Motion Capture
By Robert Schenkkan
Presented in Partnership with mala voadora and Peacedale Global Arts
Monday, July 28 @ 7pm
“I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth.” Mary Shelley
J, an accomplished Actor struggling through an imploding career caused by bad choices, bad behaviors, and a worsening Ketamine addiction, has reluctantly agreed to do some Motion/Capture work on a new digital production of Frankenstein. In the studio as he wrestles with this new technology, alternately playing both the Doctor and his Creature, he also struggles with his own rapidly deteriorating mental state. Did he do something really bad this morning? Not just boorish but seriously bad? He can’t quite remember. And then there are these increasingly threatening text messages he is receiving from Sender Unknown. In the frozen arctic of the digital world, “Creator” and “Creation” prepare for their epic final battle while in J’s fracturing reality, he makes ready for his own last stand.
CREATIVE TEAM
ROBERT SCHENKKAN, playwright
Robert Schenkkan (playwright) is a Pulitzer Prize, Tony, WGA, and Humanitas Award winner, three-time Emmy nominated writer. Author of twenty plays including: All the Way, The Kentucky Cycle, Building the Wall, and Old Cock. Two world premieres in the next year: Bob and Jean, A Love Story at Arizona Theater Co and ReCON$ruXion at Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Films: Hacksaw Ridge, The Quiet American. TV: All the Way, The Pacific, The Andromeda Strain, Crazy Horse, Spartacus. He is a board member of the Orchard Project, a member of the Dramatists Guild National Council, National Theater Conference, and a New Dramatists Alumnus.
JORGE ANDRADE, artistic director of mala voadora
Jorge Andrade (actor; artistic director of mala voadora) is a Portuguese actor, director and playwright. In 2003, he founded mala voadora with José Capela, with whom he shares the artistic direction of the company. In addition to being an actor, he directs shows and has written several of the respective texts. He coordinates the company's programming in Porto and at the recently opened Campo Cultural de Campilhas (two venues that also host artistic residencies). He was invited to: stage a show for Fundação Gulbenkian's 50th anniversary; participate in Tryangle Laboratory #1 (Marseille); staging Companhia Maior, in collaboration with Tim Etchells; and join the cast of the show Quizoola! Lisbon by Forced Entertainment. He graduated from The Lisbon Theatre and Film School, where he is now a teacher. As an actor, he worked in theatre, tv series, and cinema.
JOHN CLINTON EISNER, residency director
John Clinton Eisner (residency director) is a director, producer and story consultant for theater and film. For 27 years he was artistic director of The Lark, a playwright center based in New York City. Currently he serves as president of Peacedale Global Arts, supporting international and intercultural artist exchange. He is also creative producer in residence at En Garde Arts, an innovator in site-specific, community-based theater. He is dedicated to reducing structural barriers to the arts and encouraging inclusive pathways into theater and media careers through intercultural exchange, fellowships, increased artist compensation, and local artmaking.
mala voadora
mala voadora is a theatre company, but it has expanded its activity to the work of other artists, the organization of meetings and training actions, people with difficulty in accessing artistic practices, post-disciplinary practices, books, dinners and parties, among others. It has its own venues / residency centers: one in the city of Porto; another in a rural context, next to the Campilhas Dam (Santiago do Cacém). Mala Voadora was founded in 2003 by Jorge Andrade and José Capela. Their shows can be closer to cinema or a concert, a rally or a comic book, a documentary or a dance piece, and have already been presented in: Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Brazil, Cape Verde, CzechRepublic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Scotland, Slovenia and United States of America.
JOÃO FONTE, technical director, mala voadora
João Fonte (technical director, mala voadora) is an architect, stage technician, and producer, exploring the intersection of performance arts, space, and technology in theatre. Since 2019, he has been the technical director of mala voadora, overseeing performances, tours, and the company’s venue in Porto. He co-designed Centro Cultural de Campilhas, mala voadora’s new residency centre. João has worked as a lighting designer for mala voadora and other artists, and has experience in architectural practice, research, and scenography. He is especially interested in how technical, artistic, and spatial knowledge converge in contemporary creation.
PEACEDALE GLOBAL ARTS
Peacedale Global Arts is a not-for-profit think tank for the theater that seeks to foster the global exchange of ideas to deepen understanding across cultures. The company explores differing modes of artistic expression through theater and supports artists and stories that speak to our diverse and interconnected world. Peacedale supports the creative growth of artists based in the U.S. and abroad by offering international relationship-building opportunities as well as generative writing workshops, script development, translation workshops, and residency programs to develop new theatrical work. They collaborate with global partners who are actively involved in intercultural dialogue through theater and community engagement. https://www.peacedaleglobalarts.org/
MEGAN MCCLAIN, dramaturg; artistic director of Peacedale Global Arts
Megan McClain (dramaturg; artistic director of Peacedale Global Arts) is a collaborative theater artist who co-founded Peacedale Global Arts to promote international and intercultural exchange through theater. She leads Peacedale’s new play development initiatives in the U.S. and abroad. She previously served as Second Stage Theater’s Literary Manager, scouting plays for the organization’s Broadway and Off-Broadway venues. As the former R&D Program Director at The Civilians, she supported the work of over 80 writers, composers, and directors creating new plays and musicals. She worked for seven years at The Lark which nurtured visionary playwrights and provided transformative new play development opportunities. M.F.A Dramaturgy: UMass Amherst.
CAST
RINABETH APOSTOL
RINABETH APOSTOL thoroughly enjoys her time with TheatreWorks - in The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga, Red and numerous New Works Festivals. She has also appeared in many new works onstage at American Conservatory Theater, Actors Theater of Louisville, Seattle Rep, TheatreWorks, CalShakes, The Magic, Arizona Theater Company, East West Players, Skirball Center for the Arts, and Berkeley Rep Ground Floor, among others. 2022-2023 productions: Redwinged Blackbird (world premiere), Fun Home (42nd Street Moon), Monument (world premiere, Magic Theater), Smart People and The Chinese Lady (Capital Stage), South Pacific (Billings Symphony) and Hamlet (Marin Shakes). Offstage, you can hear her on Sirius XM/Marvel’s UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL Podcast as Gretchen Campbell. Upcoming: Bald Sisters and My Home On The Moon. Proud member AEA, SAG-AFTRA. @rbdtwo | rinabeth.com
LAWRENCE-MICHAEL C. ARIAS
LAWRENCE-MICHAEL C. ARIAS is honored to join this year’s New Works Festival. He was recently seen as “Mushnik” in Theatreworks’ Little Shop of Horrors. He also performed in M. Butterfly (Kurogo), Red (Red Guard), Batboy: The Musical (Roy/Mrs. Taylor, etc. at select performances for James Monroe Iglehart), Jane Eyre The Musical (Robert u/s), and Pacific Overtures [2001](British Admiral/Merchant). He originated the role of ‘Wong’ in Utah Shakespeare Festival’s world premiere of Gold Mountain. Other regional credits: National Asian Artists Project/Prospect Theatre’s staged concert of Gold Mountain (Wong). Other Bay Area credits: Hillbarn Theatre - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Mitch Mahoney); Los Altos Stage Company - Yellow Face (HYH); Pintello Comedy Theatre - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Miles Gloriosus); Western Stage - Man of La Mancha (Sancho). Film: Protection Detail (Sonny).
LUCINDA HITCHCOCK CONE
LUCINDA HITCHCOCK CONE: TheatreWorks appearances include Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Tuck Everlasting, Outside Mullingar, Big River, The Clean House, Ragtime, and Cabaret. She appeared in the National Tour of Big River. Recently she appeared in Grand Horizons at San Jose Stage Co. where she also played Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman. Regional credits include productions at Hartford Stage, Arizona Theatre Company, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Geva Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Folger Theatre, ACT, Berkeley Rep., San Jose Rep., Sacramento Music Circus, Capital Stage, B Street Theatre, Aurora Theatre, AMTSJ, Marin Theatre Company, PCPA, and the Coconut Grove Playhouse. Lucinda received four SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle awards, and a Dramalogue award. Lucinda studied Mime with Etienne Decroux.
JACQUELINE DE MURO
JACQUELINE DE MURO has performed with TheatreWorks in A Little Night Music (Mrs Segstrom), Pacific Overtures (Shogun’s Mother), Joy Luck Club (Amah), Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Marta), and Into The Woods (Cinderella’s Mother). Most recently, she appeared in New Conservatory Theatre Center’s Encore. Other favorite local productions include Broadway by the Bay’s The King And I (Lady Thiang) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Muzzy), Woodminster’s Flower Drum Song (Madame Liang), Palo Alto Players’ City Of Angels (Alaura/Carla) and The Baker’s Wife (Genevieve), Busbarn’s And The World Goes Round and Baby (Pam), 42nd Street Moon’s Grand Night For Singing and By Jupiter (Buria), Ohlone Stage’s Man Of La Mancha (Aldonza), and Foothill Theatre’s South Pacific (Bloody Mary), for which she won a Bay Area Theatre Critics Award.
MICHAEL PATRICK GAFFNEY
MICHAEL PATRICK GAFFNEY has been working as an actor in the Bay Area for the past 25 years and is very honored to be performing this summer with TheatreWorks! Last spring he played the role of the Interlocutor in The Scottsboro Boys with 42nd Street Moon. Other regional theatre companies Michael has worked with include: Center Rep, Shotgun Players, Aurora Theatre Company, San Jose Stage Company, Word for Word, and Contra Costa Musical Theatre. Michael has been a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association since 1997.
EMILY KURODA
EMILY KURODA worked at TheatreWorks (The Language Archive, Calligraphy), South Coast Rep (Tiger Style!, Fast Company, Our Town, Ballad of Yachiyo), New York Theatre Workshop (Endlings), Yale Rep (Today is My Birthday), Pan Asian (Brothers Paranormal), American Repertory Theater (Endlings), Page 73 (Today is My Birthday), Actors Theater of Louisville (we, the invisibles), Huntington Theater (Tiger Style!, Woman Warrior), Artists at Play (Two Mile Hollow), Alliance Theater (Tiger Style!), Sundance Theater Lab (Today is My Birthday, A Cage of Fireflies), East West Players (over 45 productions), Kirk Douglas, Mark Taper Forum, Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Singapore Repertory, Berkeley Repertory, The Doolittle, LATC, Zephyr, LA Women’s Shakespeare Company, and the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival. Selected TV: Mrs. Kim in Gilmore Girls, Baymax, All Rise, The Good Doctor, The Resident, Drop Dead Diva, Sequestered and Amazon’s The Power. Recent Films Strange World, Kimi, Porcupine, Take the 10, Party Boat, Red, Yellow Face and Sensei.
Program
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