Propinquity Productions presents
the World Premiere of
An Idiot
by Jeff Tabnick
directed by Eric Nightengale
The New York International Fringe
Festival – Fringe NYC
A production of The Present
Company
August 14 – 28, 2010
Propinquity Productions presents
the World Premiere of An Idiot, Jeff Tabnick’s modern
retelling of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot, directed by Eric Nightengale,
as part of The New York International Fringe Festival – Fringe NYC, a
production of The Present Company, from August 14 – 28, 2010 at Venue
#3, The Kraine Theater, 85 E. 4th Street (Second Avenue & Bowery),
NYC. Performances: Saturday, August 14 at 7:45pm; Sunday, August 15 at
10:45pm; Friday, August 20 at 2pm; Sunday, August 22 at noon; and Saturday,
August 28 at 4pm. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Tickets
will be available beginning July 23 at http://www.fringenyc.org
or 1-866-468-7619 and beginning
July 31 at FringeCENTRAL, 1 E. 8th Street, NYC.
None of the other characters want
to retell the story of The Idiot because it’s too horrific, but
Prince Myshkin insists this time will be different; this time he will deliver
a speech that will save the world.
And so begins a darkly comic retelling
of Dostoevsky’s novel. Dropped into modern day America, a land ruled by
Christian hypocrites, Prince Myshkin runs for U.S. Senate to promote true
Christianity – compassion for all men. As his fame grows, he helps a recovering
alcoholic win the love of a socialite/porn star. But when she falls in
love with Myshkin instead, he must teach them to love with compassion before
jealousy turns into murder. In the meantime, the prince has opened his
apartment to cancer patients and the homeless, however it soon becomes
clear that those Myshkin pities feel more spite than gratitude… Can Myshkin
hold back the passions, intrigues and resentments brewing in his apartment
long enough to give his speech and save the world?
Directed by Eric Nightengale. Scenic
Consultant: Scott Aronow. Props: Amanda Stuart. Production Stage Manager:
Billie Davis. Assistant Stage Manager: Simone Zwarenstein. Vocal Coach:
Nancy Saklad.
Featuring Phil Douglas, Philip
Guerette, Emily Hagburg, James Jenner, Jonathan Todd Ross, Toby Wherry,
Hollis Witherspoon.
An Idiot was originally
workshopped at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, New York in June-July 2010,
directed by Joy
Brooke Fairfield .
Playwright Jeff Tabnick’s
plays have been performed at Ensemble Studio Theater, LaMaMa ETC, Developing
Artists, The Cherry Lane Studio, The Brick Theater, UNDER St. Marks, Swathmore
College, Galapagos Performance Space, Atlantic Theater Company Acting School,
Cornell University and The Hangar Theater among others. I Found Her
Tied to My Bed, his play in one-act, has been produced three times
in New York City and once in England. His short plays appear in “The Backstage
Book of New American Short Plays 2005,” edited by Craig Lucas, “The Best
Ten-Minute Plays of 2006 for Two Actors” and “The Best Ten-Minute Plays
of 2006 for Three Actors.”
Eric Nightengale (Director)
served as artistic director of 78th Street Theatre Lab in New York City
from 1995 thru 2008, directing over 50 productions and overseeing the development
of countless others. Other New York directing credits include work with
Circle Repertory Theatre, The Acting Company, Circle in the Square, The
River Ensemble, Ensemble Studio Theatre, HERE, and Classic Stage Company.
Eric has served as Artistic Director for Anchorage Theatre in Louisville,
Zone 9 Productions in Indianapolis, and Actors Repertory Theatre in Chicago.
Chicago directing credits also include work with Victory Gardens Theatre,
Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago Dramatists Workshop,
the Broadway Arts Center, and Second City. He has served as Associate Artistic
Director for the Developing Artists Series at the Drama League of New York
and developed work at the New Harmony Project and the Last Frontier Theatre
Conference. He has guest directed at universities including Indiana University,
Brooklyn College, Towsen University, Evansville University, and St. Johns
University, among others. Radio drama credits include work broadcast nationally
over NPR affiliate stations, and in the UK over BBC channel 4. He has worked
as a teaching artist for the Lincoln Center Institute, Theatre Development
Fund, and as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College and Towsen University.
His work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has resulted in three Fringe
First awards, eight published scripts, four adaptations for BBC radio,
a Best Ensemble award, and a London transfer. Recent work includes The
Frog Singer, an electro-luminescent-wire puppet play, and The Natasha
Plays, currently performing in Bratislava, Slovakia and Varna, Bulgaria.
ABOUT PROPINQUITY PRODUCTIONS
Founded in 2002, Propinquity Productions,
LLC, stretches the boundaries of established theatrical forms to create
propulsive dramas that entertain and provoke. The company produces character-driven
theater that wrestles with and laughs at life’s big questions. Propinquity
has produced Tall Tales of True Stories; I Found Her Tied To
My Bed at UNDER St. Mark’s, Galapagos (with Lightning Strikes),
and The Moral Value Festival presented by The Brick Theater; Barrymore’s
Body at the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival; Two Rooms;
and 68.
For more information, visit http://www.propinquityproductions.com
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