Thursday, May 15, 2014

4615 Theater Company Presents A New Play, Othello, and Bat Boy


From our friends at 4615 Theater Company...

4615 Theater Company is ecstatic to announce their first official season! A new and exciting play written by a beloved DC teacher will open the first summer season, titled Trailways. This endeavor will be spearheaded by Artistic Director Jordan Friend, who directed the hit Duchess of Malfi last year. The second show of the season will be directed by 4615’s Associate Director Susannah Clark, she will be taking on one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, Othello. And the quirky, horrific, and comedic musical Bat Boy will close the season.

“We wanted to broaden our horizons and to stretch our artistic capabilities this season” said Producing Director Clare Lockhart, “We have a new work, a classic tragedy, and a musical...all we need now is an opera!”

About the Shows:
Trailways - In this dark comedy by John Burghardt, three eccentric college students meet at a bus station to deliver a mysterious package. When they become entangled with an elderly man with a strange past, the evening takes them on an odyssey they could have never imagined. This play will perform from June 13th and 14th.

Othello - Written at the height of Shakespeare’s creativity, Othello explores the tragedy of a love destroyed by jealousy. Provoked by the treacherous Iago’s lies, Othello begins to mistrust his loyal bride, Desdemona. As his suspicions rise, Othello collapses under the weight of his self-doubt, eventually destroying his once-happy marriage. With poetry rivaling King Lear and with the psychological depth of Hamlet, Shakespeare constructs a highly charged tale of prejudice, revenge and the destruction of innocence. This classic tragedy will perform July 11th to the 13th.

Bat Boy: The Musical - Based on a story in The Weekly World News, Bat Boy: The Musical is a comedy/horror show about a half boy/half bat creature who is discovered in a cave near Hope Falls, West Virginia. Here he is eventually accepted as a member of the the local veterinarian's family and taught to act like a "normal" boy by the veterinarian's wife, Meredith, and teenage daughter, Shelley. Bat Boy will perform August 15th to the 17th.

About 4615:
4615 Theater Company began in the summer of 2013, when a group of ambitious young actors and designers created a unique and inventive staging of John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, set in multiple rooms and outdoor areas of a suburban home. The show was wildly successful, even earning a story in the Washington Post. Director Jordan Friend found the process so fulfilling that he decided to officially establish the group as a “nomadic” theater company, dedicated to producing site-specific shows. We’ve taken on the name 4615 Theater Company, after the address of the house where it all began.

4615’s mission is to reinvigorate classic pieces with innovative staging, showcase exciting new material, and give young artists a space to collaborate and push the boundaries of conventional theatre.

“We’re making theater where and how you least expect it,” said Friend. “We also willingly bite off more than we can chew...and I, for one, think that’s what makes us special”.