|
Event
The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux
The Madwoman of Chaillot
"a deliciously comic fable" by Jean Giraudoux
presented by The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium
Friday, September 3 through Saturday, September 18, 2010
at the Philadelphia Live Arts and Fringe Festival
A ragtag band of Parisian cafe habitues battle a diabolical oil cabal to rid the world of greed, exploitation and cruelty in The Madwoman of Chaillot, a frighteningly contemporary comic fable presented by The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium beginning previews Friday, September 3 and running through Saturday, September 18 during Philadelphia's 2010 Live Arts and Fringe Festival.
French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright Jean Giraudoux, considered among the most important French dramatists between World War I and World War II, wrote Madwoman in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of Paris. A witty tea party awash in luscious language, Madwoman features a marvelously eclectic band of bohemians and beggars battling barons and bosses amidst a Parisian boulevard backdrop. The Madwoman cast features 17 actors playing 25 characters, many IRC veterans from productions past including Kate Black-Regan, Tina Brock, John D'Alonzo, Jesse Delaney, Michael Dura, Tomas Dura, Mark Knight, Ethan Lipkin, Jamie Pannone, Lee Pucklis, Sonja Robson, Bob Schmidt, Jane Stojak and Bayard Walker. The Madwoman design team includes Brian Strachan and Rufus Cottman (Ionesco's The Chairs, The Lesson; Tennessee Williams' The Gnadiges Fraulein) Costume Design and Stephen Hungerford (The Chairs, technical designer) Set Design. Producing Artistic Director Tina Brock will direct The Madwoman of Chaillot.
Madwoman is the IRC's 14th production since the company's formation in 2006. The IRC celebrated its 2009 season and the 100th anniversary of Eugene Ionesco's birth with critically acclaimed productions of his classic works The Lesson and The Chairs. Toby Zinman of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote of The Lesson, "...a sparkling revivalperformed to perfection" and The Chairs, "...people laughed. People cried. Mostly we just sat wide-eyed and amazed. Ionesco's classic one-act, The Chairs, is an extremely difficult work, and Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium nails it." The IRC's 2008 Fringe production, A Streetcar Named Durang: Two Burlesques and a Nightmare enjoyed a sold-out run, and was described by The Philadelphia Inquirer as "hilarious" and "eye-moppingly funny" and by Mark Cofta of the Philadelphia City Paper as "magic." Madwoman will conclude the IRC's fourth season and continue their mission of preserving and presenting difficult and rarely produced absurdist works from authors including Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter and Edward Albee. The IRC presented
Ionesco's rarely-seen full-length gem Victims of Duty in 2007, and Samuel Beckett's Ohio Impromptu and Come & Go in 2008. The IRC's first production of the 2010 season, The Gnadiges Fraulein by Tennessee Williams, was described by Jim Rutter in the Broad Street Review as: "...one preposterous situation tumbles downhill into the next, and why not? To put the characters' actions in the context of a plot would give too much credence to their lives (not to mention ruin the spoof). The overall effect creates a world so bizarre that if the show lasted more than 65 minutes, I would've needed a road map to return to reality."
The Madwoman of Chaillot will have 14 performances at the Walnut Street Theater Studio 5. The curtain for Wednesday through Saturday shows is 7:30 pm; Sunday matinees are at 2:30 pm Madwoman will preview Friday, September 3 and open Saturday, September 4, with performances continuing Sunday, September 5; Tuesday, September 7; Wednesday, September 8; Thursday, September 9; Friday, September 10; Saturday, September 11; Sunday, September 12; Tuesday, September 14; Wednesday, September 15; Thursday, September 16; Friday, September 17 and Saturday, September 18.
Doors open 30 minutes before curtain. Tickets are $20.00. Seating is very limited, advance reservations are recommended. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Fringe Box Office at 215.413.1318 or 215.285.0472.
More information and photos for The Madwoman of Chaillot and The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium can be found at www.idiopathicridiculopathyconsortium.org. For more on the many companies participating in this year's Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festival, visit www.livearts-fringe.org. This year's festival runs September 3 through September 18.
The IRC is a 501C3 non-profit organization, and a member of the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia and The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance; the IRC proudly participates in the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre, a program of the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. The Madwoman of Chaillot is funded in part by a generous grant from The Philadelphia Cultural Fund and The Fels Fund.
|
|
 |
LocationThe Walnut Street Theatre Studio 5
825 Walnut Street
Philadelphia , PA 19107
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 0 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
|
Contact
|
