"There is no end to the variations and combinations possible in Walter Thompson's Soundpainting. Elating!" - Sonloco, Sweden
What: Walter Thompson Orchestra & Irondale Ensemble, Passion Play Soundpainting When: May 3,4 @ 8pm Where: The Irondale Center, Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, 85 South Oxford St., Brooklyn, NY Cost: $25, to purchase tickets go to irondale.org or call 212.352.3101 Walter Thompson and The Walter Thompson Orchestra will perform two evenings of Soundpaintings inspired by Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play May 3 & 4th at the Irondale Center, Brooklyn. This will be Thompsons second performance at Irondale, his first, a soundpainting presented with highly acclaimed musician Anthony Braxton, was voted one of the best live shows of 2009 by All About Jazz.
Soundpainting is the multidisciplinary live composing sign language created by New York composer Walter Thompson for musicians, actors, dancers, and visual artists. Thompson will compose his Soundpaintings based on the themes in Passion Play and they become the colors and textures used by Thompson to shape and guide the overall directions of the piece. The 20-member orchestra is comprised of 16 musicians and four actors from the Irondale Ensemble. Inspired by the historic festivals where everyday citizens came together to elevate their communities by staging the death and resurrection of Christ, Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play transports audiences first to 16th century England, where Queen Elizabeth threatens to shut down a small town's production; then to Nazi Germany, where Adolf Hitler's arrival at the famous Oberammergau Passion Play influences the lives of its cast and finally to Spearfish, South Dakota in 1984, as a local production becomes a campaign stop for a famous actor-turned-President running for re-election. Mark Wing-Davey will return as director following his highly acclaimed productions of Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play at the Goodman Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre, but will be re-envisioning the play for this site-specific New York premiere.
Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play begins previews April 27 and runs through May 30, 2010. Opening night is set for May 12, 2010. The production will be performed in the site-specific environs of the Irondale Center, a converted Sunday School inside the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church (85 South Oxford Street) in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The cast will include Hale Appleman, Brendan Averett, Polly Noonan, Daniel Pearce, Alex Podulke, Keith Reddin, Godfrey L. Simmons Jr., T. Ryder Smith, Kate Turnbull and Nicole Wiesner. Scenic Design will be by Allen Moyer & Warren Karp, Costume Design will be by Gabriel Berry & Antonia Ford-Roberts, Lighting Design will be by David Weiner, Composer will be David Van Tieghem, Movement Direction will be by Jim Calder, and Fight Direction will be by David Anzuelo.
Hailed by The New Yorker's John Lahr as “extraordinary" and full of “verve and daring", Ruhl's three-play cycle will be the centerpiece of an unforgettable Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play Festival, a series of performances, panel discussions, workshops, and education programs highlighting the intersection of art, politics, sexuality, and religion.
Tickets to Epic Theater's production of Passion Play are available by visiting Epic's website at epictheatreensemble.org.
Irondale's Mission
Through the power of the ensemble process, Irondale creates and presents theater, performance and education programs that challenge traditional assumptions about art, and help us to better understand today's world. The Irondale Center, our theater, laboratory and classroom, is a home for ensemble artists of all disciplines and cultures, and a resource for our community.
What: Walter Thompson Orchestra & Irondale Ensemble, Passion Play Soundpainting When: May 3,4 @ 8pm Where: The Irondale Center, Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, 85 South Oxford St., Brooklyn, NY Cost: $25, to purchase tickets go to irondale.org or call 212.352.3101 Walter Thompson and The Walter Thompson Orchestra will perform two evenings of Soundpaintings inspired by Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play May 3 & 4th at the Irondale Center, Brooklyn. This will be Thompsons second performance at Irondale, his first, a soundpainting presented with highly acclaimed musician Anthony Braxton, was voted one of the best live shows of 2009 by All About Jazz.
Soundpainting is the multidisciplinary live composing sign language created by New York composer Walter Thompson for musicians, actors, dancers, and visual artists. Thompson will compose his Soundpaintings based on the themes in Passion Play and they become the colors and textures used by Thompson to shape and guide the overall directions of the piece. The 20-member orchestra is comprised of 16 musicians and four actors from the Irondale Ensemble. Inspired by the historic festivals where everyday citizens came together to elevate their communities by staging the death and resurrection of Christ, Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play transports audiences first to 16th century England, where Queen Elizabeth threatens to shut down a small town's production; then to Nazi Germany, where Adolf Hitler's arrival at the famous Oberammergau Passion Play influences the lives of its cast and finally to Spearfish, South Dakota in 1984, as a local production becomes a campaign stop for a famous actor-turned-President running for re-election. Mark Wing-Davey will return as director following his highly acclaimed productions of Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play at the Goodman Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre, but will be re-envisioning the play for this site-specific New York premiere.
Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play begins previews April 27 and runs through May 30, 2010. Opening night is set for May 12, 2010. The production will be performed in the site-specific environs of the Irondale Center, a converted Sunday School inside the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church (85 South Oxford Street) in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The cast will include Hale Appleman, Brendan Averett, Polly Noonan, Daniel Pearce, Alex Podulke, Keith Reddin, Godfrey L. Simmons Jr., T. Ryder Smith, Kate Turnbull and Nicole Wiesner. Scenic Design will be by Allen Moyer & Warren Karp, Costume Design will be by Gabriel Berry & Antonia Ford-Roberts, Lighting Design will be by David Weiner, Composer will be David Van Tieghem, Movement Direction will be by Jim Calder, and Fight Direction will be by David Anzuelo.
Hailed by The New Yorker's John Lahr as “extraordinary" and full of “verve and daring", Ruhl's three-play cycle will be the centerpiece of an unforgettable Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play Festival, a series of performances, panel discussions, workshops, and education programs highlighting the intersection of art, politics, sexuality, and religion.
Tickets to Epic Theater's production of Passion Play are available by visiting Epic's website at epictheatreensemble.org.
Irondale's Mission
Through the power of the ensemble process, Irondale creates and presents theater, performance and education programs that challenge traditional assumptions about art, and help us to better understand today's world. The Irondale Center, our theater, laboratory and classroom, is a home for ensemble artists of all disciplines and cultures, and a resource for our community.
