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Off-Broadway's All Wear Bowlers Returns to Here Arts April 22 - May 29

By: Mar. 11, 2005
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Due to popular demand, all wear bowlers will return to HERE Arts Center for a special limited encore presentation in April. The current sold-out run, which opened on February 20 to rave reviews, ends this Saturday. Trey Lyford and Geoffe Sobelle will bring their one-of-a-kind new vaudeville hit all wear bowlers back to the HERE stage April 22 for a six week return engagement (April 22 - May 29)

The premise of all wear bowlers is simple. Two silent film clowns fall off the screen to find themselves trapped in a live clown show. Caught in an existential nightmare, they employ all the tricks of their trade in an effort to escape it. all wear bowlers is a two-person absurdist play that melds physical comedy with visual metaphor, stage magic and vaudevillian patter in an exploration of identity and memory, nostalgia and amnesia. Elements drawn from the desolation of Samuel Beckett, the beauty of René Magritte and the pathos of Laurel and Hardy collide, creating a surreal landscape of venomous ventriloquists and belligerent bowlers.

The New York Times says "It's one more reason to feel foolish about spending money on a Broadway show." "The best show in New York is Off-Off-Broadway," said The New York Sun.

all wear bowlers has been in development for over three years, during which time the co-creators Trey Lyford and Geoff Sobelle have been awarded grants from the Independence Foundation, the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative and the New York State Council on the Arts. Through this support, they had the opportunity to develop the clown characters and routines with renowned new vaudevillian David Shiner (Fool Moon) as well as probe the show57;s darker modernist dramaturgy with director Aleksandra Wolska. Lyford and Sobelle further developed the show through the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP) at HERE Arts Center. Most recently, all wear bowlers earned rave reviews as part of the 2003 Fringe Festival in Philadelphia and launched its first commercial run with Philadelphia57;s 1812 Productions.

Trey Lyford (Wyatt) is an Associate Artist with the OBIE award-winning theatre company The Civilians, where he has developed/performed in Paris Commune and Gone Missing. Other theater credits: Aspen Comedy Festival (56;05), Actors Theatre of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, Arden Theatre, Folger Theatre, Hangar Theatre, The Wilma, HERE and Soho Rep. He has performed with the Pig Iron Theatre Company and the Joe Goode Performance Group. Trey is the recipient of a Princess Grace Award and the Fabergé Theatre Excellence Award. He holds a BA from Vassar College and an MFA in Acting from UCSD.

Geoff Sobelle (Earnest) has been a Philadelphia-based actor since 1999. He is a company member of the Pig Iron Theatre Company (60;Best Theatre, 200261; 51; Philadelphia Citypaper), an ensemble-based theatre troupe dedicated to creating original work. Their award-winning pieces have garnered international acclaim in New York, the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Germany and Brazil. Geoff studied theatre and literature at Stanford University and was trained in physical theatre at École Jacques Lecoq in Paris. In August, Geoff was named 60;best of theatre 200461; by Philadelphia Magazine.

This production includes direction by Aleksandra Wolska, films by Michael Glass, lighting by Randy 60;igleu61; Glickman, sound by James Sugg and costumes by Tara Webb.

all wear bowlers has been developed over the last two years through HERE's Artist Residency Program (HARP), which provides development, commissions and full production support. Since opening in 1993, the OBIE-award winning HERE Arts Center has housed New York57;s most daring and unique theatre, visual art, puppetry, music and dance in its three theatres, two art galleries and café. Previous works originally produced by HERE include Eve Ensler57;s The Vagina Monologues, Basil Twist57;s Symphonie Fantastique, Camryn Manheim57;s Wake Up! I57;m Fat, and original musical and dance works created and directed by Executive Director Kristin Marting. In 2003, HERE launched its Secure HERE57;s Future campaign to purchase its space and secure a permanent position as one of the city57;s preeminent presenters of multidisciplinary art.

HERE Arts Center 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 artist57;s vision.

all wear bowlers will play Wednesday through Monday @ 8:30 PM. Tickets will be available soon online at www.here.org or by calling SmartTix at (212) 868-4444 or visiting the HERE Box Office from 4 PM until curtain. For more information on all wear bowlers, visit HERE online at www.here.org




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