Heddatron Begins Performances Wednesday February 8

By: Jan. 10, 2006
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Les Freres Corbusier, creators of last Spring's sold-out off-Broadway hit Boozy: The Life, Death, and Subsequent Vilification of Le Corbusier and, More Importantly, Robert Moses  and the Obie Award-winning A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, will present Heddatron, written by Elizabeth Meriwether, directed by Alex Timbers, and produced by Aaron Lemon-Strauss.  Performances begin Wednesday, February 8 at 8:30pm, at HERE Arts Center, 145 Sixth Avenue, between Spring and Broome.  Opening night is set for Thursday, February 16 at 8:30pm.  Tickets are $15 general admission and may be purchased at www.heddatron.com or by phoning SmartTix at 212-868-4444.

With Heddatron, Les Freres Corbusier continues its irreverent massacre of historical icons and academic esoterica by taking on famed playwright Henrik Ibsen, the well-made play, and contemporary issues in robotics. Ibsen is thwarted by August Strindberg and his kitchen slut throughout his fevered struggle to write the great feminist drama, Hedda Gabler, while a contemporary housewife in Michigan is abducted by robots and forced to perform Ibsen's masterpiece over and over again...

With real functioning robots portraying half of the parts, alongside humans who will play the other half, Heddatron will be one of the first theatrical productions to use functional robots as actors.  Employing robotic automation and text-to-speech software, humans will perform opposite a hunky Lovborg-bot, a clunky Tessman-bot, as well as blinking, smoking, and whirring co-stars who portray Judge Brack, Aunt Julie, and the rest of Ibsen's menagerie.

Called a "punk post-modernist theater company" by Paper Magazine, Les Freres Corbusier is known for its exhaustively researched, topically relevant, comically avant-garde theatrical creations. The company discusses academic issues in a theatrical frame that is both accessible for an everyday audience, and bizarrely educational.  Its Village Voice Best of New York 2004 citation declares "high school history classes and PBS docs could learn a thing or two from the perverse pageantry of Les Freres Corbusier." A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant transferred Off-Broadway, won an OBIE Award, spawned a cast album on Sh-K-Boom Records, and the 2004 Los Angeles production was twice extended and received two Garland Awards: for Best Production and Best Director. Its most recent show, Boozy—an irreverent exploration of urban planning—also transferred Off-Broadway, and the full script was published this Fall by Theater Magazine (Yale School of Drama/Duke University Press). Despite its name, Les Freres Corbusier is not, in fact, French.

Elizabeth Meriwether's (Writer) play Nicky Goes Goth, was produced in the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival, with subsequent productions in Berkeley and Phoenix. The Mistakes Madeline Made will be produced by Naked Angels at the Culture Project April 2006, directed by Evan Cabnet, after being workshopped at Ars Nova and New York Stage and Film. As an actor, Liz has appeared in Les Freres' President Harding is a Rock Star and Boozy.

Alex Timbers (Director) is Artistic Director of Les Freres Corbusier and directs all of the company's works. He is the recipient of OBIE and Backstage West GARLAND Awards. In February, he was profiled in The New York Times as part of a feature on up-and-coming theater artists, entitled "Nine to Watch, Onstage and Off."  He is a 2005 Drama League Fellow and former president of the Yale Dramat.

The robots for Heddatron are designed by Meredith Finklestein and Cindy Jeffers, artists who collectively run The Botmatrix, a New York-based robotic art, performance, and outreach group. They exhibit their art machines across the U.S, and abroad.  Most recently, they staged the first Annual Robot Parade in New York City.

The cast of Heddatron includes Carolyn Beaumler, Sam Forman, Gibson Frazier, Nina Hellman, Ryan Karels, Julie Lake, Daniel Larlham, Spenser Leigh, Michael Schulman, and Ian Unterman.

The scenic design for Heddatron is by Cameron Anderson; costume design is by Jenny Mannis; lighting design is by Tyler Micoleau; video design is by Jacob Pinholster; sound design is by Bart Fasbender; robot design is by The Botmatrix (Meredith Finkelstein and Cindy Jeffers).

Since 1993, HERE has been one of New York's most prolific producing organizations, and today, it houses New York's most daring and unique theatre, art, music, and dance in its recently purchased facility. Previous works originally produced by HERE include Trey Lyford & Geoff Sobelle's Drama-Desk nominated all wear bowlers, Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues, Basil Twist's Symphonie Fantastique, the inaugural production of The Dream Music Puppetry Program, Camryn Manheim's Wake Up! I'm Fat, and original musical and dance works created and directed by Kristin Marting. HERE supports the work of artists at all stages in their careers through full productions, artist residency programs, festivals, and subsidized performance and rehearsal space. All work at HERE is curated based on the strength and uniqueness of the artist's vision. This production is being presented through HERE's Supported Artist Program, which provides artists with subsidized space, as well as technical and administrative support.

The performance schedule for Heddatron is Tuesday through Sunday at 8:30pm beginning on Wednesday, February 8.  Opening night is Thursday, February 16 and the final performance will be Saturday, February 25.  Heddatron plays at HERE Arts Center, 145 Sixth Avenue, between Spring and Broome (C/E trains to Spring Street).  Tickets are $15 general admission and may be purchased at www.heddatron.com or by phoning SmartTix at 212-868-4444.  For more information, visit www.lesfreres.org.
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