The Guys
A Dream Play
Caryl Churchill’s adaptation of a play by August Strindberg
Directed by Chris Holcom
June 12 – 29, 2008
Thu. – Sat. 8pm, Sun. 4pm
Tickets: $24.50
Shimberg Playhouse, Straz Center for the Performing Arts
Winner!
- Jobsite Jobby – Best Actress – Kari Goetz
The southeastern US premiere!
"Caryl Churchill's take on Strindberg gives us a gloriously witty vision of the unconscious." – London's Sunday Times.
Jobsite Theater is pleased to announce the southeastern United States premiere of A Dream Play – a new version of August Strindberg’s surreal masterpiece, adapted by Caryl Churchill, one of contemporary theater’s most fascinating and respected dramatists. This spare and resonant adaptation premiered earlier last year at London's National Theatre in a production for which "the audience was spellbound" (Daily Mail).
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"Disconcerting theatrical brilliance … a sharp, considerably abbreviated version of the play from Caryl Churchill … something fresh, new and magical." – Daily Telegraph
Following the logic of a dream – in which images and characters merge and separate, locations change in an instant, and a locked door recurs obsessively – A Dream Play is a potent mix of Freud plus Alice in Wonderland. The play itself is a dream about Agnes, a girl from another world. Quite possibly an angel or even a goddess, Agnes comes to Earth and becomes caught up in the sufferings and cruelties of mankind.
"Everything can happen, everything is possible and probable. Time and place do not exist." August Strindberg said that in his preface to A Dream Play, written in 1901. After successfully tackling highly stylized works like Franz Wedekind's Spring Awakening and Sophie Treadwell's Machinal to both critical and box office success, Jobsite is eager to produce this groundbreaking experiment in surrealism. Jobsite's production of Churchill's Cloud Nine was named Best Play of 2003 by Creative Loafing and made Best of 2003 by the Tampa Tribune.
Age recommendation: 18+ Contains adult situations, language subject matter and brief nudity.
About the Artists
Jobsite’s production is helmed by Chris Holcom, who is certainly no stranger to the strange. Holcom previously directed the Jobsite stagings of The Serpent, Machinal and Murder Ballads (co-directed with David M. Jenkins). Holcom collaborates with the design team of Brian Smallheer (sets and lights), Katrina Stevenson (a two-time Best of the Bay award winner for costumes) and David M. Jenkins (sound).
Kari Goetz is featured as the angelic Agnes with the ensemble of Ami Sallee Corley, Jason Evans, Steve Garland, Amy E. Gray, Spencer Meyers, Steve Mountan, Christen Petitt Hailey and Soolaf Rasheid.
Check out the cast and crew bios for more.
Caryl Churchill has written for the stage, television and radio. Her singular and striking stage plays, which have been widely produced in London, New York and throughout the world, include: Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Vinegar Tom, Cloud Nine, Top Girls, Fen, Serious Money, Mad Forest, The Skriker, This Is a Chair, Blue Heart, Far Away and, most recently, A Number.
August Strindberg (1849–1912) wrote over 60 plays, including The Father, To Damascus, The Dance of Death and Miss Julie, which was closed down by the Danish censor when it premiered in Copenhagen in 1889. He is considered Sweden's greatest literary figure.
