Not About Kittens

A short from our new show “Pinky and Beta Read Roberts Rules of Order.” Technically, it is a short from “behind the show.”  We’re using shorts to develop the characters, to explore how they operate in a different environment. Pinky and Beta are the comic relief of the new show.  The expected characters who behave in unexpected ways.  They love meetings, especially board meetings, because of the social possibilities they offer. Except maybe not this time. A short from the world of our production “Pinky and Beta” Cast: Wow: Zoe Anastassiou Flutter: Kota Fudauchi

Life is a Dream.  It is a show about reality and consciousness, about how much we can trust our senses, about authority and domination, about loyalty and strength.  It is a disaster waiting to happen, a hero’s quest, and a love story (that ends in an unusual way). In its original version, it is also a 17th century play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca(1600-1681) That play is grounded in the context of the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, the 30 Years War, the Spanish Bourbons and and many other ideas that stand distant to our time. So we adapted it.  Moved it to modern Ireland.  Changed the castle to a high-tech startup.  Reversed the migration so that it moved from Poland to Western Europe rather than the other way around.  Turned the tortuous prison into a drug regime.  But we kept the love story just as it was written.  Mostly.  And the initial scene in the pouring rain.  It’s set in Ireland, afterall. So here is Calderón’s metaphysical insight filtered through modern eyes.  We suspect he would be appalled.  But he might have seen things differently if he had been born at the start of the 21st century rather than a half-millennia before. What is life? ’Tis but a madness. What is life? A mere illusion, Fleeting pleasure, fond delusion, Short-lived joy, that ends in sadness, Whose most constant substance seems But the dream of other dreams. Pedro Calderón de la Barca  

Second world war. Battle of the Bulge. Allied Troops pushed back by Germany’s last desperate offensive. Iin this environment, a group of daring entertainers travelled to the front to support the morale of tired soldiers.    They went to places where the USO would not go.  They often performed standing on the hood of a jeep. This story is told in the novel Jeep Show by Robert O’Connor.  This is an excerpt from that book. Cast:             Announcer: Michelle Thomas-Hanson             Narrator: Ron Bianchi             Adaptation and Sound Design: Hilbert Space

“The Closest I’ve Come to Death” How close is close? A desert.  A forgotten conflict.  A pair of lost souls. One trying to make a make as daring scientist.  The other trying to be forgotten as a loyal soldier.  Neither can get what they want nor can they fulfill the needs of the other. A story of science on the battlefield.  In a time fairly close to our own and in a place not that far away. Cast Margaux Ami – Sgt Emre Zoe Anastassiou –  Professor Alec Effson Debbon Ayer – Dr. Portillo Ron Bianchi – Major C. O Beason Jess Blackwell – Radio Voice 1 Monica Dakin – Seor Ana Deloret – Captain Celi Pritel Kota Fudauchi – Corporal Juma Amanda Garcia – Tano Geoffrey Grier – Major Geo Huber Josh LaForce – Major Eaton Willard Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Eta Tacqua & the Stage Manager Eric Ward – Radio Voice 2 Written and Produced by David Alan Grier Music and Sound Design by Hilbert Space with additional music from Alibi Music under license