A Noise Within Concludes Season with THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD April 17, 2010

A NOISE WITHIN,
LOS ANGELES’ CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED
CLASSICAL REPERTORY THEATRE COMPANY,
CONCLUDES 2009-10 SEASON WITH JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE’S MASTERPIECE THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD

Saturday, April 17 – Saturday, May 22, 2010
(previews begin Saturday, April 10)

A Noise Within (ANW) concludes its 2009-10 season with celebrated Irish playwright JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE’s THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD directed by Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director Geoff Elliott, which opens Saturday, April 17 and closes Saturday, May 22, 2010 (previews begin Saturday, April 10). The once controversial play – which sparked riots during and after its debut in Dublin in 1907, was booed in New York four years later, and resulted in the arrest of the Philadelphia cast on charges of staging an immoral performance – has since been recognized as a masterpiece.

Synge, one of Ireland's most beloved playwrights, weaves a multi-colored, prism-like romantic tale set in the remote bogs of Ireland's wild Mayo Coast. Simultaneously haunting and hilarious, Playboy is considered his crowning achievement. The cast includes Elliott (Old Mahon), Michael A. Newcomer (Christopher Mahon), Lindsay Gould (Margaret Flaherty [Pegeen Mike]), Apollo Dukakis (Michael James Flaherty), Brian Hostenske (Shawn Keogh) and Jill Hill (Widow Quinn).

Describing Playboy as Shakespearean in scope, Elliott says, “It’s a hilarious comedy, but it's also moving, sad and tragic. Celebrating language, it's beautifully written by providing a prism effect – when you turn it one way, you see something, and when you turn it another way, it’s completely different. A universal story of survival, it is also a love story, focusing on the everyday life of the characters who face a situation with incredibly high stakes.”

Elliott notes that at the time it was written, the conflict and tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland were extremely high and for an actor to say anything on stage detrimental to the Irish character was bound to cause trouble. “On opening night,” Elliott says, “people in the audience were screaming at each other in the first act. Fights were breaking out in the second act, and by the time they got to the third act, riots started.

Playboy was described by Synge contemporary William Butler Yeats as "picturesque, poetical, fantastical, a masterpiece of style and of music, the supreme work of our dialect theatre.”

A Noise Within was founded in 1992 by Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and quickly established itself as one of the nation’s leading theatre companies. It continues to maintain its celebrated status as the only year-round classical repertory company in Southern California, attracting fiercely loyal audiences and high praise from the media for its productions of great works of world drama and also as a leading regional force in arts education. Since its inception, the company has presented more than 120 plays from the classics of world literature, each season producing plays from authors ranging from Shakespeare and Molière to Ibsen, O’Neill and Shaw to Miller and Williams. The theatre’s consistent dedication to quality has been rewarded with more than two-dozen Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards as well as numerous LA Weekly and Back Stage Garland awards. Past highlights include a collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Hollywood Bowl. ANW's next chapter provides the long-awaited opportunity to sink deep and lasting roots when it moves in 2011 from its long-time leased base in Glendale to a spectacular, permanent 35,000 square-foot home in Pasadena. The mixed-use development is located in the historic Stuart Pharmaceutical building at the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue. The facility is designed to expand A Noise Within’s artistic possibilities, offer a greater scope of educational opportunities, meet ticket demand and allow the company to expand its role as a leader in the presentation and preservation of classical theatre.
Single Tickets are $44 (Friday and Saturday evenings, Sunday matinees); $40 (Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings, Saturday matinees); and $30 (previews). Groups (10 or more) are $25, or $30 on Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees; School Groups (10 or more) are $16, or $20 on Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees.

A NOISE WITHIN is located at 234 South Brand Boulevard, Glendale, CA 91204. To purchase tickets or for a full season brochure, call 818-240-0910 x1 or visit www.ANoiseWithin.org.

WHO:
A Noise Within – one of the nation’s leading repertory theatre companies

WHAT:
JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE’S THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD

CAST & CREW:
Geoff Elliott (Director)

Alicia Bruckman (Honor Blake)
Apollo Dukakis (Michael James Flaherty)
Geoff Elliott (Old Mahon)
Jill Hill (Widow Quin)
Brian Hostenske (Shawn Keogh)
William Dennis Hunt (Philly Cullen)
Rebecca Mason-Wygal (Sara Tansey)
Michael A. Newcomer (Christopher Mahon [Christy])
Lindsay Gould (Margaret Flaherty [Pegeen Mike])
Maxwell Schneller (Peasant)
Caitlyn Tella (Susan Brady)
Tim Venable (Jimmy Farrell)

Nike Doukas (Dialect Coach)
Meghan Kennedy (Stage Manager)
Stephen Gifford (Set Designer)
Soojin Lee (Costume Designer)
Danielle Horn (Costume Assistant)
Ken Booth (Lighting Designer)
Matt Richter (Sound Designer)
Renee Cash (Props)
Rebecca Baillie (Production Manager)
Adam Lillibridge (Technical Director)
Monica Sabedra (Wig/Hair and Makeup Designer)
Erin McKenna (Scenic Artist)

WHEN:
Previews:
Saturday, April 10, 8 pm
Sunday, April 11, 7 pm
Wednesday, April 14, 8 pm
Thursday, April 15, 8 pm
Friday, April 16, 8 pm

Opens:
Saturday, April 17, 8 pm

Runs:
Sunday, April 18, 2 pm
Sunday, April 25, 2 pm
Sunday, April 25, 7 pm
Thursday, April 29, 8 pm
Friday, April 30, 8 pm
Sunday, May 9, 2 pm
Sunday, May 9, 7 pm
Wednesday, May 12, 8 pm
Thursday, May 13, 8 pm
Friday, May 14, 8 pm
Saturday, May 15, 2 pm
Saturday, May 15, 8 pm
Saturday, May 22, 2 pm
Saturday, May 22, 8 pm

WHERE:
A Noise Within
234 South Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91204

TICKET PRICES:
$44 (Friday and Saturday evenings, Sunday matinees);
$40 (Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings, Saturday matinees);
$30 (Previews);
Group rates and special rates for school groups available

TICKETS & INFO:
818-240-0910 x1 www.ANoiseWithin.org