TWO RIVER THEATER COMPANY
as part of its Centennial Festival honoring Samuel Beckett
Sponsored in part by Monmouth University and
Lucas Capital Management, LLC
Presents Beckett’s Masterwork,
“Waiting For Godot”
Directed by Seth Barrish
Featuring John Ahlin, Chet Carlin, Brian Gilbert,
Keith Jochim, and Allen Lewis Rickman
March 16 through April 2
RED BANK, NJ, March 6, 2006 – Two River Theater Company, under the leadership of Executive Producer Robert Rechnitz and Artistic Director Jonathan Fox, presents Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett’s heartbreaking and hilarious masterwork depicting the eternal search for meaning in a meaningless world. The production runs from March 16 through April 2, and is part of a three-week festival celebrating the life and work of the literary giant.
The centerpiece of this one-of-a-kind festival, Waiting for Godot, is directed by Seth Barrish, and features John Ahlin, Chet Carlin, Brian Gilbert, Keith Jochim and Allen Lewis Rickman. The official press opening is Saturday, March 18, at 8pm.
Widely praised as the most influential play of the second half of the twentieth century, Waiting for Godot is at once an existential vaudeville, an anatomy of a marriage, a plea for resistance, and a philosophical meditation on being in the world. Set in a ravaged and remote landscape dotted by a single tree, Godot centers on a day in the life of two bewildered and embattled friends––Vladimir (John Ahlin) and Estragon (Keith Jochim) ––as they argue, reconcile, tell tall tales, reminisce, contemplate suicide, and otherwise occupy their time, all the while waiting for the appearance of the mysterious Mr. Godot, who seems to hold their future in his hands.
The cast of Waiting for Godot features John Ahlin, last seen at Two River in Accidental Death of an Anarchist, who portrays Vladimir. Ahlin recently starred Off-Broadway as Orson Welles in Austin Pendleton’s Orson’s Shadow. Making his TRTC debut is Keith Jochim as Estragon, Vladimir's mirthful partner in waiting. Jochim recently performed an Off-Broadway run of Charles Grodin’s new play, The Right Kind of People. Allen Lewis Rickman portrays Pozzo, a proud and tyrannical master who, along with his slave Lucky (Chet Carlin), interrupts the vigil for Godot. Rounding out the cast is ten year-old Brian Gilbert, who portrays the role of the Boy.
The design team for Waiting for Godot includes Harry Feiner (sets), Moe Schell (costumes), Aaron Copp (lights), and Darren Reid Sussman (sound).
The Beckett Centennial Festival that includes Waiting for Godot will take place from March 16 – April 2 and is sponsored in part by Monmouth University. Festival events will include a series of one-act plays, art presentations, lectures, panel discussions, films and concerts and will feature notable guests Edward Albee, Olympia Dukakis and Barney Rosset. Events will be held at Two River Theater in Red Bank and on Monmouth University’s campus in West Long Branch. For a complete listing of events click here.
Considered the greatest success of Samuel Beckett’s career, Waiting for Godot premiered on January 5, 1953, at the tiny Theatre de Babylone in Paris. Although critics labeled Godot ‘the strange little play in which nothing happens,’ it gradually became a success through strong word of mouth and eventually ran for 400 performances. Since then, Godot has been produced the world over and translated into more than 20 languages. Beckett’s additional works include the plays Endgame, Krapp’s Last Tape, Happy Days, Ends and Odds: Nine Dramatic Pieces, and the novels and collections Malloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, How It Is, Watt, and Stories and Texts for Nothing. The critic John Calder once wrote, "not only is Beckett one of the greatest seminal figures in the arts of the 20th century, but he is probably the greatest writer of his time with a message of humanity and decency that is much needed in this selfish age."
Playwright Samuel Beckett changed the way we see the world -- and changed the way the world sees theater. He is acknowledged as one of the most important and visionary writers of the 20th century, one whose stark depictions of human isolation captured the spirit of a rapidly-changing, chaotic world. A towering figure of modern drama, Beckett was born April 13, 1906. Beginning with his first professionally produced play, Waiting for Godot, in 1953, Beckett continually broke through theatrical convention to create stunning, comical, and agonizing portraits of the human animal grappling with his existence. He wrote increasingly condensed and spare plays and in the process influenced dozens of contemporary playwrights, including Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Edward Albee, and David Mamet. In 1969, Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He died in Paris in 1989.
Two River Theater Company, under the direction of Executive Producer Robert M. Rechnitz and Artistic Director Jonathan Fox, was founded in 1994 as Monmouth County's first professional regional theater in 30 years. Two River’s mission is to perform from the world body of dramatic literature, including new works, those plays which most richly direct our gaze to the life of the human spirit in all of its shifting modes, its thought, its suffering, its passion, its joy and laughter. As one of New Jersey's leading regional theatres, Two River Theater Company, a not-for-profit arts organization, is supported in part by grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Dept. of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, in addition to contributions from many corporations, foundations, businesses and individuals. Two River Theater Company is a member of Theatre Communications Group and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Two River Theater Company, located at its new 350-seat, state-of-the-art theater at 21 Bridge Avenue in Red Bank, NJ, 07701, is easily accessible by car from New York City (60 min. from midtown), Philadelphia (75 minutes) and New Jersey via the Garden State Parkway (Exit 109). From NY’s Penn Station: NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast line offers nonstop service (approx. 90 minutes) from Manhattan to Red Bank on selected days and times, convenient for weekday matinees, evening performances and Saturday/Sunday performances. For further information call NJ Transit at 1-800-772-2222 or visit www.njtransit.com. Two River Theater Company is barrier-free and completely accessible to people with disabilities. Children under the age of 4 are not permitted into mainstage shows. Tickets/Information: Tickets $25 - $45. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. $15 student tickets available for any performance with current ID.
# # #
|
|
Home . About Us . Press Room
