WEIRD THEATRE FESTIVAL (WTF)

California State University, Northridge (CSUN) Mike Curb College of Arts, Meda and Communicaton Department of Theatre Presents WEIRD THEATRE FESTIVAL...
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California State University, Northridge (CSUN) Mike Curb College of Arts, Meda and Communicaton Department of Theatre Presents

WEIRD THEATRE FESTIVAL (WTF) Featuring the works of playwrights Mickey Birnbaum • Sheila Callaghan • Erik Ehn • Diane Exavier Rachel Jendrzejewski • Ruth Margraff • Suzan-Lori Parks Jacqueline Wright Directed by Prof. Biederman’s TH 545 Advanced Directing Class Taylor Anderson • Dzenita Bijavica • Jason Bishop • Brandice Brenning • Sean Boring • Valerie Gould Jennifer Linares • Brendan Mulligan • Mihran Ogaryan Tay’Laur Paige •Jessie Robertson • Elite Rothstein • Harrison Seeley Festival Artistic Director Larry Biederman Scenic Designers Costume Designer Efren Delgadillo, Jr. Kate Bergh Ilana Molina Sound Designer Lighting Designer Steven Burkholder John Eckert Voice & Text Director and Stage Manager Movement Coach Heidi Guzman Christine Menzies

Experimental Theatre

Valley Perfoming Arts Center April 8 - 17, 2016 7:30 pm, except Sundays at 2:00 pm

Tickets: (818) 677-2488

ADVISORIES: This performance contains strobe lights. Parking on campus is by permit only. Permit machines available in parking lot B-1 and others. The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

CAST

Joshua Alvarado ..............................Ensemble (Here Comes The Message),

Menelaus (Iphigenia), Leader (The Light at the End of the Tunnel), Gameboy, (Night Parachute Battalion), Shadow (Mantis), Ensemble (What Do You See?) Ben Birmingham ....................... Traditionalist (Beginning, Middle, End), 2 ((Again) Landslide), Crenshaw (Night Parachute Battalion), Semele (Gnome), Jake (Pops), Man (Epic Bio-Pic) Noel Britton ...................................... Ensemble (Here Comes the Message), Soak (Heidi), Clytemnestra (Iphigenia), Pops (Pops) Michaela Escarcega ................................. Abital (Bacteria), B (Iphigenia), Sarah (Mantis), Pathe (Gnome) Teresa Guewell ............................... Antoinette (Singing While Waiting…), Dalia (Her Speech), Youngest (The Light at the End of the Tunnel), Narrator (Night Parachute Battalion), Ensemble (What Do You See?), 1 (Lights/Rats) Cynthia Johnson ........................Eve (Soak), Woman ((Again) Landslide), A (Iphigenia), Woman (He Ate the Sun), Woman (Epic Bio-Pic) Skylar Keck ..................................... Messenger (Here Comes The Message), Monty (Singing While Waiting…), Raven (Her Speech), Boy (He Ate the Sun), Doll (Gnome) Peter Mazzeo .......................................... Scout (Here Comes The Message), Fresh One (Beginning, Middle, End), 1 ((Again) Landslide), Dead Man on Floor (Cheap Cashmere), Man (He Ate the Sun), Gnome (Gnome), Ensemble (Epic Bio-Pic) Shelvin Rachael Portillo................. Riot Police (Beginning, Middle, End), Missy (Singing While Waiting…), Reiko (Night Parachute Battalion), Ensemble (What Do You See?), Rose (Pops) Fatima Said ............................. Driver (Her Speech), Iphigenia (Iphigenia), Fearful (The Light at the End of the Tunnel), Suimb (Gnome), 2 (Lights/Rats) Israel Valdivia ...................................Ensemble (Here Comes the Message), Riot Police (Beginning, Middle, End), Peaches & Percy (Singing While Waiting…), Ensemble (Cheap Cashmere), Agamemnon (Iphigenia), Program Thrower (This is Shit), Paul (Gnome) Johannes Holmberg Wike ......................David (Soak), David (Bacteria), Oldest (The Light at the End of the Tunnel), Voice (Mantis), Ensemble (What Do You See?), Stranger (Lights/Rats)

Act 1

Here Comes the Message by Suzan-Lori Parks directed by Harrison Seeley Beginning Middle End by Suzan-Lori Parks directed by Jason Bishop Soak by Sheila Callaghan directed by Sean Boring Singing While Waiting for the Sun to Rise After Breakfast by Diane Exavier directed by Jennifer Linares, music by Donald ‘Avi’ Stewart Bacteria by Rachel Jendrzejewski directed by Valerie Gould (Again) Landslide by Suzan-Lori Parks directed by Jason Bishop Her Speech by Erik Ehn directed by Tay’Laur Paige Cheap Cashmere by Jacqueline Wright directed by Dzenita Bijavica, music by Rene Gonzalez Iphigenia in Norwalk by Mickey Birnbaum directed by Brandice Brenning Light at the End of the Tunnel by Suzan-Lori Parks directed by Jason Bishop An Intermission by Suzan-Lori Parks directed by Harrison Seeley There will be a 15-minute intermission

Act 2

Night Parachute Battalion by Ruth Margraff directed by Jessie Robertson Mantis by Jacqueline Wright directed by Taylor Anderson He Ate the Sun by Sheila Callaghan directed by Mihran Ograyan This is Shit by Suzan-Lori Parks directed by Harrison Seeley Gnome by Erik Ehn directed by Elite Rothstein What Do You See? by Suzan-Lori Parks directed by Harrison Seeley Pops by Jacqueline Wright directed by Brendan Mulligan Epic Bio-Pic by Suzan-Lori Parks directed by Jason Bishop Lights/Rats by Suzan-Lori Parks directed by Larry Biederman

DIRECTOR’S NOTE We live in an age when the most valuable asset any economy can have is the ability to be creative – to spark and imagine new ideas. With the original Weird Theatre Festival, the Advanced Directing students get to do just that. The art of theatre is capable of broadening perspective, inspiring emotion, and initiating discovery, all of which I have experienced as a theatre student at CSUN. Now we get to apply all of that outside of the classroom, as theatre directors in the mainstage season. Like music, poetry, opera, and art, which are rarely bound by a need to “make sense,” the writers of these plays engage audiences’ imaginations in the interpretation of their work. As you watch, if you ask yourself, “WTF?” make your next question, “So? Who made it theatre’s job to make sense anyway?” Without the fear of not “getting it,” we discover other kinds of clarity. As directors, we often found ourselves having to swallow our pride for the common goal, which was to find a NEW kind of sense in our plays, and support our playwrights’ unique visions, without apology. We all realized that our contribution was important to the success of the group and oftentimes, we chose to take creative risks, even unwillingly, to accomplish our goal. Admittedly, the beginning of this process was terrifying, but through the help of my fellow classmates, and our collaborative production team, I was able to come out with something I could really be proud of. My education in theatre has given me an opportunity to see my peers, community, and the world in a different light. This experiment has helped me to trust the process and know that everyone has to start somewhere, even if still by the end of tech week, all you have to say is, “WTF did I just do?” --Taylor Anderson, Director, Mantis

SPECIAL THANKS

Dean Hosken and the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication, CSUN Arts Council, all the playwrights, Shad Willingham, and the CSUN Instructionally Related Activities Board, whose co-funding helps make these productions possible.

Thoughts on Clarity in Theatre

Quotes selected by Prof. Larry Biederman “Why can’t theatre be abstract? There’s clarity of the body, there’s clarity

of an image—something visual. There’s clarity of emotion. Clarity doesn’t just equal narrative storytelling.” - Mia Yoo, Artistic Director of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club as quoted in the article, “WTF?! How necessary is clarity in the theatre?” by Jonathan Mandell, Howlround, January 7, 2016 “We need you to fight the mania for clarity, and help create a mania for beauty instead. We need you to ask: Is the play too clear?....We need you to remind audiences that plays are irreducible in meaning, the way that poetry is.” - Sarah Ruhl, playwright, addressing dramaturges in an essay from her book, 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write: On Umbrellas and Sword Fights, Parades and Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, and Theater by Sarah Ruhl, Faber and Faber, Inc. 2014 “I do think my plays are for everyone. But if you’re coming to them with the need for a familiar structure, you might feel confused. If you come with the regular yardstick you use to measure plays, you’ll be disappointed. But with no yardstick there’s more openness. There’s a lot there to dig into. It’s a landscape.” - Sibyl Kempson, from the article, “The Wild and Woolly Worlds of Playwright Sibyl Kempson” by Eliza Bent, American Theatre, September 2015

We are a proud participant in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. For more information: www.csun.edu/theatre Facebook: CSUN Theatre Call Board Instagram and Twitter: @theatreCSUN

Save the Date 60th Anniversary Celebration May 11, 2016 7pm For more information call (818) 677-3086 or email [email protected]

THEATRE PRODUCTION STAFF Department Chair/Producer ....................................................Ah-Jeong Kim Technical Director ....................................................................... Scott McKim Production Manager ...................................................................Meg Imamoto Assistant Director .......................................................................... Noel Britton Assistant Scenic Designer .......................................................... Karol Alcaraz Lighting/Sound Supervisor ..........................................................Mike Zeigler Assistant Lighting Designer .......................................................... Josh Legget Assistant Vocal Director ..................................................... Katelyn DiGiorgio Assistant Technical Director .................................................. Donald Schliem Faculty Mentor for Stage Management ............................... Matthew Jackson Assistant Stage Managers ..................................... Rita Cannon, Angel Rojas Scene Shop Supervisor ................................................................... Bree Marks Stage Crew Head ........................................................................ Robert Stroud Stage Crew ..........................................................Arturo Arcos, Natasha Nix, Shayla Cudd, Margarita Shahramyan Faculty Mentor for Property Design ...................................... Paula Higgins Prop Masters ....................................................... Stella Lee, Darlene Ramos, Briana Ruggeri, Harim Sanchez Prop Crew .................................................... Tyree Amey, Gabriel Martinez, Priscilla Loshon Costume Shop Supervisor ................................................. Amanda Cleveland Costume Shop Assistants .................. Matthew Kesner, Christiana Mitchell Costume Crew Head ............................................................ Shelby Lowrance Costume Crew ............................................. Kelsey Angeli, Edward Michels, Carmen Wilberger, Sarah Boose, Brandy Marton Faculty Mentor for Makeup Design .................................... Elizabeth A. Cox Makeup Crew ..................................................Tilmon Amos, Nia Bernstine Light Crew .......................................................... Matthew Kesner, Lexie Sosa Sound Crew...................................................................................Bianca Schutt Theatre Manager .............................................................................Kat Carrido House Manager ........................................................................... Sabrina Lewis Photographer ....................................................................................Kenji Kang Administrative Analyst ........................................................... Alicia Lawrence Administrative Assistant ........................................................... Sterling Davis Academic Advisor ............................................................... David Del Mundo

csun.edu/theatre

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