Tampa Repertory Theatre to Present IMAGINING MADOFF in January

Tampa Repertory Theatre will present Imagining Madoff, by Deborah Margolin, in the Studio Theatre (TAR 120) on the University of South Florida Tampa Campus from January 8th to the 25th, 2015. Performances are at 7:30 PM on Thursdays, 8 PM on Fridays and Saturdays and 3 PM on Sundays. Patrons may purchase tickets at the door or from a link on Tampa Repertory Theatre's website at tamparep.org.

In Imagining Madoff, Deborah Margolin creates a searing and amusing exploration of guilt, greed and faith, through an imagined meeting of Bernie Madoff, Ponzi-schemer par excellence, and Solomon Galkin - poet, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor. The play moves in time and space from Madoff's prison cell to Galkin's study, and includes side trips to the SEC where one of Madoff's secretaries testifies before the commission.

The play has had several previous productions, the last taking place in Boston this past spring. The Boston Globe noted it was "a bracingly smart and engrossing drama of ideas." Replying to an earlier production, Tim Treanor, in DC Theatre Scene, called it "a play which takes on barely imaginable things, provides no final answers. But, like the prayer for the dead, it is beautiful and needed." Joel Markowitz commented that the play creates "a roller coaster ride of emotions filled with passionate characters and funny, powerful, and shocking dialogue."

As the title suggests, Margolin's play presents an imaginative investigation into the actions and motives of Bernie Madoff. Galkin, his foil in the play, was inspired by Elie Wiesel and the fact that he lost his foundation's and his personal fortune to Madoff's scheming. The play, however, is not a documentary. Far from it. As The Jewish Daily Forward summed up, "Margolin's mature and intriguing script is a far cry from the shallow re-creations of cable docudramas drawn from public records and overly concerned with real events. . . Since it's a play about duality and betrayal, using characters renamed and unbeholden to their actual, demanding (and perhaps self-deluded) inspirations might have made the already eloquent Imagining Madoff an even greater triumph of the imagination."

Imagining Madoff is directed by Steve Mountan, who also directed TampaRep's recent production of The Apocrypha of Theodore Roosevelt. Mountan has also performed with TampaRep, most recently in Heroes. Madoff reunites him with his Heroes co-stars, Jim Wicker and C. David Frankel (TampaRep's artistic director). Wicker, (most recently seen in Superior Dounuts at Stageworks Theatre) plays Madoff and Frankel portrays Galkin. Joining them as the Secretary is noted Tampa area actress Joanna Sycz, making her TampaRep debut.

More information about TampaRep, its mission, and its exciting fourth season is available at tamparep.org.

Photo Credit: Desiree Fantal