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press release

NOH– ANGELS, DEMONS, & DREAMERS
Japanese masterpieces of the supernatural
November 1 - 17, 2008

Undermain Theatre is pleased to announce its next show, NOH – Angels, Demons, and Dreamers is an evening of adaptations of five supernatural Japanese Noh plays and Kyogen. Using their acclaimed theatrical magic, Laura Jorgensen and Fred Curchack transform these timeless masterpieces into artistic adventures for the modern Western audience.

Noh plays are sublime poetic dance-dramas from 14th-15th Century Japan. Kyogen are outrageous comic interludes, performed in-between the intense Noh plays.

Plays include: DREAM OF KANTAN, SOTOBA KOMACHI, THE BIRD-CATCHER IN HELL, SHUNKAN IN EXILE, and HAGOROMO.

1. KANTAN is the tale of a magic pillow that gives dreams of the future.
2. SOTOBA KOMACHI is about an aged poetess who becomes possessed by her rejected lover’s ghost.
3. THE BIRD-CATCHER IN HELL is a hilarious farce about a bird-catcher’s encounter with the Lord of Death.
4. SHUNKAN is the story of a Zen Buddhist priest exiled on Devil’s Island.
5. HAGOROMO is a fairytale about a fisherman who steals an Angel’s feather robe.

Fred Curchack has created over seventy original ensemble theatre pieces and twenty-six solos. His performances have been featured at dozens of international theatre festivals. He has received the Gold Medal at the International Festival of Solo Theatre, the American Theatre Wing Award, Critics’ Awards in L.A., S.F., Dallas, Austin, and his work has been "Best of the week" in the L.A. Times, “Top ten of the year" in The New York Times, "Top ten of the decade" in the Austin Chronicle, and in the "Top ten of all-time" in The Dallas Morning News.He has received funding from Creative Capital, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts International, The Henson Foundation and he is a Guggenheim Fellow. After receiving a drama degree from the High School of Performing Arts in N.Y., and a BA and MA in Theater from Queens College, Curchack studied Japanese Noh with Sadayo Kita, Indian Kathakali with Krishnan Nambudiri, Balinese Topeng with Nyomen Wenten, choreography with Alwyn Nikolais, and he trained with Grotowski’s Polish Theater Lab. He has taught theatre at the United Nations International School, N.Y.; Sonoma State University, California; and he is currently Professor of Art and Performance at The University of Texas at Dallas. This is his fifth theatrical collaboration with Laura.

Laura Jorgensen has performed in Craig Lucas’ Blue Window, Reckless, Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind, Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest, Christopher Durang’s Laughing Wild, Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance and Three Tall Women, Terrence McNally’s A Perfect Ganesh, G.B. Shaw’s Heartbreak House, Alan Bennet’s Talking Heads, and Athol Fugard’s The Road to Mecca. She created roles in the world premieres of John O’Keefe’s Glamour and Queer Theory. She was an original member of Western Union Theater Company at Cinnabar Theater. While living in Budapest, she worked with The English Theater Company and directed their production of Our Country’s Good. Recently, she performed in Porchlight Theatre’s production of Oscar Wilde’s, The Ideal Husband. She has created and performed five shows with Fred, including The Mental Traveler, Golden Buddha Beach, Sexual Myth-Stories, and An American Dream Play.

Undermain Theatre performances are Wednesdays-Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Fridays-Saturdays at 8:15 p.m. Tickets are Thurs $15, Fri $20, and Sat $25. Undermain is located at 3200 Main Street at Murray Street in Deep Ellum. Discounts are available for seniors, students and KERA members. Call 214.747.5515 or visit www.undermain.org.

Reviews of other shows by Laura and Fred:

"Fred Curchack, master magician of performance art, has just doubled his fire power by hooking up with legendary North Bay actress Laura Jorgensen. … an overwhelming presentation … Golden Buddha Beach is innovative, challenging and very, very funny … Jorgensen has brought the missing piece to Curchack's challenging, jigsaw puzzle of multi-media madness. The soul-baring narration, wit, unique stagecraft and jaw-dropping acting and singing will win over all but the most conservative of theatergoers.”
-- Ron Singer, Sonoma Sun

“One of the year’s ten most noteworthy plays…when Mr. Curchack is on stage, imagination knows no limitations…theatrical virtuoso.”
-- Mel Gussow, The New York Times

“Fred and Laura want to show you their pictures and tell you about their big vacation. Take them up on it. It's an enlightening experience. … Fred, of course, is Dallas' resident theatrical wizard and performance artist extraordinaire …Dallas theater fans are well acquainted with Mr. Curchack's bag of theatrical tricks … these techniques have reached a miraculous state of refinement … Golden Buddha Beach is probably the most entertaining and most powerful to date. … It's when they become fully themselves, exhibiting human behavior at its best and its worst, that they really get to you."
-- Lawson Taitte, The Dallas Morning News

“American Dream Play” puts Fred Curchack and Laura Jorgensen on the “A” team of performance artists in America.… This production is a joy. The laughter these two evoke in sophisticated audiences may be as important as the revelations … a good part of the joy they bring is through their clowning. Jorgensen and Curchack are wonderful clowns in the European sense: They are poets who can do and be anything.
-- Ron Singer, Sonoma Sun

UNDERMAIN THEATRE
Artistic Director Katherine Owens	Executive Producer Bruce DuBose	Associate Producer Suzanne Thomas