ALLEY THEATRE
www.alleytheatre.org
Gregory Boyd, Artistic Director
Paul R. Tetreault, Managing Director


Two Casts Allow for Alley Theatre’s Unique Display of
A R T
by Yasmina Reza
Translated by Christopher Hampton

October 10th - November 3rd, 2001

"You think we've reached this extreme apocalypse over a white square?" Yvan (Todd Waite - foreground) expresses his thoughts as (L-R background) Marc played by K. Todd Freeman and Serge played by Paul Hope looks at the white piece of ART. Directed by Kurt Beattie, the Alley Theatre's production of Yasmina Reza's ART, translated by Christopher Hampton runs from October 5th through November 3rd, 2001 on the Alley Theatre's Large Stage. Call 713-228-8421 or log onto www.alleytheatre.org for more information. Photo by Jim Caldwell.

The Alley Theatre continues its 2001 - 2002 season with a unique production of Yasmina Reza’s clever comedy ART, translated by Christopher Hampton. With six of the Alley’s Resident Company of Actors in the play’s three roles, Kurt Beattie associate artistic director of A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, directs the actors in this new approach to the production. Two casts will alternate performances through the run, giving audiences a variety of ways to look at the same work. ART opens on October 10, 2001 and runs through November 3, 2001.

Meredith Long and Company servces as lead sponsor for this production, with Andersen as co-sponsor and additional support from Stanford Financial Group, the Alley Theatre’s 2001 - 2002 Large Stage Season Sponsor.

Serge, a middle - aged dermatologist, brings home the latest addition to his art collection and proudly presents it to his close friend Marc, a practical minded engineer. Marc is stunned by both the outrageous price of the painting and its surprising lack of “ART,” in his opinion. He urges Yvan, the easygoing friend in this trio, to aid him in convincing Serge of his ludicrous acquisition. The resulting events among the three men bring to light the subtleties of how taste, loyalty and ego play into friendship.

The absurd arguing back and forth between the three characters, Serge, Marc and Yvan, can be quite deafening and frustrating to the audience. But the play is so simple, it’s brilliant. It’s like, in these normal everyday people, you are watching yourself, through the mirror, and you see yourself engage in the same intellectual battle in your own daily problems with real life thereby coming to the conclusion that your own intellectual reasoning begins to sound silly and petty.

The competitive banter is quite cerebral. At the end of the play, slowly but surely, you come to the peculiar realization that even though your opinionated argument seemed quite witty and intelligent, you say to yourself, “Do I sound like that? Boy, do I sound stupid.” And it becomes distinctly clear why this play won the Tony and several other awards. ART is so clever, it’s good enough to see twice.

The Alley Theatre wanted to exhibit the talents of its Resident Company of Actors in a unique and untried way. Essentially, they have two casts for this production. Six actors (three actors in each cast) has rehearsed the same play over the same amount of time, under the same director, yet independent of the other cast. Two actors have learned each role. Thus, there are two “Serges” and, likewise, two “Yvans” and two “Marcs.” For the audience, this experience offers a unique opportunity to see the same script delivered and interpreted in a variety of ways. It’s an opportunity to explore the choises that are made in creating characters.

The six Alley Resident Company Actors who embody the three roles of ART include James Black and K. Todd Freeman as Marc, Paul Hope, and David Rainey as Serge and John Tyson and Todd Waite as Yvan. James Black, in his fifteenth season at the Alley, was recently seen in The Devil’s Disciple and A Flea in her Ear. Newcomer K. Todd Freeman, in his first role as an Alley Resident Company Actor, has recently been seen in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Broadway production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the Academy Award - nominated film The Cider House Rules. Paul Hope, in his eleventh season at the Alley, was recently seen in The Devil’s Disciple and A Flea in Her Ear, along with David Rainey, who is in his second season at the theatre. John Tyson, in his fourth season, was seen most recently in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Towards Zero, and Todd Waite, who will begin his second season with the Alley, appeared last in The Devil’s Disciple and A Flea in Her Ear.

Yasmina Reza, a Jewish - Iranian Parision born in 1959 studied at Paris University as well as the Jacques Lecoq drama school. After working as an actress for several years, she wrote her first play, Conversations After A Burial, in 1987. She went on to write a translation of Steven Berkoff’s adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the plays Winter Crossing, ART, The Unexpected Man, Life x 3, and the screenplays See You Tomorrow and Lula Kreutz’s Picnic. She has won six Moliere awards for her work.

Translator Christopher Hampton has added a large number and diverse array of credits to his name since his graduation from Oxford in 1969. His theatre credits include Total Papa Villone Eclipse, The Philanthropist, Savages and Treats, as well as the translations of Uncle Vanya, Hedda Gabler, A Doll’s House, and Don Juan. He adapted Les Liasons Dangereuses for the Royal Shakespeare Company and adapted Sunset Boulevard for Andrew Lloyd Webber. Mr. Hampton’s film credits include the screenplays Dangerous Liasons (adaptation), Total Eclipse, Mary Reilly (adaptation) and The Secret Agent.

(L-R) David Rainey as Serge, John Tyson as Yvan, James Black as Marc. Directed by Kurt Beattie, the Alley Theatre's production of Yasmina Reza's ART, translated by Christopher Hampton runs from October 5th through November 3rd, 2001 on the Alley Theatre's Large Stage. Call 713-228-8421 or log onto www.alleytheatre.org for more information. Photo by Jim Caldwell.

(L-R) Jack Willis, Judd Hirsch and Cotter Smith in a scene from the Tony Award Winning Play ART. This cast and production of ART was presented by the Houston Broadway Series during the 1999 - 2000 Season at The Jones Hall from May 30th - June 4th, 2000. Photo by Joan Marcus.