Get ready for some spectacular theatre because this fall UCLA Live once again presents a stunning line up at the UCLA Live Theatre Festival starting October 1st. Sponsored by Yahoo!, the seventh international Theatre Festival will showcase a range of classic and eclectic work, several pieces making their U.S. debut at UCLA Live’s exclusive event.
Among the pieces debuting at UCLA Live is Barrie Kosky’s, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, adapted from the powerful story by Edgar Allen Poe. Additionally, the Druid Theatre of Ireland will make its debut in Los Angeles with the Tony-Award winning bill of John Millington Synge’s, “Playboy of the Western World” and “The Shadow of the Glen”. Additionally, in the company’s second-ever visit to the U.S., director Dimiter Gotscheff will present “Ivanov”, Anton Chekhov’s very first play.
This year, UCLA Live co-commissioned two works from artists returning to the festival, Canadian director, Robert Lepage with his company Ex Machina and the American premiere of “The Blue Dragon”, brought to us by the British director/performer Andrew Dawson. A highlight includes the Moroccan-Flemish choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s new work, “Myth”.
This international theatre extravaganza is brought to us by UCLA Live’s, David Sefton, Executive and Artistic Director. Hailed as one of our nation’s most daring and influential presenters, Sefton’s programming is given credit for “the region’s most multicultural arts institution”, with programming recognized as, “a dynamic and eclectic collection of events” by the Financial Times. “We love the eclectic lineup at UCLA Live,” raved National Geographic Traveler. “The performing arts series based at the University’s Royce Hall presents a global mix of traditional and cutting-edge attractions.”
See below for the details on each performance!
Barrie Kosky’s “The Tell Tale Heart” – October 1 – 5
Opening with the U.S. debut of Australian writer-director Barrie Kosky’s, this haunting adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” is sure to have audience members coming back for more. Featuring the original live music by Kosky and a riveting solo performance by actor-singer, Martin Niedermair, Kosky is recognized as one of the most exciting and controversial directors of his generation. With a career that spans the fields of opera, theater and contemporary music theater, Kosky brings his uniquely dark and penetrating perspective to the gothic world of 19th century horror-inventor, Edgar Allen Poe. Considered by many to be a visionary of his time, Kosky transforms Poe’s macabre tale into a haunting experience. Stark lighting, a simple set, and eerily angelic music come together to create an exploration into the unforgettable dark recesses of the human soul. “The Tell Tale Heart” will perform at UCLA Freud Playhouse Macgowan Hall 245 Charles E. Young Dr. East Los Angeles 90095 on October 1 – 4 at 8:00 pm and October 5 at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $46.00.
Druid Theatre Company’s “The Playboy of the Western World”, and “The Shadow of the Glen” October 14 – 18
Led by founder-director Garry Hynes, Ireland’s distinguished Druid Theatre Company debuts in the U.S. debut with two, one-act dramas by John Millington Synge, “The Playboy of the Western World” and “The Shadow of the Glen”. Acclaimed internationally, the Druid Theatre Company took the 2005 Edinburgh Theatre Festival by storm with a rare presentation of the complete works of Irish playwright J. M. Synge. Created by Druid co-founder Garry Hynes, the Tony Award-winning director of Martin McDonagh’s “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”, the “DruidSynge” became the must-see event of theater festivals around the world. Now, the “brilliant ensemble” (The Daily Telegraph) brings two of Synge’s greatest comedies to the UCLA Live stage. The savagely funny “Playboy of the Western World” and the short piece, “The Shadow of the Glen”, portray raw depictions of peasant life in rural Ireland at the turn of the century. The two one-act dramas transcend time with their universal themes of mortality, loss, betrayal and the transformative power of the imagination. “Synge’s genius whirls like a spinning sun in the theatrical heaven” [Sunday Independent]. “Playboy of the Western World” and “The Shadow of the Glen” will perform at UCLA Freud Playhouse Macgowan Hall 245 Charles E. Young Dr. East Los Angeles 90095 on October 14 – 18 at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $36.00 and $50.00.
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Toneelhuis “Myth” – October 17 – 18
Exclusively performed in the U.S. at the UCLA Live Theatre Festival, this piece choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, blurs the line between dance, theater, music and art in a mix of Pina Bausch and Hieronymus Bosch. Renowned for creating dazzling and emotionally challenging stories in motion, the Moroccan-Flemish choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui does it once again with “Myth”, rich in evocative symbolism and vivid archetypal characters. In a waiting room filled with shelves of old books and skulls, the characters of “Myth” move across the stage in a purgatory of uncertainty, stalked by dancers in black, representing their shadows. All the while, above them, singer Patrizia Bovi and the Micrologus ensemble perform a blend of ethereal medieval polyphony, serving as a striking counterpoint to the earthly struggles below. A set of large double doors hints at what lies beyond. “Myth” will perform at Royce Hall on the UCLA Campus on October 17 – 18. Tickets are $28.00, $34.00 and $48.00.
Debuting on November 12 and running through November 22, Robert Lepage’s “The Blue Dragon”
Bringing to the stage the performers of the company, Ex Machina, this piece follows the ongoing story of Pierre Lamontagne and depicts the central figure of “The Dragons’ Trilogy” – a masterpiece first introduced by Lepage in 1985. One of the true visionaries of modern theater, Québécois director, actor and storyteller Robert Lepage creates emotionally vivid and visually enthralling works that ponder the mystery and wonder of life. Ex Machina returns with another extraordinary work of hi-tech wizardry and storytelling magic, featuring a rare performance by Lepage. Bearing all the hallmarks of Lepage’s brilliant and intensely original style, “The Blue Dragon” follows the lives of three characters in modern China, including the ambitious young artist Pierre Lamontagne, The resulting intersection of their lives and the underlying collision of Eastern and Western, modern and ancient, and establishment and subversive values brings about fundamental changes for each. “The Blue Dragon” will perform at UCLA Freud Playhouse Macgowan Hall 245 Charles E. Young Dr. East Los Angeles 90095 on November 12 – 15 and 18-21 at 8:00 pm, November 16 at 7:00 pm. and November 22 at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm. Tickets are $40.00 and $60.00.
Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz “Ivanov” by Anton Chekhov December 3-7
Berlin’s Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz returns in the U.S. exclusive of Anton Chekhov’s first play, “Ivanov”. With Bulgarian-born director Dimiter Gotscheff, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institute Los Angeles, the play will be performed in German with English supertitles. Berlin’s Volksbühne has been among the most prominent and revolutionary theater establishments since 1914. Playing host to some of the most influential directors, writers, actors and set designers of its day including Max Reinhardt, Erich Engel, Bertolt Brecht, Heiner Müller and Emil Jannings the company’s renegade German theater director Frank Castorf, x Volksbühne has a tradition for presenting provocative, controversial theater. Tearing down classical conventions, while also confirming them in a reflective way, Volksbühne treads a fine line between broad comedy and tragic melodrama. Chekhov’s prescient first play anticipates the explosive revolutionary atmosphere of Russia at the turn of the century. Director Dimiter Gotscheff’s bold interpretation eliminates all traces of naturalism, resulting in a stripped stage shrouded with mist, a stage that reflects the existential despair and spiritual stagnation of modern society. “Ivanov” will perform at UCLA Freud Playhouse Macgowan Hall 245 Charles E. Young Dr. East Los Angeles 90095 on December 3 – 6 at 8:00 pm and December 7 at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $40.00 and $60.00. Performance includes smoke.
Two Original Works by Dawson, “Space Panorama” and “Quatre Mains” December 17 – 21
The New York Times wrote that Dawson’s “Absence and Presence” was an “astonishing, almost unbearably moving” elegy to his father, the acclaimed English director and performer returns with two exclusive debuts of acclaimed original works: “Space Panorama,” a recreation of the Apollo 11 moon landing; and “Quatre Mains,” a wordless, intimate dance for four hands, co-commissioned by UCLA Live with Fabrik, Potsdam. Both extraordinary works of dazzling low-tech wizardry with only a black-draped table for a stage, the performances are wonderful narratives told simply through the dexterity of the human hands. The evening begins with “Quatre Mains,” a wordless, intimate dance for four hands, set against a diverse soundtrack ranging from Britten to The Jazz Passengers. From abstract geometric figures to moving personal encounters across a café table, “Quatre Mains” is an evocative visual poem of finely tuned movement and gesture. Come down to explore not only what hands are, but also what hands can evoke. The piece celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing (in July, 2009). Accompanied by Shostakovich’s illustrious 10th Symphony, Dawson spans from Houston to the moon and returns us safely to earth, conveying the colossal distances and the risks involved simply through the skilled movement of his hands. “Quatre Mains” and “Space Panorama” will perform at Macgowan Little Theatre on the UCLA Campus on December 17 – 19 at 8:00 pm and December 20 – 21 at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm. Tickets are $36.00.
We are so lucky to have UCLA Live bringing hundreds of outstanding and provocative artists to Los Angeles each year. From the ancient to the modern, the local to the global, and the underground to the world-renowned, UCLA Live is committed to supporting the development of new and existing work by both major and emerging artists. The International Theater Festival is one of their best events, demonstrating the range, talent and cutting-edge artists they encourage us to consider from all over the globe.
You can purchase tickets online at www.uclalive.org or by calling
