ITP August 08 repertory
On The Verge or The Geography of Yearning
by Eric Overmyer
and
Below The Belt
by Richard Dresser
presented by Immediate Theatre Project
30 July - 17 August 2008
Tickets are $10-$20 (Wednesday July 30 is Pay What You Can Night: $6 minimum, cash only, exact change only, reservations highly recommended)
See both shows for $10 off!
Get tickets online!
In 2008, after the tents are taken down, the beer cups picked up, and another Bele Chere has come and gone, Asheville will have an antidote for the post-event letdown that usually follows. This summer, Immediate Theatre Project presents an extraordinary theatrical event: two different plays performed each night in the same venue. The plays are On The Verge, or The Geography of Yearning by Eric Overmyer and Below the Belt by Richard Dresser. The shows will be performed at ITP’s new home venue, North Carolina Stage Company.
"It's a little bit crazy, producing two plays at the same time," says ITP Producing Director Willie Repoley. "We fully expect to discover at some point that we've bitten off more than we can chew. On the other hand, we've found that those situations that just require a little more creativity, a little more boldness of thought, tend to be the situations in which we really excel."
The company is “always looking for ways to make the heart of the play clear, to strip away anything that is not really needed to tell the story, and to do that for two plays at once is an extraordinary opportunity,” according to ITP Artistic Director Hans Meyer, who will also be directing both plays. On The Verge, which was written in the mid-80s, is a fervently optimistic fantasy of three Victorian ladies who set out trekking only to discover that they are not only traversing the globe but moving quickly forward through the 20th Century as well. Below The Belt is a bitter and cynical comedy about three men stuck working in an isolated outpost for an unnamed company, doing an unspecified job, and with an undefined danger possibly encroaching. “On the surface, the plays are so different,” says Meyer. “One is three women, one is three men; one is incredibly optimistic, one is extremely cynical; one is about moving and one is about staying still. But [American playwright] Sam Shepard says that right smack in the center of contradiction is where the energy is, where the heat is, and that's what we're trying to get at with this project. It’s very exciting.”
The plays will share the same director and stage manager, as well as set, lighting, and sound designers. Fortuna says, “The idea is that while we are presenting two very different plays, together they tell a story that is much richer than either play on its own. We sort of think of them as yin and yang, the opposing forces that create some kind of wholeness and completion in their competition.” The plays are also united by certain characteristics, some surface and some thematic. Both plays, for example, center around three characters of the same gender, and both playwrights have a heightened sense of language – Meyer describes the language of Below the Belt as “Python-esque”. Also, both plays highlight the sense of leaving behind the familiar, of being thrust into the unknown and perhaps unknowable.
Immediate Theatre Project, which began life as part of the NCSC Catalyst Series, is the new Partner Company in Residence at NC Stage, starting with these rep shows. "We wanted to bring ITP closer into our ensemble in a way that would allow our two companies to share more resources and audience, and basically help both companies take their next step," says Angie Flynn-McIver, NCSC's Producing Director. “We’re very excited about this new relationship,” says ITP Managing Director Lauren Fortuna. “A big part of ITP’s mission is to present plays in larger markets that were actually created in smaller markets like Asheville, and having a stable creative home at NC Stage is an important step in that process.”
On The Verge runs for the following performances:
Wednesday 30 July 7:30pm Pay-What-You-Can
Thursday 31 July 7:30pm $15
Friday 1 August 7:30pm $20
Saturday 2 August 7:30pm $20
Sunday 3 August 2:00pm $15
Wednesday 6 August 7:30pm $10
Thursday 7 August 7:30pm $15
Friday 8 August 7:30pm $20
Saturday 9 August 7:30pm $20
Sunday 10 August 2:00pm $15
Thursday 14 August 7:30pm $15
Friday 15 August 7:30pm $20
Saturday 16 August 7:30pm $20
Sunday 17 August 2:00pm $15
Below The Belt runs for the following performances:
Wednesday 30 July 10:30pm Pay-What-You-Can
Thursday 31 July 10:30pm $10
Friday 1 August 10:30pm $15
Saturday 2 August 10:30pm $15
Sunday 3 August 5:00pm $15
Thursday 7 August 10:30pm $10
Friday 8 August 10:30pm $15
Saturday 9 August 10:30pm $15
Sunday 10 August 5:00pm $15
Wednesday 13 August 10:30pm $10
Thursday 14 August 10:30pm $10
Friday 15 August 10:30pm $15
Saturday 16 August 10:30pm $15
Sunday 17 August 5:00pm $15
Get tickets online
Tickets are $10-$20 (Wednesday July 30 is Pay What You Can Night: $6 minimum, cash only, exact change only, reservations highly recommended)
See both shows for $10 off!
Get tickets online!
In 2008, after the tents are taken down, the beer cups picked up, and another Bele Chere has come and gone, Asheville will have an antidote for the post-event letdown that usually follows. This summer, Immediate Theatre Project presents an extraordinary theatrical event: two different plays performed each night in the same venue. The plays are On The Verge, or The Geography of Yearning by Eric Overmyer and Below the Belt by Richard Dresser. The shows will be performed at ITP’s new home venue, North Carolina Stage Company. "It's a little bit crazy, producing two plays at the same time," says ITP Producing Director Willie Repoley. "We fully expect to discover at some point that we've bitten off more than we can chew. On the other hand, we've found that those situations that just require a little more creativity, a little more boldness of thought, tend to be the situations in which we really excel."
The company is “always looking for ways to make the heart of the play clear, to strip away anything that is not really needed to tell the story, and to do that for two plays at once is an extraordinary opportunity,” according to ITP Artistic Director Hans Meyer, who will also be directing both plays. On The Verge, which was written in the mid-80s, is a fervently optimistic fantasy of three Victorian ladies who set out trekking only to discover that they are not only traversing the globe but moving quickly forward through the 20th Century as well. Below The Belt is a bitter and cynical comedy about three men stuck working in an isolated outpost for an unnamed company, doing an unspecified job, and with an undefined danger possibly encroaching. “On the surface, the plays are so different,” says Meyer. “One is three women, one is three men; one is incredibly optimistic, one is extremely cynical; one is about moving and one is about staying still. But [American playwright] Sam Shepard says that right smack in the center of contradiction is where the energy is, where the heat is, and that's what we're trying to get at with this project. It’s very exciting.”
The plays will share the same director and stage manager, as well as set, lighting, and sound designers. Fortuna says, “The idea is that while we are presenting two very different plays, together they tell a story that is much richer than either play on its own. We sort of think of them as yin and yang, the opposing forces that create some kind of wholeness and completion in their competition.” The plays are also united by certain characteristics, some surface and some thematic. Both plays, for example, center around three characters of the same gender, and both playwrights have a heightened sense of language – Meyer describes the language of Below the Belt as “Python-esque”. Also, both plays highlight the sense of leaving behind the familiar, of being thrust into the unknown and perhaps unknowable.
Immediate Theatre Project, which began life as part of the NCSC Catalyst Series, is the new Partner Company in Residence at NC Stage, starting with these rep shows. "We wanted to bring ITP closer into our ensemble in a way that would allow our two companies to share more resources and audience, and basically help both companies take their next step," says Angie Flynn-McIver, NCSC's Producing Director. “We’re very excited about this new relationship,” says ITP Managing Director Lauren Fortuna. “A big part of ITP’s mission is to present plays in larger markets that were actually created in smaller markets like Asheville, and having a stable creative home at NC Stage is an important step in that process.”
On The Verge runs for the following performances:
Wednesday 30 July 7:30pm Pay-What-You-Can
Thursday 31 July 7:30pm $15
Friday 1 August 7:30pm $20
Saturday 2 August 7:30pm $20
Sunday 3 August 2:00pm $15
Wednesday 6 August 7:30pm $10
Thursday 7 August 7:30pm $15
Friday 8 August 7:30pm $20
Saturday 9 August 7:30pm $20
Sunday 10 August 2:00pm $15
Thursday 14 August 7:30pm $15
Friday 15 August 7:30pm $20
Saturday 16 August 7:30pm $20
Sunday 17 August 2:00pm $15
Below The Belt runs for the following performances:
Wednesday 30 July 10:30pm Pay-What-You-Can
Thursday 31 July 10:30pm $10
Friday 1 August 10:30pm $15
Saturday 2 August 10:30pm $15
Sunday 3 August 5:00pm $15
Thursday 7 August 10:30pm $10
Friday 8 August 10:30pm $15
Saturday 9 August 10:30pm $15
Sunday 10 August 5:00pm $15
Wednesday 13 August 10:30pm $10
Thursday 14 August 10:30pm $10
Friday 15 August 10:30pm $15
Saturday 16 August 10:30pm $15
Sunday 17 August 5:00pm $15
Get tickets online