By Ellen McLaughlin
Directed by Jade King Carroll
Main Stage
People's Light presents this crisp new version by Ellen McLaughlin of the classic Greek drama by Aeschylus. In 525 B.C. the mighty Persian Empire was unmatched in power and dominance. After their unexpected and staggering defeat at the hands of the tiny Athenian city-state, the vanquished Persians face an uncertain future. The price they pay for their hubris and hunger for world domination is the subject of this oldest existing play in Western literature.
The Persians runs approximately one hour and ten minutes. There is no intermission.
"The play is a true classic: we see the present and future right there, inside the past."
-- The New York Times
The Persians was made possible in part by a grant from the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, a program of the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by The University of the Arts.
Atossa: Melanye Finister*
Herald: Miriam Hyman*
Darius: Stephen Novelli*
Xerxes: Mark Hairston*
Treasury: Alda Cortese*
Chairman: Kevin Bergen*
Admiral: Peter DeLaurier*
Justice: Ceal Phelan*
Stage: Mary Elizabeth Scallen*
General: Rob Barnes*
Religion: Jason Ma*
Attendant: Claire Inie-Richards
Director: Jade King Carroll
Set Designer: James F. Pyne, Jr.
Costume Designer: Marla J. Jurglanis
Lighting Designer: Lily Fossner
Original Music & Soundscape: Daniel Kluger
Musician & Consultant: Amir Vahab
Dramaturg: Elizabeth Pool
Stage Manager: Kate McSorley*
Production Manager: Charles T. Brastow*
* Member, Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 25, 2008
PEOPLE'S LIGHT & THEATRE COMPANY
PRESENTS:
THE PERSIANS
September 24 - October 19, 2008
(Malvern, PA) - People's Light & Theatre Company presents THE PERSIANS, by Ellen McLaughlin, based on the classic Greek drama by Aeschylus, from September 24-October 19, 2008 on the Main Stage. Jade King Carroll directs. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern. For tickets call 610.644.3500 or visit www.peopleslight.org.
The Persians was written in 472 B.C. and chronicles the Battle of Salamis, one of the most significant battles in world history. It was the turning point in the Persian Empire's downfall and allowed the Greeks - and, therefore, the West's first experiment with democracy - to survive. Aeschylus, a veteran of the Persian Wars, recounts the battle from the viewpoint of the vanquished Persians, creating an empathetic narrative of their loss. Ellen McLaughlin's adaptation was commissioned in 2003 by Tony Randall and the National Actors Theatre, and has since been produced in several locations around the country, including Washington, D.C.
Artistic Director Abigail Adams says, "THE PERSIANS is an example of how a great work is timeless. It is 2,400 years old, but the message is a human story, and also an example of how history repeats itself."
"This contemporary adaptation," adds the show's Director Jade King Carroll, "is a 90-minute, intense drama. The set, lighting, costumes and original music are all designed to be 'timeless' with a Middle-Eastern influence."
THE PERSIANS previews on Wednesday, September 24th and Thursday, September 25th at 7:30pm. The show opens on Friday, September 26th at 8pm and runs through October 19th. Tickets are now on sale and cost $29 - $48, with special discounts available for students, seniors, and groups of 10 or more. Audiences are encouraged to join the artists after each Thursday night performance to discuss the production.
Subscriptions to the 2008-2009 Season are still available at a significant savings! See all six shows for as little as $132 or choose just four shows for as little as $92. Shows include: The Persians (September 24 - October 19, 2008); Cinderella (November 19, 2008 - January 4, 2009); The Day of the Picnic (January 28 - February 22, 2009); A Tale of Two Cities (March 11 - May 3, 2009); Doubt: A Parable (June 3 - 28, 2009); and End Days (July 8 - August 2, 2009). For information, tickets and subscriptions, please call the box office at 610-644-3500 or visit www.peopleslight.org.
Special performances and discounts, in addition to discount meal packages and talk-backs with the artists are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information or to purchase group tickets, call 610.647.1900, ext. 134 or email group@peopleslight.org.
KEY BIOS
Jade King Carroll (Director) is back at People's Light & Theatre after directing Splittin' the Raft in 2007. A few of her favorite directing credits include After Adam (Playpenn), Contents of a Book and Life as a Balloon (McCarter Youth Ink Festival), White Baby (Passage Theatre), Like Father (The Producer's Club), The Adoration (The Chocolate Factory Theatre), and White Trash (The Players Theatre). She has directed workshops and readings for McCarter Theatre, New Dramatists, Second Stage Theatre, and The Time Warner New Play Festival at Second Stage Theatre, New Jersey Rep., and Clockwork Theatre at Theatre Row. As an Assistant Director she has worked with Michael Greif, Les Waters, Rebecca Taichman (Second Stage Theatre); Michael Kahn (The Shakespeare Theatre); Gary Griffin, Lisa Peterson (McCarter Theatre); Lou Bellamy (Signature Theatre); Ruben Santiago-Hudson (A.C.T, Signature Theatre, and McCarter Theatre); among many others. This year Jade is looking forward to directing the world premiere of Amber Kain's The Summer House at Passage Theatre and the American premiere of James McManus' Cherry Smoke for Clockwork Theatre at Theatre Row.
Ellen McLaughlin (Playwright) has adapted several Greek texts, including Iphigenia and Other Daughters, The Trojan Women, Helen, Lysistrata, Oedipus, and The Persians. Her plays include Tongue of a Bird, Days and Nights Within, A Narrow Bed (co-winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize) and Infinity's House. She has taught playwriting at Barnard College since 1995, and has also taught at Princeton University and the Yale School of Drama. Also an actor, McLaughlin is most well known for having originated the part of the Angel in Tony Kushner's Angels in America, appearing in every U.S. production from its earliest workshops through the Broadway run. She is married to Rinde Eckert and lives in Nyack, NY.
Click here to listen to an interview with People's Light's Director of Design, James (Jeep) Pyne, who designed the set for The Persians. This interview was conducted by Philadelphia Sound Designer Christopher Colucci, who also developed the podcast.
James F. Pyne, Jr.
Set Designer
Jim is Director of Design at People's Light. In his 32 seasons with PLTC, he has created sets and/or lights for over 200 productions, including Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Jersey Lily, The Glass Menagerie, Treasure Island, Theophilus North, Humble Boy, The Giver, Twelfth Night, Robin Hood, Anne of Green Gables, The Foreigner, The Crucible, The Member of the Wedding, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Sleeping Beauty, Julius Caesar, Holes, A View from the Bridge, A Delicate Balance, The Little Foxes, He Held Me Grand, Playhouse Creatures, Book of Days, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Road to Mecca, Sally's Gone, She Left Her Name, and Sister Carrie. Jim has received ten Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Scenic and Lighting Design, winning for Outstanding Scenic Design in 1996 for The Life of Galileo and in 2002 for The Merchant of Venice. He has also designed scenery for the Arden (Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Henry V, Hedda Gabler and Private Lives), Villanova University, Act II Playhouse, the Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis and the Enchantment Theatre Company.
"Re-creating an Ancient Civilization" by Ruth Rovner, Main Line Times
"People's Light Presents Timeless Classic, the Oldest Surviving Play in Western Lit" by Megan Shove, Montgomery Newspapers
Reviews
"People's Light is courageous, tackling the play admirably in a contemporary version by actress-playwright Ellen McLaughlin...."
The Philadelphia Inquirer
"You might be as stunned as I was. This Persians, at People's Light & Theatre, will leave you breathless, spent, chilled to the bone by the first and best antiwar drama ever written and in awe. It is a challenge to even try to review this unique stage experience because there is simply so much that is good and rewarding and inspiring about it."
The Bulletin
"Aeschylus' The Persians is the oldest surviving play in western civilization. However the People's Light and Theatre Company's superb production of Ellen McLaughlin's adaptation is shockingly relevant."
Philadelphia Weekly
"Ellen McLaughlin's The Persians is a mesmerizing event for anyone interested in the constancy of human relationships and universal reactions to power."
Broad Street Review
"It's refreshing and admirable that director Jade King Carroll allows the piece to speak for itself, leaving the audience to draw their own conclusions from what they are seeing."
County Press
"A Successful College Night"
by Andrea Shives, Subscriptions Manager
"Notes from the First Sunday Series Event"
by Julia Loving, Development Associate
Sunday Series
October 12 and 19 at 4pm
Sunday, October 12th
Design: Conceptualizing The Persians.
James Pyne, Director of Design, and Marla Jurglanis, Resident Costume Designer, will speak about conceptualizing the design of this production. Charles Brastow, Production Manager, will moderate.
Sunday, October 19th
Adaptation: Contemporary Embodiment of the Classics.
Featuring Lou Lippa, People's Light Playwright-in-Residence, and Bob Hedley, Head of Playwriting in the Theatre Department at Temple University. David Bradley (writer, director and educator) will moderate.
Bios for the Sunday Series Participants
David Bradley is a long-time company member at People's Light and from 2002-2006 was Associate Artistic Director, jointly leading Project Discovery. He has just returned from Indianapolis, where he directed James Still's Iron Kisses at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. Prior to that, he was at the National Constitution Center, where he's Artistic Director of Living News, a theatre piece about constitutional issues which began its fourth cycle of performances this spring. His more than 20 People's Light productions include the pantos Treasure Island, Robin Hood and Jack & the Beanstalk, as well as The Giver, The Crucible, Holes, He Held Me Grand, A View from the Bridge, Jungalbook, Pretty Fire, The Diary of Anne Frank, Hush: An Interview with America and I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda. He has also directed Searching for Eden and He Held Me Grand at Indiana Repertory Theatre, and has directed at Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. He is currently writing a play on youth civic engagement to be produced by Scholastic, Inc. at Democracy Plaza in Rockefeller Center prior to the fall election. In addition to directing and writing, David works as an arts educator and consultant, collaborating recently with World Cafe Live, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Spiral Q Puppet Theater, the Rosenbach Museum, A Total Approach and TRF. A graduate of Yale University, David lives in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia with his wife Margaret and sons Jacob and Noah.
Charles T. Brastow (Chaz) is Production Manager at People's Light. His first encounter with People's Light was as an intern in 1984 where he was an assistant to the Stage Manager. Since joining the company full time in 1987, he has worked in most of the various departments in production. He has stage managed over 80 productions and designed sound for over 120. In addition to his work for PLTC he has designed for many of the Philadelphia area theaters, as well as Delaware Theater Company, Arena Stage in Washington D.C., and Primary Stages in NYC. He has also worked for Nickelodeon (Double Dare, Think Fast, and Finder's Keepers), Carnival Cruise Lines, Greg Thompson Productions, Miller-Reich Productions, Zap Productions, MLR Theatrical, and Scenery First. His part-time pursuits include history (M.A. in History), guitar, and writing.
Lee Devin graduated from San Jose State College in 1958 and took his PhD (1967) at Indiana University. He has taught at Indiana (1958-62), the University of Virginia (1962-66), Vassar College (1966-70), and Swarthmore College (1970-2002). In 1970 he founded The Theatre at Swarthmore, which became in time the Department of Theater Studies. He retired from teaching in 2002. In 1975 be became a member of the artistic staff of the People's Light and Theatre, acting, teaching acting, and doing dramaturgy.
Over the years at People's Light he made acting versions of these scripts: Summerfolk, from Gorky, with Margaret Wettlin; A Doll House, from Ibsen; Oedipus, acting version from Sophocles, with Abigail Adams; Alice; scenes and variations from Lewis Carroll; Celebration, a cycle of mystery plays; The Madwoman of Chaillot, from Giraudoux. He played a bunch of parts, from T. Lawrence Shannon, Malvolio, Benedick and Nat Miller to Judge Robedeaux and Canon Chasuble. He wrote program notes and did dramaturgy for shows too numerous to mention.
Out in the great world, he has written articles, chapters in books, plays, and librettos; worked as a technical director, master electrician, production stage manager, and dramaturg; and acted and directed in the academy, and for movies and TV. He has a framed SAG residuals check in the amount of $0.01 to memorialize his brilliant movie career.
With Rob Austin of the Harvard Business School he wrote Artful Making; What Managers Need to Know about How Artists Work, published in 2003. In 2005 it won LMDA's Elliott Hayes Award for dramaturgy. It's about using theatre techniques to do creative work in business: replacing restraint with release, compromise with collaboration, and industrial teams with knowledge work ensembles. He and Rob are at work on the next book: Reliable Innovation. They've also published articles in several business journals. Devin is currently a Dramaturg at People's Light, a Senior Research Scholar at Swarthmore College, a Senior Consultant for the Cutter Consortium Innovation Practice, and a Certified Scrum Master. He's at work on several writing projects that interfere with his trout fishing, and cause him to neglect his grandchildren.
Robert Hedley is Head of Playwrighting in the Theater Department of Temple University. He has served as chairperson at Temple University, Villanova University and the University of Iowa. A former Director of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, he co-founded The Philadelphia Theater Company, West Coast Playwrights and served as a playwrights' mentor at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. He has directed professionally in Philadelphia, New York and San Francisco and was Artistic Director of the Iowa Shakespeare Festival. He was the Provost's Arts Fellow at Temple, was awarded the Barrymore Lifetime Achievement Award and most recently the Alumni Award of Excellence from the University of Alberta.
Marla Jurglanis has been Resident Costume Designer for the past 16 years and Manager of People's Light Costume Shop. Marla's recent designs include Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Jersey Lily, Crispin: The Cross of Lead, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Theophilus North, Humble Boy, Splittin' the Raft, Twelfth Night, The Imaginary Invalid, The Foreigner, The Crucible, Jason and the Golden Fleece, The Member of the Wedding, 30FEST, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Sleeping Beauty: A Comic Panto in the British Style. She has designed costumes for over 70 PLTC productions, including Born Yesterday, Holes, The Fantasticks, The Little Foxes, He Held Me Grand, The Dreaming of Aloysius, Playhouse Creatures, Book of Days, The Memory of Water, Sally's Gone, She Left Her Name, Hearts: the Forward Observer and many more. Marla's designs have also been seen at the Delaware Theatre Company, The Arden Theater Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, AMTF, Virginia Stage Company, Alliance Theatre Company and George Street Playhouse.
Louis Lippa is a long-time Playwright in Residence with The People's Light & Theatre Company and a member of the Dramatists Guild. His plays have been produced in the Philadelphia area as well as Off-Broadway and at regional and community theatres throughout the country. Playwriting awards include an Off-Broadway OBIE; fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; the Dramatic Publishing Company's National Award for The Stone House; the Roger L. Stevens Award; and the Kennedy Center's New Play Award for his play, Sign of the Lizard, concerning the murder of the Spanish poet Frederico Garcia Lorca. His two-part six-hour adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's novel Sister Carrie produced by People's Light, received critical acclaim from Philadelphia, Washington and London reviewers. His play, Sacco and Vanzetti: A Vaudeville, has received productions at People's Light; City Theatre of Pittsburgh; the Marin Theatre Company, San Francisco; and the Gorilla Theatre of Tampa Bay. Lippa recently received the Barrymore Lifetime Achievement Award. His adaptation of Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author received seven Barrymore nominations for the 2007-2008 Season, including for Outstanding New Play.
Rosaria Munson is Professor of Classics and Department Chair of the Swarthmore College Department of Classics. She began to study Classics in Liceo in Italy, and has a Laurea from the Universita degli Studi of Milan and a PhD in Classical Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Perhaps because she has moved between two worlds and likes both, Munson is interested in different peoples' representations of themselves and foreigners. She is the author of numerous articles on Herodotus and two books: Telling Wonders: Ethnographic and Political Discourse in the Work of Herodotus (2001) and Black Doves Speak. Herodotus and the Languages of Barbarians (2005). She is currently co-authoring a commentary to Book I of the Histories to be published by Cambridge University Press. Besides Greek and Latin at all levels, she regularly teaches Greek History and historiography. She is also a member of the Medieval Study Program Faculty and offers a biennial course on the Divine Comedy, which explores Dante's appropriation and re-reading of the Classical poets.
James F. Pyne, Jr. is Director of Design at People's Light. In his 32 seasons with PLTC, he has created sets and/or lights for over 200 productions, including Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Jersey Lily, The Glass Menagerie, Treasure Island, Theophilus North, Humble Boy, The Giver, Twelfth Night, Robin Hood, Anne of Green Gables, The Foreigner, The Crucible, The Member of the Wedding, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Sleeping Beauty, Julius Caesar, Holes, A View from the Bridge, A Delicate Balance, The Little Foxes, He Held Me Grand, Playhouse Creatures, Book of Days, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Road to Mecca, Sally's Gone, She Left Her Name, and Sister Carrie. Jim has received ten Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Scenic and Lighting Design, winning for Outstanding Scenic Design in 1996 for The Life of Galileo and in 2002 for The Merchant of Venice. He has also designed scenery for the Arden (Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Henry V, Hedda Gabler and Private Lives), Villanova University, Act II Playhouse, the Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis and the Enchantment Theatre Company.
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