March 8-31, 2002
A collaboration between Centastage Performance Group and Underground Railway Theater
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"If you have just one night out this month for theater, you'd best get yourself over to the Women on Top Theater Festival. ...a virtuoso display of writing and acting..." |
The Women on Top Theater Festival is back! New England's largest, most critically acclaimed annual festival dedicated to the development of local women theater artists. Enjoy a rich collection of works by some of the area's best female playwrights and performers. Plays can be purchased individually or with a Festival Pass. General admission. (Click here for images from previous seasons.)
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| Now on two stages at: | 949 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02215 |
| For Tickets Call: | 617-332-0546 (voice/TTY) |
| For Group Sales and Information Call: | 781-643-6916 (Underground Railway Theater) or 617-536-5981 (Centastage) |
FEATURE 1: Asher's Command by Marilyn Felt, directed by Jeff Zinn
Produced for the Festival by The Nora Theatre Company.
Asher's Command is set amid the tensions of Israel's West Bank. An Arab mechanic and a Jewish military commander have cultivated a close friendship despite deep ideological differences. When an act of violence pits one against the other, will their brotherly affection transcend generations of war and hatred in the Middle East?
Post-play discussions facilitated by Arab-Israel conflict scholars and activists follow the Sunday matinee performance on March 17 and the Thursday evening performance on March 21. The Sunday matinee on March 24 is ASL-interpreted.
Performance Dates and Times:
Saturday, March 9, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 10, 2:00pm
Thursday, March 14, 7:30pm
Friday, March 15, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 16, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 17, 2:00pm and 7:00pm
Thursday, March 21, 7:30pm
Friday, March 22, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 23, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 24, 2:00pm and 7:00pm
WORLD PREMIERE
FEATURE 2: Harmonious Proportions, created and performed by Merry Conway, Susan Dibble, Sarah Hickler and Lisa Wolpe
"The beauty of the world…has two edges, one of laughter, one of
anguish, cutting the Heart asunder." ~ Virginia Woolf
Acclaimed Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company, Lisa Wolpe, teams up with local performers and members of Lenox-based Shakespeare & Company to offer the Festival an original theatrical piece blending classic texts such as Shakespeare's "Richard II" and Euripides' "Medea" with dance. From rage to harmony, ego to spirit, security to danger, this work of creative dexterity explores female transformation and our ideas of beauty, perfection and their respective opposites.
A co-presentation with Shakespeare & Company.
Performance Dates and Times:
Friday, March 8, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 10, 7:00pm
Thursday, March 28, 7:30pm
Friday, March 29, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 30, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 31, 2:00pm
FEATURE 3: Flights of Fancy by Susan Wingrove, directed by Carol Korty
Jeffery Chambers knows the formula to writing a best-selling romance novel. But, when his new book is too similar to his prior one, he gets thrown into a horror story. He is teamed up with his publisher's feminist daughter to create a romance novel for the contemporary woman. What does today's woman want? Find out, in this madcap, satirical romp with some surprising twists on the complexities of love, gender and the creative process.
Performance Dates and Times:
Saturday, March 9,7:30pm
Sunday, March 10, 7:00pm
Thursday, March 14, 7:30pm
Friday, March 15, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 16, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 17, 2:00pm and 7:00pm
FEATURE 4: A Night of Quickies directed by Paula Ramsdell
Five plays that are short in length but have universal breadth.
Alexandros, written and performed by Melinda Lopez
It is mid-June in Little Havana. Marie is 15, and she is at her abuela's 94th birthday party, where her only friend is Alexandros, the ugly Pekinese that keeps licking her feet. But nothing lasts forever, does it?
House/Wife by Kathleen Rogers
What do you do if the "other woman" is built like a…well, literally like a house?
The Unknown Part of the Ocean by Sheri Wilner
10-year-old Sophie loves to entertain her mother with fantastical tales. But what is a little storyteller to do when her mother's cancer is scarier than anything she can conger in her imagination?
The Visit by Donna Sorbello
A woman struggling with emotional scars is confronted-and comforted-by a mysterious child.
Where Nobody Knows Your Name by Kate Nugent
A tale of geographically challenged love and Yankee rudeness.
Performance Dates and Times:
Friday, March 8, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 10, 7:00pm
Thursday, March 21, 7:30pm
Friday, March 22, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 23, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 24, 2:00pm
Thursday, March 28, 7:30pm
Friday, March 29, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 30, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 31, 2:00pm
LATE NIGHT!
The Ego Show, written and performed by Nicole Pierce
Dance theater, live music, visual art and video fuel The Ego Show's choreography and monologues. Nicole Pierce is known for her outrageousness and eclectic use of fantasy, nudity and confessional parodies of real-life situations.
Performance Dates and Times:
Friday, March 8, 10:00pm
Saturday, March 9, 10:00pm
Friday, March 15, 10:00pm
Saturday, March 16, 10:00pm
Friday, March 22, 10:00pm
Saturday, March 23, 10:00pm
Sunday, March 24, 7:00pm
Friday, March 29, 10:00pm
Saturday, March 30, 10:00pm
STAGED READINGS
The Creation Myth Project created by The Gypsy Mamas Artist Group
(Elaine Vaan Hogue, Laura Lanfranchi, Nina Pleasants, Pamela Mills, Susan Main and Christina Bechstein)
The Creation Myth Project is a multi-media work-in-progress that integrates artistic disciplines to explore cultural folklore. From the Judeo-Christian's Genesis to Spider Grandmother of the American Southwest Indian, this variety show of performance and art installation letst you experience creation.
Performance Date and Time (4th Week)
Monday, March 25, 7:30pm
The Widow O'Neill by Susan Leonard
For 15 years, Sarah Shaughnessy O'Neill has used any and every means to keep her late husband's memory alive for her three children. Large photos, flowers, stories, and incantations have been powerful potions - too powerful for a world intent on cleaning house with one long blast of a Nor'easter.
Performance Date and Time (2nd Week)
Tuesday, March 12, 7:30pm
The Glider by Kate Snodgrass, directed by Victoria Marsh
Fran returns home for her mother's funeral. Inevitably, long-kept secrets and past hurts rise to the surface.
But her sisters, Kriss and Essie, have secrets (and surprises) of their own-and not all of them are loving. The Glider is about an urn and lots of vodka amidst the intricacies of family life.
Performance Date and Time (4th Week)
Wednesday, March 27, 7:30pm
World Premiere by Deaf Playwright
Beyond the Blue by Michele Maureen Verhoosky
Inspired by September 11, this mystical play incorporates music, sign language, and the spoken word. Beyond the Blue is an incredible journey about boundaries crossed, secrets revealed, and lost love reclaimed and ultimately set free.
Performance Dates and Times (3rd Week)
Monday, March 18, 7:30pm
Tuesday, March 19, 7:30pm
Post-play discussions follow both readings.
FREE!
Special Events
Women and Shakespeare with Lisa Wolpe
Dynamic performer and director Lisa Wolpe will talk about her groundbreaking work with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company. What is important about women performing cross-gender? In what ways does such work enriches the field and the work of women theater artists? Wolpe will demonstrate her artistry with excerpts from recent performances.
Performance Date and Time (4th Week)
Saturday, March 30, 2:00pm
Envisioning Forum
Centastage and Underground Railway Theater invite you to participate in an open discussion with Festival artists, producers, other theater professionals, and audience members. This is a great opportunity to get to know more about the Boston theater scene while helping the Festival evaluate its programming. We will brainstorm ideas for future productions, readings and adjunct events.
Performance Date and Time (4th Week)
Saturday, March 30, 4:00pm