OH_Frenzy_1

Oh, For the Love of Love!

by Christopher Durang, Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco

L'Etage Cabaret
February 17 - 28, 2008
Directed by Tina Brock
OH!
Wanda’s Visit
by Christopher Durang
Marsha
Corinna Burns
Jim
Bob Schmidt
Wanda
Gerre Garrett
Waiter
Michael Dura
Kingpin
Brian Adoff
Gunman
Tomas Dura
Ohio Impromptu**
by Samuel Beckett
Reader
Michael Dura
Listener
Tomas Dura
Frenzy for Two, or More*
by Eugéne Ionesco
She
Corinna Burns
He
Brian Adoff
Soldier
Michael Dura
Neighbor
Bob Schmidt
Neighbor’s Wife
Gerre Garrett

Director

Tina Brock

Costume Design

Anna Vallejo

Stages Manager/Lights and Sound

Ryan McMenamin

Production Manager

Bob Schmidt

*Produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

 

**Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

 

The IRC is a non-profit 501C3 corporation.

 

Playing time is 75 minutes; there will be no intermission.

 

Feel free to visit the bar and accommodations,

located in the lobby, throughout the show. 

 

MUSIC

Getz/Gilberto

Verve Records

Duke Ellington and Friends

Verve Records

Burton, Corea, Metheny, Haynes, Holland

Concord Music Group

The Pink Panther: Henry Mancini and His Orchestra

RCA Victor

 

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~

 

If this is your first Idiopathic Ridiculopathy experience, we’re a newly-formed company whose mission is to present and preserve the classic and lesser-known works by authors from the loosely-defined “Theater of the Absurd” such as Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter and Edward Albee; to provide artistic opportunities to actors, directors and designers interested in exploring their craft through this material, and to expose modern theater-going audiences to absurdism and to develop new audiences for this work. We have a particular fondness for works that incorporate physical comedy, clowning, vaudeville, and music hall elements.

 

When a small group of us began the IRC two years ago, we wondered if enough people would support a theater company devoted specifically to this genre.  We’re very excited by your response to these works.  Our non-profit (501C3) status was granted as of December 2007, making it possible for us to now apply for funding from government and private sources.  That, combined with public enthusiasm and support, are making it possible for the IRC to make the leap to the next level in the company’s growth.  So, thanks and continue to pass the word to those you think would enjoy knowing about the work we’re doing.

 

To keep in touch with our progress and what we’re planning, visit the IRC’s website at www.idiopathicridiculopathyconsortium.com.  We update the site frequently with images from the shows, thoughts on what we’re planning and our general goings on.  It’s a great way to keep in touch with us throughout the year.

 

Reviews

Oh, for the Love of Love! (2008)

"Too seldom are one-act plays performed, and we don't see many absurdist plays, either — and absurdist one-acts, those all but unheard of. Charging to the rescue: the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium (I love that name!) with Oh, for the Love of Love!"
Mark Cofta, Philadelphia City Paper

"For laughter with a little sting, this is the show for you."
R. B. Strauss, Philadelphia City Paper

Director's Notes

February 2008

Greetings.

The stage directions in Frenzy for Two, Or More read: ‘Rubble goes on falling from the ceiling. At the end of the play there will be no ceiling left at all. And no walls either.  In their place, one will be able to see staircase-like shapes, silhouettes, banners perhaps.’  Or my favorite, ‘They block the window with the mattress and stop up the doors, while through the ruined walls of the room you can see figures and brass bands passing.’

That’s brass band(s), plural.

When I read Frenzy for Two for the first time, (as is always the case with Ionesco) I laughed out loud…at his sense of play, at his wonderful theatrical imagination, and at my chances of finding both a venue and the budget to make the collapsing ceiling and walls, not to mention the brass band(s) happen.

Not to be discouraged by a hefty challenge given our miniscule budget, we set out to create the world Eugène Ionesco calls for in Frenzy.  However, since one of the challenges I also enjoy is following the author’s stage specifications as truly as possible, we found ourselves in a bind, inventing all sorts of creative solutions to his staging puzzles while maintaining the spirit we imagine he was going for.  Particularly when we hit page 155, where ‘headless bodies and bodiless dolls heads can be seen slowly descending, hanging down from above.’

We then thought to remove the ceiling tiles over the L’Etage stage and rig a fishing line contraption connected to a fishing reel in the sound booth that would enable us to creep headless Barbie and Ken dolls into the stage picture. That idea was not only impractical but also short-lived, as L’Etage hosts a different show each night of the week.  We then experimented with a heckler in the audience throwing doll heads and ‘assorted missiles’ on stage, but that was also scrapped in deference to safety issues and questions about author intent – if the missiles are hurled from humans as opposed to crashing through and descending from on high, does that alter Ionesco’s ideas, and if so, how?

As Brian Adoff’s character, He, ponders in Frenzy, “One wonders whether the answer depends on the question or the question depends on the answer.”

Enjoy the show, and thanks for coming out.

Tina Brock
Artistic Director