Photo Flash: PURE Theatre Set To Present Bridget Carpenter's UP 10/2-24

PURE Theatre is set to present Up by Bridget Carpenter.  The play is directed by PURE’s artistic director and co-founder Sharon Graci, and will feature R.W. Smith, Cristy Landis, Jon Raz Van Pinxteren, Carly Sumner Ridgeway, Rodney Lee Rogers, and Tara Denton.  It will open Thursday, October 2, 2009 at Upper Lance Hall on the grounds of Circular Congregational Church, and run through Saturday, October 24.  

Walter Griffin made his lawn chair fly 16 years ago.  His son Mikey dreams of greatness, too, and just may achieve it through telemarketing.  Philippe Petit walks the high wire and gives counsel to Walter, who may fly again.  Up is a quirky, bittersweet tale about escaping the boundaries of the everyday, and how we dream ourselves into a future. 

"Up is a play about the desire in each and every one of us to fly, to lift off, to rise above, to transcend. But perhaps just as importantly, Up is about what keeps us tethered to the ground, and how we can so easily miss the extraordinary within the ordinary," says Sharon Graci, the play's director. "Up is about missing the clues, overlooking the obvious, and letting it all float away while we wish upon stars and wait to begin valuing all that we have."

"As an artist, I have always been attracted to the journey of ordinary people, like Walter in Up. This is a guy who followed though on a dream, achieved something great, reached a milestone, and then struggled to maintain it, sustain it, replicate it, duplicate the excitement, and buzz, and glory. He took flight above Southern California in a woven plastic lawn chair, with water-jug ballasts and a bouquet of weather balloons. He rose 16,000 feet into the air, and ever since . . . he's been dreaming of exceptional ways to reach those literal and figurative heights again," says Graci.  "Walter is an ordinary man whose glory, if you will, happens to be defined by an object, a thing, a plastic lawn chair, some balloons filled with helium, and a single flight on a summer afternoon."

"It's really a great piece of theatre that I think audiences are just going to love. We're also fortunate to have four of our six Core Arististic Ensemble members in the piece," says Graci. "R.W. Smith plays Walter, Cristy Landis plays his wife, Helen, and Rodney Lee Rogers plays various roles, including Phillipe Petit, the tightrope walker.Up is an extraordinary, wonderfully theatrical play, and we're using every inch of space in our intimate theatre to tell the story." 

PURE Theatre has garnered a reputation for artistic excellence, risk taking, and thinking outside of the box. The company’s intrepid approach to the art and craft of theatre has garnered them numerous critics and audience awards, as well as a loyal following of patrons. 

PURE will continue popular special events such as their Bring Your Own Baby performance on Sunday, September 6th. BYOBaby is a unique opportunity for parents of young children to enjoy professional theatre without incurring the cost of child care. Child care is provided free of charge by PURE Theatre, and staffed by childcare professionals from The Circular Congregational Church in their downstairs facility. We have a special Pay What You Can preview performance on Thursday, August, 27 at 7:30.  PURE Theatre will also offer Wine Tastings on Friday and Saturday nights by Stephen Bates of British Wine Merchant.

Student Rush tickets are available for $15 with a valid student ID, for tickets remaining at curtain.

R.W. Smith (Walter) is a core member of PURE Theatre's Artistic Ensemble and holds an MFA in acting from Louisiana State University.  Acting credits include The Seafarer, Shining City, Grace, Beauty Queen of Leenane, True West, American Buffalo, Killer Joe, and Death of a Salesman. Directing credits include A Number, Killer Joe, and Horse Tranqs & Carriage People. Playwriting credits include Horse Tranqs and Carriage People, Whit’s End, Sam’s Corner, The Complete History of Charleston for Morons (co-created with Greg Tavares) and Lowcountry Boil, which is having it's world premiere this spring at PURE. 

Cristy Landis (Helen) holds the M.F.A. in Acting from The Ohio State University and she is a member of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators.  She has appeared on stage with Contemporary American Theatre Company, Total Theatre, Silver Phoenix Theatre Company, Hothouse Theatre, Actors' Theatre of South Carolina, and others. She was last seen onstage at PURE in Faith, Hope, and Charity but has also served as Movement Coach for Eurydice and Scene Designer for Man from Nebraska.  She is currently a member of the theatre faculty at the College of Charleston where she directed their productions of Smash and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Rodney Lee Rogers (Philippe Petit) is a Co-Founder of PURE Theatre.  Acting credits for PURE include The Pillowman, The Lonesome West, Cloud Tectonics, Underneath the Lintel, Eurydice,  and The Tragedian.  On television: One Tree Hill, Medicine Ball, and Army Wives.  His feature film Steaming Milk won runner-up Best Actor and Best Director awards at the 1997 Seattle International Film Festival and was chosen as a “Best of the Fest” of both The Seattle Times and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Directing credits include Tell, Jesus Hopped the “A” Train, and The Beauty Queen of Leenane.  As a writer his plays and one-acts include HOGS, The Tragedian, Killing Chickens, Fairgrounds, What Comes Around, Tell, Cowboys, and A Waffle House Christmas.  His plays have been produced in New York City, Seattle, Charlotte, and Charleston.  He was voted last year’s Best Actor by City Paper of Charleston.

Tara Denton (Aunt Chris) is pleased to return to Pure Theatre, where she’s appeared in Killer Joe and Pure LAB projects. Other local credits include College of Charleston's Shakespeare Project (Richard III, Titus Andronicus, Antigone, Macbeth, Julius Caesar), CSK: A Radio Show, Balm in Gilead and The House of Yes.  Tara is an Associate Artist with Poor Players Theatre Company (San Diego/Chicago). San Diego credits include: Hamlet, Taming of the Shrew, 1st Henry IV, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, and Coriolanus. Other San DieGo Productions: The Vagina Monologues and Murder Mystery Comedy Players.

Jon Raz VanPinkerteen (Mikey Griffin)  is a College of Charleston graduate with a BA in Theatre. He has stage managed Speech & Debate, Sheep’s Clothing, Hogs, The Last Five Years, Faith, Hope & Charity, and Fully Committed for PURE.  This is Jon’s first time performing for PURE Theatre.

Carly Sumner Ridgeway (Maria) is a senior theatre major at the College of Charleston with a double concentration in Performance and Scenography from Columbia, SC. She was last seen at the College in Comedy of Errors as Angelo the Goldsmith.

Sharon Graci (Director) is the artistic director and co-founder of PURE Theatre. Directing credits include Speech & Debate, Sheep's Clothing, The Last Five Years, The Seafarer, Underneath the Lintel, and Eurydice. She is an alumnus of the 2007 Lincoln Center Director’s Lab. Recent acting credits include Stage: Mara Stockman Kelly in Hogs, Elizabeth in Faith, Hope & Charity, Becca in Rabbit Hole, Celestina in Cloud Tectonics at PURE. Television: Army Wives (Lifetime), One Tree Hill (WB), Surface (NBC).  She studied acting at Point Park University and the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Theatre and received a BA in theatre from Augusta State University.  She has performed with numerous regional theatre companies throughout the Southeast and was voted Best Local Actress by Charleston City Paper readers in 2007 and 2009.  She also received a Best Actor award for her work in Montague, winner Best Film, Stopwatch Cinema.

Bridget Carpenter (Playwright) is a 2002-03 Guggenheim Fellow. She is a writer and producer for television’s Friday Night Lights. Some of her other plays include: The Faculty Room, Fall, The Death of the Father of Psychoanalysis (and Anna), and Mr. Xmas. She lives in Los Angeles and plays poker every Wednesday.

For more information, visit www.puretheatre.org.

All images (c) 2009 by David Mandel & Ampersand Industries.

Cristy Landis

R.W. Smith & Cristy Landis

Cristy Landis

R.W. Smith

R.W. Smith & Cristy Landis

R.W. Smith & Cristy Landis

R.W. Smith & Cristy Landis