Los Altos Stage Company's CATCH-22 Opens Today

Los Altos Stage Company is thrilled to announce the stage presentation of one of the funniest and most celebrated works of American literature, Joseph Heller's CATCH-22. CATCH-22 opens today April 8 and runs through May 1, 2016 at the Bus Barn Theater in Los Altos.

Over fifty years after its original publication, CATCH-22 remains a cornerstone of American literature. Intellectually challenging and absurdly funny, the play, adapted from the book by Joseph Heller, features black humor, an unusual narrative structure, surrealism, and a not-so-heroic protagonist who struggles to deal with the insanity of war and concludes that the only sane response to it is not to participate in it.

Yossarian is the play's antihero, an American bombardier obsessed with being rotated out of active flight duty. However, his commanding officer keeps raising the number of missions. Out of desperation he asks the squadron's doctor to declare him unfit for duty by reason of insanity. But the doctor refuses, citing the mysterious regulation CATCH-22. CATCH-22 states that a pilot must request to be grounded for reasons of insanity, but if you asked to be grounded you must be sane because only a crazy man would want to continue to fly missions. This circular reasoning of the "catch" is the central metaphor for the absurdity of war and military bureaucracy.

Joseph Heller was born May 1, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York. He flew 60 combat missions as a bombardier in World War II before finishing his studies at Columbia and Oxford and working as an advertising copywriter. He began writing CATCH-22 in 1953 based on his wartime experiences. The completed novel was published in 1961 and soon became one of the most significant works of postwar protest literature and a huge critical and popular success.

The LASC production of CATCH-22 is directed by Daniel P. Wilson, Los Altos Stage Company's Associate Artistic Director, who previously directed Harold and Maudeand Fox on the Fairway at LASC. It features a talented ensemble of Bus Barn Theater veterans, as well as new faces, including: Vanessa Alvarez, Joe Antonicelli, Robert Sean Campbell, Jordan Kersten, John Stephen King, Aaron Hurley, Peter Juarez, Gary Landis, Danny Martin, Brittney Mignano and Bryan Moriarty.

Performances are Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8 pm and Sundaymatinees at 3 pm. Ticket prices range from $18 (student) to $36. Opening Night tickets, including a reception with the artists, are also $36. Tickets are available online at www.losaltosstage.org or by calling the Box Office at 650-941-0551.

Los Altos Stage Company is a quintessential American neighborhood playhouse, serving Los Altos and the greater South Bay area, and paying tribute to the full canon of American musicals, comedies, and dramas. This 20-year-old theater company strives to bring together a diversity of theater enthusiasts, practitioners, and supporters to create, explore and celebrate the rich tapestry of American culture and experience through live theater. Los Altos Stage Company produces five to six shows annually at its intimate 99-seat theater located on the Los Altos Civic Center campus.

Pictured: Bryan Moriarty as Yossarian, Gary Landis as Colonel Cathcart and Joe Antonicelli as Colonel Korn. Photo by Richard Mayer.

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