The only theatermaker who has a harder time getting real-world experience than the new actor is the new director. In response, Clove presents BEDROOM SUITE, a showcase of fully produced classic short works steered by young directors: MEREDITH MULLINS, HANNAH TROSTLE, and BRITAIN VALENTI.
All of the plays in BEDROOM SUITE are set--you guessed it--in bed. Mullins directs JANE CATALANELLO McNULTY in Jean Cocteau's heartbreaking tour de force, "The Human Voice," the final telephone call between a lonely woman desperate to prevent the man on the other end of the line from hanging up. Trostle directs RAPHAELLE O'NEIL in Louise ...Read More
The only theatermaker who has a harder time getting real-world experience than the new actor is the new director. In response, Clove presents BEDROOM SUITE, a showcase of fully produced classic short works steered by young directors: MEREDITH MULLINS, HANNAH TROSTLE, and BRITAIN VALENTI.
All of the plays in BEDROOM SUITE are set--you guessed it--in bed. Mullins directs JANE CATALANELLO McNULTY in Jean Cocteau's heartbreaking tour de force, "The Human Voice," the final telephone call between a lonely woman desperate to prevent the man on the other end of the line from hanging up. Trostle directs RAPHAELLE O'NEIL in Louise Fletcher's still-frightening '40s thriller, "Sorry, Wrong Number," in which a bedridden, high-strung invalid overhears, on a party line, a murder being planned...and slowly comes to realize that the life she's trying to persuade the police to save is her own. Valenti directs RUDY RIHNER and C.C. FALCON in Tennessee Williams' ethereal "Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen," wherein two young lovers struggle to cross the intimate abyss created by poverty, alcoholism, and selfishness.
As lagniappe, BEDROOM SUITE's organizer, MICHAEL MARTIN, will direct KAT BEDRIJ and 12-year-old VICTORIA FANNING in a fourth piece, making its local premiere: Chicagoan JENNY MAGNUS' "The Strange," which begins with a drunken woman crawling through a child's bedroom window in search of a bathroom. The eerie conversation that ensues may be a genuine home invasion, a nightmare belonging to either the intruder or the girl...or a confrontation between a woman whose life is almost ruined and her younger, as-yet-undamaged self.
Playwright Magnus will attend the opening weekend. This quartet of moving pieces is accompanied by live violin music throughout which, with the otherworldly bedroom as its sole setting, is intended to unify them into a whole. If Bedroom Suite succeeds, Clove Productions will offer it annually, as a way for new directors to try their wings: There's many great short plays that take place in bed.
WHAT: Bedroom Suite, new directors showcase. WHO: Produced by Clove Productions. Directors Meredith Mullins, Hannah Trostle, Britain Valenti, Michael Martin. Cast Kat Bedrij, CC Falcon, Victoria Fanning, Jane McNulty, Raphaelle O'Neil, Rudy Rihner. WHERE: The Backyard Ballroom, 3519 St Claude. WHEN: October 1-23; Fridays and Saturdays 8pm, Sundays 3pm. HOW: $10 at the door, general admission.
PLEASE NOTE: No performances October 15 & 16, when the Backyard Ballroom hosts "Phone Whore." Specific dates: Fridays Oct 1, Oct 8, Oct 22, 8pm; Saturdays Oct 2, Oct 9, Oct 23, 8pm; Sundays Oct 3, Oct 10, Oct 17, 3pm.
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