Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 16, 2001Volume 29, Number 22



The graduating acting class dressed in dramatic garb for this publicity photograph for "The Birds."



Student actors 'take flight' in comic version of 'The Birds'

All the members of the School of Drama's graduating acting class will have the opportunity to show off their stage talents in the world premiere of "The Birds," a loose adaptation of Aristophanes' classic Greek comedy.

The production will run March 22-April 14 at the Yale Repertory Theatre, corner of Chapel and York streets.

The adaptation by award-winning playwright Len Jenkin will be directed by Christopher Bayes, who teaches at the School of Drama.

"One of the unique strengths of the Yale School of Drama at Yale Rep project is that it features an ensemble that has been working together for more than two-and-one-half years," says Stan Wodjewodski Jr., dean of the drama school and artistic director of the Yale Repertory Theatre. "This year, in addition to that great advantage, we were fortunate to be able, in Christopher Bayes, to call upon a director who has been working with the company as mentor and teacher. This extraordinary team's engagement with a classic comic text by Aristophanes as re-imagined by Yale Rep associate artist Len Jenkin promises to be a terrific theatrical event."

In Jenkin's adaptation, a washed-up lounge comedian named Venable Smoke and his sleazy agent, Arnold Sand, are run out of Los Vegas for racking up gambling debts. A chance encounter with a dodo bird offers the two a fresh start. Smoke and Sand are whisked off to a paradise in the clouds rule by Queen Popsy, a beautiful showgirl turned peacock royalty. The opportunistic Smoke and Sand rally the birds to help them build a utopian kingdom in the sky, thus cheating the gods and allowing the birds -- and themselves -- to rule the universe. Their "paradise," Cloudcuckooland, becomes prime real estate, forcing its inhabitants to fend off land developers, dot.coms and the vengeful wrath of the gods.

Jenkin directed the 1995 Yale Rep production of "Uncle Vanya." His plays "Dark Ride," "Pilgrims of the Night," "My Uncle Sam," "Poor Folk's Pleasure," "Careless Love" and "Like I Say" have been produced throughout the United States, England, Germany and Japan. His other published works include the novel "New Jerusalem" and the children's book "The Secret Life of Billy's Uncle Myron." Also a writer for film and television, Jenkin's many honors include three Obie Awards for directing and playwriting, an Emmy nomination, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. He has taught at the Yale School of Drama and is a professor of playwriting at New York University.

Bayes began his theater career with the internationally acclaimed Theatre de la Jeune Lune, where he worked for five years as an actor, director, composer, designer and artistic associate. In 1989 he joined the acting company of the Guthrie Theater and appeared in over 20 productions during his seven years there. Commissioned by the Guthrie Theater in 1993, he produced his one-man show "This Ridiculous Dreaming," based on Heinrich Boll's novel "The Clown." He has directed numerous productions in New York, including "Red Noses," "The Big Day (a clown show)," "The Love of Three Oranges" and "Necromance, a Night Conjuration." The recipient of a 1999-2000 Fox Foundation Fellowship, Bayes is currently on the faculty of The Juilliard School, New York University and The Actors Center, where he is a founding faculty member and master teacher of physical comedy and clowning.

The members of the graduating acting class are Remy Auberjonois, Regina Hilliard Bain, Jane Cho, Gregory Derelian, Dara S. Fisher, Adriana Gaviria, Kathryn Hahn, Patrick Huey, Peter Katona, Mark Mattek, Brandon T. Miller, Kate Nowlin, Edward O'Blenis, Nicholas Pepper, Rio Puertollano, Pun Bandu and Jennifer Brooke Riker.

"The Birds" features original music by Christopher Curtis and Harry Mann, choreography by David Neumann and fight choreography by Rick Sordelet. The production team includes scenic designer Ted Pierce, costume designer Katherine Hampton, lighting designer Matthew Richards, sound designer Vincent Olivieri, production dramaturgs Allison Horsley and Jonathan Shandell, and stage manager J. Andrew Cassano.

Show times are Mondays at 7 p.m. and Tuesday-Saturday at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. Saturday matinees on March 31, April 7 and April 14. There will also be a 2 p.m. matinee on Wednesday, April 11. Tickets, which are currently on sale, range from $28 to $36. Discounted tickets are available for students, senior citizens and groups. For more information, call the Yale Repertory Theatre box office at (203) 432-1234; box office hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.yalerep.org.


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F&ES to create industrial ecology program in Asia

Greene and Brisman awarded DeVane Medals

Professor Lane explains the economics of happiness

Scientist Thomas Steitz honored with Sterling Professorship

Goldman-Rakic is Eugene Higgins Professor of Neurobiology

Joan Steitz cited as outstanding woman scientist

Student actors 'take flight' in comic version of 'The Birds'

Exhibition examines photographers' contrasting images of Saarinen designs

'Faces of Hope' offers portraits of people living with HIV

Model urges students to take pride in their bodies

'Cities and Buildings' pays tribute to urban works . . .

Forum to explore fate of U.S. 'melting pot'

Discovery boosts understanding of hereditary blindness

Grants will support Yale researcher's study on how to quell the 'voices' . . .

Women under 60 more likely to die after heart attack, says study

Renowned nuclear physicist to discuss 'Science, Technology and Politics'

'A Taste of Inequality' explores issues still on feminist frontline

Love songs will be dramatized in workshops

New fund will support activities for teachers of religious studies

New ways of funding environmental enterprises to be examined

Film series focus on the banned and Brazilian

Innovation is focus of this year's Spring Teaching Forum

Annual Pride Week celebration will feature talks, comedy night and film

Campus Notes



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