Tutto Theatre and MACtheatre Present THE TWELFTH LABOR now thru Sept 1

Tutto Theatre Company and MACtheatre announce their first co-production, the U.S. full-stage premiere of The Twelfth Labor by Leegrid Stevens, directed by Gary Jaffe.

Leegrid Stevens’ evocative new play, The Twelfth Labor, is a new American epic; using the myth of The Twelve Labors of Hercules to explore the inner workings of a hardscrabble World War II-era family in Idaho. We follow a single day in the life of this family—October 15, 1949—as seen through the damaged mind of the eldest daughter, Cleo. Through her fragmented memories, prophetic dreams, and swirling language, we begin to understand the price she and her family have paid for a little dignity, while awaiting the return of their long absent father, lost in the war half a world away.

In addition to Greek myth, The Twelfth Labor draws upon the popular culture of Cleo’s childhood (The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Abbott & Costello), which shapes and colors her warped experience of the real world and generates an “elemental magnetism” (KFMG 99.1FM) which pulls the audience in and keeps them thinking of the play days and weeks afterward.

The production features the award-winning acting talents of Helen Allen, Wray Crawford, Trey Deason, Chris Humphrey, Skip Johnson, Content Love Knowles, Megan Minto, Rebecca Robinson, Erin Treadway, Fred Winkler, and introducing Annamarie Kasper; with Scenic Design by Ia Enstera?; Lighting Design by Natalie George; Costume Design by Benjamin Taylor Ridgway; Hair & Make-Up Design by Austin M. Rausch; Properties by Justin Cox; and Video & Sound Design by Eliot Haynes and Leegrid Stevens.

The Twelfth Labor runs now through September 1st, with performances as follows: Week Two: 16–18 August—Thursday through Saturday, and Weeks Three and Four: 22 August–1 September— Wednesdays through Saturdays. ALL PERFORMANCES are at 7:30 p.m. in the Laboratory Theater of McCallum Fine Arts Academy [5600 Sunshine Drive; Austin, Texas 78756].

Tickets: $15 General Admission (ACA/Seniors/Students: $12 & VIP Seating: $25); Wednesdays are Pay-What-You-CAN = Pay-What-You-Want w/ Donation of Non-Perishable Canned Food Item to benefit Hope Food Pantry at Trinity United Methodist Church [www.tumc.org/hope.htm] (Otherwise: $12). Limited Seating, Reserve Today. For reservations or Information call: (512) 522-4045. Online Ticketing at www.TuttoTheatre.org, powered by PayPal.

In the last four years, Tutto’s five most recent productions: The Dudleys!: A Family Game (Summer 2011), I Witness (Summer 2010), Murder Ballad Murder Mystery (Fall 2009), Black Snow (Summer 2009), and Ophelia (Fall 2008) together have collected 61 nominations, garnered 22 awards, and appeared on 9 annual top listings from local media.

Founded in 2002, Tutto Theatre Company set out to elevate cross-disciplinary communication in the Austin artistic community. In 2008, we fused to our original purpose the artistic ambition to enhance, imaginatively, the expanding arts community in Austin. Imagination is the engine of the impossible, and ours is an Impossible Theatre. Embracing the theatre—a realm where impossibilities interpenetrate— we access the deeper meaning that lies beneath human experience. We create a space to carve into the unexpected, to dissect its viscera, and to lay bare its provocative sinews in ever more impossible ways. Ours is a theatre of dreams and of fantasies, of memory and of nostalgia, of desire and of disorientation, of imagination and of contradiction, an arena where the mundane grapples with the sublime. Thus, we commit tutto (everything) to the exploration of new forms and of new works that inscribe their fearful symmetries and incalculable geometries within our hearts, minds, and bodies.

We feel a profound responsibility both to new and timeless theatre. Our work, therefore, consists in: (1) producing experiences of high- quality both small and large; (2) developing new work and production opportunities for up-and-coming playwrights; and (3) helping our community to nurture its place as a world-class arts destination, providing local educational opportunities, and bringing artists from around the world to develop their work in our city. Thus we defy the grim reality of theatre making in the 21st century, declaring: Everything is possible in this our Impossible Theatre.

 

 

 

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