PTP/NYC Sets 2016 Season at Atlantic Stage 2
By: Tyler Peterson Jun. 14, 2016
Howard Barker's No End of Blame: Scenes of Overcoming begins previews July 5 for a July 13 opening and runs through August 7.
C.P. Taylor's Good begins previews July 6 for a July 12 opening and runs through August 6. How did it happen? How did a nation go mad? How were normal people transformed into brutes, devoid of ordinary humanity? How were the Nazis made? Hitler's own anti-Semitism is clinically explicable. But after he had ordered the mass extermination of Jews, how did he get apparently normal Germans to carry those orders out? Set partly inside the mind of a 'good' man, Professor John Halder, Good watches a normal German slowly succumb to the rising madness, slipping the bonds of family and friendship. The cast for Good includes Michael Kaye, Tim Spears (A Question Of Mercy with PTP), Valerie Leonard (An Ideal Husband on Broadway, The Europeans and The American Dream with PTP), Christo Grabowski, Judith Chafee, Adam Ludwig (Scenes From An Execution, Spatter Pattern and Somewhere in the Pacific with PTP), Noah Berman (The Castle and Monster with PTP), Caitlin Rose Duffy (Pentecost with PTP), Amanda Whiteley and Jesse Garlick. The production team includes Hallie Zieselman (Set Design), Mark Evancho (Lighting Design), Jessica Lee Vankempen (Costume Design) and Evangeline Rose Whitlock (Production Stage Manager).
Blame's Bela Veracek and Good's John Halder are the extreme ends of a continuum...the artist who continually positions himself in opposition to the status quo, and the benign scholar who compromises his way to the unthinkable.
PTP/NYC (Potomac Theatre Project) continues to redefine politically aware theatre for the 21st century by presenting theatrically complex and thought-provoking work of contemporary social and cultural relevance. Howard Barker is one of PTP/NYC's most produced writers, along with Caryl Churchill, Neal Bell, Sarah Kane and David Edgar. The company's writers are provocative, engaging and often confrontational. PTP was founded in 1987 by the artistic team of Cheryl Faraone, Jim Petosa and Richard Romagnoli who continue to run the company. Alex Draper is Associate Artistic Director. Since moving to New York in 2007, PTP/NYC has produced 19 main stage productions and numerous late evening readings, workshops and experimental theatre pieces in their After Dark series. PTP/NYC's 2013 New York premiere of Howard Barker's The Castle and 2008 production of Barker's Scenes From An Execution each earned Jan Maxwell a Drama Desk Award nomination. During its 20 seasons (1987-2006) in Washington DC and Maryland, the company forged its ongoing mandate - the presentation of highly theatrical, politically and socially engaged work in an austere production style, encouraging direct audience connection and highlighting the actor and the text. The company is also committed to the training of young actors and designers, enabling them to work with experienced and generous professionals as they serve an apprenticeship and begin their own work in the theatre. PTP/NYC is affiliated with the Theatre Program of Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont.
The New York Times says PTP/NYC "stands out amid the summer season's fluff and fringiness as one to turn to for serious work." Their production of Howard Barker's Scenes From An Execution last season was both a New York Times and Time Out NY Critics' Pick. The Huffington Post praised their revival of David Edgar's Pentecost as "a first class and much welcome production" and Time Out NY applauded their U.S. premiere of Barker's Gertrude - The Cry as "electric and scalpel-sharp with a superb cast." The New York Times called their New York premiere of Barker's The Castle "smart, rowdy and hugely entertaining" and Caryl Churchill's Serious Money "wicked and polished." The New Yorker described The Castle as "gorgeously written and acted" and Serious Money as "hyper-intelligent." New York Magazine called their U.S. premiere of Barker's Victory as "an extraordinary production." Time Out NY says, "PTP/NYC's summer season, with its dedication to weighty, language-centered work, can be a welcome change from our customary downtown fare-it's like biting into thick steak after months of meticulously prepared sorbet."
Richard Romagnoli is a co-founder and the co-Artistic Director of PTP/NYC. Since 2007, he has directed Howard Barker's Scenes from an Execution, Gertrude: The Cry, The Castle, Victory, Judith, The Europeans, Gary the Thief & Plevna in New York. During PTP's time in the DC area, he directed Barker's Scenes, A Hard Heart, The Possibilities, The Castle and No End of Blame, along with plays by Harold Pinter, Vaclav Havel, Samuel Beckett and Edward Albee.Jim Petosa is Director of the Boston University (BU) School of Theatre and the Artistic Director of the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, Ma. He serves as Artistic Director for the Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP), Boston University's professional extension. His PTP credits include Monster, Spatter Pattern, Therese Raquin, Somewhere in the Pacific (all by Neal Bell), A Question of Mercy, Marisol, Dog Plays, Statements after an Arrest and Good. The Atlantic Stage 2 is accessible from the A, C, E, L trains to 14 St./8 Ave. or the 1, 2, 3 trains to 14 St.
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