Spy For Spy
Spy for Spy is a comedy with emotional depth. Playful, sophisticated, funny and heartfelt, the play is a series of six scenes that follow the relationship between two Californians, Molly and Sarah, who couldn’t be more different. Ever had a kiss change your life? What about seven kisses? And that’s just the beginning…or is it? Meeting, falling in love, meeting the parents, moving in together, breaking up, all in a random order. Six scenes are shuffled nightly. The play is a triumph cleverly crafted, so neatly, that the same story is accomplished every night no matter what the order. There are 720 versions of the same play. Every night is a different ride! Kutumba Theatre Project presents Spy for Spy by Kieron Barry Directed by Kim Ehly 95 minutes, no intermission. ”Spy for Spy is a delicious slice of life…that has moments that shatter the soul and elicits bursts of laughter” – Florida Theatre on Stage. ”To witness the totality of a relationship in a truly unique way, don’t miss this distinctively moving production presented with an abundance of heart and courage by Kutumba Theatre Project.” – Mariah Reed. “Comedic genius” – Always Time for Theatre, Los Angeles. ”A revelation!” – London Times
Plastic: The Next Generation
Plastic, the Next Generation. A performance about repurposing and recycling everyday plastic. Live, original music by Liz Lang fun and exciting new choreography with audience participation. Sept 26 and 27 at 7:30 pm BeBe theatre. Performed by ACDT dancers and directed by Susan and Giles Collard. Expect the unexpected when you join ACDT for their upbeat performance inspired by plastic. 20.00 and 15.00. Commissioned by Mountaine.
Fire & Flood
Travis Lowe, author of The Sublime’s stunning production Some Notes on Dating During Outbreak, wrote to me last November: “I am currently working on an idea for a one-person play which comes out of a story I read about a rescuer who sat up all night with a body they discovered trapped in a tangle of debris by the river. It got me thinking of the quiet, personal spirituality surrounding traditions like the old Appalachian practice of ‘sitting up with the dead’ and the Jewish ritual of shemira, and the moments of fear, introspection, reverence, and dark comedy which might accompany something like that. What do you think?” Helene remained an open wound–we still didn’t even have potable running water, I’m sure many of you will recall–and all I could say was, “Depends how it’s written.”
I’ve long believed that the subject of a play doesn’t tell you much about it: something that sounds amazing might be so badly written as to be an utter bore, and something that sounds unbearable might prove funny and transcendent. And I had had a direct example of that quite a bit earlier, when another of our great local playwrights, David Brendan Hopes, sent me a script about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory tragedy. All I could think before reading it was ,”Too sad! I don’t want to have anything to do with this!”
I hadn’t read two pages of David’s remarkable Washington Place (which I produced and directed at The Magnetic 10 years ago, and which opens in a new production at HART, coincidentally, in October) when, to my surprise and delight, I was having such a good time that I immediately knew we had to do it. For David hadn’t focused on the horror, even though it was there; he had concentrated his considerable gifts on the lives and loves of the otherwise unknown victims, gracing them with intelligence and humor and a humanity that could not be denied. The results were astonishing, about which I’m sure those of you lucky enough to have seen it would agree.
And that’s exactly what I felt as soon as I started reading “Nightlife,” the centerpiece of our upcoming evening, Fire & Flood. Compelling, and funny and moving in equal measure, I knew at once it simply had to be staged. And with the extraordinary Erin McCarson in the role of Michel, I know we’re going to have another unmissable experience on our hands.
Subsequently, Travis wrote a short, absurd companion piece, “55 Mount Lee Drive,” in response to this year’s fires in greater Los Angeles. Again, this is not what you’d expect: a cowboy? a falafel-seller? a mermaid? It has to be seen to be believed!
We dearly hope you’ll take a chance on Fire & Flood, which opens October 2 for a limited engagement at The BeBe Theatre in downtown Asheville. It might seem, at first blush, that it’s not for you. But maybe it is. And on the anniversary of Helene, it might be just what we all need.
Dogged Utopia Productions is proud to present:
Nevermore, the Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe
This unique and wildly theatrical musical combines haunting music and poetic storytelling to chronicle the fascinating life of iconic American writer Edgar Allan Poe. A literary rock star of his day, Poe struggles with tragedy and addiction, poverty and loss, yet produces some of the world’s most original, visionary and enduring literature before dying in unexplained circumstances at the age of 40. At once gorgeous and grotesque, Nevermore explores the events that shape Poe’s character and career, blurring the line between fact and fiction–after all, as Poe himself writes, “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”
Starring Dominic Aquilino, Matt Edwardsen, David Cater, Eric Martinez, Clara Burrus, Greta Schulz, Elly Leidner, Mandy Bean
October 23, 24, 25, 30, 31 & November 1 7:30pm
October 26 & November 2 at 2:30pm
The BeBe Theatre @ 20 Commerce St, Asheville, NC, 28801
Dogged Utopia Productions is proud to present:
Wuthering Heights
This beautiful musical is an adaptation of Wuthering Heights based on the classic novel by Emily Brontë. It was the first stage adaptation of the story to be given the approval of the Brontë Society. Wuthering Heights takes audiences into the haunting world of Emily Brontë’s classic novel. Set in the mysterious Yorkshire moors, the story revolves around the passionate and tumultuous romance between Heathcliff, an enigmatic outsider, and Catherine Earnshaw, a spirited and headstrong young woman. This musical adaptation captures the dark and gothic atmosphere of the original novel, exploring themes of love, revenge, and the destructive power of obsession.
Starring Eric Martinez, Clara Ray Burrus, Greta Schulz, Matt Blanks, Alena Carhart, David Cater, Charlie Wilson, Mark Jones
The Musical has been adapted from its original production to run as a 1 act musical and focuses on the relationship between Heathcliff and Cathy.
November 13, 14, and 15 at 7:30pm
November 16 at 2:30pm
The BeBe Theatre @ 20 Commerce St, Asheville, NC, 28801