THE AMISH PROJECT
By Jessica Dickey
Directed by Laura Margolis
Previews: August 18 and 19
Opens: August 20
Closes: September 5
August 9, 2010 – Stageworks/Hudson will open the regional premiere of THE AMISH PROJECT by Jessica Dickey on Friday, August 20. Preview performances are August 18 and August 19. THE AMISH PROJECT runs Wednesdays through Sundays through September 5 at Stageworks’ Max and Lillian Katzman Theater, 41 Cross Street, Hudson, New York. THE AMISH PROJECT is directed by Laura Margolis, artistic director of Stageworks.
Stageworks’ 16th season continues from August 18 through September 5 with Jessica Dickey’s compelling solo play, THE AMISH PROJECT. The production features film, television and stage actor Rachel Siegel. Siegel has appeared at the Berkshire Theater Festival, Williamstown Theater Festival and Shakespeare & Company, among others both nationally and abroad. Her film and television credits include Wit, Heights, the Chapelle’s Show, and Whistleblower for the BBC.
Jessica Dickey’s acclaimed play, THE AMISH PROJECT, is an extraordinarily poignant fictional exploration of real life events. Through the innocent voice of Velda, a young Amish girl, unfolds the loss in an Amish community, and the path of compassion forged in its wake.
“I am very excited to bring this astonishingly beautiful and moving play to our community,” commented Laura Margolis, director of the production and artistic director of Stageworks. “THE AMISH PROJECT is takes us on the kind of journey that we experience so rarely in our world today. It presents us with a group of people who have chosen to live their lives everyday with understanding and compassion and those who must learn that these qualities are what make us uniquely human. THE AMISH PROJECT is the kind of experience that will stay with o=you long after the curtain goes down.”
Imbued with poetry and humor, THE AMISH PROJECT celebrates the deepest meanings of love, forgiveness and hope. Moving seamlessly back and forth among seven different characters, the play deftly weaves a complex and thought-provoking web of differing perspectives in this compelling one-woman show.
THE AMISH PROJECT made its original debut at the New York International Fringe Festival in the summer of 2008 and went on to a workshop production at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City. The play opened Off-Broadway in June, 2009 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater to rave reviews — "extraordinary... remarkable...compelling" (New York Times) and an extended run.
Stageworks’ 2010 season is made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Ernest O’Reaugh Fund and the Shubert Foundation.
General talk-backs with the cast, director and playwright will occur directly after the performances on August 26 and September 2.
About the Playwright, Cast and Director:
JESSICA DICKEY (Playwright) hails from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and lives in New York as an actor, writer and coach. She received her BFA from Boston University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts; she also attended the Pennsylvania Governorà s School for the Arts. New York credits have included Manhattan Theatre Club, Keen Company, Cherry Lane, AndHow! and HERE, with countless workshops and readings with Rattlestick, New Georges, Culture Project, and many others. Regional credits have included multiple productions with Williamstown Theatre Festival, Huntington Theatre Company, George Street Playhouse, as well as the Denver Center, Portland Stage Company and the Dallas Theater Center. Television credits have included “Law and Order,” “The Education of Max Bickford” and the pilot “Cop Shop,” the latter both starring Richard Dreyfuss. Developing new work is a passion for Jessica; she is a Founding Member of The Fire Dept and has birthed several new plays with The New Harmony Project. Jessica has been a writer all her life - from designing magazines when she was little (cover to cover!) to creating expressive arts curriculum for all ages (winning her the Bell Atlantic Leadership Award in 1997), to being a semi-finalist in the Emily Dickinson Poetry Contest in 2003, and now at the behest of her mentor, Arthur Laurents, a bourgeoning playwright. THE AMISH PROJECT is her playwriting debut.
Rachel Siegel (Actor) Recent credits include YIDL MITN FIDDLE (staged reading) as part of The Berkshire International Film Festival 2010, ENCHANTED APRIL (Best Actress 2006 in the Berkshire Eagle) and KERFOL at Shakespeare & Company. Williamstown Theatre Festival: UNDER MILKWOOD (Best Performance 2003 in the Advocate) and THREEPENNY OPERA. Berkshire Theatre Festival: ZORBA!; MISS JULIE; A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. UK credits include BOY GETS GIRL (staged reading) at The Royal Court, London; DEATH OF A SALESMAN (Birmingham Rep); SO SING ALREADY! (one-woman show, The New End Theatre). Television: Chappelle's Show (three episodes); “Whistleblower” (BBC drama); “Baddiel's Syndrome” (SKY TV comedy). Film: “Heights” (Merchant Ivory); “Wit” (HBO Films). Writing: CALLBACK, premiered at Mixed Company Theatre (2002); SO SING ALREADY! (1999); THE ARABIAN NIGHTS, TAKE TWO (adaptation). Training: The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
LAURA MARGOLIS (Director) is the founder and Artistic Director of Stageworks/Hudson. Her directing credits for Stageworks include: IMAGINING MADOFF (Premiere), NOWHERE ON THE BORDER (World Premiere), CAR TALK (World Premiere), FALLING: A WAKE (American premiere), A WEDDING STORY (American premiere), DOG STORIES (World premiere) and many regional premieres such as OMNIUM GATHERUM, LEBENSRAUM, GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL!, BRUTAL IMAGINATION and WIT. Highlighting her career are the plays she has directed for Stageworks' annual PLAY BY PLAY FESTIVAL OF NEW ONE-ACTS. Regionally, she has directed at Capital Rep, Proctors, SUNY/Albany, among others. Laura has received the Certificate of Recognition from the Columbia County Board of Supervisors for providing original and creative opportunities to the community and the Columbia County Arts Award for Artist “for excellence in developing and fostering the arts in Columbia County.” She currently serves on the NYSCA Theater Panel. Laura attended Brooklyn College's MFA in Arts Administration program and has taught as an adjunct professor of theater at SUNY/Albany.
Design Team:
The design team includes: Randall Parsons (Set Design), Byron Nilsson (Sound Design), Frank DenDanto III, (Lighting Design), Adrienne Westmore (Costume Design) and Dan Fenaughty (Technical Director). The Stage Manager is Jennifer Schilansky, Assistant Stage Managers are Emma Lewis and Kristaps Butners.
About Stageworks/Hudson
Stageworks has established a reputation for its ambitious programming and adventurous productions. The company is especially known for producing the bold, risk-taking work of new dramatic voices. Central to its vision is Futures, an integrative program designed to move Stageworks to the forefront of new play development. Stageworks is both the experiment and the resource to infuse the whole life of the theater with a creative process that produces new ways of expressing, interpreting and sharing the human experience.
Stageworks is a member of Theatre Communications Group, the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce and Perform Columbia. It is the recipient of a Proctors Regional Arts Award inaugurated by Proctors Theatre in 2008 to honor the outstanding work of performing arts organizations. For four consecutive years, Stageworks was distinguished in Metroland Magazine as “Best Theater Company.” Stageworks is recipient of the Crystal Apple Award from the Chamber of Commerce for providing a positive effect both culturally and economically on the quality of life in our community.
Plays are for everyone, whether written by students, established authors or emerging dramatists. Theater illuminates, expresses and interprets the human experience and profoundly serves as a global stage for social exchange and enrichment. Stageworks complements its main season with a series of programs to encourage and engage young people, traditional theatergoers and new audiences. Stageworks continues to actively take a leadership role in establishing the Hudson Valley as a cultural destination by exploring and expanding its reputation for developing new theatrical works, forms and programs.
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FACT SHEET
Calendar of Events
Previews: August 18 and 19
Opening: August 20
Closing: September 5
Performance Calendar
Wednesday at 7:30 pm: August 18, August 25, September 1
Thursday at 7:30 pm: August 19, August 26, September 2
Friday at 8:00 pm: August 20, August 27, September 3
Saturday at 8:00 pm: August 21, August 28, September 4
Sunday Matinee at 2:00 pm: August 22, August 29, September 5
Talk Backs with the cast, playwright and director post-performance: August 26 and September 2
Cast
Rachel Siegel
Production Team
Jessica Dickey, Playwright
Laura Margolis, Director
Randall Parsons, Set Design
Frank DenDanto III, Lighting Design
Byron Nilsson, Sound Design
Adrienne Westmore, Costume Design
Dan Fenaughty, Technical Director
Jennifer Schilansky, Stage Manager
Emma Lewis, Assistant Stage Manager/Understudy
Daniel Fenaughty, Assistant Stage Manager/Understudy
Kristaps K. Butners, Light Board Operator/Production Assistant
Tickets
For tickets or information, contact Stageworks by mail at 41-A Cross Street, Hudson, NY 12534 or call the box office at (518) 822-9667. For further information, visit the website at www.stageworkshudson.org.
Single ticket prices are:
$18 for preview performances
$24 for Weekdays, Matinees and Sundays
$29 for Friday and Saturday evening performances.
Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more and there are special rates for students and seniors.
Visit Stageworks’ home page for more details at www.stageworkshudson.org. |
