Written By Mark Ravenhill
Directed by Dave Barton
Opening Friday, April 26; 8 PM
STAGESTheater, Fullerton, CA
Ghost Experiment, two short works by Mark Ravenhill opens on this Friday April 26 at STAGESTheater in Fullerton, CA.
Director of Programming Dave Barton directs this powerful piece that forces audiences to question what is real and how far would one go find a cure for a fatal disease.
In the first piece, Ghost Story, Lisa suffers with breast cancer. Meryl, is a healer who believes in the power of positive thinking. As time folds back on itself and then forwards, Lisa and Meryl trade roles as the healer and the healed, discovering the world is full of ghosts.
In the second piece, The Experiment, the playwright poses a simple question: if you could cure thousands of a fatal disease by experimenting on a single child, would you do it?
Ghost Experiment marks the 13th production of ten new plays of Ravenhill's Barton has tackled.
He has directed more of Ravenhill’s work than any other director in the world.
Barton has brought seven US Premieres to the stage and has lectured on his work at Greenwich College in London.
Previously he directed Pool, No Water at South Coast Repertory Theatre, Theatre Uncut at the Monkey Wrench Collective in Fullerton, and Shopping and Fucking at Rude Guerrilla in Santa Ana.
"I’ve had a long history with Mark and his plays and I was initially drawn to Ghost Story because I knew that it had three great roles for actresses. When his agent sent the script to me and, at Mark’s request, the script for The Experiment, I was hooked. How often can you tackle a pair of plays with so many themes—women’s struggle after breast cancer, New Age gurus, vivisection, the lies we tell ourselves to survive trauma, the smug poison of ‘positive thinking’, child abuse, the trap of the closet—do it with humor and insight and pack it into less than 90 minutes?” says Barton.
Mark Ravenhill is an internationally acclaimed playwright whose first full-length play, Shopping and Fucking, opened at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in 1996.
His more recent works include Mother Clap's Molly House (National Theatre, 2001); Product (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 2005); The Cut (Donmar Warehouse, London, 2006); Citizenship (National Theatre, 2006); pool (no water) (Lyric Hammersmith, 2006); Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat (Edinburgh Festival, 2007); Over There (Royal Court / Schaubühne, Berlin, 2009); A Life in Three Acts co-written and performed with Bette Bourne (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh / Konninklijke Schouwburg, The Hague / Soho Theatre, London, 2009 and St Ann's Warehouse, New York, 2010); Nationadapt. from the Terry Pratchett novel (National Theatre, 2009); Ten Plagues, a liberetto for a new opera by Conor Mitchell (Royal Court, 2010 / Traverse Theatre 2011); Ghost Story (Playhouse: Live, Sky Arts, Riverside Studios 2010); The Coronation of Poppea a liberetto co-written with Alex Silverman (OperaUpClose, Kings Head Theatre, 2011).
Mark is currently under commission to the RSC and Hampstead Theatre and is writing a new libretto for the Norwegian National Opera. His plays are performed all over the world.
Mark Ravenhill currently serves as Writer in Residence for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Starring in Ghost Experiment are: Jill Cary Martin, Katrina Klein, Brenda Kenworthy, and Rose London.
Tickets for Ghost Experiment are $20.00, $18.00 for students and seniors.
Performances are April 26 -May26 Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 pm.
For reservations go online at www.stagesoc.org.
Celebrating its 21st year in business, STAGEStheatre is one of Orange County's most innovative community theaters. It produces nearly 15 productions annually, showcasing local playwriting, acting and directing talent.
It is located at 400 E. Commonwealth in Downtown Fullerton (between Lemon and Balcom).
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