Oracle Productions Presents World Premiere of THE SANDMAN, 5/19

Oracle Productions' Public Access Theatre Season 2 continues as Artistic Director Max Truax directs a world premiere adaptation of THE SANDMAN, based on the short story by E.T.A. Hoffman, adapted by Bob Fisher. THE SANDMAN opens May 19 and runs through June 30. Performances are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday nights at 8PM. Admission is free through Oracle's Public Access Theatre.

Truax's vision uses cinematic staging, puppets, and live feed video projections to explore the themes of sight and seeing (and believing) woven into this complex narrative. Sigmund Freud referred to Hoffman as the master of the uncanny in literature; in Der Sandmann, Hoffman's characters are perpetually entrenched in situations that seem simultaneously familiar and foreign - repressed memories that include alchemy experiments, repressed sexuality involving a lifelike automaton, etc. Hoffman's readers often find themselves questioning whether characters are having real experiences, or if they are somehow caught in a dream. Oracle's production explores the psychological alchemy in Hoffman's story. Actors play the characters as expected, but they also manipulate puppets and video cameras so as to embody their characters' doppelgangers. In many scenes, audiences will explore multiple points of view and witness several layers of the characters' psyches. Every audience member will have a unique, uncanny experience of their own.

The cast features Oracle Company Member Rich Logan playing dual roles of Nathaniel's father and Coppelius. The cast also features Chris Hart as Nathaniel (present), Ben Hertel as Nathaniel (past) and Lothaire, and Simina Contras in the dual roles of Clara and Olympia (the automaton).

THE SANDMAN opens May 19 and runs through June 30. Performances are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday nights at 8PM. No performance on Monday, May 28, in observance of Memorial Day. Oracle Theatre is located at 3809 N. Broadway.