press release
2009 - 2010 season

The World Premiere of
Port Twilight or A History of Science (A Chronicle of Folly, Wisdom, and Madness)
Human live if brief, yet true knowledge is without end
A futuristic sci-fi thriller
Written by Len Jenkin
Directed by Katherine Owens
November 14th – December 12th, 2009

For press information: mail@undermain.org

This fall the work of Obie Award winning playwright Len Jenkin is back on the Undermain stage with the world-premiere of Port Twilight, a futuristic sci-fi thriller. 1990 marked Undermain’s first Jenkin production with Poor Folks Pleasure. In 2006, working with Len in rehearsals, Undermain presented Mr. Jenkin’s Margo Veil: an entertainment, also directed by Katherine Owens, which was chosen by The Dallas Morning News as the number one pick of the seasons’ top ten productions. Now, the company has the opportunity to present the world premiere of this master playwright’s latest play, Port Twilight or The History of Science. Mr. Jenkins will be on hand to work with director Katherine Owens and the cast in rehearsal.

In the mysterious town of Port Twilight a macabre story unfolds with serio-comic dimensions helped along with a little song, dance and video imagery. An ensemble cast contemplates the post 9/11 American landscape while portraying a multitude of revolving characters including a B Movie production company, a team of strange dancing scientists, a wild, homeless Rabbi and an out of control Golem. The play’s mercurial structure mimics the actions of the human genome in this fascinating and ferocious history of high science.

"The play thrusts scientists and their work into the strange yet familiar environs of Port Twilight, an all purpose fantasy city incorporating images from our future and our past. In this landscape of dark magic and decay, other powers, as well as science, are capable of profoundly altering our lives” ~ Len Jenkin on Port Twilight

Len Jenkin is a novelist, playwright, director, and screenwriter.
His novels include N Judah, New Jerusalem, and The Secret Life of Billy’s Uncle Myron (with Emily Jenkins).

Plays include Dark Ride, Pilgrims of the Night, Careless Love, My Uncle Sam, Limbo Tales, The Dream Express and Like I Say. His works for the stage have been produced throughout the United States, as well as in England, Germany, France, Denmark, and Japan.

His films include Blame it on the Night, Welcome to Oblivion, and American Notes.

He has received many honors and awards, including three Obie Awards for directing and playwriting, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rockefeller Foundation Award, a nomination for an Emmy Award, and four National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. Mr. Jenkin holds a PhD in American Literature from Columbia University. He’s a professor in the Dramatic Writing Department, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

“In his plays, Len Jenkin often takes us on dark midnight rides to mythic environments...he leads us through a stretch of the American landscape tantalizing our senses and creating a haunting world.”
~ Mel Gussow, The New York Times

“…Unpredictable, structurally bizarre and strangely comic… Like magic realism, Jenkin's language is beautiful.”
~ Jenny Sandman, Curtain Up

“Len Jenkin has an unusual talent for reaching into shadowy places in the human psyche and coming up with evocative images.”
~ Journal American (Seattle)

“He manipulates theatrical illusions with a playful manner that recalls Jorge Luis Borges, to disguise meditations on mortality.”
~ Village Voice (New York)

Undermain Theatre performances are Wednesdays-Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Fridays-Saturdays at 8:15 p.m. Tickets are Weds $15, 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, KERA members and groups. Call 214.747.5515 or visit www.undermain.org.

ABOUT UNDERMAIN
Undermain Theatre, founded in 1984, is a company of artists that performs new and experimental works in Texas, New York, and Europe. The theater collaborates with playwrights, supports a theater archive and operates a theater under 3200 Main Street in Dallas’ legendary Deep Ellum. Call 214-747-2417 or visit www.undermain.org for more information.

Artistic Director: Katherine Owens. Executive Producer: Bruce DuBose. Associate Producer: Suzanne Thomas.