SPY GARBO Plays 3LD, With Fried, Hoeppner, Rattazzi; 3/1-4/10

Affinity Company Theater and 3-Legged Dog will present the world premiere of Sheila Schwartz's "SPY GARBO," directed by Kevin Cunningham, in a multi-media production. This Off Broadway engagement will be performed at 3LD Art & Technology Center, 80 Greenwich Street (just south of Rector). Previews begin on Tuesday, March 1, and the official Opening Performance will be Sunday, March 6 at 3:00 p.m. Performances will run through April 10.

In "SPY GARBO," Fascist Francisco Franco (Steven Rattazzi), Communist Kim Philby (Chad Hoeppner), and Hitler's Wilhelm Canaris (Jonathan Lincoln Fried) are trapped together in History's limbo - an infinite library of scenes from their past's archival newsreels, noir thrillers and Nazi home movies. The men argue, re-construct and re-live their personal exploits, challenge accepted history, rationalize and lie - to one-up Garbo, the master secret agent, and win the starring role in History's definitive WW II spy-adventure movie.

"SPY GARBO" explores the narrative possibilities created by digital technology, trespassing the borders that separate stage, cinema, historical documentary, spy thrillers and political commentary. With a 130-foot curved HD screen and a full-stage holographic video projection system, "SPY GARBO" takes the audience from History's limbo into the winding trenches of World War I, to the Spanish Civil War, along the Nazi Hall of Triumph, down the vast sewers of Vienna, and through WWII - to decide what makes an iconic figure a hero or a villain.

Playwright Sheila Schwartz's long career devoted to parallel research obsessions and graduate academic projects connect film and propaganda, European history and philosophy of law, and overlap her life as a long-time film and theater fan. Her investigating the literature of WWII, and interviewing soldiers, spies and witnesses culminates in the fusion of theater, film, and history that is Spy Garbo. Sheila's upcoming projects include a play about Ruth Draper and Gertrude Berg entitled Duet for Solo Voices.

Director Kevin Cunningham is an award-winning writer, director, designer, producer and entrepreneur based in New York City. Throughout his 30-year career he has authored, designed and directed many multidisciplinary artworks, including Paris Orgy, a new collaboration with Chuck Mee. Over the last 10 years he has focused on large scale live multimedia performance and experimental interactive work, receiving selection for the USITT American Pavilion at the Prague Quadrennial (the premier international exhibit for performance design). Kevin received a 2007 American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award for the Production Design of Losing Something. He is the founder and Executive Artistic Director of 3-Legged Dog.

The cast for "SPY GARBO" will be: Jonathan Lincoln Fried (William Canaris), Chad Hoeppner (Kim Philby), and Steven Rattazzi (Franciso Franco). Mr. Fried's New York credits include: The Bridge Project 2010, Alonso in The Tempest, Le Beau in As You Like It, directed by Sam Mendes (BAM and the Old Vic, London); John Guare's Landscape of the Body, directed by Michael Greif and Adrienne Kennedy's Sleep Deprivation Chamber (Signature); Two Noble Kimsmen, Hamlet, and Richard III (New York Shakespeare Festival); The Ghost in Hamlet, directed by David Esbjornson, Coriolanus and Richard III (Theater for a New Audience); Anne Bogart's 1951 (New York Theatre Workshop); and the OBIE-winning No Plays No Poetry (Ohio Theater). Fried has performed in leading roles in regional theaters across the country including: American Repertory Theater (company member), ACT, Old Globe, Arena Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Trinity Rep (company member), Center Stage, and at the Williamstown Theater Festival and Louisville's Humana Festival. Mr. Hoeppner's Broadway credits include: Come Back Little Sheba and Butley. Off Broadway he has been seen in The Glass Cage (Mint Theater); Richard III (CSC); The Three Musketeers and Macbeth (The Acting Company); Cornfield (Baryshnikov Arts Center); Drinking Ink (92nd Street Y); As You Like It (NYSF); and Scituate (The Barrow Group). His regional theater credits includes work at The Idaho Shakespeare Festival and the Chautauqua Theatre Company. Mr. Rattazzi's New York credits include: The Really Big Once, Dinner Party, Strictly Dishonorable, and The Seagull, directed by David Herskovits (Target Margin); Walk Across America for Mother Earth, The Painted Snake on a Painted Chair, Belize, Imminence, New Islands Archipelago (The Talking Band); The Age of Iron, directed by Brian Kulick (CSC); Stunning, directed by Anne Kauffman (Lincoln Center); Henry V with Liev Schrieber (NYSF); The Fourth Sister, directed by Lisa Peterson (Vineyard); Samuel's Major Problems, directed by Richard Foreman (Ontological); and McGurk: A Cautionary Tale (Elevator Repair Service).

The set design will be by NeAl Wilkinson, the costume design by Clint Ramos, the lighting design by Laura Mroczkowski, the sound design by Marcelo Anez, and the music composed by Aldo Perez. The video designers will be Aaron Harrow, Jeff Morey, Peter Norrman. The video designers for outdoor projections will be Piama Habibullah and Jared Mezzocchi. The graphic designer will be Ms. Habibullah. The p.s.m. will be Danielle Teague-Daniels, and the general manager will be Lisa Dozier. John Dias is the dramaturg for "SPY GARBO."

Affinity Company Theater (Diane Morrison, Producer; www.affinitycompanytheater.com), founded in 2007, merges the cultural interests and professional experiences of three friends - Sheila Schwartz, John Dias and Diane Morrison - who all share a passion for entertaining and provocative theater that gathers artists and audiences to expand perspectives and experience stimulating productions. Its inaugural production was the much-acclaimed National Theater of Scotland's Black Watch, in association with St. Ann's Warehouse. From 2007-2009, the company created the annual productions of W.H. Auden's For The Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio at Classic Stage Company, Symphony Space and The New York Society Library. In the Spring of 2010, Affinity brought the L.A. Theatre Works production of Top Secret: The Battle of for the Pentagon Papers to New York Theatre Workshop. The company is proud to be associated with 3-Legged Dog in bringing this production to the public.

3-Legged Dog Media + Theater Group (Aaron Louis, Producer; Karina Martins, Associate Producer for "SPY GARBO;" www.3ldnyc.org) is a not-for-profit arts organization that operates 3LD Art & Technology Center where it produces new, original works in theater, performance, media and hybrid forms. Their mission is to explore the narrative possibilities created by digital technology, and to provide an environment for curated resident artists to create new tools and modes of expression so that they can excel across a range of disciplines. With this residency program 3-Legged Dog has transformed a tightly knit producing company into an international community that directly facilitates the work of approximately 650 artists a year from 23 countries around the world. 3-Legged Dog's own productions and installations have been seen at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Venice Biennale, Signature Theatre, The Kitchen, PS 122, La Mama, the Ontological Theater, and at their home 3LD Art & Technology Center. In 2011, 3-Legged Dog productions, Losing Something and Fire Island will be featured at the Prague Quadrennial Exhibition of Performance Design. The company has won numerous awards including the American Theatre Wing's Hewes Design Award and The Rockefeller Foundation Cultural Innovation Fund Award.

The complete schedule for "SPY GARBO" (March 1 through April 10) will be: Tuesdays thru Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Tickets will be $30.00 for general admission, with a $40.00 reserved seat ticket also available. To reserve tickets, visit www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/800025/1299027600000/prm/ or call 212-352-3101.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos