La Jolla Playhouse Presents Dostoevsky's NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND 9/17-10/17
By: Gabrielle Sierra Aug. 20, 2010
La Jolla Playhouse presents the Yale Repertory Theatre production of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, adapted by RoBert Woodruff and Bill Camp, based on a translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, directed by RoBert Woodruff, running in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre September 17 - October 17 (media night: Friday, Sept 24 at 8:00 pm).
The cast features acclaimed actor Bill Camp as the Man, Merritt Janson as Liza/Musician and Michaël Attias as Apollon/Musician. The creative team includes RoBert Woodruff, co-adaptor/ director; Bill Camp, co-adaptor; David Zinn, scenic designer; Moria Sine Clinton, costume designer; Mark Barton, lighting designer; Michaël Attias, composer/sound designer; and Peter Nigrini, projection designer.This haunting, compelling play, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's (Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov) landmark 1864 novella, is brought to the stage in an astonishing adaptation by RoBert Woodruff, frequent Playhouse artist during the ‘80s and ‘90s and leading avant-garde director, and Obie Award-winning actor Bill Camp, who gives a tour-de-force performance as the Man. Having resigned his position as a civil servant to live in isolation, the Man holes up in a squalid office cluttered with discarded equipment and wet snow. Obsessively reliving old wounds and spurning any chance at affection, he begins a descent into madness that is at times heartbreakingly funny, at times disquieting, but always honest, searing and unforgettable. The Boston Globe hailed the production as a "brilliantly original and theatrical work of art."RoBert Woodruff (Co-Adaptor/Director) has directed numerous productions at La Jolla Playhouse (The Tempest, Figaro Gets a Divorce, Happy Days, La Petomane - A Comedy of Airs, A Man's a Man) and across the country, at such theatres as Lincoln Center Theater, The Public Theater, Brooklyn Academy Of Music, American Conservatory Theater, Guthrie Theater, Mark Taper Forum, among others. Recently, he directed Chair at Theatre for a New Audience, created Ifigeneia in Aulis with Toneelgroep Amsterdam, and completed Philip Glass's Appomattox for the San Francisco Opera. Internationally, his work has been seen at the Habimah National Theatre in Israel, Sydney Arts Festival, Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Hong Kong Festival of the Arts and Spoleto Festival USA. Mr. Woodruff has taught at the University of California campuses at San Diego and Santa Barbara, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and Columbia University. He is currently on the faculty of Yale School of Drama. In 1972, he co-founded the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco, where he served as Artistic and Resident Director until 1978. In 1976, Mr. Woodruff established the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, a summer forum for the development of new plays that is still flourishing. From 2002 to 2007, Mr. Woodruff was the Artistic Director of American Repertory Theatre. He has been named a 2007 USA Biller Fellow by United States Artists, an arts advocacy foundation dedicated to the support and promotion of America's top living artists.
Bill Camp (Man/Co-Adaptor)'s credits include the Broadway productions of St. Joan, The Seagull, Jackie: An American Life, Heartbreak House, Coram Boy; and the Off-Broadway productions of Homebody/Kabul (OBIE Award), Lydie Breeze, The Demons, The Misanthrope, Beckett Shorts (New York Theatre Workshop), Macbeth, Measure for Measure (Theatre for a New Audience), One Flea Spare (The Public Theater) and Inferno (Jewish Rep). At American Repertory Theatre, he appeared in Henry IV, Parts I and II, Henry V, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Long Day's Journey into Night (Elliot Norton Award), Richard II, The Provok'd Wife and Olly's Prison. Other U.S. credits include productions at Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Mark Taper Forum, Guthrie Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Hartford Stage, among others. Television and film credits include Public Enemies, The Guitar, Deception, The Dying Gaul, Brotherhood, Law & Order, Joan of Arcadia and The Great Gatsby.
By Fyodor Dostoevsky
Adapted by RoBert Woodruff and Bill Camp
Based on a Translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Directed by RoBert WoodruffWHEN: September 17 - October 17 (media night: Friday, September 24 at 8:00 pm)
Performances Tue/Wed at 7:30 pm; Thu/Fri/Sat at 8:00 pm; Sun at 7:00 pm
Matinees: Sat/Sun at 2:00 pmWHERE: Sheila and Hughes Potiker TheatreWHO: Director: RoBert Woodruff Composer/Sound Design: Michaël Attias
Scenic Design: David Zinn Costume Design: Moria Sine Clinton Lighting Design: Mark Barton Dramaturg: Shirley Fishman
Peter Nigrini, Projection Designer Stage Manager: Kris Longley-Postema Cast: Bill Camp Man
Merritt Janson Liza/Musician
Michaël Attias Apollon/MusicianBACKGROUND:
This haunting, compelling play, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's (Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov) landmark 1864 novella is brought to the stage in an astonishing adaptation by acclaimed director RoBert Woodruff and Obie Award-winning actor Bill Camp, who gives a tour-de-force performance as the Man. Having resigned his position as a civil servant to live in isolation, the Man holes up in a squalid office cluttered with discarded equipment and wet snow, ready to take vengeance on a corrupt world. Obsessively reliving old wounds and spurning any chance at affection, he begins a descent into madness that is at times heartbreakingly funny, at times disquieting, but always honest, searing and unforgettable. Notes from Underground was commissioned by the Yale Center for New Theatre with the generous support of the Robina Foundation and had its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre in March 2009.Please note: this production contains nudity, violence and strong language.TICKETS: $31 - $66BOX OFFICE: (858) 550-1010; www.lajollaplayhouse.org
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