Production History - Fall 2019

 

mud

Mud

By María Irene Fornés
Directed by BJ Dodge

September 12 – 29, 2019
Players Theater
A California Repertory Production

Hopeful, hard-working Mae lives in bleak rural poverty, but she is going to school, and plans to better her life through the refined magic of reading and arithmetic. Lloyd, who lives with Mae, spends his time caring a little too much for the farm animals; he scorns to learn from a book, and treats Mae with angry disrespect.

When Lloyd becomes ill, Mae goes searching for a diagnosis, and brings their simple, yet eloquent, neighbor Henry home with her, in order to help her read the difficult medical language. The ensuing love/hate triangle that brews between the three creates a toxic enviornment, and Mae, whose love and respect for Henry turns to impatience and resentment after an accident renders him helpless, determines that to escape the ill-luck of her life, she must escape the men who depend upon her.

in Mud, María Irene Fornés has created a stark and uncompromising drama, in which self-improvement is a wistful, far-off goal, and the bleak nature of every day life is impossible to escape, in the end.

 
 
hookman

 

Hookman

By Lauren Yee
Directed by Lisa Dring
 

September 26 –  October 6, 2019
Studio Theater
A California Repertory Production

Freshman year at college is hard when your roommate is weird, you're feeling homesick, and a hook-handed serial killer is slashing girls' throats. But if Lexi can discover what really happened to her high school best friend on that car ride to the movies, everything will be okay. In this existential slasher comedy, Lexi and her friends learn what it means to grow up - and it's not pretty.

RandJ

Romeo & Juliet: Hard Way Home

By William Shakespeare
With Music by Brandi Carlile
Directed by Beth Lopes

November 1 – 16, 2019
University Theater
A California Repertory Production

This production was dual inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Brandi Carlile's album, Bear Creek. This Romeo and Juliet exists in a dusty, isolated locale; the whistle of the passing train echoes the longing of our characters to find something greater than their small town world. Whether it be to find love, purpose or themselves, our heroes and heroines are searching, and Bear Creek is their soundtrack. Their spiritual power of Friar Lawrence resonates in the gospel influences of this album. The excitement and danger of Romeo and Juliet's first meeting is exemplified in the sexy chaos of Raise Hell. And, most importantly, Hard Way Home perfectly encapsulates the heartbreak, longing, and unending hope of growing up.

move

Move: The History of a Hand

Devised by The Ensemble
Directed by Ezra LeBank

November 21 – December 8, 2019
Studio Theater
A California Repertory Production

MOVE is a multi-year arts project to investigate the unexpected possibilities of our bodies in action, and to inspire our Long Beach community to move in creative and collaborative ways. In The History of a Hand we dig into the cultural, scientific, and personal histories of our hands. The Hand is the most dexterous part of the body, and our most frequent tool to interact with the world around us. But what is a Hand capable of if used to its full potential? How can we rediscover something we think we know like the back of our Hand?