   |
CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK PRESENTS WORLD PREMIERE (CINCINNATI) – The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park continues its Thompson Shelterhouse theatre season with Carson Kreitzer’s provocative world premiere drama 1:23. The show, which reunites much of the creative team from the Playhouse’s critically-acclaimed production of The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer, begins public previews on February 3 and runs through March 4. How do people become capable of things they never thought possible? What would bring a woman to kill her own child? As 1:23 explores, the answers are rarely simple. When the show begins, a mother appears on a television screen, pleading for the return of her two young children, the incidental victims of a carjacking. But as the details are examined more closely, her story begins to fall apart and the nondescript black carjacker she blames for the crime materializes only as a figment, a threat or an angel of society’s collective imagination. In another time, a police sergeant begins an interrogation of another woman, who is being questioned in a Texas station regarding the drowning of her five children. Calmly and with almost no emotion, she describes how, one by one, she took each of them and placed them face down in a bathtub full of water. A collage inspired by several true cases that combines remarkable flights of fancy with actual testimony from police transcripts, 1:23 offers an examination of the shades of gray within the darkest side of human behavior. This production of 1:23 marks the second Playhouse world premiere for playwright Carson Kreitzer, whose play The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer was produced here in 2003. Oppenheimer, winner of the Lois and Richard Rosenthal New Play Prize, went on to win the American Theatre Critics’ Steinberg Citation and the Barrie Stavis Award and is published in Smith and Kraus’ New Playwrights: Best Plays of 2004 and by Dramatic Publishing. Ms. Kreitzer’s other works include Self Defense or Death of Some Salesmen, The Slow Drag, Valerie Shoots Andy, Heroin/e (Keep Us Quiet), Freakshow, Slither, Dead Wait and Take My Breathe Away. 1:23 reunites many members of the production team for Oppenheimer. Among them is director Mark Wing-Davey, who received an OBIE Award in 1992 as director of the year for Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest and has been nominated for Lucille Lortel and several Drama Desk awards. Also returning are co-set designer Douglas Stein, lighting designer David Weiner, sound designer and composer Marc Gwinn, video designer Ruppert Bohle and production stage manager Jenifer Morrow. Additional members of the 1:23 creative team include co-set designer Peter Ksander and costume designer Kaye Voyce. According to Ms. Kreitzer, “Working with Mark was the most intense learning experience I’ve ever had as a playwright, and always just tremendously fun. … The production [of Oppenheimer] went beyond what I ever could have envisioned, and also felt like the most accurate and true version of a script of mine I have ever witnessed. I am delighted to be working with Mark again, and particularly on this script, which was so influenced by our past collaboration.” The cast for the show includes Robert Elliott as Stevens, Eva Kaminsky as Andrea, Deborah Knox as Susan, Rege Lewis as The Carjacker, Shirley Roeca as Juana/La Llorona and Josh Shirley as McManus. Tickets to 1:23 are on sale now. Prices range from $43.50-$52.50, depending on day and seat location. All tickets are $36.50 for the preview performances at 5 p.m. Saturday, February 3; 7 p.m. Sunday, February 4; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 6; and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 7. The official opening night is Thursday, February 8 at 8 p.m. Any unreserved tickets are half-price every day when purchased between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the day of the show (for performances Tuesday through Saturday) and from 12 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Playhouse is fully accessible. Audio enhancement receivers, large print programs and complete wheelchair access are available. For tickets to 1:23 or for more information, call the Playhouse box office at 513/421-3888 or toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at 800/582-3208. Call 513/345-2248 for TDD accessibility. For single tickets purchased by telephone through the Playhouse box office there is a $3 convenience fee per call. Tickets also can be purchased on the Playhouse web site at www.cincyplay.com. Artists fly to and from Cincinnati on Delta Connection Comair, the Playhouse’s official airline. The Playhouse is supported, in part, by the generosity of the tens of thousands of individuals and businesses that give to the Fine Arts Fund. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Playhouse also receives funding from the City of Cincinnati. |
|
Meet the Artists 2 p.m. Sunday, February 11 Dining Options Karlo's Bistro at the Playhouse offers full-service dining prior to most evening performances. Dinners include salad, entrée and dessert. Reservations are required by noon on the day of the show. The price is $21, which does not include gratuity. Karlo's Casual Fare offers busy theatre patrons an alternative light, quick bite prior to the show. Options include salads, sandwiches, soups, pasta and desserts. No reservations are required. Sponsors Production Sponsor: Honorary Producers: The 2006-2007 Shelterhouse Theatre Series is presented by The Shelterhouse Season Design Sponsor is ### |
