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PROVINCETOWN GUIDE
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| DIRECTORY |
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Provincetown :: Wednesday, January 7th 2009
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WHAT's production of ''The Pillowman.''
A Classic and a Black Comedy
At the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater
By Kahrin Deines
July 28th, 2008
A classic from 1732 and a black comedy that raises questions about the responsibility artists enjoin through their words – it’s a show slate you’re not likely to find at many theaters.
| WHAT's production of ''The Pillowman'' includes films made by Shandor Garrison playing in the background. |
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But then the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre (WHAT) isn’t just any theater. Since its establishment in 1985, it has been hailed for its cutting edge offerings and brave creative choices, a tradition this summer’s selection only serves to reinforce.
The dark edges of comedy have their show in a production of Martin McDonagh’s award-winning 2003 play “The Pillowman.” The play, which tells the tale of a writer detained in a totalitarian state after his horrific plot lines leap off the page to take form in real life, won the 2004 Olivier Award for Best New Play, as well as two Tony Awards and a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award.
For WHAT’s production of the play, Shandor Garrison, a filmmaker from Brooklyn was asked to create film versions of the twisted fairy tales that the writer is persecuted for conceiving in the play. While the actors perform, these filmed tales are projected onto a background screen, creating a creepy world where imagination and reality run together. Jeff Zinn, WHAT’s artistic director, is directing the production.
The classic, in this case a production of Marivaux’s “Triumph of Love,” is being performed by the adventuresome young theater troupe Shakespeare on the Cape. Known for their gender-bending casting, energetic productions, and an excellent ability to carry off the difficult wit work that characterizes many older plays, Shakespeare on the Cape has rapidly made a name for itself as an inspired interpreter of classics over the last few summers.
A good number of troupe members from season’s past are back on the stage for the “Triumph of Love” production, including Amanda Fuller, Whitney Hudson, Elliot Eustis and Ben Griessmeyer. Jason Bohon, a newcomer for 2008, and along with most of the other troupe members a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Guthrie Theater program, is directing the production, which is being performed through August 31.
To find out more about what’s going on at WHAT or to buy tickets, visit www.what.org or call 508.349.9428. WHAT is also running a production for children, “Fool of the World and The Flying Ship,” through August 28.
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