Sex Farce LOVE'S TANGLED WEB Opens At Annex Theater 4/17

Annex Theatre Company continues its 22nd season of production with the northwest premiere of Love's Tangled Web, a hellzapoppin sex farce written by Charles Ludlam and directed by Ed Hawkins. Love's Tangled Web opens on Friday, April 17, 2009, 8:00 p.m. curtain, and runs on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. through May 16, 2009 at Annex Theatre, located at 1100 East Pike Street, on Seattle's Capitol Hill. Pay-what-you-can performances will be held on April 24th and 25th, and an Industry Performance (open to the public) will be held on Monday, May 11th.

In the "ridiculous" tradition of Ludlam's The Mystery of Irma Vep, Corn, Camille, Exquisite Torture, and Reverse Psychology, Love's Tangled Web is a lurid melodrama featuring a crippled heiress, a greedy clergyman, a voodoo-practicing nymphet, a randy gorilla, and slamming doors galore. Don't say we didn't warn you!
ARTISTIC TEAM
Ed Hawkins has directed (or *co-directed with Andrea Allen) several classic 20th Century American comedies for Annex Theatre, including The Front Page, Stage Door, The Women*, and Mae West's Sex*. He has also directed many world premiere productions at Annex, Re-bar, and the Northwest Film Forum, including Kaleidoscope Eyes: Songs For Busby Berkeley and The Glory Booty Club by Chris Jeffries; What've We Done To Baby Jane by LisImo Productions; Deflowered in the Attic by Bit Heavy Productions; Dirty Little Secrets by Jeffrey M. Jones; Brent or Brenda? by Scot Augustson; Fall Fashion Issues by Keri Healey; and his own full length play: For Lorne. He has appeared as a supernumerary in several Seattle Opera productions, and by day works as Seattle Opera's advertising manager. Ed lives in the Central District with Chris Jeffries, his partner of 18 years.

Charles Ludlam was born in Floral Park, NY and received a degree in dramatic literature from Hofstra University in 1964. Ludlam joined John Vaccaro's Playhouse of the Ridiculous, and after a falling out, became founder of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in New York City in 1967. His first plays were inchoate exercises: however, starting with Bluebeard he began to write more structured works, which, though they were pastiches of gothic novels, Shakespeare, Wagner, popular culture, old movies, and anything else that might get a laugh, had more serious import. Theater critic Brendan Gill after seeing one of Ludlam's plays famously remarked, "This isn't farce. This isn't absurd. This is absolutely ridiculous!". Ludlam usually appeared in his plays, and was particularly noted for his female roles. He wrote one of the first plays to deal (though tangentially) with HIV infection; he was diagnosed with AIDS in March 1987. Ludlam died of PCP pneumonia in St. Vincent's Hospital, New York. The street in front of his theatre in Sheridan Square was renamed "Charles Ludlam Lane" in his honor.

Love's Tangled Web features the talents of Gerald B. Browning, Adria LaMorticella, Kate Parker, Laurie Utterback, Patrick Walrath, and Daniel Wood

Designers include Kit Newman (Set), Fiori Cippoletti (Props), Erik Andor (Costumes), Ian Johnston (Lights), and Ed Hawkins & Kevin Heard (Sound). The production is stage managed by Angel Welter.

SPECIAL THANKS
Annex Theatre wishes to acknowledge the generous contributions of 4 Culture, Flintridge Foundation, The Seattle Foundation, The Boeing Company, ActiveMac, Seattle's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and the charitable gift matching programs of Adobe, Microsoft, and RealNetworks for their support of this production.

RUN DATES: Opening Night: Friday, April 17, 2009 / Runs through: May 16, 2009
RUN DAYS: Fridays & Saturdays
CURTAIN: 8:00 p.m. all performances
VENUE: Annex Theatre, 1100 E Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122
PRICING: $12, $7 for seniors & military, $5 for students (with ID)
PWYC PERFORMANCES: Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25, 2009
*INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE: Monday, May 11, 2009
WEBSITE & TICKET INFORMATION: http://www.annextheatre.org

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