Open Fist Theater Presents ROCK ‘N’ ROLL, Previews 12/4

The Open Fist Theatre Company presents the final production of its 2009-2010 season, the Los Angeles premiere of ROCK 'N' ROLL, written by Tom Stoppard and directed by Barbara Schofield. ROCK 'N' ROLL will preview on Friday, October 29; Saturday, October 30 at 8pm; and Thursday, November 4 at 8pm and will open on Friday, November 5 at 8pm and run through Saturday, December 18 at the Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.

Rock 'n' Roll is an electrifying collision of the romantic and the revolutionary. It is 1968 and the world is ablaze with rebellion, set to a sound track of rock and roll inspired by radical politics and a thirst for freedom. Jan, a Cambridge graduate student, returns to his homeland of Czechoslovakia clutching his prized collection of rock albums--Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead-- just as Soviet tanks roll into Prague. When security forces tighten their grip on artistic expression, Jan is inexorably drawn toward a dangerous act of dissent. Back in England, Jan's volcanic mentor, Max, an old-school Marxist academic, faces a war of his own. As he tries to confront what his dreams of Communism have become under Soviet aggression, his free-spirited daughter and his cancer-stricken wife challenge his political and emotional obstinacy. Over the next twenty years of love, espionage, loss, and rock and roll, the extraordinary lives of Jan and Max spin and intersect until an unexpected reunion forces them to see what is truly worth the fight.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST

Tom Stoppard (Playwright) Sir Tom Stoppard was born Tomás Straüssler on 3 July 1937 in Zlín, Czechoslovakia. He grew up in Singapore and India during the Second World War and moved to England in 1946 with his mother and stepfather, his own father having been killed in Singapore. Educated at schools in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, he became a journalist working for the Western Daily Press (1954-8) and the Bristol Evening World (1958-60), and became theatre critic for Scene magazine in London (1962-3). He began writing plays for radio and television, including The Dissolution of Dominic Boot (1964), A Walk on the Water, televised in 1963, and The Stand-Ins, later revised as The Real Inspector Hound (1968). Albert's Bridge (1968) was first broadcast by BBC Radio in 1967.??Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1967) premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1966. The play came to the attention of Kenneth Tynan, then working for the National Theatre, and it was produced at the National in 1967 and on Broadway in 1967, winning a Tony Award for Best Play (USA) in 1968. The Real Inspector Hound was first staged in 1968, followed by productions of Albert's Bridge and If You're Glad I'll Be Frank, both in 1969.??His play Jumpers (1972) was staged at the National Theatre in 1972 and his adaptation of Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba was first performed in the same year. Travesties (1975) was first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974, transferring to New York in 1975 where it won a Tony Award for Best Play. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1976), was inspired by his friendship with Viktor Fainberg, who had been imprisoned in Czechoslovakia by the Soviets, and Stoppard began to speak out on behalf of dissidents including the Czech playwright Vaclav Havel, who had been charged with subversion. Professional Foul (1978) was written for Amnesty International's Prisoner of Conscience Year in 1977. ??On the Razzle (1982), adapted from Johann Nestroy's Einen Jux will er sich machen, was staged at the National Theatre in 1981, followed by The Real Thing (1982) in 1982. He was on the board of the National Theatre from 1989-2003. His trilogy of plays set in 19th century Russia, The Coast of Utopia (2002), was first staged at the National Theatre in 2002. Tom Stoppard was knighted in 1997. He lives in London. His latest plays are Heroes (2005), and Rock n Roll (2006). He has written the screenplay for The Bourne Ultimatum, and a new English version of Chekov's Ivanov (2008).

BARBARA SCHOFIELD (Director) Recent directing credits include: Arcadia by Tom Stoppard and Proof by David Auburn @ The Sierra Madre Playhouse, Stage Door @ The Open Fist Theater. In addition she has worked as director or actor in New York at the Roundabout/Susan Bloch Theatre (Great Catherine with Tamara Geva), Jean Cocteau Rep.(Hamlet, Bar in a Tokyo Hotel (Tennessee Williams world premiere, Cymbeline, No Exit, The Cocktail Party, The Maids), Westbeth Theatre Center (New York premiere Riverman), The Kitchen (world premiere of Karla Barker's Uncontrollablelements), House of Candles Theatre (Three Sisters, Romeo and Juliet, Endgame, The Seagull, The Killer), and regionally at Boston's Lyric Stage (The Caretaker), Tufts, Balsch Arena Stage (Merchant of Venice with Oliver Platt and Hank Azaria), Missouri Repertory Theatre (Antigone), Kansas City's Lyric Opera (Cosi Fan Tutte) California's Sierra Madre Playhouse(Proof) and for her LA artistic home at Open Fist where she most recently appeared in the critically acclaimed Light Up the Sky by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. She received her MA and PhD. in Theatre from Tufts University, and spent many years abroad performing in Germany and England, completing her undergraduate degree in Drama and receiving her acting training in London and Berlin.

The cast of ROCK 'N' ROLL will feature: Chris Beltran, Jordana Berliner, Benjamin Burdick, John Dimitri, Andrew Dodson, Dustin Eastman, Daniel Escobar, Jeremy Guskin, Will Kepper, Conor Lane, Laeticia Leon, Daniel May, Rona Nix, Beth Robbins, Matt Roe, Maxie Solters, Angelita Torres and Amanda Weier.

ROCK 'N' ROLL will be produced by Monica Martin and Martha Demson and features an award-winning design team. The Scenic Design is by James Spencer (Stage Door, Getting Frankie Married) and Kris Knekt. The Costume Design is by A. Jeffrey Schoenberg (Light Up the Sky). The Lighting Design is by Jason Mullen. The Sound Design is by Peter Carlstedt. Graphics and Projection Design is by Liam Carl Design. Hair and Wig Design is by Diane Martinous. Prop Design is by Christian Lebano, Bruce Dickenson and Ina Russell.

SCHEDULE AND PRICING

ROCK 'N' ROLL will preview on Friday, October 29 and Saturday, October 30 at 8pm, Thursday, November 4th 8pm and will open on Friday, November 5 at 8pm and run through Saturday, December 18 at The NEW Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor's Gang) in Hollywood.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm Sundays at 2pm. Ticket prices are $25; tickets for the opening night gala are $35. Previews are $15. Pay-What-You-Can Sundays are November 14, 21 & 28, Special group rates available for parties of 10 or more. For tickets, please call (323) 882-6912 for details or visit www.openfist.org to purchase tickets online or to view complete schedule.

 

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