Category Archives: World Premiere

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

FacebookTwitterGoogle+TumblrPinterestGoogle GmailDeliciousDiggRedditStumbleUponFlipboardShare

Would You Do It?

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • May 12, 2015 - 12:29 PM , , , , , , ,
"I wasn't planning a suicide, but a wise man should always be prepared." | Joseph Lavy is Dr. Glas | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

“I wasn’t planning a suicide, but a wise man should always be prepared.” | Joseph Lavy is Dr. Glas | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

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

The Glas Nocturne asks this and other challenging questions without leading us to any easy answers.

In preparation for their attendance at APL’s latest world-premiere, we asked our audience to share their thoughts about these questions. From now through the end of the run, we will share their responses with you.

Join the conversation at #WouldYouDoIt? on Facebook or Twitter — or follow Would You Do It? on Storify.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject, too!

Now Accepting Glas Invitation Requests

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • April 11, 2015 - 7:08 PM , ,

“Perhaps I should come and see you one of these days, Dr. Glas.”

~ The Reverend Gregorius

 

Requests for invitations to The Glas Nocturne are now being accepted!

Deadline to request an invitation is May 27, but that leaves you precious few options if we decide not to extend into June. Act early and be one of the first to meet this Dr. Glas in his world-premiere appearance. Opening May 15.

#GlasNocturne #AkropolisDailyNocturne

The Glas Nocturne to Open May 15

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • March 10, 2015 - 5:58 AM , ,

The Glas NocturneIt’s official: The Glas Nocturne will open May 15!

More details to follow soon… but not as many as usual. We’re using a speakeasy production model.

Glas Nocturne is an invitation-only event. And the date, time, and location of each showing will only be revealed to invitees.

A donation-only event, no tickets will be sold.

Want an invitation? Watch for details about how to request yours!

#GlasNocturne

 

Artistic Projects Premiering in 2015-16

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • February 22, 2015 - 11:00 PM , , , , , ,

 

In the coming year, you will have more opportunities than ever to see an Akropolis Performance Lab production. We are thrilled to announce our current slate of artistic projects and can’t wait for you to see them!

Check out the fantastic season graphic by Joe Patrick Kane, and read a bit about each of the pieces below.

2015-16 Artistic Projects

Pomegranate & Ash

An experimental work in Theatre of Polyphony, taking TS Eliot’s Ash Wednesday, Monteverdi madrigals, the Hymn of Demeter, traditional Shaker songs and each performer’s personal biography as source material for an original performance rooted in themes of separation, loss, and reunification. Theatre of Polyphony weaves simultaneous lines of independent performance — a cappella song, movement, dance, physical action and spoken text — into a rich, multi-faceted performance event. This piece is an ongoing, ever-evolving project, bridging the two primary domains of APL’s artistic work: public performance and ensemble training. A segment of the work premiered at  On the Boards Open Studio #6 on February 8, 2015. Pomegranate & Ash will be shown in its full form during Spring and Summer 2015.

The Glas Nocturne

APL Co-Artistic Director Joseph Lavy adapts Hjalmar Söderberg’s scandalous fin-de-siecle novel, Doktor Glas, into a noir monodrama of psycho-sexual fixation, moral questioning, and murder. Our most intimate piece to date, The Glas Nocturne will be produced as a speak-easy chamber piece, pushing APL in new directions as we confront the novel’s central question: Is it ever justifiable to take the life of another human being? Conceived for a maximum audience of 10. Performances will begin in May 2015 and will be by invitation only. Information about how to request an invitation is forthcoming.

Ecce Faustus

A contemporary medieval mystery play excavating the archetypal Faustian narrative. Devised from canonical texts, historical figures, and obscure manuscripts. Woven through with sublime vocal music composed by the diabolical Carlo Gesualdo. Rooted in APL’s unique brand of physical theatre. Ecce Faustus presents an examination of madness, virtue, and the physical and spiritual costs of human ambition. Continuing APL’s fifteen-year tradition of long-form creative process, this production marks a return to the ensemble’s signature theatrical landscapes, exemplified by such past pieces as Jeanne, the Maid and Dream of a Ridiculous Man. Featuring Artistic Associate Trevor Young Marston as Dr. Faustus. Premieres Winter 2016.

Announcements about dates, casts, and more to come!

APL’s Uncle Vanya Earns 2 Gypsy Rose Lee Award Nominations

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • January 9, 2015 - 11:49 AM , , , , ,
Marina (Zhenya Lavy) and Astrov (Carter Rodriquez) | Photo: Annie Paladino

Marina (Zhenya Lavy) and Astrov (Carter Rodriquez) | Photo: Annie Paladino

The Seattle Theatre Writers critics circle slow-released its nominations this week for the 2014 Gypsy Rose Lee Awards.

Akropolis Performance Lab is very proud to announce that two members of the Uncle Vanya ensemble garnered nominations:

  • Zhenya Lavy, for best local composer (in a category that pit her against theatres of all sizes and budgets) for her deeply evocative musical composition.
  • Carter Rodriquez, for best supporting actor (small theatre category) for his remarkable work as Dr. Astrov.

See the complete slate of the 2014 Gypsy Rose Lee Award Nominations.

Pomegranate & Ash to Premiere in OTB’s Open Studio

  By Akropolis Performance Lab • December 16, 2014 - 6:58 PM , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Pomegranate & Ash | On the Boards Open Studio | Feb. 8, 3:30 PM.

Pomegranate & Ash | On the Boards Open Studio | Feb. 8, 3:30 PM.

The fullest manifestation to date of APL’s Theatre of Polyphony, Pomegranate & Ash premieres at On the Boards in the Open Studio on Sunday, February 8, at 3:30pm.

Pomegranate and Ash takes TS Eliot’s Ash Wednesday, Monteverdi madrigals, the Hymn of Demeter, music from the Shaker tradition, and each performer’s personal biography as source material for an original performance rooted in themes of separation, loss, and reunification.

The entire ensemble performs in this piece, including all our new Artistic Associates and Apprentices.

Admission to Open Studio is by donation only: $5 suggested.

Learn more about Pomegranate & Ash and APL’s Theatre of Polyphony.

Mini-Review of Fangs

  By Zhenya Lavy • November 14, 2014 - 10:13 AM , , ,

This time last year, I was working my way through the (digital) stack of original plays submitted to our inaugural “New Year, New Play” Sunday Salon. When I got to the title page of Jim Moran’s Fangs, I thought, “Vampires? Werewolves?” But what I read was something very different — delightful, even. We gave Fangs a developmental reading in January and were thrilled to learn it would receive full production at Eclectic Theater  and would even feature two of the actors from our reading –Samantha Routh and Shane Regan — albeit in different roles. Fast forward to last night, when Joseph and I attended its opening.

One thing I appreciate in Fangs is Jim’s excellence at crafting simple, inherently comedic characters — ably balancing text and space so the actors can really crack them open — with a more subtle approach to humor that yields the biggest laughs… every time. In this production, Ashley Bagwell takes the already wonderfully quirky character of Ed and develops him with such a fullness of presence and action that it’s hard not to walk away without feeling that this smaller role actually anchors the entire show. And Shane Regan takes Toby from his unassuming, uptight beginnings through a complete unraveling that… you should see for yourself. Jim has less success with the other characters, whose banter or attitudes are “trying” to be witty or funny, and through them we feel the playwright trying a bit too hard: these larger characters, ironically, become reduced in such a way that they never transcend caricature. That said, while Joseph and I have endured many a “funny” play of late that delivered few real laughs at all from anyone other than friends/family of the production, Jim’s Fangs succeeded in making us laugh a lot. The character of Ed alone — LMFAO!!!

Want to support new work by local playwrights in a vibrant community of development? Check out Fangs. Want the old-school, small theatre culture legacy of Capitol Hill to survive the neighborhood — and artistic — gentrification? Get out and support Eclectic and the other orgs hanging onto their real estate by the skin of their teeth.