1812 Productions is pleased to begin its 2015-2016 season with Morris Panych's newest comedy, The Shoplifters. The Shoplifters premiered at Arena Stage in 2014. This Philadelphia premiere will be produced as part of the 2015 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
Mary Martello, a stage veteran of more than 50 years and five Barrymore Awards, is joined by fellow Philadelphia theatre dynamo
Johnnie Hobbs, Jr. in his 1812 Productions debut. Martello and Hobbs, Jr. star as Alma and Otto, a pair of senior citizens who are on opposing sides of an American corporate juggernaut. While Alma games the system, Otto is stuck directly under its heel. Their world-in-small is a back office in a grocery store where Alma's sticky fingers have finally taken a bigger haul than she can afford. On the fast-track to retirement, Otto is the only security guard with the smarts to bring down this grand dame of the five finger discount- but time is not on either of their sides. In a whirlwind of sharp dialogue and hilarious zingers, these two everyday firebrands face off over the rules of the for-profit world in which we live.
Also making their 1812 debuts,
Daniel Fredrick and Marla Burkholder join the cast as Otto and Alma's respective young protégés. Fredrick is the zealous young security guard hired to replace an aging Otto. Burkholder plays Alma's bumbling tag-along, eager to learn the ways of the master but uncertain of exactly which machine she's supposed to be raging against. With this dynamic foursome, Panych's script beams to life in an hysterical interrogation of corporate protocols and social mores-reminding us of what matters most and posing a barrage of questions which he leaves the audience to answer for themselves.
Morris Panych, whose work is celebrated for its investigation of complex questions through the experiences of seemingly ordinary individuals, said of The Shoplifters, "Life is a supermarket. We wander it - sometimes shopping, sometimes pilfering - gathering what pleasure, necessities, hope and joys can fill up our baskets before we head, as eventually we must, to the check out." In his almost-40 year career, Panych has twice been awarded the Governor General's Award for Drama, won 14 Jessie Richardson Awards, and been awarded five Dora
Mavor Moore Awards.
1812 Productions'
Producing Artistic Director, Jennifer Childs, takes the Director's chair for The Shoplifters, leading a production team of several 1812 veterans. Lance Kniskern returns as the show's Set Designer after the company's 2014 productions of Intimate Exchanges and This Is The Week That Is. 1812 is also pleased to welcome back Costume Designer Alison Roberts and
Sound Designer Michael Hahn after their dynamic creations for Intimate Exchanges. Lighting Designer Paul Moffitt joins the team for his eighth production with 1812, most recently the Spring 2014 production of This Is The Week That Is.
The Shoplifters marks 1812 Productions' return to the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, after 2014's sold out production of
Alan Ayckbourn's Intimate Exchanges. Jennifer Childs says, "Coming back to The Fringe, and to the fantastic energy that invades Philadelphia each year when the Festival happens, presents a perfect setting for The Shoplifters. This is a play that doesn't explode convention, but rather takes it apart from the inside-and does so in an absolutely hysterical way. The Shoplifters brings to life a range of questions about right and wrong through characters that anyone can relate to or identify with." Ms. Martello adds, "I dedicate this performance to all those who have ever slipped a candy bar into their pocket or a lipstick into their purse or not paid for that newspaper they had tucked under their arm as they went through the checkout line. I, of course, have never shoplifted a thing in my entire life so this role will be pure fantasy-and perhaps revenge for prices at the supermarket."
The Shoplifters will be performed from August 27 through September 20 on The Arcardia Stage at
Arden Theatre Company, 40 N. 2nd Street in Old City. Opening night is Wednesday, September 2, at 7pm. Tickets range from $28-$42 and are available at
215-592-9560 or at
www.1812productions.org.
Promotional photos, including credit information, for The Shoplifters are available for download HERE.
Creative Team
Mary Martello (Alma): Mary has been an actor for over 50 years and a Philadelphia actor for almost 20. Time flies when you're having fun! She's received 16 Barrymore Award nominations and has won five of them. This past season she was Sister Aloysius in Doubt at the Lantern Theater and appeared in 9 to 5, Mary Poppins, and Memphis at Walnut Street Theatre. She is very happy to be back with Jen Childs and the crew at 1812 Productions in a role which she fervently hopes is not a foreshadowing of her future. Previous shows at 1812 include Batboy: The Musical, Cherry Bomb, and Happily Ever After. Look for her this upcoming season in Harvey and Sister Act at Walnut Street Theatre. Mary enjoys any opportunity to wear a habit.
Johnnie Hobbs, Jr. (Otto): The Shoplifters marks the debut of Mr. Hobbs with 1812 Productions. The three-time Barrymore Award nominee has played key roles in many of Freedom Theatre's most critically acclaimed productions. Mr. Hobbs enjoyed critical success with Blue Door and The Whipping Man at Arden Theatre and distinguished himself in a tour-de-force performance of
Paul Robeson by
Phillip Hayes Dean directed by
Walter Dallas celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Ira Brind School of Theatre Arts. Other theatrical credits include the works of
August Wilson: Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Two Trains Running, and King Hedley II. He has traveled to China and Japan through Philadelphia's Sister City Program and has participated in the international student collaboration between the University of the Arts and the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts in the UK. He recently completed a national tour of Driving Miss Daisy. Noteworthy film credits include principal roles in The In-Crowd, Twelve Monkeys, Snipes, Up Close and Personal, The Wire, Rocky Balboa with
Sylvester Stallone, Cover directed by
Bill Duke, and the independent film Nostalgia.
Marla Burkholder (Phyllis): Marla Burkholder is so pleased to make her 1812 Productions acting debut. She has the good fortune of working as 1812's Education Director, coordinating the company's award-winning educational program with Philadelphia public schools, as well as coaching dialects for productions throughout Philadelphia (including To The Moon for 1812 last season). As an actor she has worked locally with Lantern Theater Company, Shakespeare in Clark Park, People's Light & Theatre, Applied Mechanics, Gretna Theatre, and Team Sunshine Performance Corporation, among others. Marla is the co-founder and current Artistic Director of Shakespeare in Clark Park, and holds an MFA in acting from Temple University.
Daniel Fredrick (Dom): Philadelphia: Hound of the Baskervilles, Arcadia (Lantern Theater), A Month In The Country (PAC Reading), Mickle Street (
Walnut Street Theatre), Henry IV (Shakespeare in Clark Park/Team Sunshine), Othello, Wind in the Willows, Diary of a Madman (Quintessence Theatre). Regional: The Winter's Tale, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival), Twelfth Night,
Romeo & Juliet (Trinity Shakespeare Festival), Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Watertower Theatre), Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Something Intangible (Circle Theatre). Commercial/Film: Comcast, ABC6, Treehouse available on Redbox. BFA: Texas Christian University. Upcoming: Red at
Walnut Street Theatre, The Explorers' Club at Delaware Theatre Company.
Morris Panych (Playwright):
Morris Panych is a native of Calgary, Alberta and is arguably Canada's most celebrated playwright and director. His plays have garnered countless awards including two Governor General's Literary Awards for Drama (for The Ends of the Earth and Girl in the Goldfish Bowl), 14 Jessie Richardson Awards (Vancouver), and five Dora
Mavor Moore Awards (Toronto). Productions of the much lauded Vigil, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, Gordon, The Trespassers and Lawrence and Holloman are being mounted throughout Canada, the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. His plays have been produced in over two dozen languages. Morris has directed over 90 productions across Canada and the U.S.
Jennifer Childs (Director): Jennifer Childs is the
Producing Artistic Director and Co-Founder of 1812 Productions. For 1812 she has created over a dozen original works of theater including To The Moon, This Is The Week That Is, Always a Lady, Our Show of Shows, Cherry Bomb, and It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project. Her one-woman show Why I'm Scared of Dance by Jen Childs premiered at 1812 and has since been performed at Delaware Theatre Company, the Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin, Act II Playhouse, and City Theatre in Pittsburgh. Favorite performances outside of 1812 include The Happiness Lecture with
Bill Irwin at Philadelphia Theater Company, Spin at the
Wilma Theater, Red Herring and Dex and Julie Sittin' in a Tree at the
Arden Theatre Company.
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