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09.23.08

Theater Emory’s ‘08-‘09 Season Focuses on the “Search for Oneself – and for that Other”

Theater Emory’s 2008-2009 season focuses on the search for oneself and for that other with whom one can most easily be that self. “Identity is quite naturally one of the preeminent subjects of theater and that is what we do - create and explore identities,” explains Artistic Director, Tim McDonough, of the upcoming season. “By inviting these plays to talk to each other as the season unfolds, we will be searching for ourselves in very different worlds involving various dramatic strategies for exploring selfhood.”

The dynamic season opens with “The Comedy of David Ives,” (Oct. 2 -11, 2008), an evening of quirky comedies that focus on couples and communication, or miscommunication as is more often the case. The cast consists of Emory students in six short plays that will each be directed by a different Emory Theater faculty member including John Ammerman, Michael Evenden, Tim McDonough, Donald McManus, Mary Lynn Owen and Lisa Paulsen. “Ives is a master of comic structure and timing,” says McDonough. “It will be very good training; it’s an old truism among actors that tragedy is relatively easy compared to comedy.”

In November, Theater Emory will mount a production of “Don Juan Comes Back from the War,” a modern retelling of the classic Don Juan story by the rarely-staged Hungarian playwright, Ödön von Horváth (Nov. 13 – 23, 2008). Horváth’s Don Juan longs to reunite with his one true love, but must struggle against a cast of women who will not let him be anything other than the classic Don Juan. The cast combines Emory students with Atlanta area professionals Mirla Criste, James Donadio, Shannon Eubanks, Ellen McQueen and Mary Lynn Owen in a group that McDonough declares “would be an event on any stage in Atlanta, and it will happen here at Theater Emory.”

The spring 2009 semester kicks off with a month of exploratory workshops and new play readings as part of the biennial Brave New Works Festival (Feb. 2 - 22, 2009). The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory brings together Atlanta area actors and directors as well as playwrights from across the country for a month-long series of workshops and readings aimed at the creation and development of new works for the American stage. This year’s festival will include a reading of a new work by Thomas Gibbons and Matthew Maguire, the creation of an anthology of 10-minute plays by young nationwide playwrights and a collaborative project between the Atlanta-based company Out Of Hand Theater, playwright Ken Weitzman and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center as part of the Feb. 2009 “Emory Evolving Arts: New Works Festival,” which works with themes from the Oct. 2008 “Evolution Revolution: Science Changing Life” conference at Emory University. “Evolving Arts” is organized by the Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts and is co-sponsored by the Emory University Creativity & Arts Initiative ( www.creativity.emory.edu). The multi-week festival includes the work of nationally-known theater, dance, visual artists and writers who have been commissioned by the Center and Initiative.

The season closes with Henrik Ibsen’s modern classic “Peer Gynt” in an adaptation written and directed by Tim McDonough and staged on the set of a children’s playground (April 16 – 26, 2009). With a cast of Emory students and Atlanta professionals Hugh Adams, Janice Akers, Allan Edwards and Bryan Mercer, this makes “a truly creative and collaborative discovery of possibilities.” Of the lead character, McDonough explains, “Peer is an undeveloped self; he never grows up - even his last moment is childlike - and so it seems right that he never leaves the playground.” A fantastical world filled with mythical creatures and brimming with comic energy and boundless imagination serves as the backdrop for Peer’s pursuit for his dreams, his destiny and, ultimately, his one true self.

Season Calendar Listings

For tickets and information, contact the Arts at Emory Box Office at 404.727.5050, www.arts.emory.edu, or boxoffice@emory.edu. Please note that all evening performances, unless otherwise noted, begin at 7 p.m. and matinees begin at 2 p.m.

THEATER EMORY 2008-2009

“The Comedy of David Ives”
Funny Short Plays about Couples and Miscommunication
Oct. 2, 4, 8-11 at 7 p.m., Oct. 5 at 2 p.m. The Oct. 8, 7 p.m. performance is Pay-What-You-Can Night (only available at the door)
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Theater Lab
1700 N. Decatur Rd, Atlanta, GA 30322
$18; $14 discount category members; $6 Emory students
Written by David Ives. Directed by John Ammerman, Michael Evenden, Tim McDonough, Donald McManus, Mary Lynn Owen and Lisa Paulsen.

“Don Juan Comes Back from the War”
Nov. 13-15, 19-22 at 7 p.m., Nov. 16, 23 at 2 p.m. The Nov. 19 performance is Pay-What-You-Can Night (only available at the door)
Mary Gray Munroe Theater, Dobbs University Center, Coca-Cola Commons
605 Asbury Circle, Atlanta, GA 30322
$18; discount category members $14; Emory students $6
Written by Ödön von Horváth, directed by Janice Akers.

Brave News Works Festival
The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory
February 2-22, 2009
Free Admission at All Events
Please check our website or contact the Arts at Emory Box Office starting in Jan. 2009 for more information.

“Peer Gynt”
April 16-18, 22-25, 2009 at 7 p.m., April 19, 26 at 2 p.m. The April 22 performance is Pay-What-You-Can Night (only available at the door)
Mary Gray Munroe Theater, Dobbs University Center, Coca-Cola Commons
605 Asbury Circle, Atlanta, GA 30322
$18; category discount members $14; Emory students $6
Written by Henrik Ibsen. Adapted and directed by Tim McDonough.

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