Trick or Treat. Director Stephen Sachs and actress Jenny O'Hara (Bakersfield Mist) reunite for the wickedly entertaining, spine-chilling West Coast premiere of Broomstickby John Biguenet. A funny, poignant and "spell" binding tale about the magic of the human heart, Broomstick opens at the Fountain Theatre tonight, Oct. 18. Scroll down for a first look at O'Hara in character!
Set in Appalachia and written entirely in verse, Biguenet's charming and mesmerizing solo play introduces us to a wacky, bizarre old woman living in an odd little shack deep in the woods... who just may happen to be a witch. Creepily funny and frightening, she takes us back to our childhoods when, in our innocence, we first wrestled with good and evil. As she unveils her life, we journey with her down a shadowy path somewhere between our material world and the realm of fantasy. But this is no Hansel and Gretel fairytale; inBroomstick, justice is meted out swiftly and harshly.
"In the course of this crazy old lady's attempt to explain and justify herself to an unexpected visitor, certain truths come out," says Sachs. "It's up to the audience to decide how much is fact and how much is imagined -- and to what extent all of our realties are influenced by what is in our heads and in our hearts."
Broomstick was first produced in a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere by New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch, NJ), Montana Repertory Theatre (Missoula, MT) and Southern Rep (New Orleans, LA) with support from the National New Play Network's Continued Life of New Plays Fund. "Broomstick doesn't settle for just entertaining... the show shocks with moments of unexpected insight... Biguenet's writing [is] so skillful that you might not even realize the play was written in verse until you're already fifteen or twenty minutes into it," wrote theTriCity News.
Set design for Broomstick is by Andrew Hammer; lighting design is by
Jennifer Edwards; sound design is by Peter Bayne; costume design is by
Shon LeBlanc; prop design and set dressing are by Misty Carlisle; dialect coach is Tyler Seiple; associate producer is James Bennett; and the production stage manager is Terri Roberts.
Broomstick opens on Saturday, Oct. 18 and continues through Nov. 30, with performances Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. andSundays at 2 p.m., except Friday, Oct. 31, when audience members are invited to "trick or treat" at the Fountain with an early curtain at 6 p.m.- come in costume! Preview performances take place on Wednesday, Oct. 15; Thursday, Oct. 16; and Friday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 when purchased in advance (reserved seating) and $15 at the door (subject to availability); Premium tickets are available for $34, which include VIP seating in the first 3 rows, center section and free parking. Students with ID are $15. The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Avenue (at Normandie) in Los Angeles. Secure, on-site parking is available for $5. The Fountain Theatre is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. For reservations and information, call 323-663-1525 or go to
www.FountainTheatre.com.
Photo Credit: Ed Krieger
