Production History: ClassicsFest

First public exhibition of a project on which the Antaeus Company and Academy Company have been collaborating the past year. Charles Dickens uncovers a dark conspiracy of arson and murder in the chaotic world that was London in the 1830s. A sprawling epic with 35 actors portraying more than 130 characters.

Writer/film director Lynn’s new play tells the story of French titans Charles de Gaulle and Marshall Petain, and their professional and personal relationship.A fascinating drama of friendship and rivalry between the two giants of the 20th century France, set for it’s world premiere in London this fall.

Poems in My Pocket enjoyed a highly successful 3 years run in Los Angeles under the title Rants, Rhymes, and Lies at the Irish Arts Center, beginning in 1996. The show is completely improvisatory and changes every night. Different actors appear in each shoe, and each actor has memorized perhaps 15 to 20 poems (sometimes more!) and, within a thematic progression, they gather onstage to “converse” with each other in poetic language. The order of the poems is never set in advance, so no two shoes are ever the same—actors both rotate and bring in new poems all the time. The actors choose the poems themselves so our poetry cabaret becomes a glorious way for the actor to define and express himself or herself in verse.

Bartleby, the Scrivener is one of several explorations we have made into musical theatre short forms, and in particular the connection to the short story form. In Herman Melville’s tale we found an intriguing ambiguity and a surprising amount of humor, and have been please as our audiences respond to those same qualities. Those who haven’t thought of Bartleby since their school days may be surprised at how lively the story is and how modern it remains

“My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is peeling down the alley in a black and yellow Ford” — Folk Tune

This workshop production of “Twelfth Night” grew out of a reading of the play which Antaeus Academy Company did for the Met Theatre’s Shakespeare Marathon in October of 2003. And we didn’t choose the play, the play chose us. One of our members pulled the title from a hat, and we became responsible for the reading this last and most lyrical of Shakespeare’s high comedies. As we looked for a way into the play, we discovered that “Twelfth Night” draws a great Shakespeare’s high comedies. As we looked for a way into the play, we discovered that “Twelfth Night” draws a great deal of emotional and intellectual power from the conflict between love and time .

“What is love? ’Tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter;
What’s to come is still unsure. In delay there lies no plenty,
Then come kiss me sweet and twenty; Youth’s a stuff will not endure”

By the end of the play, some of the characters have found love in time, and other’s haven’t. And it’s the imperfections of this world that make “Twelfth Night” resonate so deeply. Like ours, it’s hilarious, poignant, sometimes savage world, and there are many people—Antonios and Malvolios—who lose. But with patience, time, and a little bit of luck, a few also manage to win.