BCAP opens 2010/11 Season with C.P. Taylor's GOOD 11/6

The Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP) opens its third season on November 6th with C.P. Taylor's Good, directed by BCAP's artistic director Jim Petosa. Taylor's self-described musical comedy explores the life of a liberal German professor, seduced by the Third Reich, who unwittingly betrays his loved ones and his morals. Audiences will find this cautionary tale particularly resonant in today's political climate. BCAP is the professional extension of the Boston University School of Theatre.

How does it happen to a "good" man? How does it happen to a "good" people? Set in Germany at the height of Hitler's rise to power, Taylor's masterwork takes place partly inside the mind of a "good" man, Professor John Halder, portrayed by Michael Kaye (BCAP's The Glass Menagerie). Inspired by his mother's illness, Halder publishes a novel advocating for compassionate euthanasia. When the book is picked up by powerful political figures for use as government propaganda, Halder enjoys the increased success and attention until he realizes his work is jeopardizing the welfare of his family and friends.

In his preface to the play Taylor wrote, "It still seems that there are lessons to be learned if we examine the atrocities of the Third Reich as the result of the infinite complexity of contemporary human society, and not a simple conspiracy of criminals and psychopaths."

"We hear constant exhortations to never forget the history of the Holocaust," Petosa explains. "What compels us about C.P. Taylor's play is its insistence on the tragic banality of what brought us to the inhuman brink of that terrible moment. What frightens us is its possibility not its impossibility; the premise that such evil is thinkable not unthinkable. And while the Nazi story is an extreme one, are there degrees of it that exist in our own lives in ways that demand that we remain alert? The play haunts with the question."

The BCAP initiative aims to foster significant interaction between members of the professional performing arts community and the faculty and students of the Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre. The goal is for these collaborations to have a significant impact on the College's overall educational mission, become a consistent source of inspiration for the creation of both new work and new approaches to existing work, and provide the College with a professional extension of its expanding and diverse aesthetic.

In keeping with the BCAP mission, Petosa has assembled a team of collaborators for Good that represent each facet of the Boston University School of Theatre community. The acting and design teams feature Theatre faculty, staff, BFA and MFA students, alumni and theatre minors.

BCAP launched in October 2008 with productions of Tennessee Williams' classic The Glass Menagerie and Doug Wright's one-man play I Am My Own Wife. The company's second season featured productions of David Rabe's A Question of Mercy and Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive. BCAP's 2010-2011 season will continue with a spring production of The Road to Mecca by South Africa's preeminent playwright Athol Fugard, running February 16 through March 5, 2011.

British playwright C.P. Taylor wrote almost 80 plays, most inspired by his Jewish heritage and his Socialist viewpoint. In addition to Good, Taylor's plays include Bread and Butter, Lies about Vietnam, Next Year in Tel Aviv, Withdrawal Symptoms, Some Enchanted Evening, And a Nightingale Sang, and Bandits. He died in 1981 at age 52.

Director Jim Petosa is BCAP's founding artistic director. Petosa previously directed the BCAP productions of The Glass Menagerie and A Question of Mercy (2009 IRNE nominations for Best Director and Best Play - Small Theatre). He is the Director of the Boston University School of Theatre, Artistic Director of Maryland's Olney Theatre Center for the Arts, and Co-Artistic Director of the Potomac Theatre Project/NY, a company committed to the production of political works for the theatre.

THE CAST & PRODUCTION ARTISTS

Michael Kaye as Halder
Tim Spears as Maurice
Paula Langton as Helen
Judith Chaffee as the Mother
Alicia Hunt as Anne
Hayley Holbrook as the Nurse/Elizabeth
Mason Sand as Hitler/Bok
Stephen Elrod as the Doctor
Edmund Donovan as Freddie
Alex Schneps as Bouller/Dispatch Rider
Jeff Hathcoat as Eichmann

Director: Jim Petosa
Music Director: Bill Lumpkin
Scene Design: Kamilla Kurmanbekova
Costume Design: Erik Teague
Lighting Design: Mary Ellen Stebbins
Sound Design: Andrew Duncan Will
Technical Director: Loren Primeau
Stage Manager: Kevin Schlagle
Production Manager: Ryan M. Kichler

PRODUCTION CALENDAR AND EVENTS

GOOD by C.P. Taylor
Directed by Jim Petosa

Sat, November 6 at 8pm Opening/Press Night
Sun, November 7 at 2pm Post-Show Discussion *
Wed, November 10 at 7:30pm
Thurs, November 11 at 7:30pm Post-Show Discussion *
Fri, November 12 at 8pm
Sat, November 13 at 8pm
Sun, November 14 at 2pm
Wed, November 17 at 7:30pm
Thurs, November 18 at 7:30pm American Sign Language-Interpreted and Post-Show Discussion *
Fri, November 19 at 8pm
Sat, November 20 at 8pm
Sun, November 21 at 2pm

* Post-Show Discussions will feature members of the Good company in conversation with both the audience and guest commentators. Free with a ticket to the performance.

UP NEXT THE ROAD TO MECCA by Athol Fugard
Directed by Judy Braha
Featuring Elaine Vaan Hogue
February 16-March 5, 2011

 

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