Shakespeare Theatre Company Presents Basil Twist's Petrushka 3/16-25

The Shakespeare Theatre Company will welcome to its stage puppeteer Basil Twist and his production of Petrushka, which will run at STC's Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th Street NW) from March 16-25, 2012. This limited engagement is part of STC's and its Artistic Director Michael Kahn's 25th Anniversary Season.

About the show: "Petrushka tells the tragic love story of three puppets at a Russian Carnival. Petrushka, the clown, falls in love with the charming Ballerina at first sight. The scheming and rich Moor loves the Ballerina as well, and seduces her with beautiful things. She rejects the earnest advances of Petrushka, who, upset and lonely, confronts the Moor. In order to make this story come to life, Twist sets it against the backdrop of a specially created two-piano version of Stravinsky’s original ballet score. Nine hidden puppeteers use a combination of Czech and Japanese techniques to bring the puppets to life."

Regarded by the Creative Capital Foundation as one of the most “ambitious and imaginative” puppeteers in the world, Basil Twist has brilliantly re-imagined The Ballet Russes production of Petrouchka. It first premiered in 2001 at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and is now a part of the D.C. festival celebrating Basil Twist presented by the Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and The Studio Theatre. The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center will present Symphonie Fantastique where puppets manipulate cloths inside a water tank, running March 29-31. Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company will present Arias with a Twist with cabaret sensation Joey Arias performing songs with a background of puppetry running April 4-May 6. The Studio Theatre will present Dogugaeshi which features original shamisen compositions created by musician Yumiko Tanaka from April 12-22.

This festival is the first time four of Twist’s works will be presented in one city in a close repertory with collaborating organizations. This tour of Basil Twist is made possible by a grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

For tickets and more information, call 202.547.1122 or visit ShakespeareTheatre.org.

Basil Twist FESTIVAL DC 2012

Petrushka
by Basil Twist
featuring Irina and Julia Elkina
originally commissioned for Lincoln Center for The Performing Arts
March 16-25, 2012
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre
To purchase tickets, visit ShakespeareTheatre.org or call 202.547.1122.

Set to Stravinsky’s Sonata, Petrushka tells of a tragic love triangle between three magical puppets. This work puts a new magic around the legendary Ballets Russes production of Petrouchka.

Symphonie Fantastique
by Basil Twist
March 29-31, 2012
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
To purchase tickets, visit ClariceSmithCenter.umd.edu or call 301.405.2787.

Symphonie Fantastique is an intimate show set to the five movements of Hector Berlioz's 19th century classical composition of the same name. The production is performed entirely in a specially constructed water tank.

Arias with a Twist
by Joey Arias and Basil Twist
April 4-May 6, 2012
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
To purchase tickets, visit WoollyMammoth.net or call 202.393.3939.

Drag diva Joey Arias sings an array of magical songs amongst a backdrop of fantastical puppets. Listen to one of the most beautiful voices while being taken along on an extravagant adventure.

Dogugaeshi
by Basil Twist
April 12-22, 2012
The Studio Theatre
To purchase tickets, visit StudioTheate.org or call 202.232.7267.

Twist presents an intimate journey of images and emotions influenced by Japanese dogugaeshi stage mechanism technique and his own experiences with the rare art form of puppetry.

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING

Happenings at the Harman: Local Puppeteers
March 21, 2012 at noon
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Forum in Sidney Harman Hall
Free

A free programming series featuring discussions and performances by Washington-area scholars and artists, Happenings at the Harman is a great way for people to discover new art in the middle of the week on their lunch break.

For this installment, puppeteers from the D.C. area, including puppet theatre company Pointless Theatre, will feature examples of their work and excerpts from previous performances, in conjunction with the presentation of Basil Twist’s Petrushka.

Conversation with Basil Twist
March 22, 2012 at 8 p.m.
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre
Free

This moderated conversation with Basil Twist will focus on the breadth of Twist’s body of work. Audience members can ask questions of Twist and even view puppets from his productions.

ABOUT Basil Twist

Basil Twist is a third-generation puppeteer. After graduating from the École Supérieure Nationale des Arts de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mezieres, France, his first major creation was The Araneidae Show, for which he was awarded a 1997 Bessie Award and a UNIMA Citation of Excellence. His next major premiere, Symphonie Fantastique, toured across the country and internationally, eventually earning Twist a 1999 Drama Desk Nomination, a UNIMA Citation of Excellence, the Henry Hewes Design Award and an OBIE Award. Following the commissioning of Petrushka, Twist created Master Peter’s Puppet Show with Eos Orchestra. Later, a grant from The Asian Cultural Council and Creative Capital allowed him to complete a commission from The Japan Society, Dogugaeshi. Twist has also collaborated with a number of directors on projects for theatre and film. He developed the puppetry for Paula Vogel’s new play The Long Christmas Ride Home and served as the underwater puppetry consultant on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Twist is the director of The Dream Music Puppetry Program at HERE Arts Center. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and is a United States Artists Fellow.

ABOUT THE YOUTH AND FAMILY SERIES

Petrushka is part of STC’s Youth and Family Series (YFS) which introduces younger audiences to classic literature from around the world through engaging, age-appropriate productions. YFS performances are 60 to 90 minutes in length and are produced for school groups during the week and for families on the weekends. The productions provide connections to core content in social studies, language arts, history and theatre. Developmentally appropriate workshops and materials are available through the Education Department. The Youth and Family Series is supported by Judy and Leo Zickler and the Youth and Family Series Alliance.

There will be four SHAKESPEARIENCE student matinees for Petrushka for students in grades three through twelve. The performances will be held on Friday, March 16; Tuesday, March 20; Wednesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 22 at 10 a.m. in the Lansburgh Theatre. For more information on how school groups of 10 or more can apply for a SHAKESPEARIENCE matinee visit ShakespeareTheatre.org/education/community/shakespearience.aspx.

ABOUT THE Shakespeare Theatre Company

In the 2011-2012 Season, the Shakespeare Theatre Company is set to celebrate! Not only is it the 25th year of Michael Kahn's leadership, vision and artistic direction but, over the past quarter of a century, STC has become one of the nation's leading theatre companies. Today, STC is synonymous with artistic excellence and making classical theatre more accessible.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company's innovative approach to Shakespeare and other classic playwrights has earned it the reputation as the nation's premier classical theatre company. By focusing on works with profound themes, complex characters and poetic language written by Shakespeare, his contemporaries and the playwrights he influenced, the Company's artistic mission is unique among theatre companies: to present theatre of scope and size in an imaginative, skillful and accessible American style that honors the playwrights' language and intentions while viewing their work through a 21st-century lens.

In its 2007-2008 Season, the company opened the Harman Center for the Arts, consisting of the new 774-seat Sidney Harman Hall and the 451-seat Lansburgh Theatre, both located in downtown Washington's Penn Quarter neighborhood. A dynamic hub of activity, the Harman Center showcases the company as well as outstanding local performing arts groups and nationally renowned organizations. STC's annual Free For All performance, a re-creation of a production from seasons past staged for free in August and September, is now held at Sidney Harman Hall. Sidney Harman Hall is located at 610 F Street NW. The Lansburgh Theatre also plays host to a number of different performing arts organizations and several of STC's mainstage productions. The Lansburgh Theatre is located at 450 7th Street NW.