Bonjour,

LAST CHANCE – FINAL 3 PERFORMANCES! DON’T MISS OUR HIT SHOW “IF I NEEDED SOMEONE”

Our critically acclaimed production of Nell LaBute’s “If I Needed Someone” is now in the final weekend of its run. Only six performances left! Make your reservations now for the last remaining seats!

Tickets/

TOP TEN! Recommended!

“Frédérique Michel directs the two-hander smoothly, moving the characters organically in time with the action. And it’s clear Michel and the very skilled actors have delved deeply into the characters and the complexities of the drama. LaBute has a gift for being provocative, which makes for a rewarding theatrical experience. And in that context, a piece of advice: see the play with a member of the opposite sex. It will almost certainly guarantee a lively discussion over post-performance drinks or on the ride home.” — Stage Raw

“WOW!”

“Drunken hookups aren’t what they used to be, at least according to Neil LaBute in his undeniably provocative, bitingly funny, and potentially button-pushing World Premiere two-hander If I Needed Someone at Santa Monica’s City Garage Theatre….The more we get to know Jim and Jules, the more complex each of them becomes, and the same can be said about LaBute’s play, though none of this would work nearly as well as it does at City Garage without precisely the right duo to bring Jules and Jim to life, and in Davis-Lorton and new company member Adam Langsam, ace director Frédérique Michel has hit the jackpot. Imagine if you will a late 1980s/early 1990s pairing of Jennifer Jason Leigh (in Single White Female mode) and Tom Hanks (circa Sleepless In Seattle) and you’ll have some idea of what Davis-Lorton and Lansam (both absolutely terrific) bring to their roles….Just as he did in 2008’s Reasons To Be Pretty, If I Needed Someone dissects male-female relationships as only Neil LaBute can—savagely, but not without humor and maybe even a sliver of hope. LaBute fans won’t want to miss this City Garage Theatre World Premiere coup.” — Steven Stanley, StageScene LA

“These actors [Devin Davis-Lorton, Adam Langsam] accomplish an Olympic-level effort, not only in terms of bringing truth to their every word (no small feat) but in listening to each other (sometimes), allowing themselves to change (eventually)….The two person cast–while proving themselves capable of this acting marathon–have a very good script with which to breathe life into a fictional tale on stage. It feels remarkably complete in its portrait of these two people, living as we do, in a time of change and not really sure precisely how to navigate their own times….The script gives us a powerful series of moments and revelations between people who want to connect, want to understand each other, want someone to not give up…The conclusion, simple in some ways while intensely complex in others, reminds us we can indeed connect. Loneliness is not incurable. We may be doomed to die, but we are not doomed to live totally alone….Kudos to everyone involved, including of course director Frederique Michel!” — David MacDowell Blue, Night-Tinted Glasses

“The evening shared by Jules and Jim – for all of its misunderstandings, misperceptions, and bristles, for all the insecurities and past hurts it opens for both characters – is the kind of first date that people looking for love dream of having. That the scenario springs from the mind of playwright Neil LaBute is both fitting and hugely ironic…It’s hugely also satisfying to witness. Much of that satisfaction comes from the efforts of Michel’s actors whose negotiation of this dance just feels right… Michel’s two performers unpack and unravel these individuals with delicateness. With his boyish good looks and unaggressive manner, Langsam is so convincingly what Jim claims himself to be – a woke, evolved man – that we spend a lot of the play waiting for the other shoe to drop. LaBute has trained us well in this; the men and women of his plays can get really mean. But Langsam is sporting some serious charisma. Jules’s reluctance to let him depart makes sense. Equally excellent, Davis-Lorton moves Jules from what first appears to be a drunken party girl looking to pick fights to something deeper, more complicated and certainly more vulnerable. As Jules settles in, finds her footing with this guy in her apartment, changes her outfit and ultimately commits an act of complete trust, Davis-Lorton reveals a lady who can have things both ways. And as the curtain falls on a lilt from George Harrison, we learn that, yes, she does do sweet. So, ironically, does Neil LaBute.” — Evan Henerson, Broadway World

Recommended!
“If I Needed Someone expertly navigates the tricky terrain of modern-day dating IRL (in real life)….a mostly painful and prickly yet shrewdly observed tango; more a delicate dance than a battle of the sexes. LaBute’s observations are so acute, it is uncomfortable to watch this repartée all unfold. The playwright highlights the perilous pitfalls of modern dating, the difficulties of balancing expectations with the inclusion of consent….Performances here are fantastic. The cast acquit themselves extremely well, conveying a lot of subtle nuances (and not-so-subtle declarations). Director Frédérique Michel does an excellent job with the material, keeping the play’s pace lively, intriguing and electric. There’s a brisk and bracing honesty to LaBute’s writing that advances towards a poised (perhaps open-ended) yet satisfying conclusion.” — Pauline Adamek, ArtsBeatLA

Also, the Argonaut published a very nice piece about the play.

If you haven’t yet seen it get your tickets here! It’s very sharp, very contemporary, and a lot of fun. Seats are going fast!

city-garage.ticketleap.com/if-i-needed-someone/

About the Play

This smart, sexy, funny, timely comedy follows a girl and guy over the course of one night while they try to navigate the minefield of contemporary gender politics. They’ve just met. They like each other. They’re attracted to each other. They’ve ended up back at her place but now the true test begins. How do they avoid saying or doing the wrong thing? How do they say or do the right thing? What does that even mean in today’s world of relationships? Neil LaBute, well known for his biting, provocative plays that show men at their worst and women at their most frustrated, here takes a gentler, sweeter tone and crafts a love story that remains just as edgy, just as full of razor-sharp insights, showing two people who maybe, just maybe, might make it to the other side of the dating wars and find each other out there in the darkness.

A New Play from Neil LaBute! “If I Needed Someone”
August 2 – September 22, 2024
Thursdays, Fridays Saturdays at 8:00pm; Sundays at 4:00pm

Merci,❤️

Frederique, Archie (& Charles)

Bonjour,

It’s the last weekend for “The Bald Soprano!” Don’t miss this delightful evening of mayhem in the home of Madame and Monsieur Smith as they entertain their confused guests, a visiting fire chief, and a rebellious maid. Make your reservations now!

Buy Tickets to “The Bald Soprano”

TOP TEN! RECOMMENDED!

“City Garage has remounted the 1950 one-act with wackiness and wile, deftly recreating Ionesco’s illogical world for an American audience… an uncanniness that feels friendly and welcoming, suggesting a place where we can all be mad together….Beyond illusions of language and paradoxes of time, there is much amusement to be had.
— Amanda Andrei, Stage Raw

“Michel keeps her entire cast on the same absurdist page while giving them plenty of unscripted business to accompany Ionesco’s words….the entire cast is given moments to shine…Since its 1987 debut, Michel and Duncombe’s City Garage has established itself as the most adventurously avant garde of SoCal intimate theaters….The Bald Soprano adds up to an hour or so of zany absurdist fun.”
— Steven Stanley, StageScene LA

“Imagine the story-telling equivalent of Merry-Go-Round after taking a tiny hit of acid, in France and that suggests a little bit of zany humor direct Frederique Michel achieves with this cast. Imagine if you will Monty Python and the Holy Grail crossed with a 1950s sitcom of your choice, minus children. Then stir in very acid humor about the bourgeoisie. That sounds like a mere formula, doesn’t it? And yet the only “formula” here is silliness, the arch type of silliness of which we all may well be guilty.”
— David MacDowell Blue, Night Tinted Glassses

Coming Next Thursday, June 6th at 8:00pm

“Ghosts in Branches” by Valeriy Puzik, translated by John Freedman with Natalia Bratus
A staged reading in support of humanitarian aid for Ukraine – Thursday June 6th at 8:00pm

As Russia’s brutal war enters its third year since the full-scale invasion, City Garage will be presenting a staged reading of a new, full-length play from Ukrainian author and poet Valeriy Puzik “Ghosts in Branches.” This is the third in a series of readings City Garage has presented as part of the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings Project in support of humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine. Please attend and show your support!

About the Play:

A small group of Ukrainian soldiers shelters in the remains of a hut on the front lines of the war. Some are young, some are older; they are ordinary men, who have left behind ordinary lives to do something none of them ever imagined: fight a war. In their daily struggle to survive they joke, gripe, fantasize about distant love ones, fend off boredom, hunger, loneliness, deadly shelling and drone attacks, go on night raids, and endure the constant thought of death: not if it will come, but simply when. In this haunting, beautiful piece, Ukrainian poet, writer, and filmmaker Valeriy Puzik takes a gently ironic view of deadly events: grimly comic, deeply humane, injecting lovely surreal fantasies that express a longing for peace, seeking shards of light and sources of hope in the grimmest of situations.

Suggested minimum donation $10 but all amounts welcome. Click here to attend and/or donate.

Our $15,000 Pledge Campaign already underway!

Won’t you help us match the generous pledge one of our anonymous donors recently made? Thanks to the people below, we now have $1,300 toward the $15,000 we need to raise by the end of the summer. Join them and help us get there by your gift, large or small.

Help us get to the $15,000 we need to raise!

Our grateful thanks to these donors:
Gustav Vintas
Martha Duncan
Lindsie Carlsen
Tom Patchett

Donate Today!

The Writers Workshop at City Garage — New Online Sessions Begin July 6th!

The Writers Workshop is now happening online! Sign up now and get 50% off! Are you working on a play, a one-person show, a screenplay, or a piece of fiction and want help pushing it forward? Develop it in the Writers Workshop at City Garage. Get guidance, feedback, story analysis, and support in our weekly sessions. Reserve your spot by July 4th and get 50% off your first month! Click here for more information.

Frederique 👠👠, Charles, and everyone at City Garage

Archie says Thank you!

Bonjour,

“Betrayal” must close this weekend, so if you haven’t yet seen it, this is your last chance to see the show both that audiences and critics are raving about. Houses have been packed. We’re sure to sell out this weekend so make your reservations today! Don’t miss it!

Buy tickets to Betrayal now!

TOP TEN! RECOMMENDED!
“an outstanding cast whose work rings true … [r]eflective of Michel and Duncombe’s uncompromising theatrical standards, City Garage’s production is a welcome opportunity to experience a masterly play that, despite its inverted structure, is arguably Pinter at his most accessible.”
— F. Kathleen Foley, Stage Raw

WOW!
“…you’ll see why Pinter is a playwright whose writing is best appreciated performed as is being done now on the City Garage stage. … Director Frédérique Michel elicits sharp performances from three longtime company members. Dunn gives Jerry a Jeremy Irons-like edge and finesse, one that contrasts nicely with Frank’s pony-tailed, considerably more laid-back Robert, and the always captivating Beyer once again proves herself City Garage’s go-to leading lady in a performance that combines British reserve with continental sensuality.”
— Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA

“… sometimes scorching, sometimes hilarious, always intriguing exploration of human relations…what really grabs our attention and hearts are the performances.”
— Zahir Blue, Night Tinted Glasses

“To succeed in performing specific playwrights, talent is not enough, a mastery of style is not merely required, it is essential….Fortunately, the cast at City Garage is up for the challenge. David E. Frank manages to smolder a muted rage in the face of a false friend and deceiving love. Angela Beyer brings an interesting new hue in her portrait of the unfaithful Emma; the subtler shadowing of desperation that inevitably dooms her desires to disappointment. Every production has its lynch pin and here it is Troy Dunn. His solid and sure noted presentation as Jerry, is a performance one wishes could be preserved in amber. And kudos, too, for Gifford Irvine, for fulfilling the smallest and generally most thankless role in the whole body of Pinter’s works, that of the waiter in the Italian restaurant where Robert and Jerry lunch….Directed by Frédérique Michel with her usual aplomb and with a firm foundation provided by Producer Charles A. Duncombe, City Garage, offers the opportunity to see a masterful staging of Betrayal, one that would win the acknowledgement of even the notorious scornful playwright as perfectly Pinteresque.” — Earnest Kearney, The TVolution

Betrayal by Harold Pinter, February 9th through March 17th
Fridays, Saturdays 8:00pm; Sundays at 4:00

One of Nobel prize-winner Harold Pinter’s most critically acclaimed works, Betrayal tells the story of a long-running affair and the punishing effect of the lies and complex jealousies of the three people involved: Emma, Jerry, and Emma’s husband, Robert. Emma and Jerry, attracted to each other since the night of her wedding to Robert, begin an affair. It goes on for seven years. Emma reveals that she confessed the truth to Robert. Jerry, confused, goes to Robert to explain himself. To his surprise, Robert tells him that he has known about the affair for years, a fascinating game of sexual manipulation between the three of them. Told in reverse chronology, Pinter underlines both the emotional complexity and the painful price of desire, of truth and lies, and what we conceal from each other and from ourselves.

“There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false.” — Harold Pinter

The Writers Workshop at City Garage
Are you working on a play, a one-person show, a screenplay, or a piece of fiction and want help pushing it forward? Develop it in the Writers Workshop at City Garage. Get guidance, feedback, story analysis, and support in our weekly sessions. The number of places is limited. Click here for more information.

A letter from the President-Elect of Belarus

We recently received a letter of thanks from Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the courageous woman who is leading the fight for democracy in Belarus and whom most international authorities recognize as the legitimate President of the country. It made us very proud to play a small role in their struggle. You can read it here.

Matching Campaign

Many thanks to all of you who gave so generously to help us toward our year-end fundraising goal. But we’re not there yet—and it’s not too late to give.

We need to reach $30,000 in order to match grants from the state of California and the City of Santa Monica. Thanks to the people below, we’ve raised $26,280. Can you help us make it the rest of the way? Any amount is welcome!

Ruth Flinkman and Ben Marandy
Curt and Michele Wittig
Roger Marheine
Anonymous
Lindsie Carlsen
Geraldine Fuentes
David Burton
Berta Finkelstein and Bill Claiborne
Emyr Gravell
Laurie Steelink
Ravi Narashiman
Nina Kamberos
Steve Diskin
David Tillman
Gustav Vintas
Strawn Bovee
Anna Pond
Myron Meisel
Jay Bevan
Jaime Arze
Stephen Clemmer
Mr. & Mrs. Greenberg
Mr. and Mrs. Larsen
Amanda Stokes
Irene Palma
Jennifer Dion
Lucia Cytynowicz
Joel Altshuler
Ann Bronston
Ernest Tam
Elizabeth Oakes & Samuel Goldstein
Barbara Kellir
Sharon Gardner
Roger Director
Susan Dickinson & David E. Frank
Cristina Markarian & Paul Rubenstein
Lisa & Bill Gray
Holly Dunnigan
Stephen Greenberg
Eva Peel
Mr. Lawrence Goldstein, Mrs. Rosa Goldstein
Lisa & Bill Gray
Esther Lumer
Anonymous
Randi & Jerome Greenberg
Eliane Gans
Mr. and Mrs. James Conn
Grzegorz Majewski
Marlene Larson
Tom Laskey

If you like what we do and want us to continue, please do it! Follow this link and donate now!

Support Us

It’s not too much to say that we can’t go on without you. And wouldn’t want to.

Merci! ❤️

Frederique 👠👠, Charles, and everyone at City Garage

Archie says Thank you!

Angela Beyer, Troy Dunn

David E. Frank, Angela Beyer, Troy Dunn

Angela Beyer, David E. Frank

Angela Beyer, Troy Dunn

Angela Beyer, Troy Dunn

David E. Frank, Troy Dunn

Troy Dunn, Angela Beyer

Troy Dunn, Angela Beyer, David E. Frank

(Click on images to enlarge)

Bonjour,

It’s the last weekend for “Insulted. Belarus,” the inspiring story of ordinary people with the courage to stand up to dictators and autocrats. If you haven’t yet seen it, make your reservations now!

Get Tickets Now!

“Wow!…Contemporary theater at its most informative and impactful…A nation’s failed efforts to unseat one of the world’s most reviled dictators comes to stunning, gut-punching life in City Garage Theatre’s English-language World Premiere of Andrei Kureichik’s Insulted….As highly political as it is deeply personal, Insulted. Belarus is contemporary theater at its most informative and impactful. Its English-language premiere does its playwright, City Garage, and the people of Belarus proud.”
— Steven Stanley, StageSceneLA

“Absolutely not to be missed…!!!”
— Edward Goldman, Art Matters

“Top Ten! Recommended!
“A vivid picture of the events leading up to and including the election and the horrific fallout from Lukashenko’s desperate — and merciless — campaign to retain power….Director Frederique Michel keeps the action flowing smoothly, and she unflinchingly serves up violence onstage…. [Juliet] Morrison gives a strong performance in one of the most intriguing roles as a school principal who is completely unapologetic about her manipulating vote counts at her precinct….To borrow from Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman (though the context is much different): “Attention must be paid.” Thankfully, much attention has been paid to Insulted. Belarus.”
— G. Bruce Smith, Stage Raw

“City Garage’s production of “Insulted. Belarus, a chronicle of that country’s political woes by native son Andrei Kureichik, is commendable on a number of levels with each expanding outwards like the transverse waves of a stone when dropped into a pond’s stagnant waters. Most immediate to the gravity wave of said stone is the solidly crafted production itself. Next comes the commitment of City Garage to providing international playwrights the opportunity to have their voices heard beyond their homeland while presenting American audiences with the opportunity to hear them. Finally, the most praiseworthy of the generated longitudinal ripples is City Garage’s dedication to the most essential of dramatic expressions, that of the Political Theatre. Sadly few companies possess the courage to engage that challenge or the craft to do so successfully….Director Frédérique Michel stylishly renders this human tragedy on her stage with great aplomb, and the cast excels in the tasks given them….What Insulted. Belarus offers us, in a dramatically moving fashion, is knowledge of the methods of fascism in undermining a democracy. Sadly, that knowledge is what this nation seems to be in vital need of.”
— Ernest Kearney, The Tvolution

“Powerful stuff. And topical. Performed by one of the best theatre companies in the Los Angeles area. More, this play works in stirring up emotions. The performances are all good. As expected with this company!… a very worthwhile piece of theatre!…. intense and worth the price of a ticket, not least for us to think about nations who are not in the forefront of the news reports right now, but still suffer…. an impactful work of living art, opening one’s eyes and heart to the unknown, yet somehow recognizable as absolutely true!”
— David MacDowell Blue, The World Through Night Colored Glasses

“Superbly balanced humor….eye-opening….a demonstration of human civil progress…. Insulted. Belarus brings forth an amazing truth.”
— Joseph Hazani, A Dilettante

Tickets

About the Play

A power-hungry authoritarian who will stop at nothing to hang onto power. Accusations of widespread election fraud. Mass protests that turn violent. Sound familiar? Such things used to be unimaginable in the United States. Frighteningly, that’s no longer the case. But can we learn a lesson from what happened in the 2020 election in Belarus? While our would-be dictator fell short, another did not—Alexander Lukashenko. Through brutal repression, mass arrests, torture, and the murders of innocent protestors he kept an iron grip on the country. But for how much longer?

While democracies around the world are under threat from authoritarianism, there are also courageous citizens who are willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of self-determination. This play tells the story of the people of Belarus who did just that. In the election of 2020, they came achingly close to overthrowing the oppressive regime of Alexander Lukashenko, Europe’s longest-ruling dictator. Instead, in Lukashenko’s violent crackdown, thousands were arrested, thrown into prison, beaten, abused, tortured, and silenced. But the pro-Democracy movement, as witnessed by writers such as Andrei Kureichik, who, because of his work in defense of free-speech, was forced into exile, has emerged only more determined. This play, which has been translated into 29 languages and has received more than 250 readings across the globe as part of a worldwide project curated by translator John Freedman, is the story of a determined, fearless people who are willing to fight for a democratically elected government. Are we soon going to be called on to do the same? City Garage is proud to present the English-language world premiere production of this powerful play.

Photo credit: Nadia Buzhan

Help us get to $30,000!

It’s the time of the year we need you to help us continue the work at City Garage through your generous donations. Please, if you can, donate before the end of the year so we can go on with more exciting productions in 2024. Help us get to $30,000 by the end of the year!

Click here to a make a donation.

Thanks to the following donors we’ve raised $11,110 so far. We’re more than a third of the way!

Ruth Flinkman and Ben Marandy
Curt and Michele Wittig
Roger Marheine
Anonymous
Nina Kamberos
Tom Patchett
Lindsie Carlsen
Geraldine Fuentes
David Burton
Berta Finkelstein and Bill Claiborne
Emyr Gravell
Steve Diskin
Laurie Steelink
Amanda Stokes

Archie says Thank you!

See you at City Garage!

Love,

Frederique 👠👠 and Archie

Angela Beyer (Andrew Loviska and Randall Wulff in background)

Anthony Sannazzaro, Andrew Loviska

Juliet Morrison

Courtney Brechemin, Randall Wulff

Courtney Brechemin

Courtney Brechemin, Randall Wulff

Randall Wulff

Devin Davis-Lorton, Anthony Sannazzaro, Andrew Loviska

Devin Davis-Lorton, Andrew Loviska

Randall Wulff

Anthony Sannazzaro (Randall Wulff in background projection)

Angela Beyer

(Click on images to enlarge)

Bonjour,

It’s the last weekend for “Ghost Land.” If you haven’t yet seen it, don’t miss your chance to be part of this critically-acclaimed world premiere event.

Tickets for Ghost Land

Voice of America, Ukraine
The Ukrainian service for Voice of America did a story on “Ghost Land” recently. Although it’s in Ukrainian, we wanted to share it with you:
Voice of America story, or you can view it on Instagram.

Stage Raw – Recommended! Top 10!
“Ukrainian playwright Andriy Bondarenko brings the horrors inflicted on his compatriots by Russia’s invasion to surrealistic life… Director Fréderique Michel effectively complements Bondarenko’s dreamlike work with live video that provide full-face depictions of the characters, as well as recorded images (video designed by Sannazzaro). Other creative staging choices, such as soldiers carting off wooden crates as if they were their own coffins and Charles Duncombe’s moody lightning — along with sturdy performances from the ensemble —– heighten the stark nature of Bondarenko’s opus.
— Martίn Hernández, Stage Raw

“When the final revelation comes, it hits like thunderclap…. the full context of all we’ve experienced since the lights came up at the start becomes clear. I was shaken. Among other things, the play ceased to be about just what is happening in Ukraine or even about the hell of modern war. It became about me, and you, and everyone who has ever had to endure the trauma of real evil. Of those moments when the worst of us turn this earth into a real Hell. More, how do we heal after that?”
— David MacDowell Blue, The World Through Night-Tinted Glasses

“The reality of Bondarenko’s ghost land is vividly brought to life in Frederique Michel’s staging….haunting images…top notch, effectively setting the mood.”
— Rob Stevens, Haines His Way

Our Fall Fundraising Campaign – Help us get to $30,000!

Please consider making a donation, if you can, toward our fall fundraising campaign. We have new grants to match: from the City for Santa Monica, from the County of Los Angeles, and from the State of California. You, the audience, is what makes the work possible at City Garage and helps us to continue. Thanks to the following donors we’ve raised $4650 so far:

Curt and Michele Wittig
Roger Marheine
Anonymous
Nina Kamberos
Tom Patchett
Lindsie Carlsen
Geraldine Fuentes
Help us get to $30,000 by the end of the year. Follow this link to a make a donation:

Support Us

Support for Ukraine
And throughout this run, we are also urging people to support humanitarian aid to Ukraine, particularly the “Voices of Children” project. For more information, follow his link:

Ukraine Support

Invertigo Dance
Our friends at Invertigo Dance have an interesting project coming up at the Broad Stage which we wanted to share:

Formulae & Fairy Tales; October 13 + 14 at 7:30pmInvertigo Dance Theatre is bringing back its inventive and inspiring dance theatre performance Formulae & Fairy Tales for two nights only at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

Join us for a reimagining of Alan Turing’s queer identity, persecution, and technological discoveries during #LGBTQHistoryMonth This exploration of humankind’s nuanced relationship with technology is a “wonderful, beautiful, and often heart-wrenching work of art” (Dance Chronicle).

Formulae & Fairy Tales
October 13 & 14, 2023 at 7:30pm
The Broad Stage, Santa Monica
https://www.invertigodance.org/on-tour/

Merci, and I look forward to seeing you this weekend at City Garage!

Love,

Frederique 👠👠

Gifford Irvine, Angela Beyer

Angela Beyer, Gifford Irvine

Isaac Stackonis, Léa De Carmo

Isaac Stackonis, Léa De Carmo

Andy Kallok, Juliet Morrison, Léa De Carmo

Gifford Irvine, David E. Frank, Anthony M. Sannazzaro

David E. Frank

Gifford Irvine, David E. Frank, Anthony M. Sannazzaro

David E. Frank

(Click on images to enlarge)

Bonjour Bergaragistes,

It’s the last weekend for #Measure4Measure. If you haven’t seen it, this is you last chance! Make your reservations today for what one reviewer called “The best production of this ‘problem play’ I’ve ever seen.” It’s both funny and dark, a truly fascinating play. Don’t miss it. We will wrap up the run with a Q&A with the cast after the final performance, this Sunday, July 9th. Join us!

“Author/adaptor Charles A. Duncombe’s version of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure offers a timely skewering of sexual harassment, religious hypocrisy, and state repression….Stellar performances from the cast under Frédérique Michel’s direction…. Courtney Brechemin, Kat Johnston, and Beyer skillfully juggle multiple roles, while director Michel manipulates that dynamic with some clever clowning in staging and costume changes…. The futility of trusting in the Church or the State to protect women from sexual predators is driven home in the words of both Shakespeare and Duncombe. Sadly, not much has changed since then.”
“Top Ten!” Recommended, Stage Raw
(To read the entire review, go to: https://stageraw.com/2023/06/07/measure4measure/)

“The best production of this “problem play” I have ever seen….[Courtney Brechemin] nearly steals the show…. At the very end–and here I cannot praise Charles A. Duncombe’s editing nor Frederique Michel’s direction enough–what seems like the perfect ending in terms of theatrical formula lies naked in its exploitation and deceit and casual sadism. So…wow!”
The World Through Night Tinted Glasses
(To read the entire review, go to: https://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2023/06/measure4measure-review.html)

If you haven’t yet made you reservations, now is the time. Join us!

city-garage.ticketleap.com/measure4measure/

#Measure4Measure
A new version of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure
for City Garage by Charles A. Duncombe

June 2 – July 9, 2023

Vienna is corrupt, brimming with sex and vice. The Duke, lax in enforcing the strict laws, leaves the city in the hands of a puritanical reformer eager to impose moral order. This substitute begins ordering executions but when a beautiful young novice, pleading for the life of her brother, provokes his own lust, he resorts to sexual blackmail. When she threatens to expose him, he mocks her. Who would believe her rather than him? In this version of Shakespeare’s play for City Garage, gender politics, power, and sexuality are examined through a contemporary lens. A cast of seven, playing multiple characters, takes a text from 1604 and creates an intense, darkly comic, biting commentary on our own times. Then, as now, power and sex are inextricably entwined and the question of how to obtain justice remains just as difficult to answer.

Merci, and see you at the theatre!

Love,

FM👠👠

(Click on images to enlarge)

Support for Ukraine
In March of 2023 City Garage presented the second in a series of readings as part of the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings Project. Watch it here.