PORNO DIDO to Premiere at Hollywood Fringe
What happens to a dream deferred? How far would you go to bring your artistic vision to life? Sex, violence and a mysterious backer derail one transman's desperate attempt to remake Dido of Carthage. An absurd look into compromise when art and commerce collide.
Partial Nudity. Sexual themes. Comedy.
Unable to find another backer for his passion project, Dido Queen of Carthage, fledgling wanna-be-director, E.Q. finds himself in a compromising position as he tries to satisfy a mysterious backer's fetishes while maintaining some morsel of control over his cast of porn stars and his beloved text.
Porno was originally written and directed by Sean Graney (the hypocrites) and produced in Chicago in 2006. It's a seven-person ensemble, part black comedy, part farce. Considered the most controversial piece of theatre that year, we're dealing with themes of marginalization and compromise where Art Meets Commerce. With a fresh look and a soft re-write, Porno Dido has evolved into a story about salvation in the face of adversity, rather than despair in the face of doom.
David Lynch meets a less violent Quentin Tarantino.
A dark comedy originating in Chicago, this is the L.A. premiere.
Sean Graney, Writer/Associate Producer
Sean Graney is a Chicago-based theater artist who concentrates on adapting and directing classic plays to create relevant theatrical pieces for our contemporary society. His work was last seen in Los Angeles with The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide. He is the Artistic Director of The Hypocrites, a Chicago theater company he founded in 1997. In 2013 he was fortunate enough to be a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University where he completed writing All Our Tragic, a twelve-hour adaptation combining all thirty-two surviving Greek Tragedies. This modern Festival of Dionysus had a reading at the Getty Villa in 2014 and was presented by The Hypocrites during the summer of 2014 and remounted the summer of 2015. More recently he adapted and directed HMS Pinafore to accompany his highly popular versions of The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance, completing a Gilbert & Sullivan Trilogy. He attended Emerson College and has taught at University of Chicago, The Theater School at DePaul University, Columbia College Chicago and Lake Forest College. Other works include Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses, an adaptation of all seven surviving texts of Sophocles, which had successful runs in both NY and Chicago. As a director, Sean has helmed over 50 productions for The Hypocrites since 1997. He was a participant in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors. He has won four Joseph Jefferson Awards. His work has been seen at American Repertory Theater, Actors' Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley Rep, Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman Theatre, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Court Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Steppenwolf for Young Audiences, Chicago Children's Theatre and in February 2016 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. www.SeanGraney.com
Heather L. Tyler, Director/Producer
After studying theatre at Rhodes (B.A., cum laude), a dedication to new and bold work lEd Heather to Chicago's vibrant theatre scene where credits include The Threepenny Opera w/the hypocrites @ Steppenwolf and critically acclaimed Dirty Diamonds @ The Factory Theater. In L.A., she developed the title character in Meditations: Eva Hesse, a world premiere at Highways Performance Space, and Heather has played with Rogue Machine in A Bright New Boise and Wish I had a Sylvia Plath (u.s.) & with SacRed Fools in the recent A Gulag Mouse, Film/TV credits include Johnny Frank Garrett's Last Word premiering at SXSW and The Bridge (FX). Catch her in several commercials, and follow her work at HeatherLTyler.com
Shaan Dasani, E.Q.
Shaan Dasani is an Indian-American transgender actor and filmmaker. He made his LA stage debut in The Blank Theater's The Not Lesbians (Michael A. Shepperd), taking on the lead role of a transgender college student who is meeting his ex girlfriend for the first time after transition. Additional stage credits include: KATE in Queer Classic's rendition of The Taming of the Shrew and TeAda Productions' Global Taxi Driver. Film/TV credits include: a new spot for "Google Goals" and short film Making a Mark (Gaurav Bhatnagar). Prior to venturing into the acting world, Shaan learned the art of storytelling from behind the camera. With an MFA from Chapman University, and as an alumni of Film Independent's Project:Involve program, he has written & directing over 30 short films, commercials, music videos. To find out more, please visit: ShaanDasani.com
Rounding out the ensemble cast are: Colbert Alembert (Bob), Sean Bolger (Jef), Kate Bowman (Kristi), Christina Jacquelyn Calph (Sparkles), Michael Mullen (Tamburlinia), and Miles Tagmeyer (GEB). Daniel Braunstein is Assistant Director/Social Media Manager. Mandie Wastor is Music Composer, Special Contributor.
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