Boxcar Theatre Continues 4th Season with Museum By Tina Howe
Directed by Stephanie Renée Maysonave
November 2 – November 21, 2009
Opening Night: November 2 at San Francisco's Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf
Unique Production Takes Place at Museums & Galleries Around San Francisco with Cast & Audience Part of the Action
www.boxcartheatre.org
23 October 2009 – San Francisco, CA: It’s A Night at the Museum meets House of Wax. It’s a moveable theatrical feast from San Francisco’s edgiest and most creative ensemble, Boxcar Theatre (www.boxcartheatre.org). It’s Tina Howe’s acclaimed play Museum brought to life at venues around San Francisco from November 2 – 21 in a unique “fourth wall” breaking audience-and-cast interactive tableau. First stop: San Francisco’s internationally acclaimed tourist must-see: The Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf (www.waxmuseum.com).
“Our mission is to create theatre that moves people,” said Boxcar Co-Artistic Director Nick A. Olivero. “So, for Museum, we’re moving people: all around the Bay.”
Howe’s Museum brings together art aficionados, culture snobs, obnoxious college co-eds, and a disgruntled security guard to scrutinize a modern art exhibit on its final day. Performed in actual museums throughout San Francisco, 38 actors grace the “stage” prodding conceptual art as they observe three seemingly blank canvases and paper human figures hanging from a clothesline accompanied by a bowl of clothespins, which no one can seem to keep their hands off of.
“President Obama is looking forward to taking part,” quipped opening night host and Wax Museum owner Rodney Fong, mentioning his venue’s most-famous and most-recent resident. “Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are looking for sitters so they can take part too. Everyone is waxing enthusiastic about this production.”
“Where else can our audiences be greeted by both Michael Jackson and Marilyn Monroe,” said Co-Artistic Director Peter Matthews: “With over 230 historic and famous figures making it one of the largest wax museums in the world, and with only four performances occurring here -- surely this will be one of the most unique and absurd performances we have.”
Dedicated to high visual concepts and transformative theatre, Olivero and Matthews provide San Francisco with its most innovative and thought-provoking theatrical experiences through its “Boxcar” and “Sidecar” productions. Boxcar’s commitment is to produce “Experiential Theatre” and is proud to be known as a “Directors' Theatre.” This next season Boxcar re-imagines the familiar by taking well-known plays and turning them on their head. “You have to hand it to Boxcar; as other companies scale back and tighten belts, it steps forward and belts out scales.” (Rob Avila, SF Bay Guardian)
Museum is among Tina Howe’s most important plays along with Birth and After, Birth The Art of Dining, Painting Churches, Coastal Disturbances, Approaching Zanzibar, One Shoe Off, Pride’s Crossing, Rembrandt’s Gift, Chasing Manet, and translations of Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano and The Lesson, in addition to a host of shorter plays. Among her many awards are an Obie for Distinguished playwriting, a Tony nomination for best Play, an Outer Circle Critics Award, a Rockefeller Grant, two N.E.A. Fellowships, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, the Sidney Kingsley Award, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, two honorary degrees and the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre. She has also taught master classes at NYU, UCLA, Columbia and Carnegie Mellon and she currently teaches playwrighting at Hunter College in New York City and has been a member of the council of The Dramatists Guild of America since 1990.Her works can be read in numerous anthologies as well as in Coastal Disturbances: Four Plays by Tina Howe, and Approaching Zanzibar and Other Plays, published by Theatre Communications Group. Her translations of Ionesco's “The Bald Soprano” and “The Lesson”, are published by Grove Press
Tickets for Museum are $19 -- $21 and may be purchased online at www.boxcartheatre.org, onsite at each location day-of-performance (pending availability) or by calling 1-800-838-3006.
Following is a complete schedule of Museum performances and venues:
The Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco
145 Jefferson Street (at Mason)
Monday, November 2 @ 8pm – OPENING NIGHT
Audience members are invited to attend a complimentary post-show reception immediately following the performance opening night, to be held in the Museum’s Chamber of Horrors.
Thursday, November 5 @ 8pm
Thursday, November 12 @ 8pm
Thursday, November 19 @ 8pm
The museum started with 150 life-sized figures in front of black curtains on the first floor and opened as one of the largest wax museum in North America. Now the exhibit includes over 275 figures in elaborately staged scenes, with costumes, props and lighting, carefully constructed to authenticate people at the peak of their fame. Many scenes were designed and sculpted by Thomas Fong's son Ronald, who co-directed the family business in partnership with his father from its inception. As one of the world's largest wax museums, the Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf continues to show all aspects of life from the ignoble Chamber of Horrors to the inspiring Hall of Religion, including the historic Library of U.S. Presidents, the spectacular Recreation of King Tut's Tomb and the unique Palace of Living Art, where the world's most famous masters, and their masterpieces come to life through the magic of wax artistry. Among both foreign and domestic visitors, the most popular part of the wax museum tour is The Gallery of Stars. Artisans are busy continually producing a galaxy of brand new stars, such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who have joined such classics as Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne. As an added treat, patrons attending Wax Museums shows are invited to tour the museum before the show starts anytime after 7pm. The museum will also be open for viewing following the performance.
-------------------------------------------
Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco
210 Post Street, Suite 205
Friday, November 6 @ 8pm
Saturday, November 7 @ 8pm
Established in 1997, the Dolby Chadwick Gallery offers exceptional views of downtown San Francisco and fantastic emerging art. With a sleek design and beautiful hard wood floors, the gallery itself is a piece of art. These two performances will offer a terrific view of our production of Museum and give you a chance to meander around Union Square before or after the show. The Cheesecake Factory is right around the corner, of course, so is their line of people waiting to get a table!
-------------------------------------------
Johansson Projects, Oakland
2300 Telegraph Avenue
Friday, November 13 @ 8pm
Audience members are invited to attend a complimentary post-show reception immediately following the performance to view the galleries artwork.
"Not yet two years old, Johansson Projects has established itself as one of the most consistently compelling independent galleries in the Bay Area, showcasing new and emergent artists in thoughtfully curated pairings and theme-based shows. While many galleries chase after marketable talent or formalist trends, with little attention paid to longer-term curatorial vision, Johansson has cultivated a distinct and cohesive aesthetic that remains open and varied, in conversation with contemporary art movements both local and national. "Collective Compulsions," the gallery's first major survey show of its artists, provides an excellent opportunity to see a broad swath of the range of artists featured at Johansson over the last year and a half. On display were a variety of 'compulsions,' as the show's title suggests, in that almost all of Johansson's artists evince an almost-obsessive attention to detail, from meticulous markings to finely-hewn sculptural investigations into material and surface...” David Buuck for Artweek April 2009
If you truly want to encounter what Boxcar refers to as “Experiential Theatre” this is the gallery to visit. A quaint space with arches dividing the gallery, audience members are encouraged to move around and change their point of view. Only forty audience members can be accommodated in this intimate and ever-changing space, which is as much a piece of art as the work hanging on their walls (and ceilings!).
-------------------------------------------
The Kala Art Institute Gallery, Berkeley
2990 San Pablo Avenue
Saturday, November 14 @ 8pm
Kala Art Institute's mission is to help artists sustain their creative efforts over time through its Artist-in- Residence and Fellowship Programs, and to increase appreciation of this work through exhibitions, public programming and educational efforts.
Artists at Kala are encouraged to produce innovative artwork of the highest quality, and are given total freedom to realize their artistic vision using media that span the Gutenberg to digital eras. Artists are also provided with a number of professional development opportunities, and a spirit of exchange and education is nurtured through artist involvement in exhibitions, special events, lectures, teaching, and classroom experience. Additionally, Kala is committed to offering quality art education to the general public and public school children through its on-site program of classes and workshops and its Artists in Schools program, established in 1991, providing multiple-week artist-led instruction to students in East Bay public schools and summer programs.
Located in what used to be the Heinz Factory with architecture Julia Morgan had a hand in designing, this vast open gallery offers an exceptional view of the show. Because of its incredible size, this only night in Berkeley performance can accommodate over one hundred patrons, even allowing a few lucky audience members the opportunity get up close and personal and sit right in the middle of the action. Don't worry though—you wont be pulled on stage. Some even say a hint of ketchup still lingers in the air...
-------------------------------------------
Autobody Fine Art Gallery, Alameda
1517 Park Street
Friday, November 20 @ 8pm
Saturday, November 21 @ 8pm - CLOSING NIGHT
Audience members are invited to attend a complimentary post-show reception immediately following the performance closing night.
Located in what used to be the second floor of an autobody repair shop, the closing weekend performances of Museum are located in a venue as wacky as the show. With faint hints of cold steel and hot oil still lingering in the air, the art hanging on the walls is as one of a kind as the gallery is. The curators of this venue are as approachable as the work and have insisted they host a post-show reception following our closing night performance. We hope you can join us for what will be a stellar ending to an already crazy run.
----------------------------------
Boxcar’s continuing 2009 / 2010 Season
I <heart> SF
Created and performed by The Boxcar Players
Directed by Nick A. Olivero
December 3 – December 19, 2009
Opening night: December 3, 2009
Poets, Yuppies, Hippies, Lovers, Dreamers, and the Homeless collide in a collage of wildly entertaining and sometimes moving pieces dedicating themselves to one of America's most happening and diverse cities: San Francisco. With over 30 San Francisco neighborhoods to choose from, the audience will determine the sequence of the show by calling out their names, making each performance as unique as the city they live in!
----------------------------------
The Mark Ten's Fantastic Parade
A new play written by Maria Breaux
Directed by Katja Rivera
January 12 – January 30, 2010
Opening night: January 14, 2010
An ailing 1960's pop band decides to stop touring and hit the recording studio. Trying every means at their disposal to create a masterpiece, they use all the latest off the wall musical technology—plungers, basketballs, teakettles, tap shoes, and other “instruments.” As brilliance eludes them, an indiscernible go-go girl provides the album's true, unaccredited genius.
----------------------------------
Project V
Inspired by Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues
Directed by: Claire Zawa
Creative Director: Sarah Savage
February 3 – February 14, 2010
Opening night: February 3, 2010
Over a decade ago Eve Ensler's sensational hit revolutionized society's views of the female body. Women everywhere were empowerment to shed light on their personal stories of challenge, despair, and triumph. Enlisting the talents of various female artists across the country, Project V offers an updated perspective on the monologues that shook a nation and changed a world.
----------------------------------
Sophocles' Antigone
Featuring Pi: The Physical Comedy Troupe
Directed by Mike Ryan
March 25 – April 17, 2010
Opening night: March 29, 2010
Nothing short of hilarity comes from the family of a man who kills his father, marries his mother and ends up plucking out his eyes. Doesn't sound all too funny? Wait until seven clowns get their hands on the Oedipus cycle. Enter Antigone, she directly disobeys her Uncle's decree and finds herself buried alive in a cave. Absurdity ensues with a string of suicides starting with Antigone, followed by her fiancé and ending with her soon to be mother-in-law hanging herself... trust us, it's funny.
----------------------------------
Rhino
Adapted from Eugène Ionesco's Rhinoceros
Directed by Evren Odcikin
May 6 – May 29, 2010
Opening night: May 10, 2010
When Berenger's friends, colleagues, and loved ones begin turning into rhinoceroses one by one, he is left with a choice to conform to society or maintain his individuality. Originally written during the insurgence of Fascism and Nazism, this theatrical installation takes on new meaning as it holds the social magnifying glass against itself, exploring one individual's attempts at holding onto his identity and creating meaning out of a world that no longer makes sense.
----------------------------------
Tennessee Williams' A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Directed by Jeffrey Hoffman
July 27 – August 28, 2010
Opening night: August 5, 2010
Clawing hopes for the future and haunting sins of the past spar with one another at a Pollitt Family birthday party. Swarming around Brick, the beloved alcoholic son, are his conniving siblings and estranged wife, Maggie, all hoping to get a piece of Big Daddy’s fortune. Love, fortitude, and passion can set things right by evening’s end, but only if everyone agrees to believe their own lies.
----------------------------------
Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire
Directed by Rebecca Longworth
July 27 – August 28, 2010
Opening night: August 6, 2010
Fading Southern Belle debutante Blanche du Bois arrives at her sister's dingy French Quarter apartment, becoming entangled in an explosive sultry world she is unaccustomed to. Set on a collision course, her brutish animalistic brother-in-law, Stanley, captivates and ultimately destroys the fragile woman. With chunks of text stripped away and reconstructed as dance and movement pieces, this gritty American classic paves the way for industrial urbanization leaving the Old South in ruins.
----------------------------------
Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie
Directed by Jessica Holt
July 27 – August 28, 2010
Opening night: August 7, 2010
Lost hopes and memories of despair are all that remain for Tom who is trapped in a mundane warehouse job. Cajoled by his overbearing mother to find a suitor for his crippled sister, Tom brings a gentleman caller home for dinner. Inflated dreams are quickly dashed as the evening crumbles under the pressure of the moment.
----------------------------------
