Chico Root Member Plays Dead, Wows Audiences.
The 2007 play Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl has the perfect blend of darkness and humor and with Chico Root member Mark Zemple playing the title role audiences are taking note.
According to The Chico News & Review "The surprise was local musician Mark Zempel as Gordon. His experience with hamming it up on stage served him well—maybe not so much with his responsiveness to Decker in their scenes together, but definitely when he had the floor to himself to rant solo while reenacting the day leading up to his last breath."
For those that remember, Dead Man’s Cell Phone as well as Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage, The Aliens by Annie Baker and Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. were several plays The Root read over the summer in consideration for future production. The premise is a young, single woman answers a ringing cellphone that eventually is discovered to belong to a dead man. The play follows her adventures as she willingly becomes more entangled in the life of the deceased, falling into a whirlpool of black comedy.
Please don't miss this chance to support a fellow Root member. DEADMAN'S CELLPHONE runs at Chico's Blue Room Theatre until Feb. 4 on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with an actor's benefit show this Sunday. Tickets are $8 for children under 12, while general admission is $15 and $10 for students.
According to The Chico News & Review "The surprise was local musician Mark Zempel as Gordon. His experience with hamming it up on stage served him well—maybe not so much with his responsiveness to Decker in their scenes together, but definitely when he had the floor to himself to rant solo while reenacting the day leading up to his last breath."
For those that remember, Dead Man’s Cell Phone as well as Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage, The Aliens by Annie Baker and Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. were several plays The Root read over the summer in consideration for future production. The premise is a young, single woman answers a ringing cellphone that eventually is discovered to belong to a dead man. The play follows her adventures as she willingly becomes more entangled in the life of the deceased, falling into a whirlpool of black comedy.
Please don't miss this chance to support a fellow Root member. DEADMAN'S CELLPHONE runs at Chico's Blue Room Theatre until Feb. 4 on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with an actor's benefit show this Sunday. Tickets are $8 for children under 12, while general admission is $15 and $10 for students.
Robert Soffian casting a School for Wives
Root Co-founder Robert Soffian is casting for the Shasta College production of "The School for Wives" by Molière starting at 7pm through Thursday January 26th in the school's theater with
a Cast is as follows...
CHRYSALDE, Arnolphe’s friend.
ARNOLPHE, (known to Agnès as Monsieur de la Souche.)
ALAN, a peasant, Arnolphe’s valet.
GEORGETTE, a peasant girl, Arnolphe’s maid.
AGNÈS, a young, artless girl brought up by Arnolphe.
HORACE, son of Oronte, in love with Agnès.ORONTE, father of Horace and friend of Arnolphe.
The story follows Arnolphe, a conceited, selfish man of middle age, has had his young ward, Agnès, trained in a convent to become a model wife for himself, simple, pliable and unspoiled. He has kept her mind entirely undeveloped, and her imagination free from all knowledge of good and evil. He has recently taken Agnès from the convent and kept her cloistered in a house near his own, in Paris, awaiting the day of their marriage. Business, meanwhile has taken Arnolphe from town for ten days, and in his absence Agnès has met and fallen in love with Horace, son of Arnolphe’s old friend Oronte. Arnolphe is attempting to change his own name to the more aristocratic one of ‘de la Souche,’ the only name by which Agnès and the servants know him. Horace, on the other hand, knows him only as ‘Arnolphe,’ his father’s friend.
This masterpiece of Molière is a play of youth and love, written and produced in France
nearly three hundred years ago. It pleads the cause of youth and ridicules the pretensions
of those who would use their authority to mold the lives of others.
Robert Soffian can be reached by phone at (530) 242-2368
a Cast is as follows...
CHRYSALDE, Arnolphe’s friend.
ARNOLPHE, (known to Agnès as Monsieur de la Souche.)
ALAN, a peasant, Arnolphe’s valet.
GEORGETTE, a peasant girl, Arnolphe’s maid.
AGNÈS, a young, artless girl brought up by Arnolphe.
HORACE, son of Oronte, in love with Agnès.ORONTE, father of Horace and friend of Arnolphe.
The story follows Arnolphe, a conceited, selfish man of middle age, has had his young ward, Agnès, trained in a convent to become a model wife for himself, simple, pliable and unspoiled. He has kept her mind entirely undeveloped, and her imagination free from all knowledge of good and evil. He has recently taken Agnès from the convent and kept her cloistered in a house near his own, in Paris, awaiting the day of their marriage. Business, meanwhile has taken Arnolphe from town for ten days, and in his absence Agnès has met and fallen in love with Horace, son of Arnolphe’s old friend Oronte. Arnolphe is attempting to change his own name to the more aristocratic one of ‘de la Souche,’ the only name by which Agnès and the servants know him. Horace, on the other hand, knows him only as ‘Arnolphe,’ his father’s friend.
This masterpiece of Molière is a play of youth and love, written and produced in France
nearly three hundred years ago. It pleads the cause of youth and ridicules the pretensions
of those who would use their authority to mold the lives of others.
Robert Soffian can be reached by phone at (530) 242-2368
Meisner Workshop Connects Successfully
Dan Cotreau & audience after workshop
Just days before Christmas, the first ever collaboration between The Root Theatre and Riverfront Playhouse could be seen as the perfect present as a great turn out raised funds for the arts and admission based on a sliding scale allowed a diverse group to attend.
"Our goal was to help artists of varying degrees of skill sets by introducing them to the Meisner Method." Said Root co-founder Mike Flanagan. "Covering costs came second to giving our community a chance to participate in what could be a life changing experience."
Flanagan and fellow Los Angeles Root member Dan Cotreau had been talking for months about doing a workshop and all it took to make a reality was bringing Dan's father in law and longtime Riverfront member Jet Thomas on board. "The Riverfront and The Root saw eye to eye the reward of making this a pay what you can afford event" Flanagan explained. "This caliber of workshop starts off at around $100 usually and we wanted everyone to get a chance to attend."
And attend they did with a wide spectrum of age as well as experience. From high school students to stalwarts of the local stage, the workshop was a whirlwind as the instructor covered in three hours what normally would take four weeks.
"A goal of mine was to whet their appetite." Cotreau expressed.
Root and Riverfront member Lisa Collins was excited afterwards remarking "It was like smelling the apple pie baking - now I want to eat it!". Dan and his actors did a fabulous job of introducing us to Meisner - now I want more - much, much more!"
Besides breaking the audience up into groups to practice, part of the class was spent watching Dan's wife Kelly and Dennis Dennis Ambriz use the Meisner Method on a scene from "Proof", a 2000 award winning Broadway play written by David Auburn.
Talk of a more detailed workshop has been mentioned as a follow-up. Perhaps with the class spit up into groups, each given a scene to explore and then present as a production. Interested parties should email theroottheatre@gmail.com
"Our goal was to help artists of varying degrees of skill sets by introducing them to the Meisner Method." Said Root co-founder Mike Flanagan. "Covering costs came second to giving our community a chance to participate in what could be a life changing experience."
Flanagan and fellow Los Angeles Root member Dan Cotreau had been talking for months about doing a workshop and all it took to make a reality was bringing Dan's father in law and longtime Riverfront member Jet Thomas on board. "The Riverfront and The Root saw eye to eye the reward of making this a pay what you can afford event" Flanagan explained. "This caliber of workshop starts off at around $100 usually and we wanted everyone to get a chance to attend."
And attend they did with a wide spectrum of age as well as experience. From high school students to stalwarts of the local stage, the workshop was a whirlwind as the instructor covered in three hours what normally would take four weeks.
"A goal of mine was to whet their appetite." Cotreau expressed.
Root and Riverfront member Lisa Collins was excited afterwards remarking "It was like smelling the apple pie baking - now I want to eat it!". Dan and his actors did a fabulous job of introducing us to Meisner - now I want more - much, much more!"
Besides breaking the audience up into groups to practice, part of the class was spent watching Dan's wife Kelly and Dennis Dennis Ambriz use the Meisner Method on a scene from "Proof", a 2000 award winning Broadway play written by David Auburn.
Talk of a more detailed workshop has been mentioned as a follow-up. Perhaps with the class spit up into groups, each given a scene to explore and then present as a production. Interested parties should email theroottheatre@gmail.com
Summer Script Party Could Return.
Our series of parties where we read from various potential projects was such a success this past summer that discussions are in the works for a Winter edition perhaps in Chico. Email theroottheatre@gmail.com with your thoughts and suggestions.
The parties started as a way to stay connected over the summer break with many new faces and visitors showing up. It was also a chance to hear members voices as they read and possibly inspire future casting.
Over the summer our monthly focus of dream projects in order was Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage, The Aliens by Annie Baker, Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl and Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. These were and are projects that The Root is interested in still.
The parties started as a way to stay connected over the summer break with many new faces and visitors showing up. It was also a chance to hear members voices as they read and possibly inspire future casting.
Over the summer our monthly focus of dream projects in order was Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage, The Aliens by Annie Baker, Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl and Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. These were and are projects that The Root is interested in still.
Root Co Founder takes members to new heights
Robert Soffian's Shasta College production of August: Osage County by Tracy Letts was called a huge success by all that saw it with audiences growing every night until it's October 29th close.
The script has been called the best American stage play since Angels in America and the cast of 13 local north-state actors gave inspired performances, said by some to rival recent Ashland's professional production.
The grand, gripping play tells the story of the Westons, a large extended clan that comes together at their rural Oklahoma homestead when their patriarch disappears. The three hour theatrical event had many stunned in silence one moment and laughng out loud the next.
Besides the satandout performances of the cast under Soffian's direction, his use of music to set mood was impeccable as was the lighting scheme. Almost stealing the show though was another Broadway quality, 3 story set by David Fraser which was used in the poster for the play.
Although technically a school project the Root supports the quality works of it's members.
The script has been called the best American stage play since Angels in America and the cast of 13 local north-state actors gave inspired performances, said by some to rival recent Ashland's professional production.
The grand, gripping play tells the story of the Westons, a large extended clan that comes together at their rural Oklahoma homestead when their patriarch disappears. The three hour theatrical event had many stunned in silence one moment and laughng out loud the next.
Besides the satandout performances of the cast under Soffian's direction, his use of music to set mood was impeccable as was the lighting scheme. Almost stealing the show though was another Broadway quality, 3 story set by David Fraser which was used in the poster for the play.
Although technically a school project the Root supports the quality works of it's members.
