Lit Moon Theatre Company

FESTIVAL LINEUP

Performances
Special Performances
Special Discussions
Special Exhibit
Special Parties
Buy Tickets Online

PERFORMANCES

Hamlet

Lit Moon Theatre Company

Thursday, October 12 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, October 14 at 2 p.m.
Porter Theatre, Westmont College
In English

It all began here: Lit Moon’s collaboration with Czech designer Milon Kalis led to this award-winning, internationally acclaimed production that features four actors, a live musician, and a huge sheet of paper as the production’s dominant scenic element. Recipient of the Centaur Award for Best Drama at the 2003 Montreal Fringe, the production has also received invitations to perform at Montreal’s Wildside Festival (2004), the Gdansk Shakespearean Festival (2004), and the National Theatre Company of China (2007).

“A smoldering howl of anger and violence... stunning.”
Matt Radz, The Montreal Gazette

That (Famous Scottish) Play

Teatr Antonie-Kalis, Prague, Czech Republic

Thursday, October 12, 9 p.m.; Saturday, October 14 at noon
Porter Theatre, Westmont College
In English

Famed Czech dancer and choreographer Antonie Svobodova teams with scenographer Milon Kalis (Lit Moon’s Hamlet and The Tempest) to deconstruct Shakespeare’s major tragedy about ambition, regicide, and witches. You know the one – it’s That (Famous Scottish) Play. Co-production with Westmont College and Lit Moon Theatre Company.

Juliet & Romeo

Canis Tempus, Montreal, Quebec

Sunday, October 15 at 9 p.m.; Tuesday, October 17 at 9 p.m., Friday, October 13 at 7 p.m.
Center Stage Theater
In English and French

Founded in 2005 by Lit Moon actor Andy Cuk, Canis Tempus is a new Montreal theatre company that melds text, physical movement, and visual elements into stimulating works for the stage. In this piece, two actors use stylized physicality, stunning scenography, and an original soundscape to explode our preconceptions about Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.

“...exceptionally beautiful and exciting...”
Gaetan L. Charlebois, The Montreal Gazette

King Richard II

Co-Production, Lit Moon Theatre Company & Westmont College

Friday, October 13 at 9 p.m.; Sunday, October 15 at 4 p.m.; Monday, October 16 at 8 p.m.
Trinity Episcopal Church
In English

Following the deposition and eventual murder of a famous medieval English monarch, this vast historical epic invites audiences to follow the action in and through a number of the gothic spaces of Trinity Episcopal Church. Upon its Santa Barbara premiere in November 2005, the show received rave reviews and played to sold-out audiences. Last summer, the production was presented by invitation at the Shakespearean Festival in Gdansk, Poland.

“A triumph that will certainly be thought about and discussed for many years to come.”
Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent

World Premiere!

As You Like It

State Puppet Theatre of Bourgas, Bulgaria

Wednesday, October 18 at 8 p.m.; Thursday, October 19 at 9 p.m.; Saturday, October 21 at 2 p.m.
Center Stage Theater
In English

State Puppet Theatre, Bourgas, is one of the oldest and most acclaimed puppet theatres in Eastern Europe. Recipients of major awards throughout Europe, director Hristina Arsenova’s company was just recently named Bulgaria’s Best Puppet Theatre by the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture. In a production created specifically for this festival, Hristina Arsenova’s interpretation of this beloved comedy is filled with great comedy, wonderful Bulgarian music and stunningly beautiful puppets.

Winner of the Ikar Award for Best Puppet Theatre in Bulgaria, 2006

World Premiere!

Timon of Athens

Theatre Artists Group, Santa Barbara

Saturday, October 14 at 4 p.m.; Saturday, October 21 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, October 22 at 2 p.m.
Hatlen Theatre, UCSB
In English

In a festival packed with some Shakespeare’s most famous plays, we are incredibly excited to feature one of his nearly forgotten gems. In this rarely seen play, one of America’s best directors, Risa Brainin, teams with longtime friend and colleague Irwin Appel to create a compelling, contemporary look at one of the most unusual plays in the Shakespeare canon.

“For Brainin to transform this often stiff, earnest, boring play (Julius Caesar) into a vital, even at times funny story, is something close to genius.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer

Othello

Teatr Modjeska, Legnica, Poland

Saturday, October 14, 9 p.m.; Sunday & Tuesday, October 15 & 17, 7 p.m.
Lobero Theatre
In Polish, with accompanying English libretto

One of the world’s most unique theatre companies, Legnica’s Teatr Modjeska is famed throughout Central Europe for their intense physicality, wild spectacle and productions staged in re-claimed, derelict or otherwise run-down spaces. Recipients of numerous international awards, including the prestigious Yorick Award (twice) for Best Production of a Shakespearean Play in Poland, Teatr Modjeska uses Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre in some surprising ways in director Jacek Glomb’s stunning interpretation of this major tragedy.

“The characters’ heartbeat can be heard, and one has only to reach out one’s hand in order to feel the magic of the stage.”
Leszek Pulka

Co-presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures!

Romeo and Juliet

Bulgarian National Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria

Thursday & Friday, October 19 & 20, 7 p.m.
Lobero Theatre
In Bulgarian, with English supertitles

Director Lilia Abadjieva is renowned throughout Eastern Europe for her brilliant re-interpretations of Shakespeare’s plays. Played by six men in a highly physical, nearly dance-theatre style, Abadjieva’s production is a skillful mix of parody and satire that both re-invents the play, and stays true to its emotional appeal.

“The productions of one of the most notorious directors are always curious because they present unexpected meaning in well known texts.”

The Monitor, Sofia

SPECIAL EVENTS

Special Performances

Shakspeare Jam Cabaret

Local and visiting artists in an unpredictable evening of performance art, music, and poetry inspired by Shakespeare’s work.

Friday, October 20th, 11 p.m., Center Stage Theater, Tickets: $10, at door only.

Rogue

Commissioned by the Westmont Theatre Arts Department and comprising part of its award-winning 2005-2006 season, this world premiere by Erik Ehn (2005 Independent Theatre Award) and directed by Mitchell Thomas, portrays a visionary alternate universe for how Hamlet became Hamlet.

Saturday, October 21, 12 noon, following Keynote Address,
Porter Theatre, Westmont College, Free.

"Hospital gurneys roll, rise, and recede carrying actors playing pirates or posing peacefully in various states of distress or rapture...a night of earthly magic."
Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent

The Willow Song

Come and enjoy an evening of music inspired by the timeless writings of William Shakespeare. Situated in the exquisite acoustic of St. Anthony's in Santa Barbara, musical works spanning from the 17th century to the modern day will be performed via chamber orchestra, choir, and soloists. Featured composers include Dominic Argento, William Byrd, Peter Jon Duda, Michael Eglin, R.V. Williams, Steven Sametz, James Connelly, Thomas Weelkes and others.

Saturday, October 21, 8 p.m., St. Anthony's Seminary, Tickets: $20, at door only.

Special Discussions

“Continental Shifts: Shakespeare in Central and Eastern Europe”

Professor Simon Williams, Chair of the UCSB Department of Dramatic Art, moderates a panel featuring local and visiting scholars, and visiting artists, as they discuss contemporary trends in the productions of Shakespeare’s plays in Central and Eastern Europe.

Monday, October 16th, Karpeles Manuscript Library, 21 West Anapamu, 5-7 p.m., Free.

“Chasing Timon – The Creation of TAG’s production of Timon of Athens”

Join the creative team of Theatre Artists Group’s production of Timon of Athens in a discussion of the creative process used in the development of this rarely seen play.

Saturday, October 14th, following performance, Hatlen Theatre, UCSB, Free.

“The play – and the Production’s – the thing”

Moderated by UCSB graduate students in the English and Dramatic Art Departments, these panels focus on contemporary themes in understanding and producing Shakespeare, including issues in dramaturgy, design, the nature of performance, and theatrical representation.

Friday, October 20th, lunch 1-2 p.m.; Panel 1, 2:00-3:15 p.m., panel 2 3:30-4:45 p.m., South Hall 2635, UCSB.

“Shakespeare and Globalized Performance”

Professor Dennis Kennedy, Samuel Beckett Chair of Theatre at Trinity College, Dublin, is one of the world’s major experts on the nature of the visual as it relates to Shakespearean production. In the festival’s Keynote Address, he offers a perceptive analysis of the implications of Shakespeare’s work as it is disseminated throughout the globe.

Saturday, October 21, 10 a.m.,
Porter Theatre, Westmont College.

Special Exhibit

Shaping Fantasies

“Scenographic” Exhibit

Join the festival’s designers as they showcase representative examples of their design work in a gallery show format.

Opening Reception Wednesday, October 18, ARTS ALIVE! Creativity Center, 1 North Calle Cesar Chavez, 5 p.m.

Special Parties

Premiere Party

Thursday, October 12th, following Hamlet
Secret Location – Come to the show and find out!

Dinner with Timon

Saturday, October 14th
Following the post-performance discussion, join the company of Timon of Athens for dinner at the .

After Othello at the Lobero

Saturday, October 14
Lobero Theatre
Celebrate and welcome Legnica’s Teatr Modjeska following their Othello.

Wrap Party

Sunday, October 22
SoHo Club & Restaurant
Food, Drink, Music, Fun
Not necessarily in that order....

Lit Moon Theatre Company - John Blondell Artistic Director
P.O. Box 3163, Santa Barbara, CA 93130 info@litmoon.com