Ardeo - Theatre Company

ARDEO THEATRE PROJECT IS CLOSED

"If a story is in you it has got to come out."

-William Faulkner

The Ardeo Theatre Company is a collaborative ensemble, dedicated to the development of original theatre. Our work is derived from a variety of sources, including contemporary and classical texts, myths, found literature, and personal experience. Ardeo productions, which are performed in English, tour locally and internationally. The Ardeo Company is comprised of actors, directors, teachers and designers whose combined experience in the U.S. and abroad spans the past three decades. Please see company bios for detailed information on individual members.

*Lovers Awake*	*The Storm*	*Lines in the Field*

(Jeremy Sher)	(Jen DeJoy)	(Duncan Berry)
Left:Three unwilling brides-to-be seek refuge with an Italian stranger. Middle:Circe instructs Caliban in The Storm, based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. Right: Vaudevillian contestants guess at the identity of the man who invented television.

2001 - 2002 Season

Lovers Awake
Our first production is inspired by what may be the oldest play in the western world: Aeschylus' The Suppliant Women. Entitled Lovers Awake, the play tells the story of fifty sisters who are being forced to marry fifty cousins due to an ancient family contract. Outrageously funny and brutally violent, Lovers Awake is a passionate and provocative exploration of the eternal struggle between men and women. The head-on collision between the sexes is presented with a theatrical collage of classical philosophy and slapstick comedy, Broadway show-tunes and Elizabethan masque, tender romance and ritual sacrifice. Company member and Associate Director Chuck Harper directs the production, which will premiere this fall.

Lines in the Field (working title)
Next up is an original work entitled Lines in the Field. Inspired by the true story of Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of electronic television, Lines in the Field examines one man's struggle against the system. A scientific prodigy, Farnsworth saw his dreams shattered and came to regret the fruit of his life's work. Lines in the Field asks what happens when the line between illusion and reality becomes indistinguishable? How vulnerable are we to the forces of history? And, like Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein, who is responsible when the products of our creativity take on a dangerous life of their own? This piece is being developed by members of the company, and is directed by Kerry Skalsky. Lines in the Field will premiere in the winter of 2001 - 2002.

The Storm
Ardeo's Director Ben Rankin directs the entire ensemble in The Storm, an original production based upon Shakespeare's The Tempest. The production will draw upon the myth of Persephone to explore The Tempest's themes of death and rebirth, fear and forgiveness. The Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece staged Persephone's bondage and release from the Underworld to confront and conquer the participants' fear of death. In The Tempest, a shipwreck throws a guilt-ridden group into such an underworld, where they confront their misdeeds; like Persephone, they are ultimately restored to their former lives. The Storm will begin its tour in the spring of 2002.

For information on booking Lovers Awake, Lines in the Field or The Storm, please contact Producer Carrie Hegdahl at carrie@ardeo.org.

Guest Artists
Ardeo Theatre Project is committed to the ongoing professional development of the ensemble and its members. A key element of this commitment is our guest artist series, which invites established artists from a variety of theatre, movement, and improvisation backgrounds to stop by for a few days or a few weeks to share their skills. For information on our guest artist roster, please contact Guest Artist Liaison Mik Kuhlman at mik@ardeo.org.

Chāteau de St. Julien 2 rue du Chāteau 86800 St. Julien l'Ars, France 33(0) 5-49-01-05-76 (Ph) 33(0) 5-49-01-99-14 (Fx)
PO Box 23355 Seattle, WA 98102-0655 (Toll Free) 877-486-6604 206-720-6029 (Fx)
ardeo@ardeo.org