Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 19, 2004|Volume 32, Number 22

An image for the poster of "King Stag" depicts a young man whose soul is confined in a stag after a jealous rival dabbles in forbidden magic. The world-premiere play adaptation opens at the Yale Rep on March 26.

Magic, comic mayhem prevail
in re-telling of old tale

An 18th-century tale of love and sorcery gets a modern twist in the next offering in the Yale Repertory Theatre's 2003-2004 season.

The world premiere adaption of "The King Stag," a classic comedy by Carlo Gozzi, will be presented March 26-April 17 at the Yale Repertory Theatre, corner of Chapel and York streets.

The work was adapted with music by Evan Yionoulis, who will direct the production; Mike Yionoulis, who also wrote the music and lyrics; and Catherine Sheehy, who will serve as the production's dramaturg.

As originally written, "The King Stag" tells the story of a monarch who, while searching for true love, falls into the hands of a ruthless magician. This re-telling attempts to preserve the magic and comic mayhem of the original while transporting the action to an all-American setting: the theme park of Serendippo Worldwide Inc., a multi-billion dollar entertainment conglomerate. Deramo, majority stockholder and the most eligible bachelor in all of corporate culture, is marriage-minded -- or would be, if he could be sure Angela returns his love. But Tartaglia, Serendippo's dark-hearted chief executive officer, decides he not only wants Angela for his own, but all Deramo has. Dabbling in forbidden magic, Tartaglia engages in identity theft: He takes over Deramo's body and confines the young tycoon's soul in a stag. In order to save his love and his father's company, the hero must break the spell.

Director Evan Yionoulis is associate professor (adjunct) at the School of Drama and resident director at the Yale Rep. She previously directed George F. Walker's "Heaven" and Brecht's "Galileo" at the Yale Rep. Her numerous other directing credits include the premiere of Richard Greenberg's "The Violet Hour" at South Coast Repertory and on Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club's Biltmore. She received an Obie Award for Direction for her work on "Three Days of Rain" in New York.

Composer Mike Yionoulis has collaborated with Evan Yionoulis on musical adaptations of "Hamlet (Flights Of Angels)" and "Medea." He wrote the libretto and score for "Oedipus Rox," and the music for several of Dick Beebe's plays, including "Vampires In Kodachrome" (Yale Rep). He co-founded, with Kevin Brenneman, the music production company kindlwerks, scoring several films, and he recently finished writing and directing his first short film, titled "RGB."

Co-adaptor Sheehy is the resident dramaturg at Yale Rep and chair of the School of Drama's Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism Program. In addition to her work at Yale Rep, she has worked at the Signature Theatre in New York, Baltimore's Center Stage, the O'Neill Playwright's Conference in Waterford, and for four seasons as Festival Dramaturg at Shakespeare Santa Cruz in California. She is a former associate editor of American Theatre magazine. She received her D.F.A. from Yale in 1999.

The cast of "The King Stag" features Opal Alladin (Angela), Chad Callaghan (Sphinx/Ensemble), Bryan Terrell Clark (Dr. Phat/Ensemble), Matthew Cowles (Cigolotti), B.J. Crosby (Durandarte), Timothy Gulan (Brighella), Lisa Jolley (Smeraldina), David Matranga (Leandro), Les J.N. Lau (Pantalone), Jim Noonan (Mos'ly Deaf/Ensemble), Ryan Quinn (Li'l Moo Moo/Ensemble), Jeremy Rabb (Truffaldino), Daina Schatz (Mother/Ensemble), Jeanine Serralles (Clarice), Alexander Kong Sfakianos (Young Boy), Bill Thompson (Deramo) and Mark Zeisler (Tartaglia).

The production features scenic design by Sergio Villegas, costume design by Camille Assaf, lighting design by Stephen Strawbridge and sound design by Sabrina McGuigan. In addition to Sheehy, Emmy Grinwis serves as a dramaturg. Stephanie L. Pearlman is the stage manager.

"The King Stag" will be staged at 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, with special 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays, April 3, 10 and 17. There will also be a Monday night performance at 8 p.m. on March 29.

Yale Rep will offer a variety of special events during the run of "The King Stag" at no additional cost. These include "Yale Night" on Friday, March 26, which includes a pre-show discussion with members of the creative team as well as free pizza courtesy of BAR and soft drinks for students from area colleges and universities; "Opening Night" on Thursday, April 1, with a celebration following the performance at an area restaurant; "Re:Play," a question-and-answer session with the cast and crew following the matinee performance on Saturday, April 3; and "Senior Matinee" on Wednesday, April 14. The production will be sign interpreted and audio described on Saturday, April 17, at 2 p.m.

Tickets for "The King Stag" and the rest of the season's plays range from $20 to $45 and are available by calling (203) 432-1234, visiting the Yale Rep box office, located at 1120 Chapel St., and accessing the website at www.yalerep.org.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

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Center to foster research on cerebral cortex

Bulldogs' Nate Lawrie busy preparing himself for NFL Draft

Political scientist Ian Shapiro named YCIAS director

Zbigniew Brzezinski . . . to present talk on campus

Magic, comic mayhem prevail in re-telling of old tale

'Digital Cops in a Virtual Environment' will explore . . .

Conference to consider 'The Future of Secularism'

Exhibit features works by artist who combined fact and fantasy . . .

NIDA director discusses complicated causes . . . of drug addiction

Castle Lectures to explore materialism in today's culture

English faculty to present staged reading of 'Pentecost'

'Enclave' to explore architectural aspects of ports of commerce

In Focus: Office of Cooperative Research