By Jason Grote
Directed by Randy Baker
May 28 - July 3, 2009
DIGITAL PROGRAM AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
(AFTER THE YOUTUBE VIDEO "TRAILER")
"Stories, stories and more stories: They wrap themselves around one another like the strands of a double helix in "1001," Jason Grote's urbane, contemporary riff on the tales of the Arabian nights, staged with a pleasing, all-hands-on-deck gusto by Rorschach Theatre...
"With a rewarding economy of props -- and an evocative array of costumes by Ivania Stack -- Baker and his six young actors smoothly propel you through the work's intricately woven maze... Daugherty and Tuazon and their cast mates bring such discipline and belief to their metamorphosing portrayals that you become immersed in the game of what comes next."
--Washington Post
For the full review, CLICK HERE
"Good storytelling is a sort of fearless magic act, in which events move too quickly to tolerate objection. And this is the way that director Randy Baker and the rest of the Rorschach troupe tell this story: with such assurance and commitment that the impossible seems true."
--DC Theatre Scene
For the full review, CLICK HERE
"Jason Grote’s dreamy, nested-narratives rethink of the Scheherazade fable, which weaves a strain of modern existential angst into the fabric of those ancient tales.... the playwright, and Randy Baker’s very fine Rorschach cast, handle it so gently that what might have felt manipulative feels instead like a graceful act of public mourning... [the production is] a gratifyingly humane way of approaching the impossibly complicated narrative our world makes for itself each day."
- Washington City Paper
For the full review, CLICK HERE
Jason Grote returns to Rorschach Theatre with 1001, in which the classic tale of Scheherazade and her 1001 tales makes its way from ancient Arabia to modern day Manhattan. 1001 weaves myth, magical realism and comedy into an amazing tale as Scheherazade, the storyteller from The Arabian Nights morphs into Dahna, a contemporary Palestinian graduate student in New York. Her awkward love story with Alan, a young Jewish man, reverberates through history, as the play twists and turns though a labyrinth of story upon story. But at its heart is the blood, tears and brutal truth of a young relationship – as complex as a labyrinth and as important as the fate of the world.
Jason Grote is the playwright of last season’s world premiere of THIS STORM IS WHAT WE CALL PROGRESS, a critic and audience favorite at Rorschach Theatre. 1001 has been produced at The Denver Center, The Contemporary American Theater Festival, Page 73 (NYC), Boston Court (LA) and Mixed Blood (Minneapolis). It was included in critics’ year-end top ten lists in Time Out New York, The Rocky Mountain News and The Boulder Daily Camera, was nominated for Best Production of 2008 by the LA Weekly and was dubbed "Best New Play” from Denver's alternative weekly, Westword.
PRODUCED BY Jenny McConnell Frederick and Randy Baker
FEATURING Company Member Yasmin Tuazon with Rex Daugherty, Lee Liebeskind, Dylan Myers, Jay Saunders and Abby Wood
DESIGNED BY Company Member David C. Ghatan (Set Designer) with Ivania Stack (Costume Designer), Brian S. Allard (Lighting Designer), Matthew M. Nielson and Wade Tandy(Sound Designers) and Andrea "Dre" Moore (Props Designer)
STAGE MANAGED BY Julia Harman Cain and Heather Gaither-Greek (Stage Managers) and Hannah Blechman (Asst. Stage Manager)
WITH Casey Kaleba (Fight Choreographer), Michael J. Bobbitt (Dance Choreographer), Hunter Styles (Assistant Director), Dan Iwaniec (Assistant Costume Designer), Meaghan Toohey (Scenic Painter), Justin Keenan Miller (Technical Director) and Robert Brown (Master Electrician)
SEASON 9 is sponsored in part by generous contributions from The Dobranski Foundation and Pete Miller & Sara Cormeny.
In an effort to reduce waste, Rorschach Theatre has gone electronic with much of our program copy. Whether you've seen the show already or are looking forward to it, we hope that you'll enjoy reading more about our artists here:
PHOTO: Yasmin Tuazon by C. Stanley Photography