PICT Holds Celebrates 13th Season With Stoppard's ROCK & ROLL, Readings & More

PICT celebrates the spirit of revolution with an extraordinary launch to celebrate its thirteenth season! Tom Stoppard's tremendous Tony and Olivier Award-winning play Rock ‘n' Roll, inspired by and dedicated to Václav Havel, serves as the centerpiece of a series which includes readings and panel discussions exploring Prague Spring & the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia.

Rock ‘n' Roll spans the time period from 1968, when Russian tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia, thorough 1990, when the tanks rolled out, the Rolling Stones played Prague Castle, and absurdist playwright Václav Havel embarked upon his first year as President of Czechoslovakia. Stoppard's homage to Havel makes a case for the argument that it was music, through the conflicts between the government and a shaggy-haired rock band, The Plastic People of the Universe, rather than politics which engineered the overthrow of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The setting shifts between Cambridge, where the theories of Communism are idealized from a distance, and Czechoslovakia, where the realities of Communism are often at odds with the theories.

Music is featured through the production, with a soundtrack that includes some of the best rock music of the late 60's through the 90s. Legendary musician Syd Barrett, the founder of the bank Pink Floyd, weaves in and out of the action in the play, which includes his own songs "Goldenhair," "Astronomy Domine," "Jugband Blues," and "Terrapin," along with music from The Doors, U2, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, and more.

Affairs of the heart are featured alongside music and politics in the form of two parallel love stories which provide the fabric of the play. The first couple is Esme (played in youth by Anwen Darcy, and as an adult by Helena Ruoti) and Jan (played by Sam Redford). Esme is a young English flower child who is smitten with Jan, a Czech graduate student taken under wing by her father. The complex and passionate relationship between Esme's parents Max (a Marxist English professor, played by Sam Tsoutsouvas) and Eleanor (a classics scholar who is battling cancer, played by Helena Ruoti) forms the second love story.

British actor Sam Redford makes his PICT debut as Jan, the Czech scholar. Redford has been seen locally in City Theatre's productions of The Seafarer and Mother Teresa is Dead. PICT alum Sam Tsoutsouvas returns to Pittsburgh to play the Cambridge professor and noted Communist Max Morrow. Tsoutsouvas' previous PICT credits include Heartbreak House and Henry IV. He was also seen last season in the Pittsburgh Public Theatre's production of Caryl Churchill's A Number. Pittsburgh resident Helena Ruoti plays the roles of Eleanor and her daughter Esme. She returns to the company after playing Goneril in PICT's critically-acclaimed 2008 production of King Lear. Other PICT credits include Heartbreak House and A Woman of No Importance. Anwen Darcy (Mabel, An Ideal Husband) returns to Pittsburgh to play young Esme and Alice.

The cast also includes PICT regulars Martin Giles, Jarrod DiGiorgi and Simon Bradbury. Tami Dixon appears in her first PICT production as Lenka. Dixon is the Producing Artistic Director for Bricolage, and was recently seen in the Pittsburgh Public Theatre production of Metamorphoses. The cast also includes PICT newcomers Valentina Benrexi, Gabriel King, Joshua D. Kiley and Diana Ifft.

The rock concert-inspired set, featuring still and film projection, is designed by CMU faculty member Narelle Sissons. Sissons trained at the Central St. Martins School of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art, and her New York credits include Mabou Mines Doll House, as well as multiple productions with the Public Theatre, LABrynth Theatre Company, Classic Stage Company and New York Theatre Workshop, among others. Regional credits include Williamstown Theatre Festival, Cleveland Playhouse, Steppenwolf, Mark Taper Forum, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Her work has been seen locally at City Theatre, where earlier this year she designed The Seafarer. Projections are designed by Jessi Sedon (Point Park University, The Rocky Horror Show), lighting by Jim French (PICT's Lieutenant of Inishmore, Playboy of the Western World and Synge Cycle), costumes by Erin Collins Rittling (Dublin Carol, St. Nicholas), and sound by Elizabeth Atkinson (Synge Cycle, BeckettFest, The Pillowman, Henry, Copenhagen). Rock ‘n' Roll plays May 7th - 30th in the intimate Henry Heymann Theatre. PICT Producing Artistic Director Andrew S. Paul directs.

In conjunction with Rock ‘n' Roll, PICT brings back the popular Storytellers Series with readings of five of Václav Havel's brilliant comedies about life under Communism. Performed in three evenings by the Rock ‘n' Roll company, all shows begin at 7 p.m. in the Henry Heymann Theatre and are followed by discussions with the artists.

Largo Desolato is Havel's comically absurd and seemingly autobiographical account of Professor Leopold Nettles, a revered but reluctant revolutionary whose most recent book has irked the totalitarian government in power. The authorities demand a retraction; his friends and fans clamor for heroic defiance. Largo Desolato will be performed on April 26th.

The Vanek Plays: Audience, Private View, and Protest, are three autobiographical one-act comedies all linked by their befuddled, Keatonesque protagonist, and will be performed on May 17.

Temptation is a retelling of the Faust legend, with a provocative twist! His setting is "The Institute," whose mission is to combat the "irrational tendencies" in society through its scientific work. Temptation will be performed on May 24th.

PICT is also hosting two free panel discussions in conjunction with the Stoppard and Havel plays. "Politics and Art in the Former Czechoslovakia" will be held on April 26, following the 7:00 p.m. reading of Largo Desolato. Panelists include Gina Peirce, Assistant Director of the Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, and Martin Votruba, Ph.d., Senior Lecturer in the Slovak Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. "Communism, Capitalism, Socialism: Theory and Practice" will be held on May 23rd at 5:00 p.m. following the matinee of Rock ‘n' Roll. Panelists include James Burnham, Ph. D., of Duquesne University's Donahue School of Business and Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, and Julia Gray, Ph. D., Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre was founded in 1996 to diversify the region's theatrical offerings by providing Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania audiences with high-quality, text-driven, affordable productions of classical theatre and the works of classical and contemporary Irish playwrights and to significantly improve employment opportunities for local talent in all facets of theatrical presentation and production. PICT is a Small Professional Theatre (SPT) affiliated with Actors' Equity Association, and a constituent member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Alliance. PICT is the Professional Theatre in Residence at the University of Pittsburgh and PICT productions at the Charity Randall and Henry Heymann Theatres are presented in cooperation with the University of Pittsburgh - Department of Theatre Arts.

First Week: Thursday - Friday, May 7 - 8, Previews, 8 p.m.

Saturday, May 9, Opening Night 8 p.m. (followed by reception)

Sunday, May 10, 2 p.m. (followed by talk-back with the company)

Second Week: Tuesday, May 12, 7 p.m. (Professional Tuesdays performance)

Wednesday - Saturday, May 13 - 16, 8 p.m. *

Sunday, May 17, 2 p.m.

*Preshow lecture series

· Artistically Speaking - Wednesday, May 13, 7:00 p.m.

· Behind the Scenes - Thursday, May 14, 7:00 p.m.

Third Week: Wednesday - Friday, May 20 - 22, 8 p.m.

Saturday, May 23, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Sunday, May 24, 2 p.m.

Fourth Week: Wednesday - Friday, May 27 - 29, 8 p.m.

Saturday, May 30, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Storytellers Series

Vaclav Havel: 3 Comedies About Life Under Communism

Largo Desolato April 26, 7 p.m.

The Vanek Plays May 17, 7 p.m.

Temptation May 24, 7 p.m.

PICT Panel Discussions (free of charge)

"Politics and Art in the Former Czechoslovakia": April 26, after 7:00 p.m. reading of Largo Desolato

"Communism, Capitalism, Socialism: Theory and Practice": May 23rd at 5:00 p.m. after Rock ‘n' Roll matinee

Ticket Prices

Opening Night: $48 Adults, $45 Seniors

Fri. & Sat. Nights: $46 Adults, $42 Seniors

Wed. & Thurs. Nights, and Sun. Mats: $42 Adults, $40 Seniors

Tues. Nights & Sat. Mats: $42 Adults, $40 Seniors

Preview Thurs. & Fri: $36 (all seats, no Senior discounts)

Youth under 25: $17 all performances, with valid ID

Storytellers Series: All seats $15

For tickets, call ProArtsTickets at 412.394.3353 or visit www.picttheatre.org

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