Seattle's hottest secret show returns: The Glas Nocturne

“It’s done. The funeral is tomorrow.” ~Dr. Glas

Is it ever justifiable to take the life of another human being?

The Glas Nocturne confronts issues of love and morality that challenge audiences today as much as the novel which serves as our inspiration did in 1905.

APL Co-Artistic Director Joseph Lavy, who won a 2015 Seattle Times Footlight Award for solo acting for this piece, has adapted Hjalmar Söderberg’s scandalous fin-de-siecle novel, Doktor Glas (1905), into a noir monodrama of psycho-sexual fixation, moral questioning, and murder. The piece features solo piano nocturnes and evocative Swedish choral settings, and as with all APL productions, all music is performed entirely by the actors.

We have crafted this short, night piece to provide an exquisite audience experience with uncommon access to the action and actors* — and audience size is limited to 10 per show. Prepare for a speakeasy-styled adventure: a clandestine affair, held in a publicly undisclosed location revealed only to invitees.

PLAYERS

“What sort of plague is this that seizes on mankind and makes him ask what everything is?” | Joseph Lavy is Dr. Glas | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

DR. GLAS: Joseph Lavy
2015 Seattle Times Footlight Award-Winning Performance!
CHORUS OF DREAM WOMEN (Fall 2015): Annie Paladino, Catherine Lavy, Emily Jo Testa & Zhenya Lavy
PIANIST: Zhenya Lavy

PRODUCTION TEAM

CO-DIRECTORS: Joseph Lavy & Annie Paladino
MUSIC DIRECTOR: Zhenya Lavy
SCENOGRAPHER: Joseph Lavy

SCHEDULE

Upcoming Performances:
- Nov 5-16, 2015 – Seattle WA
  Request an invitation to a Seattle showing
- Nov 20-21, 2015 – Akron OH
  Buy tickets for an Ohio showing
Curtain: 8:00 pm (arrive 7:30 for Seattle shows)
Run Time: 90 minutes
World-Premiere Run: May 15 – June 7, 2015
The Chorus of Dream Women during the world-premiere run featured Annie Paladino, Catherine Lavy, Emily Jo Testa, Linnea Ingalls, Margaretta Campagna, Sara Kaus & Zhenya Lavy and varied per performance.

ATTENDANCE IN SEATTLE

By invitation only.
No ticket purchase required; attendance is by donation.
We will send a link to our secure donation site when we send your invitation. You may chose to donate before or after attending the show, or you may make a cash donation at the show. Note: Only donations made through our secure donor site are tax-deductible.
Donation amount at the discretion of each invitee. We suggest $30
Nobody will be turned away who receives an invitation but does not make a donation.

TYPES OF INVITATION REQUESTS (Seattle only)

All requests for invitation will be considered equally.

Individual seats at a regular showing
We will give you at least 48 hours’ advance notice of your show date.
Donation amount: your discretion.
Small-group requests at a regular showing
We will accommodate requests for couples and up to 5 total people to attend a single showing as a group. We will give you at least 48 hours’ advance notice of your show date.
Donation amount: your discretion.
Private showing for up to 10 people
We will contact you to arrange a mutually agreeable date and time.
Donation amount: required minimum $250.

SMÖRGÅSBORD

A light buffet will be served before the Seattle performances. Arrive up to 30 minutes early to enjoy.

Swedish Almond Cake
Fresh Berry Salad
Assorted Cheeses
Savory Crispbread
Almonds
Mineral Water
Red Wine

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

#GlasNocturne (Primary show hashtag. Show news, images, thoughts, etc.)
#AkropolisDailyNocturne (A new nocturne posted every day since March 30.)
#WouldYouDoIt? (Invitees have been sharing their thoughts about whether it’s ever justifiable to take another human life–and under what circumstances. Would YOU do it?)
Facebook event page: The Glas Nocturne
The Glas Nocturne (Curated Storify board of show reviews, responses, images, news, etc.)

REVIEWS

“Holy Roughness: The Glas Nocturne” – Omar Willey, Seattle Star, June 1, 2015
“It is easy to take such things for granted, especially when one is so obviously in the hands of masterful artists like the Akropolis Lab. But as the saying goes in times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. It isn’t that the Akropolis group are especially well-suited to this kind of exploration. (They obviously are.) Nor is it they are doing something completely impossible for another group to achieve. (They are not.) Instead it’s that they throw themselves into a task of accomplishing something most Seattleites would never even consider theatrical, and do so with passion and rigor. When passion and rigor are missing from most audiences’ lives, and clearly from most artists’, that pursuit of a simple, clear theatrical truth is not, perhaps, a revolution, but it is certainly an opening salvo. The revolution remains in the wings.”
“Glas Reflections: Akropolis Performance Lab” – Thomas May, Memeteria, June 2, 2015
“Physical acting is a crucial aspect of Grotowski’s theatrical technique, and Joseph Lavy builds a good deal of his character interpretation from non-verbal cues and gestures: the way he washes his face in a pitcher of freshly poured water, convulses in an agony of sexual despair, or — most chillingly of all — indicates his faked reading of a grave heart condition when Dr. Gregorius pays him a visit. / As for the text, Lavy commands the art of transition in gating the audience through Dr. Glas’s abrupt mood swings, his high intelligence leavening the potential heaviness with the kind of black humor Dostoevsky exploits in Notes from the Underground.”
“Exquisite theatrical (and almost secret) production by Akropolis Performance Lab” – Miryam Gordon, “Miryam’s Musings,” May 25, 2015
“And you really should do everything you can to see Akropolis Performance Lab‘s production of The Glas Nocturne. If you appreciate a true theatrical experience, that is.”
Review by Rachel Rutherford
“Like a fairy-tale for grownups, a tale from the long dark nights and cool midnight-suns of Sweden, this unhurried evocation is presented like a ripe strawberry, on the eve of summer. Featuring the exquisite physical and vocal mastery of Joseph Lavy as Dr. Glas, and the superb vocalizations and piano performances by Zhenya Lavy and company.”

PRODUCTION SPONSORS

Show sponsor Old Ballard Liquor Co. has designed a featured cocktail you can enjoy while mingling with the ensemble after the show: “The Norwegian Blonde,” featuring their Riktig Caraway Aquavit and accompanied by a sweet lemon syrup and dill, “tastes just like sitting by a sunny Swedish lake in July.”