Category Archives: Joseph Lavy

The Maids/Vexations Premieres October 24th!

  By Joseph Lavy • October 1, 2018 - 9:00 AM , , , , , , ,

Seats are available now for our upcoming production, The Maids/Vexations, a simultaneity of performance
Running Oct 25 through Nov 24.

This is the latest APL production to follow our distictive chamber drama format (pioneered with our 2015 The Glas Nocturne), produced in the APL Downstairs Studio for audiences of no more than 10 per performance.

Request your invitation at https://goo.gl/forms/0fQP4vmfKucwLkLP2

"The game is dangerous. I'm sure we left traces." ~Solange "...it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities." ~Erik Satie

“The game is dangerous. I’m sure we left traces.” ~Solange
“…it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities.” ~Erik Satie

Featuring:
The Maids by Jean Genet ~ Annie Paladino, Catherine Lavy, Emily Testa
Vexations, by Erik Satie ~ Zhenya Lavy, piano

Direction and Scenography ~ Joseph Lavy
Production Assistant ~ Kyrie Dawson
Technical Direction ~ Tomas Campomanes

By bringing together Genet’s The Maids (original English translation by Joseph Lavy) and Satie’s Vexations in independent but concurrent performances within a shared space, APL seeks to challenge the notion of unified event – Satie’s brief, infinitely expansive experimental piano piece being no more accompaniment to the theatrical performance than the play is dramatic context for the musical performance.

The confluence of Genet’s erotically-charged rite of desire, identity, fantasy, and power with Satie’s notorious durational composition – reported to induce hallucinations in the performer – will prove illuminating, confounding, and potentially mind-altering!

Each performance is limited to 10 attendees. Come to see The Maids. Come to hear Vexations. Come knowing both will happen simultaneously!
All performances are by invitation only and PWYC ($30 suggested).
To request your invitation follow the link
https://goo.gl/forms/0fQP4vmfKucwLkLP2

*NOTE: The Maids contains mature language and physicality. Not recommended for audiences under 14.

Akropolis Performance Lab productions are made possible in part by 4Culture and the generous support of individual patrons.

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Summer 2018 Open Training Sessions!

  By Joseph Lavy • June 1, 2018 - 12:00 PM , , , , , , , , ,

We’re delighted to announce that during July and August APL is inviting performers interested in rigorous, practical work engaging essential elements of the performer’s craft to participate in our twice-weekly ensemble training. Performing artists with an openness to embodied exploration are welcome regardless of experience or discipline.

Interested? Sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/rJR29Gg4L0hflpdu2 or keep reading to learn more!

Our training objective:Living Impulses shaped by Deliberate Form piloted by an Engaged Mind

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Joseph Lavy, Annie Paladino, Emily Jo Testa: Plastiques

 

When:  July 5 – August 16, 2018

Wednesdays – Voice (7:30 pm – 9:30 pm)

  • Listening
  • Impulse, Breath, Tone, Resonance, Shared Voice
  • Harmonic/Polyphonic/Overtone Singing

Thursdays – Body (7:30 pm – 9:30 pm)

  • The Basics: Awareness, Presence, Contact
  • Plasticity: The shape and flow of associations
  • Corporeality: Identifying, owning, and surpassing our personal limitations
  • The Tangible World: Deep play at the intersection of attention, action, and objects

 

 

 

Introductory Intensive: To accelerate participants’ experience we are also offering an 8 hour Introductory Intensive – June 30 & July 1 – during which we will provide a beginner-focused introduction to APL’s core principles, exercises, songs, and activities.

Participation in the Introductory Intensive is strongly encouraged but not required. Everyone is welcome on a drop in basis.

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APL corporeality training

 

Cost: Drop In Sessions: $20 per session or $25 per week if attending both voice and body training sessions (4 hours/week total)

Introductory Intensive: $80

Discounts:Participants in the Introductory Intensive will have a reduced drop-in fee of $10 per session/$20 per week.

We also offer discounts for paid-in-advance, multi-session commitments.  Situational sliding scale rates available

Sign Up: Interested? Click through to this simple form to let us know! https://goo.gl/forms/rJR29Gg4L0hflpdu2

Get a Sneak Peek at 730 Steps!

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • July 1, 2017 - 12:24 PM , , , , , , , ,
Devising Duklida: Joseph Lavy (R) provides feedback to ensemble members (clockwise from L) Emily Jo Testa, Tyler Polumsky, Matt Sherrill, and Annie Paladino during the devising process.

Devising Duklida: Joseph Lavy (R) provides feedback to ensemble members (clockwise from L) Emily Jo Testa, Tyler Polumsky, Matt Sherrill, and Annie Paladino during the devising process.

Please join us Friday, July 28, for a full rendering of our work-in-progress on 730 Steps.

 

This was the culmination of a year’s work, which began July 23, 2016, with a reading of the initial rehearsal script. As with any new-work, and especially with source material of the scope and complexity of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the generative phase of our development process has been richly rewarding. We now have a wealth of material to put in front of an audience for feedback.

What is a rendering?

Akropolis uses “rendering” as a particular term of art. On the one had, there is the common sense definition related to performance and the word rendition: representing or depicting something artistically; causing something to be; submitting something for inspection. However, in our work “rendering” always incorporates an older meaning that is less commonly used today: melting something down; extracting parts; or clarifying (as with butter). For APL, a rendering is always an opportunity through performance — whether for an audience of 100 or 1 — to present work for inspection for the express purpose of clarifying it, identifying parts to cut, rearrange, or reshape.

 

The July 28 rendering is an important part of 730 Steps’ development process. The feedback we receive will help us shape the final form of this massive production!

You can expect to see scene work developed to date, in continuous performance. Where there is material still to be devised for major plot points, we will represent that material in a more temporary performance manner. While the finished piece will incorporate music, we will not perform music as part of the rendering. Actors will be in costume. Major props and set pieces will be used, and there will be basic theatrical lighting. Audience will be seated on 3 sides of the action on padded chairs, and there will be risers for optimal viewing.

Plan for a 4 hour viewing. The rendering begins at 7:30 pm. You are welcome to arrive as early as 7:00 pm. Light refreshments will be provided.

This one-night event is free and open to the public. However, to comply with the wishes of our donated venue, we ask that you send us an email requesting an invitation. Seating is limited, and invitations will be sent out by email on a first-come, first-served basis.

We hope you will join the ensemble around the table afterwards to talk about your observations!

4Culture Logo
This project is sponsored, in part, by a grant from 4Culture.

Theatre Journal publishes Glas Nocturne Review

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • April 16, 2016 - 8:10 AM , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Theatre Journal TGN ScreenshotWe are so proud to share this performance review of The Glas Nocturne, which is published in the current issue (68.1) of Theatre Journal!

Thank you to Jeanmarie Higgins and ‪#‎theatrejournal‬ for venturing out to our corner of the country and giving APL’s work critical consideration as part of the international theatre conversation.

From the author: “What started as a quick trip to Seattle to see some friends and some theatre turned into a Theatre Journal performance review of Joseph and Zhenya Lavy’s The Glas Nocturne. I love writing about Akropolis Performance Lab; the work is always virtuosic, irrefutable, and strangely joyful.”

READ THE REVIEW FREE ON ACADEMIA.EDU

Second Gypsy Nomination for Glas & Joseph Lavy

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • January 13, 2016 - 11:32 PM , , ,

In addition to Zhenya’s nomination for local composing, Joseph received a Gypsy Rose Lee Award nomination for Best Male Lead Actor in a Play for his role as Dr. Glas in The Glas Nocturne.

The Gypsy Rose Lee Awards are selected by Seattle Theatre Critics. Here is the entire slate of 2015 nominees:

Excellence in Production of a Play (Larger Theaters):

  • Best of Enemies – Taproot Theatre Company
  • Orpheus Descending – Intiman Theatre Festival/The Williams Project
  • Our Town – Strawberry Theatre Workshop
  • Slaughterhouse-Five – Book-It Repertory Theatre
  • The Flick – New Century Theatre Company

Excellence in Production of a Play (Smaller Theaters):

  • Chinglish – ArtsWest
  • Dance Like A Man – Pratidhwani
  • The Secretaries – Theater Schmeater
  • The Tall Girls – Washington Ensemble Theatre
  • Water By The Spoonful – Theatre22

Excellence in Production of a Musical

  • American Idiot – ArtsWest
  • Come From Away – Seattle Repertory Theatre
  • Into the Woods – STAGEright Theatre
  • Lizard Boy – Seattle Repertory Theatre
  • The Great America Trailer Park Musical – STAGEright Theatre

Excellence in Direction of a Play (Larger Theaters):

  • Josh Aaseng – Slaughterhouse-Five (Book-It Repertory Theatre)
  • David Bennett – Buyer & Cellar (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Malika Oyetimein – Bootycandy (Intiman Theatre Festival)
  • Ryan Purcell – Orpheus Descending (Intiman Theatre Festival/The Williams Project)
  • MJ Sieber – The Flick (New Century Theatre Company)

Excellence in Direction of a Play (Smaller Theaters):

  • Julie Beckman – Water By The Spoonful (Theatre22)
  • Desdemona Chiang and Howie Seago – Sound (Azeotrope)
  • John Kazanjian – Mud (New City Theater)
  • Kelly Kitchens – The Art of Bad Men (MAP Theatre)
  • Annie Lareau – Chinglish (ArtsWest)

Excellence in Direction of a Musical

  • Eric Ankrim – American Idiot (ArtsWest)
  • Christopher Ashley – Come From Away (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Matt Giles – Into the Woods (STAGEright Theatre)
  • Brandon Ivie – Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Steve Tomkins – No Way to Treat a Lady (Village Theatre)

Excellence in Performance in a Play as a Lead Actor (Male) (Larger Theaters):

  • John Aylward – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (ACT Theatre)
  • Robert Bergin/Erik Gratton/Todd Jefferson Moore – Slaughterhouse-Five (Book-It Repertory Theatre)
  • Jeff Berryman – Best of Enemies (Taproot Theatre Company)
  • Scott Drummond – Buyer & Cellar (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Tyler Trerise – The Flick (New Century Theatre Company)

Excellence in Performance in a Play as a Lead Actor (Male) (Smaller Theaters):

  • Jany Bacallao – Water By The Spoonful (Theatre22)
  • Ryan Higgins – 99 Ways To Fuck A Swan (Washington Ensemble Theatre)
  • Joseph Lavy – The Glas Nocturne (Akropolis Performance Lab)
  • Terry Edward Moore – A Delicate Balance (Theatre9/12)
  • Tyler Trerise – My Mañana Comes (ArtsWest)

Excellence in Performance in a Musical as a Lead Actor (Male)

  • Mark Anders – My Fair Lady (Village Theatre)
  • Nick DeSantis – No Way to Treat a Lady (Village Theatre)
  • Brian Earp – Cabaret (Village Theatre)
  • Frederick Hagreen – American Idiot (ArtsWest)
  • Justin Huertas – Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre)

Excellence in Performance in a Play as a Lead Actor (Female) (Larger Theaters):

  • Hana Lass – The Explorers Club (Taproot Theatre Company)
  • Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako – Little Bee (Book-It Repertory Theatre)
  • Jeanne Paulsen – Mother Courage And Her Children (Seattle Shakespeare Company)
  • Faith Russell – Best of Enemies (Taproot Theatre Company)
  • Amy Thone – Our Town (Strawberry Theatre Workshop)

Excellence in Performance in a Play as a Lead Actor (Female) (Smaller Theaters):

  • Mary Ewald – Mud (New City Theater)
  • Sophia Franzella – My Dear Miss Chancellor (Annex Theatre)
  • Kathy Hsieh – Chinglish (ArtsWest)
  • Yesenia Iglesias – Water By The Spoonful (Theatre22)
  • Anna Kasabyan – Bad Jews (Seattle Public Theater)

Excellence in Performance in a Musical as a Lead Actor (Female)

  • Kristin Burch – Legally Blonde (SecondStory Repertory)
  • Jenn Collela – Come From Away (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Beth DeVries – Snapshots (Village Theatre)
  • EmilyRose Frasca – Are You There, God? It’s Me, Karen Carpenter (STAGEright Theatre)
  • Allison Standley – My Fair Lady (Village Theatre)

Excellence in Performance of a Play as a Supporting Actor (Male) – any non-lead (Larger Theaters):

  • Quinn Franzen – Threesome (ACT Theatre)
  • Sam Hagen – The Flick (New Century Theatre Company)
  • Bill Johns – The Explorers Club (Taproot Theatre Company)
  • Isaiah Johnson – Bootycandy (Intiman Theatre Festival)
  • Adam Standley – Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (ACT Theatre)

Excellence in Performance of a Play as a Supporting Actor (Male) – any non-lead (Smaller Theaters):

  • Scott Ward Abernethy – Indian Ink (Sound Theatre Company/Pratidhwani)
  • Ben Phillips – Bad Jews (Seattle Public Theater)
  • Brandon Ryan – The Art of Bad Men (MAP Theatre)
  • Ryan Schlect – Sound (Azeotrope)
  • G. Valmont Thomas – Water By The Spoonful (Theatre22)

Excellence in Performance of a Musical as a Supporting Actor (Male)

  • Rodney Hicks – Come From Away (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Dan Kremer – My Fair Lady (Village Theatre)
  • David Pichette – The Sound of Music (The 5th Avenue Theatre)
  • Caesar Samayoa – Come From Away (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • William A. Williams – Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre)

Excellence in Performance of a Play as a Supporting Actor (Female) (Larger Theaters):

  • Angel Brice – Bootycandy (Intiman Theatre Festival)
  • Emily Chisholm – The Flick (New Century Theatre Company)
  • Rebecca M. Davis – Bootycandy (Intiman Theatre Festival)
  • Jenny Vaughn Hall – Best of Enemies (Taproot Theatre Company)
  • Sarah Harlett – The Memorandum (Strawberry Theatre Workshop)

Excellence in Performance of a Play as a Supporting Actor (Female) (Smaller Theaters):

  • Rose Cano – Water By The Spoonful (Theatre22)
  • Cheyenna Clearbrook – Sound (Azeotrope)
  • Ashley Flannegan – The Secretaries (Theater Schmeater)
  • Peggy Gannon – The Art of Bad Men (MAP Theatre)
  • Rhonda J. Soikowski – Wizzer Pizzer (Theatre22)

Excellence in Performance of a Musical as a Supporting Actor (Female) – any non-lead

  • Kirsten deLohr Helland – Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Priscilla Hake Lauris – My Fair Lady (Village Theatre)
  • Chelsea LeValley – Angry Housewives (ArtsWest)
  • Q. Smith – Come From Away (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Billie Wildrick – Carousel (The 5th Avenue Theatre)

Excellence in Performance as an Ensemble (Larger Theaters):

  • Bootycandy – Intiman Theatre Festival (Chris Ensweiler, Tyler Trerise, Rebecca M. Davis, Isaiah Johnson, Angel Brice)
  • Come From Away – Seattle Repertory Theatre (Eric Ankrim, Petrina Bromley, Jenn Colella, Joel Hatch, Rodney Hicks,Kendra Kassebaum, Chad Kimball, Lee MacDougall, Caesar Samayoa, Q Smith, Astrid Van Wieren, Sharon Wheatley)
  • Festen – New Century Theatre Company (Emily Chisholm, Bradford Farwell, Ray Gonzalez, Brenda Joyner, Conner Neddersen, Michael Patten, Jason Sanford, Betsy Schwartz, MJ Sieber, Amy Thone, Connor Toms, Evan Whitfield, Peter Dylan O’Connor, Helen Milam)
  • Orpheus Descending – Intiman Theatre Festival/The Williams Project (Grant Chapman, Kemiyondo Coutinho,Rebecca Gibel, Tiffany Nichole Greene, Elise LeBreton, Richard Prioleau, Max Rosenak, Charlie Thurston)
  • No Way to Treat a Lady – Village Theatre (Nick DeSantis, Dane Stokinger, Jessica Skerritt, Bobbi Kotula, Jayne Muirhead)

Excellence in Performance as an Ensemble (Smaller Theaters):

  • Brechtfest – The Horse in Motion (Katherine Bicknell, Nathan Brockett, Liza Curtiss, Amy Escobar,Chris Lee Hill, Harry Todd Jamieson, Sylvia Kowalski, Adria LaMorticella, Kevin Lin, Jocelyn Maher, Nic Morden, Andrew Pritzkau, Hannah Ruwe, Matt Sherrill, Dylan Smith, Shaudi Bianca Vahdat)
  • Dance Like a Man – Pratidhwani (Jay Athalye, Tanvee Kale, Abhijeet Rane, Meenakshi Rishi)
  • The Art of Bad Men – MAP Theatre (Grace Carmack, Peggy Gannon, Ben McFadden, Ben Burris, Brandon Ryan, Sean Schroeder)
  • The Tall Girls – Washington Ensemble Theatre (Leah Salcido Pfenning, Hannah Ruwe, Chelsea Callahan, Adria LaMorticella, Bailie Breaux, Ali Mohamed el-Gasseir)
  • Water By The Spoonful – Theatre22 (Jany Bacallao, Yesenia Iglesias, Rose Cano, G. Valmont Thomas, Keiko Green, Jeff Allen Pierce, Jake Ynzunza)

Excellence in Set Design (Larger Theaters):

  • Andrea Bryn Bush – The Flick (New Century Theatre Company)
  • L.B. Morse – Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Matthew Smucker – Cabaret (Village Theatre)
  • Matthew Smucker – Our Town (Strawberry Theatre Workshop)
  • Carey Wong – The Comparables (Seattle Repertory Theatre)

Excellence in Set Design (Smaller Theaters):

  • Nina Moser – Mud (New City Theater)
  • Jared Roberts – American Idiot (ArtsWest)
  • Paul Thomas – Dump Site (Seattle Immersive Theatre)
  • Montana Tippett – Water By The Spoonful (Theatre22)
  • Craig Wollam – The Tumbleweed Zephyr (Pork Filled Productions)

Excellence in Costume Design (Larger Theaters):

  • Erik Andor – Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Sarah Nash Gates – Carousel (The 5th Avenue Theatre)
  • Kelly McDonald – Bootycandy (Intiman Theatre Festival)
  • Pete Rush – Slaughterhouse-Five (Book-It Repertory Theatre)
  • Deb Trout – Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (ACT Theatre)

Excellence in Costume Design (Smaller Theaters):

  • Cherelle Ashby & Jonelle Cornwell – Are You There, God? It’s Me, Karen Carpenter (STAGEright Theatre)
  • Candace Frank – Indian Ink (Sound Theatre Company/Pratidhwani)
  • Kelly McDonald – Chinglish (ArtsWest)
  • Nina Moser – Mud (New City Theater)
  • Ali Rose Panzarella – 99 Ways To Fuck A Swan (Washington Ensemble Theatre)

Excellence in Lighting Design (Larger Theaters):

  • Howell Binkley – Come From Away (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Kent Cubbage – Slaughterhouse-Five (Book-It Repertory Theatre)
  • Geoff Korf – Festen (New Century Theatre Company)
  • Geoff Korf – Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (ACT Theatre)
  • Andrew D. Smith – The Flick (New Century Theatre Company)

Excellence in Lighting Design (Smaller Theaters):

  • Tess Malone – The Art of Bad Men (MAP Theatre)
  • Tristan Roberson – Water By The Spoonful (Theatre22)
  • Gwyn Skone – My Dear Miss Chancellor (Annex Theatre)
  • Lindsay Smith – Mud (New City Theater)
  • Tim Wratten – Tilt Angel (theater simple)

Excellence in Sound Design (Larger Theaters):

  • Dominic CodyKramers – Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (ACT Theatre)
  • Mark Lund – Best of Enemies (Taproot Theatre Company)
  • Evan Mosher and Robertson Witmer – The Flick (New Century Theatre Company)
  • Matt Starritt – Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Matt Starritt – Slaughterhouse-Five (Book-It Repertory Theatre)

Excellence in Sound Design (Smaller Theaters):

  • Dana Amromin – The Secretaries (Theater Schmeater)
  • Christen Audio Group (Andy Somora and Hannah Victoria Franklin) – Is She Dead Yet? (Annex Theatre)
  • Evan Mosher and Andre Nelson – Slowgirl (Seattle Public Theater)
  • Haley Parcher – American Idiot (ArtsWest)
  • Kyle Thompson – Water By The Spoonful (Theatre22)

Excellence in Musical Direction

  • Ian Eisendrath – Come From Away (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Chris Ranney and R.J. Tancioco – American Idiot (ArtsWest)
  • RJ Tancioco – Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre)

Excellence in Choreography or Movement

  • Donald Byrd – Carousel (The 5th Avenue Theatre)
  • Kelly Devine – Come From Away (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Trina Mills, Shadou Mintrone and Gabe Corey – American Idiot (ArtsWest)

Excellence in Local Playwriting

  • Josh Aaseng – Slaughterhouse-Five (Book-It Repertory Theatre)
  • Caitlin Gilman – My Dear Miss Chancellor (Annex Theatre)
  • Keiko Green – Bunnies (Annex Theatre)
  • Justin Huertas – Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Brandon Simmons – Is She Dead Yet? (Annex Theatre)

Excellence in Local Composing

  • Justin Huertas – Lizard Boy (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
  • Zhenya Lavy – The Glas Nocturne (Akropolis Performance Lab)
  • Mark Siano, Opal Peachey, and Dayton Alleman – Bohemia (Marxiano Productions)

Joseph Lavy Receives Seattle Times Footlight Award

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • January 3, 2016 - 1:51 PM , , ,

Co-Artistic Director Joseph Lavy has received a 2015 Seattle Times Footlight Award for solo acting for his performance as Dr. Glas in The Glas Nocturne! Joseph delivered a profoundly powerful performance, and we couldn’t be more proud to see him honored with a Footlight. Thank you to Misha Berson and all the Seattle Times theatre critics for this acknowledgment.

The Glas Nocturne, a subcultural chamber performance experience for small audiences, has had two limited runs in Seattle and one tour. It garnered strong media reviews in its world premiere run, and a scholarly review is forthcoming in the March 2016 issue of Theatre Journal, which is published by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE).

If you missed the chance to see The Glas Nocturne in 2015, watch for news of a remount or sign up for our waitlist. We plan to bring it back for at least one more run of local performances later in 2016.

Here’s a clip of a segment we call “The Story of the Girl,” filmed during our November tour to the Center for Applied Theatre & Active Culture / New World Performance Lab (Akron OH):

L-R: Joseph Lavy,  Emily Jo Testa, Catherine Lavy, Annie Paladino, and Zhenya Lavy.

#glasnocturne

Je Suis le Fils de Quelqu’un

  By Joseph Lavy • December 29, 2015 - 3:55 PM , , , , , ,

Je Suis le Fils de Quelqu’un:
A reflection on touring The Glas Nocturne to Akron OH, November 2015

By Joseph Lavy

“You have the song. You must ask yourself where this song began.” ~J. Grotowski

 

I can’t seem to write the post I want to write.

I want to write a long meditation on heritage and homecomings;
about artistic fathers and family re-membered
over coffee and broken bread;
how the past and the present converged
over wine and rillettes
and how a bottle of aquavit can almost reach the Hour of the Wolf.

I want to write a treatise about the fallacy of linear time

and a Thanksgiving hymn of gratitude
to my colleagues for their faith, talents, and work,
to our hosts for their hospitality,
for artistic homes;

a cry of deep joy
sprung from meeting the challenges of
transforming our performance from one sort of
intimacy to another,
without loss or sacrifice;

a profound parable
of returning and laying it all on the line
before those people–visible and invisible–
who matter the most
and who prove that you are not a vagabond
but that you come from some country,
some landscape
which is still there
and which is you
near or far.

“The Story of the Girl,” segment from Akropolis Performance Lab’s The Glas Nocturne,  Saturday, November 21, 2015, at The Center for Applied Theatre and Active Culture/New World Performance Lab in Akron OH.  L-R: Joseph Lavy,  Emily Jo Testa, Catherine Lavy, Annie Paladino, and Zhenya Lavy.

The Doctor Returns! Glas Nocturne reopens Nov 5

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • October 19, 2015 - 10:26 PM , , , , , ,

We are thrilled to announce that we are remounting The Glas Nocturne in Seattle (Nov 5-7 & 12-14) and in Akron OH (Nov 20-21)! The Ohio tour is hosted by Akron’s Center for Applied Theatre & Active Culture / New World Performance Lab. It’s our first tour out of Washington State, and we can’t wait to share this potent piece with new audiences.

Check out our new Glas trailer video, too!

 

Learn more about our Ohio host, the Center for Applied Theatre & Active Culture / New World Performance Lab, on their website.

Mephisto Cast Announced

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • August 16, 2015 - 10:37 AM , , , , , , , , ,
L-R: Gustaf Gründgens, Erika Mann, Pamela Wedekind, Klaus Mann | At the time this photo was taken, Erika was engaged to Gustaf but was having an affair with Pamela, who was engaged to marry Klaus, who was romantically involved with Gustaf. They also were appearing in Klaus's play, Anja und Esther, based on the affair between Erika and Pamela.

L-R: Gustaf Gründgens, Erika Mann, Pamela Wedekind, Klaus Mann | At the time this photo was taken, Erika was engaged to Gustaf but was having an affair with Pamela, who was engaged to marry Klaus, who was romantically involved with Gustaf. They also were appearing in Klaus’s play, Anja und Esther, based on the affair between Erika and Pamela.

Our October 11 Sunday Salon reading of Klaus Mann’s Mephisto, as adapted for stage by Ariane Mnouchkine, is not to be missed! We have assembled a thrilling cast of local talent to illuminate Mann’s unforgettable and largely autobiographical collection of socialists and incipient fascists as they react to Hitler’s ascension and make fatal choices about art and life.

THE CAST

Klaus Mann/Sebastian Bruckner – Craig Bradshaw
Hendrik Hofgen – Brandon J. Simmons
Carola Martin – Tracy Michelle Hughes
Hans Miklas  – Tyler Polumsky
Theresa von Herzfeld / Emelyne – Valerie Curtis-Newton
Otto Ulrich – Joseph Lavy
Myriam Horowitz / Actor – Emily Jo Testa
Alex / Tyler Trerise
Magnus Gottchalk / Thomas Bruckner – Carter Rodriquez
Mrs. Efeu – Eva Doak
Knurr / Publisher – Dean Wilson
Juliette / Lorenz / Ludwig – Ayo Tushinde
Erika Bruckner  / General Fonnesique – Alex Highsmith
Nicoletta von Niebuhr – Sara Kaus
Theophile Sarder / Hans Josthinkel – Ben Gonio

Join us October 11 for what promises to be an exciting reading and lively discussion!
More information and RSVP.

Reviews Are In & Word Is Out About Our Secret Performance

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • May 26, 2015 - 12:25 PM , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Poets say the moon is passionate and desirous. Others see an ethical-religious meaning in moonlight. Youth sees the moon as a promise of all those tremendous things which await it; The old find a memento that the promise was never kept, a reminder of all that broke and went to pieces. And what is moonlight?” | Joseph Lavy as Dr. Glas | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

Although we restricted marketing for The Glas Nocturne to social media and word-of-mouth, word has gotten out quite well. So well, in fact, that we are extending our run by a full week beyond our initial expectation!

If you haven’t yet gotten a seat, we have just 30 available between now and June 7.

Check out some of what’s being said about this truly remarkable performance!

Just 30 seats remain through June 7, so act quickly to get your invitation!

REQUEST INVITATION BUTTON