PRESS RELEASE
The Actor's Nightmare
Press Release 06-06-2018
CARBON THEATRE COMPANY
In association with
HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL 2018
Presents:
ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE by Christopher Durang
WHEN
June 22nd-23rd, 2018
PERFORMANCES
OPENING NIGHT: Friday, June 22nd, at 11:55pm
Matinees:
Saturday 23rd at 3:45pm
Saturday 23rd at 4:45pm
CLOSING NIGHT: Saturday, June 23rd at 11:55pm
WHERE
Lounge Theatre | 6201 Santa Monica Blvd| Los Angeles, CA 90038
ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE by Christopher Durang
The on-stage physical manifestation of every actor’s nightmare, The Actor’s Nightmare by Christopher Durang is a 30 minute, one-act comedy exploring different style’s of theatre (Shakespeare, Beckett, Coward) and how one man deals with being thrust onstage to perform without having ever seen his lines. The Actor’s Nightmare is a short comic play. It involves an accountant named George Spelvin, who is mistaken for an actor’s understudy and forced to perform in a play for which he doesn’t know any of the lines.
Playwright: Christopher Durang
is a Tony Award winning American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurdcomedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in the late 1990s.
Director: Liisa Evastina
Finland born Liisa Evastina has years of experience in the entertainment industry: writing, producing and acting. Actor’s Nightmare is her directing debut and she has always been a big fan of good ol’ farce style comedies. Her background is in improvisational theatre (Playhouse West & Theatre of Arts College in Hollywood) and she has co-written several screenplays and spec pilots, usually in action/adventure genres, and also is time to time seen doing stand up comedy. She’s rarely seen without her fluffy little dog, Scarlet.
Producer: Evan Honer
was born in an apartment and raised on a farm in Oregon. Regardless of being the greatest goat wrestler in the surrounding 10 mile area, once he stepped on stage for his very first theatre performance in middle school, there was no turning back. Evan earned his bachelor’s in Theatre Arts at Portland State University, and continued to train in the craft of acting under Scott Rogers until he moved to Los Angeles 6 months ago, where the rest of his story has yet to be written…
Producer: Jason McCracken
Has recently migrated from the soggy north (Portland) where he also studied acting with Scott Rogers and is still in awe of 70 deg weather in January. With a background in ecommerce-tech and accounting (from which he is convinced he has suffered permanent damage)he brings a structured approach to his creative endeavours that include acting, writing, and producing.
FEATURING
Evan Honer: GEORGE SPELVIN
Nira Torres: SARAH SIDDONS
Laura Bohdlin: ELLEN TERRY
Andy Leon: MEG
Tom Whalen: HENRY IRVING
Jonathan Asgari: THE EXECUTIONER
ABOUT
This play was inspired by the well known dream that many people in professional and amateur theatre have, that they go must perform in a play that they have inexplicably never been to rehearsals for, and for which they know neither the lines or the plot.
So in this play George is an accountant who wanders onto an empty stage, not certain where he is or how he got there. The stage manager informs him he’s the understudy, and must go on in a few minutes. George doesn’t know his name, doesn’t think he’s an actor (“I think I’m an accountant”), and has no idea what play he’s supposed to do.
He’s pushed onstage dressed as Hamlet, and finds himself opposite a glamorous actress who seemingly is in Noel Coward’s Private Lives. George does his best to guess the lines, and guess appropriate behavior, but then the actress leaves, and suddenly a new actor comes in, spouting Shakespearean verse (from Hamlet). This is much harder to guess, and after a while George is left alone and must improvise his own Shakespearean soliloquy.
In the closing sections, George finds himself thrust into a Samuel Beckett play (a combination of Waiting for Godot and Endgame), which he has very little knowledge of. And then suddenly he’s Sir Thomas More in the historical drama. A Man for All Seasons, facing a beheading for opposing Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boylen – and alarmingly the executioner seems more real than he should.
CARBON ARTISTS THEATRE
All humans are made up of carbon and the art we create is simply the copy of our existence. Carbon Artists Theatre seeks to produce work that magnifies life, where the expressions of our laughter, our pain, our madness, and our diversity are brought to the center stage, and celebrated together; reminding us all that no matter where we come from, we are all one in our humanity and our art.
THE HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL
is an annual, open-access, community-derived event celebrating freedom of expression and collaboration in the performing arts community.
Tickets $12.50 in advance. $15.00 at the door
Press Photos: available upon request.
ACCESS
Accessible or ADA seating may be available. Please contact us before buying tickets to make arrangements. The theater is wheelchair accessible.
CONTACT
http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/5258
PRESS CONTACT
Evan Honer, Communications & Public Relations Associate for Carbon Artists Theatre
(503) 421-8892 | [email protected]
