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A Workshop production of Red Snake
Roxie
Cinema presents This So-Called Disaster
A Limited Engagement
Production
Free Panel on the Faust
Legend
Trillium Press - A New
Fine Arts Partner
Eight to Watch, on Stage
and off
Magic Theatre receives
8 BATCC Awards Nominations
a workshop production by Michael McClure
based on James Shirley's The Cardinal
directed by Melissa Hillman
Wednesday, May 19 at 8pm
Award-winning playwright and Magic founder Michael McClure returns to the Magic!
Michael McClure has premiered over 20 plays at the Magic, including the Obie Award-winning Josephine the Mouse Singer. He now returns to the Magic with an imaginative take on James Shirley’s Elizabethan tragedy The Cardinal.
Free to Magic subscribers. $10 suggested donation for others.
For tickets please call our box office at (415) 441-8822.
a documentary film by Michael Almereyda
chronicling the making of Sam Shepard’s The Late
Henry Moss
Special Preview Screening to Benefit Magic Theatre
Monday, May 3rd at 7pm • followed by discussion featuring
Larry Eilenberg and director Michael Almereyda
$15 tickets • 3117 16th Street (at Valencia) •
San Francisco
For tickets:
Up to May 1: Call Magic Theatre Box Office at (415) 441-8222
May 2-3: In person at the Roxie Cinema
Easily accessible by BART and Muni. Parking available at 45
Hoff Street.
In November 2000 the Magic Theatre produced
the world premiere of The Late Henry Moss directed
by Sam Shepard, starring Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson,
James Gammon, and Sheila Tousey. The play tells the story
of two long-estranged brothers reunited in New Mexico by the
death of their alcoholic father. Michael Almereyda’s
film follows the three weeks of rehearsals leading up to opening
night, interspersed with reflections by Sam Shepard on his
life, writing, and his own father’s death from alcoholism.
The all-star cast contributes insight on acting and personal
stories.
Michael Almereyda received a Special Citation
from the National Society of Film Critics in 1993, his film
The Rocking Horse Winner won the Golden Starfish
Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 1997,
and his film Another Girl, Another Planet won the
Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film
Festival in 1992. His films have been Official Selections
at the Toronto, Chicago, Sundance, Cannes, and Rotterdam International
Film Festivals (among others), as well as the New Directors/New
Films Series at the Museum of Modern Art in New York
Larry Eilenberg was Artistic Director
of Magic Theatre for five years, and is professor at San Francisco
State University.
One of the stars of David Mamet’s Dr. Faustus
brings his highly-acclaimed solo show to the Magic.
UNCLE JACQUES’ SYMPHONY
written and performed by Dominic Hoffman
original music by Billy Mitchell
SIX PERFORMANCES ONLY!
March 21, 22, 28, 29; April 4, 5
Sunday and Monday evenings at 8pm
“Where there is music, there is life…”
This tour-de-force one-man show takes you
on a theatrical journey through a landscape of characters
woven together with the spontaneity of a jazz riff. Winner
of 2 Los Angeles Ovation Awards (best writer and best lead
actor) and Best of San Francisco Fringe 2002.
“Funny, wise, and utterly captivating.
Not to be missed.” – SF Examiner
Order
your tickets online or call (415) 441-8822.
Tickets are $25. Student, senior and educator
discounts available over the phone.
Sam Shepard Theatre – Building
D, Fort Mason Center, SF
Sunday, March 7, 2004 at 4:30pm
Experts discuss the different reincarnations
of the Faust legend in literature and the performing arts.
The panel will take place immediately following the matinee
performance of David Mamet’s Dr. Faustus, and
is free and open to the public.
Panelists include Jungian scholar Dr. John
Beebe, San Francisco Opera Musical Administrator Dr. Clifford
Cranna, and Dr. Volker Langbehn of San Francisco State University
German Department.
Location:
Sam Shepard Theatre
Landmark Building D, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
Tickets: No need for reservations.
DR. JOHN BEEBE, Jungian
analyst and psychiatrist in practice in San Francisco, is
the immediate past President of the C. G. Jung Institute of
San Francisco. His most recent publication is Terror,
Violence, and the Impulse to Destroy: Perspectives from Analytical
Psychology (Daimon Publishers, 2003). An internationally
recognized clinical teacher of Jungian psychology, he has
lectured throughout the United States and in Europe. He is
the author of the book Integrity in Depth, a study of the
archetype of moral wholeness, and he is particularly interested
in the way an understanding how our integrity gets compromised
in our dealings with others. A frequently discussant of movies
from a Jungian angle, Dr. Beebe looks at dramatic productions
from the psychological point of view.
DR. CLIFFORD CRANNA is
the Musical Administrator of the San Francisco Opera, where
he has been a member of the administrative staff since 1979
and is an integral player for SF Opera’s Faust Project
. He received his undergraduate degree in choral conducting
at the University of North Dakota, and his Ph.D. degree in
musicology at Stanford University, where he specialized in
Renaissance and Baroque music history and theory.
As Musical Administrator, he has overall
responsibility for scheduling the San Francisco Opera's seasons;
he coordinates the work of the music staff, librarians, orchestra
personnel, and backstage musical activity; he oversees rehearsal
activities and schedules; he acts as liaison with conductors
and directors regarding all musical matters, participates
in union negotiations, and coordinates the commissioning and
development of new works. These have included the operas Esther
(1993) by Hugo Weisgall, The Dangerous Liaisons (1994)
by Conrad Susa and Philip Littell, Harvey Milk (1996)
by Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie, Gethsemane Park
(1988) by Carman Moore and Ishmael Read, A Streetcar Named
Desire (1998) by André Previn and Philip Littell,
Dead Man Walking (2000) by Jake Heggie and Terence
McNally, Earthrise by Lewis Spratlan and Constance
Congdon, and the upcoming Doctor Atomic (2005) by
John Adams and Peter Sellars. He also acts as staff musicologist
and as editor-in-chief of the company's "supertitles."
He is a frequent guest lecturer throughout
Northern California in the field of music appreciation, and
has presented programs for such groups as the San Francisco
Symphony, the Commonwealth Club of California, the Wagner
Society, the Performing Arts Library and Museum, the National
Opera Association, and the alumni groups of Stanford, Yale,
and Columbia. He often serves as a speaker or moderator for
programs presented by the San Francisco Opera and the Opera
Center, and is a regular host of the Opera Insights presented
by the Opera Guild.
DR. VOLKER LANGBEHN has
studied at the University of Hamburg, University of California,
Los Angeles, and Cornell University, where he received a Masters
of Science degree in 1989 in Education. He went on to study
at the University of Minnesota and received his M.A. and Ph.D.
in German Literature with a minor concentration in Comparative
Literature. His interests include German Literature from 1700-1820;
1890-present, theory of literature; history of aesthetic theory,
and cultural criticism. Mr. Langbehn has published articles
on the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, the East German
writer Christa as well as other prominent German authors.
He has just published his first book entitled Arno Schmidt's
Zettels Traum: An Analysis (Camden House Publishers).
Mr. Langbehn has been a Visiting Assistant Professor of German
at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Since Fall 2002 he
is Assistant Professor of German at San Francisco State University
teaching undergraduate and graduate classes in German Language
and Literatures. His next book project, which is in an advanced
stage, centers around one broad question: What is “German”?
The departure point of his inquiry is the founding of Germany
as a nation state in 1871. To address this question of what
is German, Dr. Langbehn will analyze various forms of representation—literature,
painting, German law, and official representations of the
nation (e.g. flags). Dr. Langbehn’s project will illustrate
how artists and lawmakers define the border between “German”
and “foreign.”
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Celebrated artist Raymond Saunders
creates an original painting for Dr. Faustus
“We’ve been waiting three years
for you to walk through that door,” said Richard Lang,
one of the owners of Trillium Press in Burlingame, upon meeting
Chris Smith and other members of the Magic Theatre staff.
“You see, we had this idea, right around the time the
Moulin Rouge movie came out, that we could create fine-art
theatre broadsides in the tradition of Toulouse-Lautrec...”
The gallery at Trillium is hung with vibrant,
fine-art reproductions of works by contemporary painters,
photographers, and printmakers; venture into the shop and
you are surrounded by works-in-progess in a kaleidoscope of
colors and media. Trillium is pushing the centuries-old tradition
of print-making into the digital age, combining the finest
papers and inks with cutting-edge technology, to create new
approaches to generating and reproducing works of art.
So why were they so happy to meet the Magic?
David Mamet, author of Dr. Faustus,
has had a long-time artistic collaboration with the celebrated
Bay Area painter Raymond Saunders, since Saunders created
the cover art for the published version of Glengarry Glen
Ross in 1984. At Mamet’s suggestion, Saunders created
a new work of art inspired by the script of Dr. Faustus. The
original is a highly-textured, 54” square, paint-and-collage
artwork, which is “excerpted” for the poster,
postcard, and program cover of the Magic Theatre production
of the play.
For Richard Lang of Trillium, the triangle
of David Mamet, Raymond Saunders, and Magic Theatre possessed
the perfect synergy to launch his “broadsides”
concept. Using digital imaging, Trillium incorporated the
name of the theatre and some production information into Saunders’
painting, and produce a limited edition of ten multiples using
an innovative textured-printing technique. Next, Saunders
visited the print studio, and added further paint and collage
to each of the individual reproductions. The result is a limited
edition of ten art works, each unique but each based on a
master image.
Trillium Press will donate 100% of the
net profits from the sale of the reproductions.
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Excerpt from full article published in The New York
Times on 2/22/04
Please
click here for full article on www.nytimes.com.
OMAR METWALLY
Actor, "Sixteen Wounded"
When Omar Metwally read the script for "Sixteen
Wounded," he says, his first thought was "Oh, no,
not another portrait of an Arab terrorist." Set in Amsterdam
in the early 1990's, the drama, which opens April 15 at the
Walter Kerr Theater, is about, among other things, the relationship
between a Jewish Holocaust survivor, Hans, and a radical Palestinian
medical student, Mahmoud, whose parents were killed by Israeli
soldiers.
As the son of an Egyptian father and a Dutch mother, Mr. Metwally,
29, is upset at the way American popular culture perpetuates
stereotypes about Arabs. "But I read the script again
and mulled it over and ultimately felt that this character
was very complex," he said, sitting in a Park Slope diner
near his apartment. "There were things that troubled
me, but also things that excited me."
After taking the part, Mr. Metwally, who
has chiseled features and a slight build, expressed his reservations
to the playwright, Eliam Kraiem, 30, who is also making his
Broadway debut. "He said, `Why does this character have
to hate Jews?' " said Mr. Kraiem, the son of an Israeli
father and an American mother. "I'd have to justify it
to him and in the play. Nobody had challenged me like that
before. It was good for me."
"Sixteen Wounded" is the rare
play that attempts to understand what drives a terrorist to
commit crimes, and this is ultimately why it appealed to Mr.
Metwally. "Mahmoud is a young man who grew up under extraordinarily
difficult circumstances and experienced lots of pain that
informed the course of his life," he said. "Some
people want no part of that. Giving a terrorist the slightest
bit of humanity is an affront. It's easier to see them as
less than human."
Mr. Metwally, a member of the Rude Mechanicals
company as well as Nibras, a troupe of Arab-American actors,
received glowing reviews for his performance when the play
had its premiere last year at the Long Wharf Theater in New
Haven. The Broadway production, directed by Garry Hynes, will
have a tightened script and a mostly new cast, including Martha
Plimpton, Jan Maxwell and Judd Hirsch as the baker.
While the play's portrayal of a terrorist
will undoubtedly receive the most attention, Mr. Metwally
insists that the politics are just a backdrop to a character
study, a consideration of how people respond when their identity
is threatened. "We are intending to put human beings
onstage," he said. "Human beings with many sides.
Some of which are likable, some of which are not."
Mr. Metwally remains a bit sensitive about
the way his role is characterized. He'd prefer not to call
Mahmoud a terrorist, even though he murders people in an act
of political protest. "As an actor, I find that term
is only useful as something to question or deconstruct,"
he said.
Even though he says that he likes Mahmoud,
Mr. Metwally says that portraying this troubled man is not
always easy. "You try to cultivate a sense of empathy
but ultimately you have to wrap your mind around what he does,
and that's difficult," Mr. Metwally said.
STEPHEN BELBER
Playwright, "Match"
Stephen Belber is the kind of emerging playwright
who usually gets swallowed up by television and Hollywood.
He writes cracklingly funny dialogue, tricky plots and the
kind of vaguely threatening average guys who would be perfect
for Nicolas Cage or Ed Norton. Mr. Belber also knows how to
hit a deadline, and may be the only playwright in New York
who says he has never experienced writer's block.
So when he signed on to work for the 1999
season of "Law and Order," it seemed like the same
old story — yet another promising playwright lured away
from the stage. But, as in so many of Mr. Belber's plays,
there's a twist. He says that he never showed much interest
in such formulaic work, refusing even to move out to Los Angeles
to join the rest of the staff. After a year and a half, Mr.
Belber's experiment with writing for series television was
over and he would soon start writing for the theater again.
He returns to the stage this spring with "Match."
Starring Ray Liotta and Frank Langella, Mr. Belber's Broadway
debut opens April 8 at the Plymouth Theater.
Mr. Belber, 36, says he plans on staying
in both theater and television. "I'm a multitasker,"
he said in the writing room he rents near Times Square. Besides
"Match," he has a world premiere called "Drifting
Elegant," opening at the Magic Theater in San Francisco
on May 1, and is working on a political drama about an exonerated
death row inmate who runs for office. He also has three screenplays
and teleplays in development.
Growing up in the Washington area, Mr. Belber
was initially interested in politics and briefly worked as
a reporter for the Saudi Arabian Press Agency. But he eventually
tired of journalism — and, after a failed stint as a
novelist, turned to the theater.
Early in his career, Mr. Belber, who has
the mischievous smile of a man who has outgrown a wild youth,
wrote and performed Eric Bogosian-style solo shows with names
like "Eclectic Mulatto Moondance." "It was
me thinking I was smarter than I was," he said.
He went on to write small-scale thrillers
that often explored the roots of a dark incident from the
past. "Tape," which concerns a reunion gone wrong
of high school buddies, was his biggest hit. Richard Linklater
made it into a film in 2001 starring Ethan Hawke and Robert
Sean Leonard. "Match," like "Tape," is
a three-character suspense story in which the truth can be
elusive. In fact, there are so many surprises that the playwright
and his producers are loath to reveal much more than its setup:
a couple from Seattle visit a lonely dance instructor from
Juilliard (Mr. Langella) to interview him for a dissertation.
"It's about worlds colliding and conflicting responsibilities,"
Mr. Belber said.
"It's not as scandalous as his previous
plays," said Michael Rego of the Araca Group, which is
helping to produce it, "and it's his most structurally
sound."
Mr. Belber agrees. "I'm older, I got
married," he said. "I've gone to those dark places
over the last 10 years to get at something truthful, but maybe
as I've learned to write a little more, I don't need to go
so dark."
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Winners include Edna O’Brien for Best Original Script,
Kurt Landisman for Best Lighting (Triptych), and
Josh Kornbluth for Best Solo Performance. Magic Theatre had
received a total of 8 nominations: Magic Theatre’s smash
hit world premiere production of Edna O’Brien’s
Triptych got 6 nominations for this year’s
Bay Area Critics Circle Awards, including best drama. Last
season’s Blue Surge and Love & Taxes
also got recognized with 1 nomination each.
The list for all of the Magic’s nominations
was as follows:
TRIPTYCH
Best Entire Production, Drama
Best Original Script – Edna O’Brien
Best Director – Paul Whitworth
Best Principal Performance, Female – Julia Brothers
Best Principal Performance, Female – Lise Bruneau
Best Light Design – Kurt Landisman
LOVE & TAXES
Best Solo Performance – Josh Kornbluth
BLUE SURGE
Best Supporting Performance, Male – Darren Bridgett
Full list of winners and nominations
for 2003 are available on the Theatre
Bay Area website.
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Loretta Greco, Artistic Director
Trillium
press – A New Fine Arts Partner