SPRING THEATREWORKS, INC.
25 JAY STREET, STUDIO 203 BROOKLYN, NY 11201 917.213.1242 www.springtheatreworks.com
For immediate release, please.
STEVEN GRIDLEY’S “STILL-LIFE (WITH RUNNER)”
HAS BEEN EXTENDED FOR TWO MORE WEEKS!
A play that chronicles the thoughts of a runner as he competes in a distance race continues performances thru OCTOBER 22ND at Spring Theatreworks, DUMBO.
Spring Theatreworks (Jeffrey Horne, Artistic Director) presents STILL-LIFE (WITH RUNNER), a new play written by Steven Gridley. The production is co-directed by the writer and Jacob Titus and began performances at Spring’s space at 25 Jay Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn (between Plymouth and John Sts., F to York St.) on Thursday, September 15 at 8:00 p.m. Performances now run through Saturday, October 22nd. Call 212-502-8560 for reservations.
Spring is proud to produce another new play by company member Steven Gridley: STILL-LIFE (WITH RUNNER). The play explores the thoughts of a runner as he competes in a distance race. He tries to stay focused, to stay intent on the task in front him, but his mind wanders to thoughts of his brother. Utilizing mock dance, looped and cut-up classical music, ceremonial staging, and a single treadmill on which the runner jogs for the entire length of the performance, the play explores the relationship between two brothers: one who runs, and one who can run no longer. STILL-LIFE (WITH RUNNER) continues Mr. Gridley's unique exploration of theatre he began last year with POST-OEDIPUS. Cut and looped classical music accompanies distilled characters as they cling to specific items from their home, be it a toilet, a door, or a window. Large frames solidify these events in space as epic family portraits of struggle. The play mocks itself as the characters mock themselves. It's all a joke, perhaps the best way to deal with heartbreak. Martin Denton of nytheatre.com calls it “sensational, jolting, involving theatre – exactly what I’ve come to expect from adventurous folks at Spring Theatreworks.” This production received a workshop performance earlier this year in HERE’s American Living Room Festival.
Writer/Director Steven Gridley is a founding member of Spring Theatreworks. His last play, POST-OEDIPUS, received enthusiastic reviews and is currently being published by Playscripts, Inc. Martin Denton of nytheatre.com proclaimed "It's funny, quirky, sometimes wise and always smart; it's spectacularly inventive and original. It is, in short, off-off-Broadway at its best." Another one of his plays, SUN, STAND THOU STILL, was recently published in the Plays and Playwrights 2004 Anthology after Spring’s production at Altered Stages in June 2003. Other plays produced in NYC include, ECHO’S LONGING, winner of the 2003 Nancy Weil New Play Award, THE ALBATROSS AT SEA (also with Spring Theatreworks), LOVERS IN THE PARK, and THEME AND VARIATIONS. Steven serves on the Board of Directors of the Off-Off Broadway Community Dish.
Director Jacob Titus’s previous directing credits include POST-OEDIPUS by Steven Gridley, ANOTHER REVOLUTION with the Triborough Theatre Company, MERCHANT OF VENICE with the West End Shakespeare Company, Spring Theatreworks’ production of Steven Gridley’s SUN, STAND THOU STILL at Altered Stages, SPANKED! at the San Francisco NCTC, at L.A. Highways, at L.A. Tamarind Theatre, and at the NYC Fringe Festival ’02, Steven Gridley’s THEME AND VARIATIONS at the NYC Fringe Festival ’01 and BRILLIANT TRACES, HUMP DAY and PICTURE OF A DOG with the Found Theatre Group in NYC. For SPANKED! he was nominated for a GLAAD media award.
Spring Theatreworks, a DUMBO, Brooklyn-based non-profit theatre company, was founded in 2000 and is dedicated to fostering new and diverse voices in the American theatre and nurturing innovative approaches to storytelling. To date, they have produced 19 productions in NYC, 12 of which were world premieres. They support emerging artists through productions of new plays as well as revivals of works by contemporary masters, thereby putting the new works into a specific context. Their most recent production was Steven Gridley’s POST-OEDIPUS in November 2004. They co-produced the June 2004 U.S. debut of preeminent Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse’s NIGHT SINGS ITS SONGS directed & translated by company member Sarah Cameron Sunde at The Culture Project. In July 2004 they produced two new plays by acclaimed Chicago playwright Brett Neveu in “BRETTFEST 2004: 2 by Neveu.” Anita Gates of The NY Times described the performances in NIGHT SINGS ITS SONGS “uniformly excellent” and nytheatre.com called TWENTYONE by Brett Neveu “one of the finest new plays in town.” Spring’s November 2003 revival of Janusz Glowacki’s CINDERS was described by Martin Denton of nytheatre.com as “thoughtful, provocative, and arresting…boldly acted and brilliantly designed, this is theatre at its very best…surely one of the finest productions of 2003.” Plus, Andy Propst of Backstage listed CINDERS as one of the most memorable productions of the 2003 season. The artists currently represented by Spring Theatreworks are Karen Forte, Matthew Drennan, Steven Gridley, Jeffrey Horne, Abigail Marateck, Marie-Louise Miller, Doug Simpson, Sarah Cameron Sunde, Jacob Titus and Erin Treadway. For more information go to www.springtheatreworks.com.
The cast of STILL-LIFE features Sharon Floyd, Doug Simpson, Erin Treadway, Jesse Erbel, David Wylie, Eric McGregor and Jeffrey Horne. The set & lighting is designed by Steven Gridley and Jacob Titus, costumes designed by Rabiah Troncelliti and sound designed by Steven Gridley. All performances are followed by a special presentation of the short new dance-theater piece WAKING UP by Jacob Titus, co-directed by the writer and Steven Gridley.
The complete performance schedule is September 15 – 17, 22 – 24, 29 – October 1, October 6 – 8 and now also October 13 – 15 and October 20 – 22 at 8 p.m. each night. Admission is free. Call 212-502-8560 for reservations. More information and production images can be found at Spring Theatreworks’ website at www.springtheatreworks.com.
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