'Animal Farm,' 2 other plays to open

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Mar 14, 2004 | by Ivan M. Lincoln Deseret Morning News

Three of Salt Lake City's major theater companies offer a diverse array of choices this week -- George Orwell's "Animal Farm," Tom Stoppard's Tony-winning "The Real Thing" and the Old Testament musical "Children of Eden."

"THE REAL THING," Pioneer Theatre Company, winner of five Tony Awards (including Best Play) when it premiered on Broadway in 1984, went on to receive three more when it was revived in 2000. Artistic director Charles Morey said it is a play that he has "wanted to direct for about 20 years."

The show is scheduled Wednesday through April 3 in Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre on the University of Utah campus.

Morey said the plot revolves around Henry, who is considered the smartest, sharpest and most wickedly witty playwright of his generation. But when his life begins to mirror his plays, he is faced with trying to tell the difference between art and "the real thing."

Four New York-based members of the seven-person cast are making their debut at PTC: Paul DeBoy as Henry, Jurian Hughes as Annie, his wife; Patrick Hallahan as Billy, an actor and friend of Annie's; and Kyle Fabel as Brodie, a recently released convict-turned-playwright. Two well-known local performers are also in the cast: Max Robinson will play Max, an actor and friend of Henry's, and Joyce Cohen is Charlotte, Henry's first wife. Amanda Fulks, who plays Henry and Charlotte's daughter, Debbie, is a senior in the U.'s Actor Training Program.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays on the Lees Main Stage of Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East. Tickets range from $20-$39 (581-6961). PTC cautions that this production contains some strong language.

"ANIMAL FARM," Plan B Theatre Company, directed by Jerry Rapier, opens Friday in the Studio Theatre of the Rose Wagner Center, 238 W. 300 South, where it continues through April 4. "The original book, written at the end of World War II by (George) Orwell and immediately banned worldwide, was written as a criticism of Russia," said Rapier. "Now it's standard curriculum in Utah and pretty much across the country.

"In retrospect, Orwell was really kind of a prophet, seeing things a lot clearer than we think. It's an interesting template about the place of authority in government and culture, and that is why it is timeless."

Rapier's cast includes Kurt Bateman, Cheryl Cluff, Jayne Luke, Colleen Baum and Teresa Sanderson. "They are the farm," he said, adding that there are also parallels to both the current war on terrorism and World War II. "Sadly, 'Animal Farm' is still very topical.

"Like we discovered when we did 'War of the Worlds,' some people know of 'Animal Farm,' but it is too far removed, or it's such a common term that it's become part of the vernacular and people aren't that familiar with the story. We're hoping to help with that."

Rapier said that, for the first time, Plan-B is doing a series of afternoon student matinees (separate from public performances), with groups from about a half-dozen schools. There will also be a couple of benefit performances -- one for the new City Center School, a charter school, and another for Intermountain Therapy Animals, which provides animals for shut-ins and nursing-home patients.

He said the entire production should run about 85 minutes without an intermission, and "every word spoken is taken directly from Orwell's novel." Nelson Slade Bond, a free-lance writer and dealer in rare books, wrote the stage adaptation of "Animal Farm" in 1964.

Rapier said that several companies across the United States are doing their own adaptations as well, especially since the war in Iraq. "The whole idea, the underlying theme in the play, is what separates animals from humans, and what it takes for humans to lose the ability to fight for themselves."

One of the big questions in the play, he said, is "how do people maintain good intentions and high morals when faced with the prospect of wielding power over other individuals?"

Performances will be Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $18 for general admission or $10 for students. Call 355-2787 or 581-7100 for reservations.

"CHILDREN OF EDEN," the Grand Theatre, John Caird and Stephen Schwartz's humorous musical spin on stories from the first nine chapters of the book of Genesis -- from Adam and Eve to Noah and the Great Flood -- opens Friday and continues through April 3 in Salt Lake Community College's Grand Theatre, 1575 S. State.

Robin Wilks-Dunn is directing a cast of nearly 40, including 11 in speaking roles, with the rest as a chorus of "storytellers." Those in leading roles are Kenneth Wayne as Father, Eric Van Tielen as Adam/ Noah, Ashley Bryant as Eve/Mama Noah, Spencer K.F. Myers as Cain/ Japheth, Joshua Joel Black as Abel/Shem and Darrin D. Doman as Seth/ Ham.

Author Caird, who wrote the script, is best known for "Les Miserables," while composer-lyricist Schwartz wrote the music for such shows as "Godspell," "Pippin" and the current Broadway hit "Wicked," a "musical prequel" to "The Wizard of Oz."