L.A.'s Downtown Arts District Space
"New Works by Murray Mednick" inaugurates Padua Playwrights Masters Tribute Series
Padua Playwrights presents three full-length world premieres of works by Los Angeles-based playwright Murray Mednick. The collectively titled "New Works by Murray Mednick" opens an annual tribute series featuring Padua-based playwrights in a limited run at Art Share L.A. in Downtown Los Angeles
Previews begin March 19, opens March 26 and runs through April 19.
Mednick's lyricism combines vaudevillian wordplay to examine the relationship between the creative and destructive aspects of human existence––a common thread in the three productions. "Clown Show for Bruno" (produced by Padua Playwrights and directed by Guy Zimmerman); "The Destruction of the Fourth World" (produced by Zoo District and directed by Kristi Schultz and Brian Frette), and Padua Lab's new film adaptation of Mednick's play "Girl on a Bed" (adapted for the screen and directed by Guy Zimmerman).
"Clown Show for Bruno" is Mednick's homage to Polish writer/artist Bruno Schultz. When Nazis occupy 1939 Poland, Schulz is enslaved by a Nazi officer and forced to paint fairy tale figures on the bedroom walls of the officers's son. Schulz is then caught in a feud between his protector Felix Landau and another Nazi official, then shot dead on the streets of his home town on by Landau's rival; an act of revenge against the man who "owned" him.
Written in the fast-paced rhythms of the Yiddish theater, "Clown Show for Bruno" uses clowning, masks, and mime to tell Schulz's story.
Padua artistic director Guy Zimmerman will direct Bill Celentano, Kali Quinn, Daniel A. Stein and Dana Wieluns, all trained in physical theater. Celentano, Quinn, and Wieluns are graduates of The Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, CA. Stein was a principle instructor at that same school for ten years, and in Fall will be the Director of Movement and Physical Theatre for the Brown University/Trinity Repertory Theatre Consortium.
"The play is based on a true story, but it's not a biography," says playwright Mednick. "It's a work of empathy, inspired by Bruno's life and work. It's as much about me as it is about him. I feel a personal connection, a kinship with Bruno."
"The Destruction of the Fourth World": Ancient Native American trickster Coyote is readying for the end of the world with a line accomplice, a 13-year old boy from a dysfunctional Jewish family. Kristi Schultz and Brian Frette direct Kim Fitzgerald (Zoo District's Top Girls, Ensemble Studio Theatre's Underground Soap); Laura James (Zoo District's Ms. Furr and Ms. Skeene, a one woman portrait of Gertrude Stein); Chicago native Scott Victor Nelson (2003 School of Steppenwolf alumni); Kelly Van Kirk (Zoo District's The Submission and The Defenders), Michael Shamus Wiles (a regular in film and TV, including Magnolia; Transformers; AI; X Files; and Malcolm in the Middle, who has worked often with both Padua Playwrights and Zoo District), and Yvette Wulff (a performing member of L.A.'s Pennington Dance Group).
Playing 13-year old Bernie is Mike Lion, currently enrolled at the Los Angeles County High School for the Performing Arts (LACHSA).
" 'The Destruction of the Fourth World' is funny, moving and wise - the work of a master at the top of his form," says Zimmerman. "One of Padua's goals moving forward is to partner with other cutting-edge theater companies to produce new plays by Padua playwrights. Zoo District, with their highly kinetic approach to staging and their rigor and precision, is a natural fit for Murray's use of tight, syncopated dialogue."
'We were attracted to the rhythm and poetic imagery in Murray's language and the possibilities for staging and fleshing out some very juicy characters," adds Schultz.
"Girl on a Bed": The new film is based on Mednick's play "Girl on a Bed" and adapted for the screen and directed by Zimmerman. "Girl on a Bed" tells the story of the death of a high school girl who walks fearlessly into lethal realms of pornography and drugs. When first premiered at the Electric Lodge in 2005, The Los Angeles Times called it "a moving vehicle to convey [Mednick's] own despair at our culture's soul-sickness," and The LA Weekly found it "a haunted and haunting evening that tells us our lives are often not about us, but other people."
Set Design for "New Works by Murray Mednick" is by Matt Aston, and Lighting Design is by Dan Reed.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Best known as the founder of the Padua Hills Playwrights Workshop/Festival (1978-1995), Murray Mednick is the recipient of two Rockefeller Foundation grants, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an OBIE, several Bay Area Critics Awards, two LA Weekly Playwriting Awards (for Dictator and Fedunn), the American Theater Critics Association/Steinberg New Play Citation (for Joe and Betty), an Ovation Lifetime Achievement Award from Theatre LA for outstanding contributions to Los Angeles Theatre, a Local Hero Garland Award from Back Stage West for a Distinguished Body of Work, a Career Achievement Award from the LA Weekly, and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's most prestigious honor, The Margaret Harford Award for "Sustained Excellence in Theater."
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Mednick was for many years a playwright-in-residence at New York's Theatre Genesis, which presented all of his early work (The Hawk, The Deer Kill, The Hunter, Sand, Are You Lookin'?, and others). Plays produced since then include Iowa and Blessings (for the PBS series "Visions"), The Coyote Cycle, Taxes, Scar, Heads, Shatter 'N Wade, Fedunn, Switchback, Skinwalkers, Baby Jesus!, Dictator, Freeze, G-nome, and the first three of his septet of plays, The Gary Plays.
Padua Playwrights is committed to the exploration of the spoken word and its myriad connections to the possibility of real meaning. Steven Leigh Morris, editor of the LA Weekly, wrote, "The Padua playwrights embody a true voice of L.A. The group's shared aesthetic is comprised of elliptical structures, lean poetical repartee, and comical Beckettian juxtapositions that speak to the soul of the place: the hubris of wealth and celebrity against the desert's belittling grandeur."
Zoo District is a theater ensemble that fuses innovation and physical virtuosity with entertainment, feeding both artists and audiences hungry for compelling language, images, music and action.
New Works by Murray Mednick
Previews: March 19-22
Performances: March 26-April 19
March 26 through April 19.
Art Share L.A
801 East 4th Place
Los Angeles CA 90013
TICKETS:
Single admission: $20
Previews: $15
Clown Show for Bruno:
Directed by Guy Zimmerman
With Bill Celentano, Kali Quinn, Daniel A. Stein, Dana Wieluns
Produced by Padua Playwrights
• Thursdays at 8 pm: March 19 (preview), 26 (Press Opening); April 2, 9, 16
• Fridays at 8 pm (except March 27): March 20 (preview); April 3, 10, 17
• Saturdays at 5 pm: March 21 (preview), 28; April 4, 11, 18
• Sunday at 8 pm: March 29
The Destruction of the Fourth World:
Directed by Kristi Schultz and Brian Frette
With Kim Fitzgerald, Laura James, Mike Lion, Scott Victor Nelson, Kelly Van Kirk, Michael Shamus Wiles, Yvette Wulff
Produced by Zoo District
• Friday at 8 pm: March 27 (Press Opening)
• Saturdays at 8 pm: March 21 (preview), 28; April 4, 11, 18
• Sundays at 8 pm (except March 29): March 22 (preview); April 5, 12, 19
Girl on a Bed
A film by Guy Zimmerman
Produced by Padua Lab
• Saturdays at 10 pm: March 28 (Press Opening); April 4, 11, 18
HOW:
(213) 625-1766 or www.paduaplaywrights.net
Previews begin March 19, opens March 26 and runs through April 19.
Mednick's lyricism combines vaudevillian wordplay to examine the relationship between the creative and destructive aspects of human existence––a common thread in the three productions. "Clown Show for Bruno" (produced by Padua Playwrights and directed by Guy Zimmerman); "The Destruction of the Fourth World" (produced by Zoo District and directed by Kristi Schultz and Brian Frette), and Padua Lab's new film adaptation of Mednick's play "Girl on a Bed" (adapted for the screen and directed by Guy Zimmerman).
"Clown Show for Bruno" is Mednick's homage to Polish writer/artist Bruno Schultz. When Nazis occupy 1939 Poland, Schulz is enslaved by a Nazi officer and forced to paint fairy tale figures on the bedroom walls of the officers's son. Schulz is then caught in a feud between his protector Felix Landau and another Nazi official, then shot dead on the streets of his home town on by Landau's rival; an act of revenge against the man who "owned" him.
Written in the fast-paced rhythms of the Yiddish theater, "Clown Show for Bruno" uses clowning, masks, and mime to tell Schulz's story.
Padua artistic director Guy Zimmerman will direct Bill Celentano, Kali Quinn, Daniel A. Stein and Dana Wieluns, all trained in physical theater. Celentano, Quinn, and Wieluns are graduates of The Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, CA. Stein was a principle instructor at that same school for ten years, and in Fall will be the Director of Movement and Physical Theatre for the Brown University/Trinity Repertory Theatre Consortium.
"The play is based on a true story, but it's not a biography," says playwright Mednick. "It's a work of empathy, inspired by Bruno's life and work. It's as much about me as it is about him. I feel a personal connection, a kinship with Bruno."
"The Destruction of the Fourth World": Ancient Native American trickster Coyote is readying for the end of the world with a line accomplice, a 13-year old boy from a dysfunctional Jewish family. Kristi Schultz and Brian Frette direct Kim Fitzgerald (Zoo District's Top Girls, Ensemble Studio Theatre's Underground Soap); Laura James (Zoo District's Ms. Furr and Ms. Skeene, a one woman portrait of Gertrude Stein); Chicago native Scott Victor Nelson (2003 School of Steppenwolf alumni); Kelly Van Kirk (Zoo District's The Submission and The Defenders), Michael Shamus Wiles (a regular in film and TV, including Magnolia; Transformers; AI; X Files; and Malcolm in the Middle, who has worked often with both Padua Playwrights and Zoo District), and Yvette Wulff (a performing member of L.A.'s Pennington Dance Group).
Playing 13-year old Bernie is Mike Lion, currently enrolled at the Los Angeles County High School for the Performing Arts (LACHSA).
" 'The Destruction of the Fourth World' is funny, moving and wise - the work of a master at the top of his form," says Zimmerman. "One of Padua's goals moving forward is to partner with other cutting-edge theater companies to produce new plays by Padua playwrights. Zoo District, with their highly kinetic approach to staging and their rigor and precision, is a natural fit for Murray's use of tight, syncopated dialogue."
'We were attracted to the rhythm and poetic imagery in Murray's language and the possibilities for staging and fleshing out some very juicy characters," adds Schultz.
"Girl on a Bed": The new film is based on Mednick's play "Girl on a Bed" and adapted for the screen and directed by Zimmerman. "Girl on a Bed" tells the story of the death of a high school girl who walks fearlessly into lethal realms of pornography and drugs. When first premiered at the Electric Lodge in 2005, The Los Angeles Times called it "a moving vehicle to convey [Mednick's] own despair at our culture's soul-sickness," and The LA Weekly found it "a haunted and haunting evening that tells us our lives are often not about us, but other people."
Set Design for "New Works by Murray Mednick" is by Matt Aston, and Lighting Design is by Dan Reed.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Best known as the founder of the Padua Hills Playwrights Workshop/Festival (1978-1995), Murray Mednick is the recipient of two Rockefeller Foundation grants, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an OBIE, several Bay Area Critics Awards, two LA Weekly Playwriting Awards (for Dictator and Fedunn), the American Theater Critics Association/Steinberg New Play Citation (for Joe and Betty), an Ovation Lifetime Achievement Award from Theatre LA for outstanding contributions to Los Angeles Theatre, a Local Hero Garland Award from Back Stage West for a Distinguished Body of Work, a Career Achievement Award from the LA Weekly, and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's most prestigious honor, The Margaret Harford Award for "Sustained Excellence in Theater."
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Mednick was for many years a playwright-in-residence at New York's Theatre Genesis, which presented all of his early work (The Hawk, The Deer Kill, The Hunter, Sand, Are You Lookin'?, and others). Plays produced since then include Iowa and Blessings (for the PBS series "Visions"), The Coyote Cycle, Taxes, Scar, Heads, Shatter 'N Wade, Fedunn, Switchback, Skinwalkers, Baby Jesus!, Dictator, Freeze, G-nome, and the first three of his septet of plays, The Gary Plays.
Padua Playwrights is committed to the exploration of the spoken word and its myriad connections to the possibility of real meaning. Steven Leigh Morris, editor of the LA Weekly, wrote, "The Padua playwrights embody a true voice of L.A. The group's shared aesthetic is comprised of elliptical structures, lean poetical repartee, and comical Beckettian juxtapositions that speak to the soul of the place: the hubris of wealth and celebrity against the desert's belittling grandeur."
Zoo District is a theater ensemble that fuses innovation and physical virtuosity with entertainment, feeding both artists and audiences hungry for compelling language, images, music and action.
New Works by Murray Mednick
Previews: March 19-22
Performances: March 26-April 19
March 26 through April 19.
Art Share L.A
801 East 4th Place
Los Angeles CA 90013
TICKETS:
Single admission: $20
Previews: $15
Clown Show for Bruno:
Directed by Guy Zimmerman
With Bill Celentano, Kali Quinn, Daniel A. Stein, Dana Wieluns
Produced by Padua Playwrights
• Thursdays at 8 pm: March 19 (preview), 26 (Press Opening); April 2, 9, 16
• Fridays at 8 pm (except March 27): March 20 (preview); April 3, 10, 17
• Saturdays at 5 pm: March 21 (preview), 28; April 4, 11, 18
• Sunday at 8 pm: March 29
The Destruction of the Fourth World:
Directed by Kristi Schultz and Brian Frette
With Kim Fitzgerald, Laura James, Mike Lion, Scott Victor Nelson, Kelly Van Kirk, Michael Shamus Wiles, Yvette Wulff
Produced by Zoo District
• Friday at 8 pm: March 27 (Press Opening)
• Saturdays at 8 pm: March 21 (preview), 28; April 4, 11, 18
• Sundays at 8 pm (except March 29): March 22 (preview); April 5, 12, 19
Girl on a Bed
A film by Guy Zimmerman
Produced by Padua Lab
• Saturdays at 10 pm: March 28 (Press Opening); April 4, 11, 18
HOW:
(213) 625-1766 or www.paduaplaywrights.net
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