Dragon Theatre Will Present Two Plays In Rotating Repertory This March

For the first time in its 20 years Dragon is mounting two plays at the same time on an alternating schedule. Why? Because while being very different plays, they share much of the same DNA. The first play, The Baltimore Waltz, was written by Paula Vogel, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. Set in the 1980s, the play is a dramatic comedy and Ms. Vogel's response to the loss of her adored brother to AIDS. It put her on the map as one of America's best living playwrights. On the other side of the coin we're proud to produce the world premiere of Confession, by Barry Slater, a local playwright living in Campbell. Confession is the story of two brothers in the 1980s: one a gangster, the other a priest. Estranged for decades, indelibly connected by the memories of a monstrous childhood, they find themselves together one last time. Will they find redemption or die trying? Because of the rotation the shows will run for 5 weeks and not the usual four weeks to ensure that each show gets a worthy number of performances. Both shows will be performed straight through without an intermission.

ABOUT THE BALTIMORE WALTZ BY Paula Vogel

Directed by Troy Johnson. Featuring Ellen Dunphy as Anna, Filip Hofman as The Third Man, and Asher Krohn as Carl.

FROM THE DIRECTOR: Troy Johnson says that "when I first read The Baltimore Waltz many years ago, I found it to be profoundly funny while still maintaining an underlying deep sadness, and it occurred to me how rarely a play can do both of those things. Despite the notion that it tells a story about a topic that doesn't seem to be rife for comedy, the playwright manages to approach it from a perspective that gives us permission to laugh while it sets us up for a surprising resolution -- even though the play keeps dropping hints about what's to come at the end. What I didn't realize at the time of that first reading was how many references it contained to such a variety of classic movies. Pulling apart the individual scenes and exploring them with this excellent cast made me dig deeper and provided so many more facets to the way that Paula Vogel crafted this personal journey she took to cope with the loss of her brother."

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Paula Vogel is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose plays include Indecent (Tony Award for Best Play), How I Learned to Drive (Broadway production set for spring 2020; Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Lortel Prize, OBIE Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Awards for Best Play), The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot 'n' Throbbing, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, The Oldest Profession, and A Civil War Christmas.

Her plays have been produced by Second Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, the Vineyard Theatre, Roundabout, and Circle Repertory Company, Center Stage, Intiman, Trinity Repertory, Woolly Mammoth, Huntington Theatre, Magic Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theatre Berkeley Repertory, and Alley Theatres to name a few. Harrogate Theatre and the Donmar Theatre have produced her work in England.

Internationally, her plays have been produced in in English in Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and in translation in Italy, Germany, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, Romania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland Slovenia, Canada, Portugal, France, Greece, Japanese, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Brazil and many other countries.

John Simon once remarked that Paula Vogel had more awards than a "black sofa collects lint." Honors include induction in the American Theatre Hall of Fame, the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lily Award, the Thornton Wilder Prize, the Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the William Inge Award, the Elliott Norton Award, a Susan Smith Blackburn Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Award, a TCG Residency Award, a Guggenheim, a Pew Charitable Trust Award, and fellowships and residencies at Sundance Theatre Lab, Hedgebrook, The Rockefeller Center's Bellagio Center, Yaddo, MacDowell Colony, and the Bunting.She is particularly proud of her Thirtini Award from 13P, and honored by three Awards in her name: the Paula Vogel Award for playwrights given by The Vineyard Theatre, the Paula Vogel Award from the American College Theatre Festival, and the Paula Vogel mentorship program, curated by Quiara Hudes and Young Playwrights of Philadelphia.

Paula was playwright in residence at The Signature Theatre (2004-05 season), and Theatre Communications Group publishes six volumes of her work. Paula continues her playwriting intensives with community organizations, students, theater companies, subscribers and writers across the globe. She is the 2019 inaugural UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Hearst Theater Lab Initiative Distinguished Playwright-in-Residence and has recently taught at Sewanee, Shanghai Theatre Academy and Nanjing University, University of Texas at Austin, and the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis. From 1984 to 2008, Paula Vogel founded and ran the playwriting program at Brown University; during that time she started a theatre workshop for women in Maximum Security at the Adults Correction Institute in Cranston, Rhode Island. It continues to this day, sponsored by the Pembroke Center for Women at Brown University. From 2008-2012, she was the O'Neill Chair at Yale School of Drama.

ABOUT CONFESSION BY BARRY SLATER

Directed by Robin Ginsburg Braverman. Featuring Paul Braverman as Vincent, and Kyle Smith as Anthony.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: After spending years in novel writing, playwright Barry Slater has more recently found his metier as a playwright. In 2014, Off Kilter, a short play concerning a controversial sculpture, was produced to the confusion and excitement of the gallery goers at the Downey Museum of Art in southern California. Forgive Me, Brother won second prize at the Strawberry One Act Festival in New York in 2015. He's had numerous short plays produced at the Pear Theater in Mountain View, including two upcoming plays in March 2020's Pear Slices, Sunday Morning and Beach Memories. Twin Peaks was a finalist at Piano Fight Theater's 2016 "Short Lived VI" play competition in San Francisco. He has also had local readings of plays in City Lights in San Jose and The Shelton and Sutter Theater in San Francisco. For over four decades, Barry has spent his days as a family doctor. He lives in northern California with his garden artist wife and, at any given time, a flurry of kids and grandkids.

FROM THE DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Robin Ginsburg Braverman says that "For the past several years, my husband Paul and I have coordinated "Fresh Produce," a development program for new plays at The Pear Theatre in Mountain View. The program features readings of scripts from members of the Pear Playwrights Guild. It was in this capacity that I first read Barry Slater's Confession. I was immediately struck by the compelling story of the Sabatini brothers, unfolding in real time as they bare their souls. I was struck by the thought that, at its heart, this is a story of brotherly love. I was struck by their monstrous childhood, and by their parents, two characters we never meet, but whom we get to know all too well. I was struck by how isolating and scary it must've been for Vincent (and thousands of others) to have AIDS in 1982, before the disease even had a name. I was struck by Anthony's repressed courage, meeting his estranged brother in a lonely, run down motel room on a rainy afternoon in Vegas. I was struck by the unusual way in which a victim's story is given voice, a reminder that in the age of "Me, Too," all victims deserve to have their story told. Ultimately, I was struck by what Vinnie and Anthony most have in common -an urgent need for redemption. This version of the play was first presented as a developmental reading at The Pear in July 2018, with Paul and Kyle cast as Vincent and Anthony. The troubled Sabatini family has been with us, on and off, ever since.

This is where Dragon Productions enters the story. I felt that the intimate Dragon stage was perfect for telling this story. I am truly grateful that Max and Alika felt the same way and chose to include us in the creative ecosystem of Dragon's Nest Producer Residency Program. Dragon's 2020 season is "intensely human, with warts and all...looking at two sides of the coin of our nature." Confession fits so very well in this context: it is a play of contrasts -the saint and sinner, light and dark, the sacred and the profane. Thank you for your support of local theatre; I hope you find Vincent & Anthony's contrasts as compelling as I do."

Designers & Production Team For Both Plays: Patricia Bilello (Properties Designer), Jonathan Covey (Sound Designer), Sarah Hass (Intimacy Director for The Baltimore Waltz), Bora "Max" Koknar (Scenic Designer/TD), Chrissie Schwanhausser (Stage Manager for The Baltimore Waltz/Assistant Stage Manager for Confession), Jeff Swan (Lighting Designer), Miranda Whipple (Stage Manager for Confession/Assistant Stage Manager for The Baltimore Waltz).

Show Information:

PERFORMANCE DATES: March 4 - April 5, 2020

Thursdays - Saturdays at 8pm, Saturdays at 4p, Sundays at 2pm. Doors open 30 minutes before the show.

The Baltimore Waltz Schedule:

The run time is approximately 110 minutes with NO intermission. The show is rated R for adult themes, language, and sexuality.

Confession Schedule:

This show runs for approximately 85 minutes with no intermission. The show is rated R for adult language, adult content, and the discussion of sexual abuse.

WHERE: The Dragon Theatre in downtown Redwood Citya??

2120 Broadway Street at the intersection of Broadway and Theatre Way

PRICES: $39 general admission

$30 students, seniors, and people age 30 or under
$175 for the VIP box (seats 4 people and includes champagne and chocolates.)
5 FREE Community Care tickets per performance
Pay what you will previews are available for each show.

Discount tickets available for select dates on Goldstar.com

CONTACTING THE BOX OFFICE: Leave a voicemail at 650-493-2006 x 2 and your call will be returned within 2 business days. If you'd rather email, contact Ellie at tickets@dragonproductions.net. The Dragon Box Office is not staffed 7 days a week so there might be a delay in response. Buying tickets online at http://www.dragonproductions.net is the very best way to reserve a ticket in advance, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

TIX & MORE INFO: http://dragonproductions.net/

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