A wonderful morning coffee worksession for Joseph, Annie, and Zhenya. Thanks, Cloud City Coffee, for the best atmosphere — and fuel for our artistic and producing discussions! | Photo: Joseph Lavy
#GlasNocturne #AkropolisDailyNocturne
Glas Buzz
Akropolis Daily Nocturne
Starry Night Over the Rhone (1888) | Vincent van Gogh
A nocturne a day — that’s our promise to you now through opening of The Glas Nocturne.
Get your daily dose of the night!
Follow Akropolis Daily Nocturne on Storify or #AkropolisDailyNocturne on Facebook and Twitter.
We’d love to hear what you think of these varied and evocative pieces!
And watch here for details about how to request your invitation to The Glas Nocturne.
The Glas Nocturne to Open May 15
It’s official: The Glas Nocturne will open May 15!
More details to follow soon… but not as many as usual. We’re using a speakeasy production model.
Glas Nocturne is an invitation-only event. And the date, time, and location of each showing will only be revealed to invitees.
A donation-only event, no tickets will be sold.
Want an invitation? Watch for details about how to request yours!
#GlasNocturne
Artistic Projects Premiering in 2015-16
In the coming year, you will have more opportunities than ever to see an Akropolis Performance Lab production. We are thrilled to announce our current slate of artistic projects and can’t wait for you to see them!
Check out the fantastic season graphic by Joe Patrick Kane, and read a bit about each of the pieces below.
Pomegranate & Ash
An experimental work in Theatre of Polyphony, taking TS Eliot’s Ash Wednesday, Monteverdi madrigals, the Hymn of Demeter, traditional Shaker songs and each performer’s personal biography as source material for an original performance rooted in themes of separation, loss, and reunification. Theatre of Polyphony weaves simultaneous lines of independent performance — a cappella song, movement, dance, physical action and spoken text — into a rich, multi-faceted performance event. This piece is an ongoing, ever-evolving project, bridging the two primary domains of APL’s artistic work: public performance and ensemble training. A segment of the work premiered at On the Boards Open Studio #6 on February 8, 2015. Pomegranate & Ash will be shown in its full form during Spring and Summer 2015.
The Glas Nocturne
APL Co-Artistic Director Joseph Lavy adapts Hjalmar Söderberg’s scandalous fin-de-siecle novel, Doktor Glas, into a noir monodrama of psycho-sexual fixation, moral questioning, and murder. Our most intimate piece to date, The Glas Nocturne will be produced as a speak-easy chamber piece, pushing APL in new directions as we confront the novel’s central question: Is it ever justifiable to take the life of another human being? Conceived for a maximum audience of 10. Performances will begin in May 2015 and will be by invitation only. Information about how to request an invitation is forthcoming.
Ecce Faustus
A contemporary medieval mystery play excavating the archetypal Faustian narrative. Devised from canonical texts, historical figures, and obscure manuscripts. Woven through with sublime vocal music composed by the diabolical Carlo Gesualdo. Rooted in APL’s unique brand of physical theatre. Ecce Faustus presents an examination of madness, virtue, and the physical and spiritual costs of human ambition. Continuing APL’s fifteen-year tradition of long-form creative process, this production marks a return to the ensemble’s signature theatrical landscapes, exemplified by such past pieces as Jeanne, the Maid and Dream of a Ridiculous Man. Featuring Artistic Associate Trevor Young Marston as Dr. Faustus. Premieres Winter 2016.
Announcements about dates, casts, and more to come!
Annie Paladino Named Associate Artistic Director
Annie Paladino
We are thrilled to announce that Annie Paladino has joined Akropolis Performance Lab’s leadership team in the newly created role of Associate Artistic Director.
APL met Annie when she showed up for our first Performers Lab on August 18, 2013. She remained a steady participant throughout the three-months of open training sessions and we quickly recognized her affinity for our process. We were delighted when she agreed to assistant direct Uncle Vanya (2014). In the sixteen months since work began on Vanya, Annie has consistently demonstrated commitment and vision aligning with our best hopes for the work of this Company. And since becoming an Artistic Associate last May, she has established herself as a trusted advisor to Co-Artistic Directors Zhenya and Joseph Lavy and as a passionate advocate for Akropolis in the Seattle community and beyond.
During the past eighteen months, as APL has moved into a period of unprecedented activity for the Ensemble, Annie has been among the few key people whose role behind the scenes of this growth has been critical.
As Associate Artistic Director, Annie will continue to partner with the Artistic Directors on organizational leadership, strategic planning, and outreach. She also will expand her artistic voice within the Company, taking on directorial responsibilities for select projects.
Joseph and Zhenya write, “Although inviting another person into APL’s artistic leadership was never previously part of our plan, Annie has earned our deep trust as a steward of Akropolis Performance Lab’s artistic aesthetic and vision. We feel incredibly fortunate both for this professional partnership and for Annie’s friendship.”
Please join Akropolis in enthusiastically welcoming Annie as Associate Artistic Director!
Pomegranate & Ash Makes a Strong Debut
Yesterday we premiered Pomegranate & Ash: An Experiment in Theatre of Polyphony in On the Boards’ Open Studio #6 — and today OTB has confirmed that we are the first group to fully pack the house!
The Sad Days that are Surely to Come
"This is the time of tension between dying and birth -- the place of solitude where three dreams cross." | Henry James Walker, Trevor Young Marston, and Zhenya Lavy | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane
Dance of Separation
Dance of Separation | Front: Sara Kaus and Annie Paladino. Back: Linnea Ingalls, Margaretta Campagna, Zhenya Lavy. | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane
Dance of Seduction
Dance of Seduction "Oh, ho, I will have it. I will bow and bend to get it." | Trevor Young Marston and Sara Kaus | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane
The Abduction of Persephone
The Abduction of Persephone | Annie Paladino with Zhenya Lavy, Catherine Lavy, Margaretta Campagna, Linnea Ingalls, Emily Jo Testa. | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane
Clairvoyant Action
Clairvoyant Action | Emily Jo Testa with Henry James Walker, Joseph Lavy, Sara Kaus | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane
An Angel Hath Troubled the Water
An Angel Hath Troubled the Water | Trevor Young Marston with Catherine Lavy, Annie Paladino, Margaretta Campagna, Emily Jo Testa | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane
An Angel Hath Troubled the Water
An Angel Hath Troubled the Water "These waters will heal you, they will set you free." | Linnea Ingalls & Trevor Young Marston | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane
Low, Low
"And the sword I will wield, and the sword I will wield... for this is my work while here below." | (L-R) Back: Joseph Lavy, Trevor Young Marston, Henry James Walker. 3rd Row: Annie Paladino, Emily Jo Testa, Sara Kaus. 2nd row: Margaretta Campagna, Linnea Ingalls. Front: Zhenya Lavy, Catherine Lavy. | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane
Here’s a sampling of audience responses:
- “The ensemble was so tight. Precise and tuned into each other.”
- “The music was amazing!”
- “Their dance [Dance of Seduction by Sara Kaus and Trevor Young Marston] was really powerful!”
- “The girl’s [Catherine Lavy] song made me cry!”
- “It’s hard to believe you’ve only been working together as an ensemble for three months!”
- “Very moving. Even though there was no story, the imagery and the way you layered everything together was striking.”
- “It was refreshing to see a performance that was truly interdisciplinary!”
Were you there? We’d love to get your feedback, too! Please email us or comment below.
Thank you to On the Boards for organizing this event.
Pomegranate & Ash continues to evolve. Look for additional showing announcements through this Spring and Summer.
Dozens Turn Out for Reading of New Play by Stacy Flood
(L-R) Stacy Flood and fellow playwrights Olivia Pi-Sunyer and Ina Chang. | Photo: Zhenya Lavy
What an outstanding Salon last night!
Special thanks not only to playwright Stacy Flood for providing a work so ripe for discussion but also to Erin Pike for pinch-hitting as a reader.
Twenty five people joined us to participate in our second-annual New Year New Play developmental reading and discussion of The Pleasure & Sorrow of Your Company, including university theatre faculty, local critics, artists, and other playwrights. By night’s end, Stacy had not only heard his words spoken by working actors but also written many pages of notes for use in further development.
In his message to Akropolis this morning, Stacy wrote:
“The actors read beautifully, and the occasion was impeccably organized and hosted! I cannot thank Akropolis, as well as those in attendance, enough for the obvious care and attention paid to the script, the discussion, and the event on the whole. Every note collected will be cherished, and the entire experience was an absolute honor, one for which I will be eternally grateful.”
We will post a call for submissions for our third-annual New Year New Play reading in September.
Cast Set for Pleasure & Sorrow of Your Company
Omer Fast, 5000 Feet Is the Best, 2011, digital film stills © Omer Fast
The cast for January 25th’s New Year New Play reading of Stacy D. Flood’s The Pleasure & Sorrow of Your Company has been finalized.
We are excited to announce that APL Company Members and apprentices will be joined by local talents Natural Israel, Samara Lerman, and Paul Budraitis in giving voice to Flood’s examination of warfare in the drone age.
The event is wrapped in lively conversation; generous and careful discussion of the play; great food; and ample opportunities to network with artists, intellectuals, and enthusiasts.
Learn more about the play, view the complete casting, and RSVP on the Salon page.
APL’s Uncle Vanya Earns 2 Gypsy Rose Lee Award Nominations
Marina (Zhenya Lavy) and Astrov (Carter Rodriquez) | Photo: Annie Paladino
The Seattle Theatre Writers critics circle slow-released its nominations this week for the 2014 Gypsy Rose Lee Awards.
Akropolis Performance Lab is very proud to announce that two members of the Uncle Vanya ensemble garnered nominations:
- Zhenya Lavy, for best local composer (in a category that pit her against theatres of all sizes and budgets) for her deeply evocative musical composition.
- Carter Rodriquez, for best supporting actor (small theatre category) for his remarkable work as Dr. Astrov.
See the complete slate of the 2014 Gypsy Rose Lee Award Nominations.
Announcing our 2014-15 Intern: Joe Patrick Kane
Joe Patrick Kane made things happen as an intern in Olympia (pictured with Former Senior Legislative Assistant Syd Locke, left, and 11th District State Representative Steve Bergquist, right). We can’t wait to see what he makes happen during his internship with Akropolis Performance Lab!
We are pleased to announce that Joe Patrick Kane is interning with Akropolis Performance Lab in 2014-15.
A graphic designer, illustrator, painter, musician, and road cyclist, Joe earned his BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Washington – Bothell and previously interned with the Washington State House of Representatives.
During his internship with APL, he will support graphic, marketing, and development efforts, as well as stage manage Pomegranate & Ash.
Learn more about Joe and check out his design portfolio.
Akropolis Interns gain experience in non-profit operations, as well as artistic projects, while supporting the work of the company. Internships are most commonly structured with a year-long trajectory, but project-based internships may be offered. We welcome inquiries about internship opportunities.
