Cutting Ball Theater Closes its 11th Season With Experimental Plays Festival 5/13-6/25

Cutting Ball Theater closes its 11th season with the adventurous RISK IS THIS...THE CUTTING BALL NEW EXPERIMENTAL PLAYS FESTIVAL, one of the only play festivals in America solely dedicated to experimental works for the stage. Pushing the boundaries of what theater can be, this year's festival features five exhilarating staged readings, three of which were commissioned by Cutting Ball. Like the 2007 edition, which featured a reading of Marcus Gardley's ...and Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, which became a hit for the Cutting Ball main stage in 2010, garnering five Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nominations (Entire Production, Ensemble, Original Script, Director, and Male Performance), this year's festival offers a unique opportunity to see plays in development, alongside the artists creating them, as the works find their theatrical voice.

The schedule for RISK IS THIS...THE CUTTING BALL NEW EXPERIMENTAL PLAYS FESTIVAL is as follows:

TONTLAWALD (Cutting Ball Commission)
By Eugenie Chan
Directed by Paige Rogers
May 13-14, 2011

Based on an ancient Estonian tale about a dark forest and a mistreated girl who hides there, TONTLAWALD weaves movement, a cappella singing, and storytelling together into a compelling evening of original theater. Written by Cutting Ball's resident playwright Eugenie Chan and directed by co-founder Paige Rogers, TONTLAWALD is slated to receive its fully staged World Premiere as part of the company's 2011-2012 season.

KRISPY KRITTERS IN THE SCARLETT NIGHT
By Andrew Saito
Directed by Rob Melrose
May 20-21, 2011

Drumhead looks for Jesus as he puts dead mice into boxes of Lucky Charms. Snowflake freezes on the corner waiting for customers in her coat lined with baby blue fur. With KRISPY KRITTERS IN THE SCARLETT NIGHT, playwright Andrew Saito dazzles with sublime, surreal language and imagery fit for a Dalí painting.

MADAME HO
By Eugenie Chan
Directed by Rob Melrose
May 27-28, 2011

MADAME HO tells the story of a formidable woman in the Wild West, a real-life 19th century brothel hostess, single mother, Chinese immigrant, great-great grandmother, and ghost.

OZMA OF OZ (Cutting Ball Commission)
Adapted from the novel by L .Frank Baum
Rob Melrose (book and lyrics)
Z.O.N.K. (music)
Directed by Rob Melrose
June 10-11, 2011

Cutting Ball Artistic director Rob Melrose collaborates with the San Francisco-based electro-rock group Z.O.N.K. to create Cutting Ball's first musical, a trip-hop fantasy that captures L. Frank Baum's American breed of surrealism with just a hint of the post-modern. In OZMA OF OZ, Dorothy is transported to the land of Ev with a talking chicken named Billina. Together, they plot to overthrow the evil Nome King, but they cannot succeed with out the help of a mysterious princess. This reading will feature live musical performances by Z.O.N.K. and the cast.

TENDER LOIN (Cutting Ball Commission)
By Annie Elias
Directed by Annie Elias
June 24-25, 2011

Annie Elias brings her years of experience in documentary theater to the Tenderloin, creating an unforgettable piece about the people and places in Cutting Ball's neighborhood.

Co-founded in 1999 by theater artists Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal avant-garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. Cutting Ball Theater has partnered with Playwrights Foundation, the Magic Theatre, and Z Space New Plays Initiative to commission new experimental works. The company has produced a number of World Premieres, West Coast Premieres, and re-imagined various classics. Voted "Best Theater Company" in the 2010 San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of The Bay issue, Cutting Ball Theater also earned the Best of SF award in 2006 from SF Weekly, was selected by San Francisco Magazine as Best Classic Theater in 2007, and received the 2008 San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie award for outstanding talent in the performing arts. Cutting Ball Theater was featured in the February 2010 issue of American Theatre Magazine.

WHEN:
All performances Friday-Saturday at 8pm

WHERE: The Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor St., San Francisco

TICKETS: General seating. Free and open to the public. $20 donation for reserved seating; $50 donation for 5-play reserved seating festival pass. For more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 800-838-3006

 

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