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Contact: Mason Sand —617.230.6753 — msand@CompanyOne.org
Love and Lust at the Ames Hotel: Company One Debuts Williams’ Erotic Thriller in Boston
In January 2012, Company One ups the ante for risky, raw theatre in Boston when it presents GREEN EYES, a rarely-produced erotic thriller written by Tennessee Williams. The show – a Company One special event in collaboration with Travis Chamberlain – is Company One’s first site-specific production; it will receive an intimate staging from January 18 – February 12, 2012 at the Ames Hotel in downtown Boston.
This is the second Tennessee Williams production for Company One, having produced OUT CRY - another lesser-known play – for its second production in the winter of 2000.
“We are thrilled to be presenting this co-production,” says Company One Artistic Director, Shawn LaCount. “It’s Williams at his most provocative,” he says, “and nothing like it has ever been staged in Boston.”
Written as America's unrest with the war in Vietnam reached a fever pitch, GREEN EYES graphically reveals the effects of war through the sexual fantasies of a newlywed couple honeymooning in New Orleans. He’s an impotent soldier, traumatized by his participation in the war; she’s a ravenous woman determined to satisfy her most deviant desires. In a single electrifying scene, GREEN EYES restages the horrors of war as an unhinged lovers’ quarrel, exploring the disturbing subjectivities that exist in the grey areas where sadomasochistic desire and domestic violence overlap.
The sold-out New York production of GREEN EYES was called “A tiny pitch perfect triumph (Backstage) and "Gorgeous: a short, eloquent evening that feels complete, complex, and entirely satisfying," (The New Yorker). For the Company One production, audience members join the newlyweds as part of a 25-seat setup in the honeymoon suite at the elegant and trendy Ames Hotel – the city’s premiere boutique hotel.
The celebrated New York actress Erin Markey revisits the role of Mrs. Claude Dunphy, a ravenous Southern woman with a newfound craving for rough sex, as she runs circles around her agitated husband like someone taming a feral beast. Markey’s searing performance confronts expectations about how women should behave in circumstances where physical violence enters the bedroom, igniting the stage with equal parts venom and desire. Markey is uniquely suited to embody this nuanced, empowered and provocative sexuality. She garnered considerable attention earlier this year for her Chamberlain-directed solo musical PUPPY LOVE: A STRIPPER'S TAIL, which premiered (and was extended) at PS122, following a work-in-progress presentation at the 2008 Sex Worker's Art Show Tour. The piece, written and performed by Markey, is about a new college graduate working as a stripper.
“It’s amazing for us to be working with talent of this caliber,” remarks LaCount. “The actors have been living with this piece for quite some time now and they embody both its grit and its beauty.”
GREEN EYES reclaims Williams as a key figure of the queer avant-garde, explores his transgressive representations of gender and sexuality, and celebrates the provocative relevance of his rarely produced late experimental plays to contemporary audiences.
Company One presents GREEN EYES, in collaboration with Travis Chamberlain. January 18 – February 12, 2012. 25 seats per show. For interviews and coverage, please contact Company One Press Director, Mason Sand at msand@companyone.org or 617-230-6753. For more information on GREEN EYES and Company One, please visit www.companyone.org.
About Company One
Nationally recognized for its innovative and socially provocative programming, Company One is a theatre-in-residence at the Boston Center for the Arts. Company One has received dozens of awards and nominations for its work and was recently named one of “the most inspiring and innovative theatre companies on our national landscape,” by the American Theatre Wing, (Tony Awards). GREEN EYES is a special event in Company One’s thirteenth, which also includes THE BROTHER / SISTER PLAYS by Tarell Alvin McCraney, LOVE PERSON by Aditi Brennan Kapil, and THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DIETY by Kristoffer Diaz, winner of the 2011 Obie Award for Best New American Play.
About Travis Chamberlain
Travis Chamberlain is a director and curator based in New York City. Since 2007, he has produced and curated performances at the New Museum and from 2004-2007 served as Artistic Director at Galapagos ArtSpace in Brooklyn. Also in 2007, he curated and produced the world premiere of Week 4 from Suzan Lori- Parks' 365 Plays/365 Days at The Public Theater. A member of Lincoln Center Theater's Directors Lab, Chamberlain has conceived and directed original productions: Project C: Is This a Dream? (NY Fringe), Never Live Long in Cages (NY Fringe), Head VI + 2(X)ist (Danspace), plus a series of music-theater collaborations with playwright/composer Kyle Jarrow. His direction of Erin Markey?s Puppy Love: A Stripper's Tail received an extended run at Performance Space 122 in May 2010.
About Erin Markey
Erin Markey is an “outlandishly riotous” (The Village Voice) playwright, actress, comedienne and performance artist. Her performance in Half Straddle?s Family was recognized in Time Out NY’s Top Ten Plays of 2009 as “one of the scariest performances” of the year. She is a series regular on LOGO's “Jeffery & Cole Casserole” television program. As a playwright, she was invited to participate in the Lincoln Center Director's Lab with co-writer Joseph Keckler. Her solo musical, Puppy Love: A Stripper’s Tail, recently played at PS 122 as part of the SoloNOVA festival, where it was extended for two weeks to sold-out audiences. As a performance and cabaret artist, she has appeared at Ars Nova, The Kitchen, and regularly at Joe's Pub, Envoy Enterprises Gallery, and Dixon Place. Her newest musical, The Dardy Family Home Movies by Stephen Sondheim by Erin Markey, will premiere as a part of the San Francisco International Film Festival's live programming in the summer of 2011.
About Ames Hotel
Ames Hotel, located in the beautiful and historic Ames building, inspires both modern style and old world sophistication. An experience rich with elegant interpretations, complemented by innovative new design by Rockwell Group and the Morgans' in house design team, Ames Hotel brings Boston and its visitors the dynamic experience for which Morgans is known. Ideally located near historic Faneuil Hall and Beacon Hill, the 114-room Boston hotel has a vibrant restaurant and bar offering an atmosphere that is at once refined and playful, a state-of-the art fitness center and suites accented by dramatic, Romanesque arched windows and original fireplaces. Named “Boston’s Hippest Hotel Restaurant” by Food and Wine Magazine, Ames’ award-winning Woodward is a modern-day tavern that features a unique offering incorporating the freshest local foods.
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Contact: Mason Sand —617.230.6753 — msand@CompanyOne.org
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LOVE AND LUST AT THE AMES HOTEL: Company One Debuts Williams’ Erotic Thriller in Boston
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