You've been hearing about Our Town at the Intiman -- 206/269-1900 for tickets & info, under-25's only $10 -- our regional theatre doing sharp beautiful work on the classics.
Next month, I'll invite you to Next Step Theater's Rumors by Neil Simon -- a straight-up comedy/farce by a small community theatre that always sells out. Rumors will be a great ride, with slamming doors all 'round. This is the show Scott is cast in, and discusses in his blog.
Today I want to alert you to what I would call the fine wine of theatres -- Akropolis Performance Lab, and their upcoming Dream of a Ridiculous Man, opening just before Halloween, October 29, for only 9 performances. This is not your ordinary theatre. They devise the piece from scratch, not from a script. In many cases, they know the precise movement score before they know what text will go with it -- if any. Dream has been in rehearsal for 13 months.
Akropolis is a holder of the Grotowski lineage, and a pure one. A hallmark of Grotowski-lineage theatres is that the actors train year-round, in addition to rehearsing, to a very high physical and vocal level. Here are some pictures of Akropolis's physical training, to give you an idea.
Akropolis's work is physical, poetic, with lots of acapella singing. Hypnotic, beautiful, even at times horrifying. The space feels shiningly clean after they work. Very few theatres in the world are trained in this lineage, and all the people in Akropolis have fulltime jobs -- so it is only out of devotion that the theatre even exists.
They are not a big theatre. The troupe, which previously performed Macbeth, Song of Songs, Beautiful Treasures, Jeanne the Maid and Russian Opus No. 1, has 3 members currently. The space they perform in is small, in the same building as Freehold Theatre Labs. No fancy costumes or sets. Just actors who are given to their work like monks are given to theirs, for about the same reason & reward.
Akropolis is not a date-night theatre, unless your date loves dark bleak poetry. I'd say, come early in the run & check it out for yourself. If you like it, come back with your date or another kindred spirit. It's a cheap ticket -- $15 -- so you could see it twice, or three times even, for less than one show at the Rep. And if you like it, you will REALLY like it.
Me -- as soon as they started singing, they had me. Here are a couple photos from their last production, Jeanne the Maid.
Here are some excerpts about their current show. If you want the whole thing, email me and I'll send it to you.
Akropolis Performance Lab Premieres Original Work, Dream Of A Ridiculous Man, Adapted From The Canon Of Dostoevskii
Akropolis Performance Lab's (APL's) newest theatrical work, Dream Of A Ridiculous Man, explores the underground psychology of Feodor Dostoevskii and his fantastical world of religious mysteries, suicides, love triangles, murderers, and holy fools. This original piece with music premieres October 29 and runs through November 13 in The Chamber Theater.
Three people find themselves caught in a Dostoevskian dark night on the threshold between sanity and madness, reality and fantasy. Theirs is a life a trois, afflicted with emotional and spiritual anguish, that revolves around a murder and its repercussions. Fractured and kaleidoscopic, can the events of this vision be taken for reality, delusion, or diabolically inspired hallucination?
APL engages a lengthy generative process for all its original work, placing great demands upon the company's performers. This incarnation of Dream has been in-process for 13 months. As in all of APL’s work, the text, the song, and the action are inextricably linked. Only at the union of these elements is the story fully manifest. Striking physicality and stunning vocal music are hallmarks of any APL event. With music direction by APL Co-Artistic Director Jennifer Lavy, Dream of a Ridiculous Man demonstrates, once again, the powerful artistic range of APL's company members.
WHAT: Dream Of A Ridiculous Man, an original work adapted from Dostoevskii
WHO: Akropolis Performance Lab
WHERE: The Chamber Theater, 915 E. Pine Street (4th floor)
WHEN: October 29 and 30; November 4-7; and November 11-13. Curtain: 8 pm.
TICKETS: $15 general public, $12 students and senior citizens. Cash-only. Pay at the door. For group rates, call (206) 934-7905
SEATING: Seating is limited to 40 people per showing.
PERFORMERS: Jennifer Lavy, Joseph Lavy, and Eric Mayer
CONCEIVED AND DIRECTED BY: Joseph Lavy
MUSIC DIRECTOR: Jennifer Lavy
URL: www.geocities.com/akropolis_lab
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