press release
2010 - 2011 season

27th Season continues with August Strindberg’s Easter

For press information contact Narciso Tovar narciso@bignoisecomm.com (214)725-4631

Undermain Theatre presents the second production of its 27th season; August Strindberg’s masterpiece Easter directed by Katherine Owens presented at Undermain Theatre, 3200 Main Street in Dallas. The production begins performances on Saturday, April 16 and runs through Saturday May 14, 2011.

A wealthy family descends into solitude and shame after their father is imprisoned for embezzlement. Everything begins to change when the forsaken daughter of the house returns. Easter, a rarely seen play by the great modern dramatist August Strindberg, is a profound inquiry into the redemptive power of faith.

The production will be designed by Undermain resident designers;

John Arnone, Set Design; Giva Taylor, Costume Design; Steve Woods, Lighting Design; & Bruce DuBose, Sound Design

The cast will be:

Bruce DuBose, David Goodwin, Laura Jorgensen, Shannon Kearns-Simmons, Fiona Robberson & Dan Schmoker

Considered to be the grandfather of modern drama and multi-faceted author, August Strindberg was often extreme. Strindberg had enormous influence on the artists and thinkers of Europe with his essays, novels and plays. His early plays belong to the Naturalistic movement and his works from this time are often compared with the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Strindberg's best-known play from this period is Miss Julie and he also founded the Intima Theatre in Stockholm.

Strindberg wanted to attain what he called "greater Naturalism." He disliked the expository character backgrounds that characterized the work of Henrik Ibsen and rejected the convention of a dramatic "slice of life" because he felt that the resulting plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg felt that true naturalism was a psychological "battle of brains": two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and strive to drive the other to doom is the type of mental hostility that Strindberg strove to describe. He intended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature akin to a science.

Strindberg subsequently ended his association with Naturalism and began to produce works informed by Symbolism. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance of Death, A Dream Play, and The Ghost Sonata are well-known plays from this period. His most famous and produced plays are Master Olof, Miss Julie, and The Father.

Katherine Owens: Katherine is founder and Artistic Director of Undermain Theatre. For Undermain, she has directed The Dog Problem, Port Twilight, The Black Monk, Neil Young’s Greendale, The Snow Queen, Shining City, The Appeal, Waiting for a Train, Margo Veil, A Number, Blasted, Two September, The Late Henry Moss, A Man’s Best Friend, Silence, Glamour, Cat’s Paw, Judges 19: Black Lung Exhaling, Quake, Coaticook, Pericles, Wallpaper Psalm, The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite, The Seagull, All He Fears, The Hyacinth Macaw, Macbeth, Seventy Scenes of Halloween, A Murder of Crows, Goose and Tomtom, Harm’s Way, Night Coil, Poor Folk’s Pleasure, Traps, Bremen Coffee/Blood on the Cat’s Neck, Come and Go, Fen, Other Places, In Fireworks Lie Secret Codes, and Excavations. She has also appeared on stage in numerous Undermain productions. In New York, Katherine has directed Neil Young’s Greendale at The Ohio Theatre, A Man’s Best Friend at WalkerSpace, Glamour at the Ohio Theatre and Coaticook at the SoHo’s Think Tank’s Ice Factory Festival. She also designed the video for Erik Ehn’s Gold Into Mud (HERE American Living Room Festival) and Swedish Tales of Woe (Ohio Theatre). Katherine also received a Texas Women of Distinction Award, which celebrates 100 Texas women.

John Arnone: John Arnone returns to Undermain where he designed productions of Endgame, The Black Monk, Port Twilight, and The Dog Problem. A Tony Award winner for The Who’s Tommy on Broadway, he began his career in New York City in 1976, designing critically acclaimed productions at New York’s Public Theater with legendary producer Joseph Papp for which he received two Obie Awards. He has worked with Garland Wright and Joe Dowling at the Gurthie Theatre and Des McAnuff at La Jolla Play House. In 1993 The Who’s Tommy opened on Broadway, for which Mr. Arnone received, a Tony, Dora Mavor Moore, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Other Broadway designs include How to Succeed in Business..., Twilight:Los Angeles, 1992; Sacrilege, Tommy Tune’s production of The Best Little Whorehouse, Goes Public and Grease, Sex and Longing, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia, Fortunes Fool, The Full Monty, Marlene, The Deep Blue Sea, Lone Star/Pvt wars, Minnelli on Minnelli, The Best Man, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, and Lennon:The Musical. A native of Dallas, he graduated from SMU where he now teaches as a guest artist. In Dallas he has designed for Patrick Kelly at the University of Dallas and SMU, Kevin Moriarty and Joel Ferrell at the Dallas Theater Center, and for Katherine Owens and Stan Wojewodski. Jr. at Undermain.

Giva Taylor: Giva has designed costumes for Undermain Theatre’s productions of The Dog Problem, Port Twilight, Eurydice, Neil Young’s Greendale, The Snow Queen, Shining City, The Appeal, Quake, The Sound and Fury, Mad Forest, Hyacinth Macaw, and Macbeth. She designed costumes in California, Illinois, New York, and Texas. Off Broadway productions include designs with Actor’s Playhouse, Century Theatre and Actor’s Workshop. Off-off Broadway productions include designs with The Direct Theatre. She also co-designed costumes for The American Imagination 1979 (Richard Foreman, dir.) and designed costumes for The Importance of Being Earnest (Charles Marowitz, dir.). In Dallas, Giva has created numerous designs at many theaters, including: Dallas Theater Center, Irving Lyric Stage, and others. She has designed over 25 productions for Shakespeare Dallas and many others for Southern Methodist University where she teaches and has served as costume shop manager and supervisor.

Steve Woods: Steve is Head of Theater Stage Design at Southern Methodist University. His work includes productions at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Recently, in New York City, he opened the season for the Jose Limon Dance Company, Blind Lemon Blues by Alan Govenor, Akin Babatunde Off-Broadway at The York Theatre, which were followed by international performances both in the Netherlands and Belgium. He is a frequent designer with Compania Nacional de Danze in Mexico City and is represented on television with work on PBS, BBC, and Showtime.

Bruce DuBose: Bruce is a founding member and Executive Producer of Undermain Theatre and named Best Actor of 2010 by D Magazine. Undermain directing credits include Eurydice, The Castle, Uncle Bob, Gold in Mud (in Dallas and New York City at The American Living Room Festival), Swedish Tales of Woe (Dallas and The Ohio Theatre in New York City). He has composed the music for numerous Undermain productions; most recently for The Dog Problem, Port Twilight, The Black Monk, Eurydice, and The Snow Queen. Some of his many Undermain acting credits include Uncle Mal in The Dog Problem, Hamm in Endgame, Pesotsky in The Black Monk, Earl in Neil Young’s Greendale, John in Shining City, Jimmie Rodgers in Waiting for a Train, Salter in A Number, numerous roles in Margo Veil, the title role in The Late Henry Moss, Ethelred in Silence, Robert Graves in Glamour, Trigorin in The Seagull, the title role in Macbeth, Tomtom in Goose and Tomtom and many others. He has appeared onstage in New York as Simon in The Inner Circle at the Luminous Group, in Undermain’s New York production of Glamour at the Ohio Theater, as Swami in Jeffrey M. Jones A Man’s Best Friend at Walkerspace, and most recently as Earl in Neil Young’s Greendale at The Ohio Theater, which he also produced. He also toured Eastern Europe with Undermain in productions of Sarajevo and Judges 19 as well as the Canadian Fringe Festival in 70 Scenes of Halloween. Other local appearances include roles in Alice: Tales of a Curious Girl, Porcelain, Arms and the Man, and A Family Affair (all at the Dallas Theater Center); Fool for Love (Stage West); and Marc Antony in Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare Festival of Dallas). Film work includes Late Bloomers, Thompson’s Last Run, Midsummer, I Become Gilgamesh, and the role of Niko in Dusk. Television appearances include episodes of Dangerous Curves, Walker Texas Ranger, Prison Break, The Deep End and Friday Night Lights. He narrated the Emmy-award-winning documentary, The U.S. Mexican War for PBS as well as The Marines (also for PBS). He is the broadcast voice of the local PBS affiliate station KERA and is currently shooting the gangster film, Spring Eddie.

David Goodwin: Making his debut at Undermain, David’s previous work includes; at Kitchen Dog Theater: Richard III (Rivers, Richmond); Man From Nebraska (Harry); Woyzeck (Andy, Monkey); Circumference of a Squirrel (Chester), Much Ado About Nothing (Claudio); Rebound and Gagged (Kyle); Christie in Love (Constable); Road (Skin-lad, Eddie, Bisto, Blowpipe). At Shakespeare Dallas: Comedy of Errors (Antipholus of Syracuse), The Taming of the Shrew (Gremio), Othello, (Iago), Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 (Prince Hal). Film/Televison: Sweet Tornado: Margo Jones and the American Theater (Tom Wingfield) Awards: DFW Critics Forum Award for Acting (Road, 2000), for Playwriting (Barbette, 2002, with Bill Lengfelder and Last One Nighter on the Death Trail, 2004, with Christina Vela), and for Puppet Design (Gorey Stories, 2000 and Dainty Shapes and Hairy Apes, 2004). David is an Artistic Company Member of Kitchen Dog Theater and a Teaching Artist with Junior Players of Dallas.

Laura Jorgensen: is happy to be back at Undermain Theatre where she recently performed in Beckett's Endgame and Undermain's reading of Leivick's The Golem at the Dallas Museum of Art. For years, she has been acting in the SF Bay Area. Her most recent roles have been in Sara Ruhl's A Clean House, Eric Overmeyer's On the Verge and Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband. While living in Budapest she worked with the English Theater Company. She has appeared in John O'Keefes premieres of Glamour and Queer Theory. Laura has created and performed eight shows with Fred Curchack including Golden Buddha Beach, An American Dream Play, NOH: Angels, Demon's and Dreamers, Monkey:The Quest to the West, Milarepa and Grandpa's Home Videos.

Shannon Kearns-Simmons: Shannon is an Undermain company member and was last seen as Teresa in David Rabe’s The Dog Problem. Additional Undermain performances include The Black Monk, Neil Young’s Greendale, The Snow Queen, Shining City, The Appeal, Waiting for a Train, Margo Veil: An Entertainment, and Blasted. Shannon has also worked with Core Performance Manufactory, Echo Theatre, Theatre Britain, Risk Theatre Initiative & The Modern Stage, Kitchen Dog Theater, WingSpan Theatre Company, DMA’s Arts & Letters Live, and the Clarence Brown Theatre (Knoxville). She has worked under the direction of Henryk Baranowski, Liviu Ciulei, Peter Huszti, Kathryn Pogson, Laszlo Marton, and Fred Curchack, and has performed in festivals in Bratislava, Slovakia (Istropolitana) and Budapest, Hungary. She has performed with Mabou Mines and trained with members of Ecole Jacques Lecoq, Shakespeare & Company, Moscow School of Dramatic Arts, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Hungarian National Academy of Acting, Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, and The Living Theatre. Shannon teaches theatre at Collin College.

Fiona Robberson: Fiona Robberson most recently appeared in Undermain’s staged readings of Two Noh Plays and The Golem at the Dallas Museum of Art. She is currently a Junior at Booker T. Washington Arts Magnet. Her past credits include; Junior Players for Shakespeare Dallas: Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), As You Like It (Adam). Arts Magnet: The Crystal Ball (Ensemble; Mime Show), Chester and Grace (Mrs. Gillette), Sing to Me Through Open Windows (Ottoman), Utopia (Ensemble; Mime Show), Blood Wedding (Moon/Luna). Dallas Theater Center: Antigone (Ismene, Teen LAB), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Grusha, Teen LAB), A Christmas Carol (Martha, '08 production). Fiona is also a produced playwright, an active member of Booker T’s Film Club and finalist in the 2010 Dallas 24 Hour Film Race, and a member of Booker T's Mime Troupe and Dallas Theater Center's Teen Council. She is very proud to be working with Undermain Theatre again.

Dan Schmoker: Dan Schmoker is making his debut with Undermain and has recently been seen in Manos: The Hands of Fate and Carnival of Souls: Purgatorium at Level Ground Arts. After graduating from Oklahoma City University with a BFA in acting, he returned to Dallas to pursue his TV/Film work. Favorite past shows include Hay Fever-OKC Rep, The Importance of Being Earnest and Yellow Boat-OKCU, Comedy of Errors and Two Gentlemen of Verona-Collin College.

Undermain Theatre performances are Wednesdays-Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Fridays-Saturdays at 8:15 p.m. with two Saturday matinees at 2:00 p.m. (April 30 & May 7, 2011). Tickets are Wednesday and Thursday $15, Friday $20, Saturday Matinee $20, and Saturday Evening $25. Discounts are available for seniors, students and KERA members.

Undermain Theatre is located at 3200 Main St. in Dallas. Call 214.747.5515 or visit www.undermain.org. For press information: Narciso Tovar, 214-725-4631 or narciso@bignoisecomm.com

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.

“The Undermain is an unsung American treasure.”
Backstage Magazine

Best Theatre in Dallas 2010
D Magazine

“…Undermain seeded the ground for Dallas as a writer-friendly town.”
American Theatre Magazine

“One of the best small theaters in America.”
San Diego Union-Tribune

“Our most daring and accomplished theatrical troupe.”
The Dallas Morning News