People’s Light & Theatre Presents KIDNAPPED! Closes 2/6

People's Light & Theatre presents Kidnapped!, an adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, by Ernie Joselovitz, which closes February 6, 2011. Resident Director Samantha Bellomo directs. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355. For tickets call 610.644.3500 or visit PeoplesLight.org. This production is part of the TARGET Family Discovery Series.

From beloved author Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped! is a story of adventure that takes us from the high seas to the Highlands of Scotland. Young David Balfour, cheated of his inheritance and sold into slavery by his avaricious uncle, escapes to the Highlands with the aid of Scots freedom fighter Alan Breck. Together the friends prove that courage and the right intentions can defeat cruelty and evil.

Director Samantha Bellomo brings her experience as both a fight and dance choreographer to this piece. "It will be somewhat like a dance in how we create their journey," Bellomo says. "The action of the play moves quickly from place to place, with David and Alan navigating across violent seas and treacherous terrain."

The set, inspired by the art of Andrew Goldsworthy, will be elemental and bare so that it can feel as vast as the Highlands. Music will be used to underscore the movement; flautist Matthew Allison will be on the stage and incorporated into the events of the play.

Another inspiration for the production is the Scottish cèilidh (a traditional Gaelic social gathering involving music, dancing, and storytelling). The audience will be seated in a semi-circle around the stage. "This is a tale that's told around a campfire, a coming-of-age story with adventure," Bellomo says. "It will be very clear that we are included in the storytelling."

She continues, "It's an important idea to get across-that we're all in the same boat and that our actions can deeply affect others. I hope the play will inspire audiences to think about the nature of human connection. In Kidnapped! Alan is accustomed to being alone. All of a sudden he agrees to help this young boy and that decision changes his life-he now has someone else to whom he is accountable. This play is about what it truly means to be friends."
BIOS

Robert Louis Stevenson (Author) was born in Edinburgh on November 13, 1850. He was a sickly child and illnesses would follow him throughout his life. At seventeen he enrolled at Edinburgh University to study engineering, following in his father's footsteps, but abandoned this course and, in a compromise, studied law. While attending university, he began writing verse and literary essays. Despite being called to the bar, he quit the field of law and, determined to be a writer, he published travel essays from his time on the European continent. In July 1876 at Grez, France, Stevenson met the American Fanny Osbourne, whom he would later marry. They returned to Scotland, where Stevenson would produce many of his famous works, including Treasure Island, A Child's Garden of Verses, Kidnapped, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. After his father's death, Stevenson moved his family and his widowed mother first to New York in 1887, then to the Samoan Islands in 1889. He continued writing and became known in the islands by his Samoan name "Tusitala," meaning "A Teller of Tales." On December 3, 1894, at forty-four years of age, Stevenson died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried at the summit of Mount Vaea overlooking the sea. On his tomb was inscribed his famous poem, "Requiem," with the first words: "Under the wide and starry sky/Dig the grave and let me die . . . ."

Ernie Joselovitz (Playwright) has had plays produced in New York City, as well as at large and small theatres across the country: one play winning Philadelphia's Barrymore Award and another D.C.'s Charles MacArthur Award. He's twice received the prestigious Fund for New American Plays Award (one with Peoples' Light), the first Weisberger Award, and has been a recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, D.C. Commission for the Arts, Montgomery County Arts Council, and the Maryland State Arts Council, as well as from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture. As president of the Playwrights Forum, he continues in his 29th year overseeing workshops for over fifty Mid-Atlantic playwrights. Ernie received his third Individual Artist Grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, with which he wrote this adaptation of Kidnapped!
Samantha Bellomo (Director) is the Resident Director at People's Light and has been the Choreographer on several shows at PLTC, including the last six holiday Pantos. Most recently she was the Assistant Director on The Three Musketeers, The Emperor's New Clothes, Snow White, and The Day of the Picnic. Past choreography credits include: Arden Theatre Company, Delaware Theatre Company, Lantern Theatre, and Act II Playhouse. She has received three Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Choreography/Movement.

Matthew Allison (Musician) serves as Chair of Theory and Composition and as Flute Instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music in Lancaster. Matthew earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Kansas and is an active performer, recitalist, and clinician in both music and yoga throughout the country.

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Peter DeLaurier (Troubadour) is an Artistic Associate at PLTC and has been with the Theatre since 1981. He has played in numerous productions, including A Tale of Two Cities, The Giver, Jason and the Golden Fleece, A Secret Garden and as Matthew Cuthbert in his recently published stage adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (nominated for the Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play). Other shows at PLTC: King Lear, Nathan the Wise, The Persians, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Hard Times, Galileo, Abundance, Holes, In the Blood, Sister Carrie and the international tour of Kabuki Achilles. At the Lantern Theater he just played the title role in Uncle Vanya, directed Sizwe Bansi Is Dead and will direct Vigil this spring. He has directed at PLTC and at theatres around the country, serving as Artistic Director of New Stage Theatre in Jackson, MS. With his wife, PLTC actress Ceal Phelan, and other friends, he co-founded The Delaware Theatre Company in 1978.

Aubie Merrylees (David Balfour) recently graduated from Brown University, where he wrote and performed his own original solo show, Feet First. He was last seen at People's Light as Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Other performances at PLTC include: End Days, A Higher Place in Heaven, Arthur's Stone, A Christmas Carol, and The Secret Garden. Aubie has also appeared in a number of independent films, including the upcoming Inkubus, starring Robert Englund and William Forsythe.
Luigi Sottile (Alan Breck) was previously at People's Light in Nathan the Wise as the Templar, Snow White: A Musical Panto as Smith the Foley Artist, and King Lear as the King of France. Other roles include Father Welsh in The Lonesome West, Horace in The School for Wives, Cassio in Othello, Lush in The Hothouse, and Khlestakov in The Government Inspector (Lantern Theatre); Antipholus of Syracuse in Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare in Clark Park); Handsome in Whiskey Neat (Azuka Theatre); Victor in Leaving, and Malcolm in Macbeth (Wilma Theater). Up next: In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play at the Wilma.
ABOUT PEOPLE'S LIGHT

People's Light, a professional theatre founded in 1974 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, makes plays drawn from many sources to entertain, inspire, and engage our community. We extend our mission of making and experiencing theatre through arts education programs that excite curiosity about, and deepen understanding of, the world around us. These plays and programs bring people together and provide opportunities for reflection, discovery, and celebration.

TICKET INFORMATION

Kidnapped! starts Thursday, January 13th at 7pm and runs through Sunday, February 6th. Audiences are encouraged to join the artists after each performance to discuss the production.

Single tickets are $31 for adults and $20 for children. For tickets, call the box office at 610.644.3500. Special discounts, meal packages, and talkbacks with the artists are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information or to purchase group tickets, call 610.647.1900 x134 or email group@peopleslight.org. Actors, prices, performances dates and times are subject to change. Additional service charges may apply.
TARGET Access Night is Thursday, January 20th at 7pm and all tickets are half-price. Call the box office or visit us online at PeoplesLight.org and use the promo code TARGET.

Subscriptions to the TARGET Family Discovery Series are still available. Subscriptions for youth ages 17 and under are $30 or $36. The subscription includes Kidnapped! (January 13 - February 6, 2011) and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (February 17 - March 13, 2011).

QUICK FACTS
Kidnapped!
* Performances:
Thurs, January 13

Fri, January 14

Sat, January 15

Sun, January 16

Thurs, January 20

Fri, January 21

Sat, January 22

Sun, January 23

Thurs, January 27

Fri, January 28

Sat, January 29

Sun, January 30

Thurs, February 3

Fri, February 4

Sat, February 5

Sun, February 6

P = Preview

O = Opening

= Target Access Night

7pm (P)
7pm (O)

2 & 7pm

2 & 7pm

7pm

7pm

2 & 7pm

2 & 7pm

7pm

7pm

2 & 7pm

2pm

7pm

7pm

2 & 7pm

2 & 7pm

Dates: January 13 - February 6, 2011
Location: People's Light & Theatre Company

Steinbright Stage

39 Conestoga Road

Malvern, PA 19355

Tickets: $31 for adults, $20 for children. Discounts are

available for groups of 10 or more. Actors, prices,

performances dates and times are subject to

change. Additional service charges may apply.

Public Contact Information

Box Office: 610.644.3500

Groups: 610.647.1900 x134

PRODUCTION TEAM
Playwright
Author

Director

Production Manager

Scenic Designer

Costume Designer

Lighting Designer

Sound Designer

Dramaturg

Dialect Coach

Production Stage Manager

Ernie Joselovitz
Robert Louis Stevenson

Samantha Bellomo

Charles T. Brastow

Meghan Jones

Marla J. Jurglanis

Lily Fossner

Broken Chord Collective

Elizabeth Pool

Marla Burkholder

Patricia G. Sabato

CAST
David Balfour
Alan Breck

Troubadour

Musician

Aubie Merrylees
Luigi Sottile

Peter DeLaurier

Matthew Allison

*There will be a talkback with the artists following every performance.

 

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