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FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training Presents
Christopher Durang’s The Actor’s Nightmare and Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound |
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(SARASOTA, October 7, 2015) — The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training kicks off its 2015-16 season with a double bill of Tony® and Obie Award-winning playwright Christopher Durang’s THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE and multi-Tony Award®-winner Tom Stoppard’s THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND. Presenting a full night of entertainment from two masters of absurdist comedy, the evening will start with 30-minute one-act THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE, include a brief intermission and close with THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND. Directed by Greg Leaming, the director of the Conservatory, both shows preview in the Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for Performing Arts on Tuesday, November 3 at 7:30pm with a special “Pay What You Can Performance,” and officially open on Wednesday, November 4 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, November 22. In THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE, confused accountant George Spelvin wanders into a theater and finds himself thrown into the leading role in the performance of an ever-changing play. At a loss for lines, stage blocking, and any idea of how the disordered plot is supposed to end, George ad libs his way through a chaotic list of plays, from William Shakespeare to Samuel Beckett. In THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND, theatre critics Moon and Birdboot attend a British murder mystery. As the playfully melodramatic plot approaches its finale and the two whisper their theories back and forth, they are suddenly pulled into the action of the play. Now they must find the culprit — before they become victims themselves! “Both of these pieces are challenging absurdist comedies about the theatre,” said Greg Leaming. “THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND may be one of Tom Stoppard’s funniest plays, and THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE is a wonderful little piece of nasty comedy by a great American playwright. Together they provide some very challenging opportunities for the entire second year company of actors – a great showcase for them all, as well as a terrific workout!” The FSU/Asolo Conservatory 15-16 season continues with David Ives’ outrageous adaptation of the French farce The Liar by Pierre Corneille, running December 29 through January 17. William Shakespeare’s dramatic masterpiece Macbeth hits the stage on February 23 and runs through March 13, and the season wraps up with Nora, Ingmar Bergman’s stirring adaptation of the iconic play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, running April 12 through May 1. |
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CAST – THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE |
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CAST – THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND |
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+ Appears courtesy of the Actor’s Equity Association. |
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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR |
| GREG LEAMING (Director, FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training; Associate Artistic Director, Asolo Rep) For Asolo Rep, he has directed his own translation/adaptation of Anything to Declare? as well as Hearts, The Imaginary Invalid, The Play’s the Thing, Boeing Boeing, The Game’s Afoot, Other Desert Cities, Good People and the world premiere of Jason Wells’ Men of Tortuga. For the Conservatory, he has directed The Water Engine, The School for Lies, Twelfth Night, Cloud Nine, Two Gentleman of Verona, Pericles, Blue Window, Murder by Poe and The Mystery Plays. He was the Director of Artistic Programming for Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT, as well as Acting Artistic Director for the 2001-2002 season. There he directed, among others, the world premieres of Going Native, Abstract Expression, The Third Army, Syncopation and An Infinite Ache (also for Stamford Theatre Center, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Merrimack Repertory Theatre). Other credits include numerous productions around the country, including the world premieres of Losing Father’s Body, Church of the Sole Survivor, Jeffrey Hatcher’s The Turn of the Screw, as well as many other productions at Portland Stage Company, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Philadelphia Drama Guild, Clarence Brown Theatre Company, Stage West, Shakespeare Sedona, Southwest Shakespeare, and Banyan Theatre Company. His adaptation/translation of Pierre Feydeau’s Le Dindon titled The Patsy premiered at the Resident Ensemble Players in Delaware this fall. |
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ABOUT THE CONSERVATORY |
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The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training is a celebrated three-year graduate program culminating in a master of fine arts degree. For more than 35 years, tens of thousands of actors from across the continent have auditioned for admission. A maximum of 12 students are admitted each year. In their second year, the students perform in the Cook Theatre, a 161-seat space designed to create an intimate experience for the audience and actors. Third-year students are seen on the Mertz Stage working with the Asolo Rep’s professional actors in exciting and significant roles.
For more information, visit http://www.asolorep.org/conservatory/welcome. |
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TICKETS |
| Tickets for THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE/THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND and the entire 2015-16 Conservatory season are on sale now at $28 for matinee performances and $29 for evening performances. To purchase tickets, call 941.351.8000 or 800.361.8388, visit www.asolorep.org, or visit the Asolo Repertory Theatre Box Office, located at 5555 North Tamiami Trail in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. Summer box office hours are Monday–Friday 10am-5pm. Season box office hours start November 2, and are Monday 10am–4pm, Tuesday–Thursday 10am–7:30pm, Friday–Saturday 10am–8pm, and Sunday 10am–2pm. The box office closes at 5pm when there are no evening performances, and phone lines close one hour prior to the start of any performance. |
