In This Issue
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON IN THIS ISSUE OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2015 Title Page 2 Cast 3 About the Play 4 The Cast 10 The Creative Team 16 About Arizona Theatre Company 20 Board of Trustees 21 Artistic Director 22 Corporate and Foundation Donors 23 Individual Donors 24 Staff 30 Theatre Information 32 The Temple of Music and Art, the home of ATC shows in downtown Tucson 1 DAVID IRA GOLDSTEIN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DISGRACED BY AYAD AKHTAR David Ira Goldstein Director John Ezell Scenic Designer Kish Finnegan Costume Designer David Lee Cuthbert Lighting Designer Brian Jerome Peterson Sound Designer Brent Gibbs Fight Choreographer Elissa Myers Casting, Paul Fouquet, CSA Casting Glenn Bruner Production Stage Manager Timothy Toothman Assistant Stage Manager On this original Arizona Theatre Company production, the ATC Production Staff is responsible for scenic construction, costume construction, lighting, projections, sound, props, furniture, wigs, scene painting and special effects Disgraced was developed in part at the New Writers New Plays residency at Vineyard Arts Project (Ashley Melone, Founder and Artistic Director) New York Premiere Produced by Lincoln Center Theater, New York City, 2012 Original Broadway Production produced by The Araca Group, Lincoln Center Theater, Jennifer Evans, Amanda Watkins, Richard Winkler, Rodger Hess, Stephanie P Mcclelland, Tulchin/Bartner Productions, Jessica Genick, Jonathan Reinis, Carl Levin/Ashley De Simone/TNTDynaMite Productions, Alden Bergson/Rachel Weinstein, Greenleaf Productions, Darren Deverna/Jere Harris, and The Shubert Organization, The David Merrick Arts Foundation Disgraced had its world premiere in January 2012 at American Theater Company, Chicago, Illinois (PJ Paparelli, Artistic Director) Disgraced is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc , New York 2015/2016 SEASON SPONSORS: I. MICHAEL AND BETH KASSER COVER ART BY: Esser Design 2 FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE) Elijah Alexander Amir Allison Jean White Emily Vandit Bhatt Abe Richard Baird Isaac Nicole Lewis Jory The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. TIME: 2011-2012 SCENE 1: Late summer, 2011 SCENE 3: Three months later/Late fall SCENE 2: Two weeks later SCENE 4: Six months later/Spring PLACE: A spacious apartment on New York’s Upper East Side DISGRACED IS PERFORMED WITHOUT AN INTERMISSION. UNDERSTUDIES Sarah Ambrose Emily Rhetta Kampel Jory ADDITIONAL STAFF Emma DeVore Assistant to the Stage Manager Additional casting by ATC Artistic Staff. Arizona Theatre Company operates under agreements between the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States; Stage Directors and Choreographers, an independent national labor union; and United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE Cell phones and other devices that make a noise can greatly disturb your fellow audience members and the performer. PLEASE TURN THEM OFF before the performance. 3 FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON ABOUT THE PLAY By Katherine Monberg, Literary Associate Disgraced premiered at Chicago’s American Theater Company before moving on to Lincoln Center Theater in 2012, a vibrant playwriting debut for multi-talented playwright Ayad Akhtar, whose voice as a novelist, screenwriter and actor has been hailed as “a generous new voice in American fiction.” Born in New York City to Pakistani immigrants and raised in Milwaukee, Akhtar speaks to the multiple identities forged in and by the modern American melting pot, and the innumerable facets of Playwright Ayad Akhtar assumption, judgment, self-deception, and acceptance that underscore the contemporary social fabric of America. In Akhtar’s own words, “There are ways that the colonial history of the West is still playing out in the Muslim world. The events that comprise that history – a disgrace of native peoples – is still very much a part of our contemporary moment.” Akhtar identifies true and transparent engagement with the world as the crux of his narrative, seeking the “full engagement of the emotional and intellectual self” to provide the final necessary component to the “vital, living, tragic situation” that plays out in real time on the stage. Akhtar cites his own experiences growing up and navigating the complex identity politics of America as a spark of inspiration behind his writing: “In my early 30s, I started to realize I was avoiding something on a personal level, but also as a writer. I was in denial about who I was, and was trying to be someone I was not.” This journey of his own self-discovery led him to a new artistic understanding, one in which art is about engaging with the world around us rather than an abstract quest for self-expression. “All I did metaphorically was to turn and look over my shoulder at what I was running away from.” Also central to that self-knowledge were the events of September 11th and its immediate cultural aftermath. “Post-9/11, folks who looked like me became very visible,” says Akhtar. “Life changed. I and a lot of people like me felt differently after that. Like Amir, the fact of being Muslim, whether religious or cultural, became a significant fact that could not be avoided.” 4 FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON ABOUT THE PLAY Though conscious of the social and political forces that interweave within Disgraced, Akhtar also posits a determined awareness and aversion to sermonizing: “I can’t be a spokesman for anything other than my own concerns…and if I’m bringing any political awareness to that process, that mitigates my freedom” and detracts from the audience experience in which lies the power and impact of the piece. While the show illuminates traditions of representation and certain Islamophobic tropes, the sense of shared humanity is the heart and soul of the experience: the opportunity to share in complex perspectives that mirror the observable world. Akhtar identifies that mirror function as integral to the narrative and theatrical process: “One of the things that’s problematic to a lot of people is that some readings of the play seem to undermine other readings. My contention is that your reading of this play tells you a lot about yourself” and your place within the ongoing cultural and social dialogue. “It makes perfect sense to me that people would gravitate to whatever reading is going to help them. But ultimately it doesn’t really matter,” because there is a space for awareness, and conversation, that has been opened. According to Akhtar, “Art’s capacity to change the world is profoundly limited. But what it can do is change the way we see things individually” and “that kind of clear-eyed approach to reality is something for which I’m hoping the play can be a portal.” Bonnard: Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) was a French painter and printmaker, and a founding member of Les Nabis, a Post-Impressionist group of avant-garde painters. He preferred to create from memory, and his paintings are often described as having unusual vantage points, a dreamlike quality and featuring intimate domestic scenes. Constable: John Constable (1776-1837) was an English Romantic painter, known particularly for his landscape paintings of “Constable County,” officially known as Dedham Vale. His work was especially prominent in France, where his work inspired the Barbizon school of painters. Frieze Art Fair: An annual international contemporary art fair, established in 2003, and held in London’s Regent Park every October. Jerry Saltz: American art critic, Jerry Saltz (1951- ) was formerly the senior art critic for The Village Voice and has served since 2006 as senior art critic and columnist for New York Magazine. To date, he has received three nominations for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism. 5 FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON ABOUT THE PLAY Matisse: Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was a French artist, particularly known for his paintings and his use of color and fluid draughtsmanship, though he was also a notable printmaker and sculptor. His expressive style spanned fauvism, modernism and impressionism, and he is commonly regarded as one of the three artists to lend definition to the plastic arts at the beginning of the 20th century (along with Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp). Matisse is recognized as one of the greatest figures to influence modern art. The Met: New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the most-visited museums in the world and the largest art museum in the United States. Portrait of Juan de Pareja: Painting by Diego Velázquez (c. 1650) that depicts his assistant, painter Juan de Pareja. Juan de Pareja was born into slavery in Antequera, near Málaga, Spain, son to a slave and a Spanish father. He worked in Velazquez’s household and workshop until Velazquez’s death in 1660, ten years after he freed Pareja from slavery. Pareja then became assistant to painter Juan del Mazo until his own death in 1670. Renaissance: European period from the 14th to the 17th century that began in Italy in the Late Medieval period, largely considered to have functioned as a bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. The Renaissance introduced an intellectual focus on humanism, and applied new thinking to art, architecture, politics, science and literature. Velázquez’s Portrait of Juan de Pareja (c 1650) Artistically, linear perspective was developed during this period, in addition to techniques that achieved a more natural representation of reality than in previous eras. The Renaissance also contributed to scientific reliance on observation, the development of diplomacy, and a resurgence of learning philosophies derived from classical sources. 6 FEEL THE MOMENT 2015/2016 SEASON ABOUT THE PLAY The Tate: A network of four museums that are home to the U.K.’s national British art collection, as well as international modern and contemporary art.