sound Design is by Nick T. Moore. Additionally produced by Mark Karafin.

 

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