Capital T presents

A LIE OF THE MIND

by Sam Shepard

Directed by Mark Pickell

Scene Design by Paul Davis

Costume Design by Cheryl Painter

Light Design by Mark Pickell

Sound Design by Adam Hilton

Live Music by Jerry Hagins and Jesse Gregg

May 12-June 4

Thursday-Saturday at 7:30pm

Salvage Vanguard Theatre

Jake has brutally beaten his wife Beth and left her for dead.  Her brain damage is significant. His guilt is crippling.  Jake’s brother, Frankie, searches for the truth of Beth’s condition, while Jake’s father haunts him from the urn beneath his childhood bed.

An unlikely love story, A LIE OF THE MIND is both a chilling indictment of true love and an affirmation of its abiding ties. Capital T is proud to present this gritty, darkly humorous American drama by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Sam Shepherd.

Listen to a preview of A LIE OF THE MIND featured on KUT 90.5

Cast

Jake – Kenneth Wayne Bradley

Frankie – Joey Hood

Beth – Rebecca Robinson

Mike – Mark Pickell

Lorraine – Karen Jambon

Sally – Liz Fisher

Meg – Melanie Dean

Baylor – Travis Dean

About the Playwright

Sam Shepard – Playwright
Considered one of the foremost modern American playwrights Sam Shepard was born the son of a career Army father and spent his childhood on military bases in the United States and Guam before his family settled on a farm in Duarte, California. In 1963, Shepard moved to New York City, where he began to write plays for the emerging experimental underground theater scene. In 1966, Red Cross, Chicago, and Icarus’s Mother earned Shepard a trio of Village Voice OBIE Awards. In 1967 and 1968, Shepard wrote La Turista, his first full-length play, Melodrama Play, and Forensic and the Navigators, all of which also won OBIEs, and Cowboys #2, which premiered in Los Angeles. He continued to write plays, completing Holy Ghostly and The Unseen Hand in 1969, Operation Sidewinder and Shaved Splits in 1970, and Mad Dog Blues, Back Bog Beast Bait, and Cowboy Mouth (written with poet/musician Patti Smith) in 1971. In 1974, Shepard became the playwright-in-residence at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, a position he held until 1984. Plays from this period include Action (OBIE Award, 1974), Killer’s Head (1975), Angel City (1976), and Suicide in B-Flat (1976). Beginning in the late 1970s, Shepard applied his unconventional dramatic vision to a more conventional dramatic form, the family tragedy, producing Curse of the Starving Class and Buried Child in 1978 (both of which won OBIE Awards) and True West in 1980. Shepard achieved his warmest critical reception with Buried Child, which also won the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Throughout the 1980s and into the ’90s, Shepard continued to write plays-Fool for Love (1983) won OBIEs for best play as well as direction, and A Lie of the Mind (1985) garnered the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for outstanding new play-and expanded his work in film. The Magic Theatre premiered The Late Henry Moss, starring Sean Penn and Nick Nolte, before it was moved to the Signature Theatre in New York in 2001. Shepard’s recent projects include the plays The God of Hell (2005) and Kicking a Dead Horse, which premiered in Dublin, Ireland in March 2007, and had its New York premiere in July 2008 at The Public Theater. In 1985 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which awarded him the Gold Medal for Drama in 1992. In 1994 he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.

Related posts:

1. Cast of A Lie of the Mind Announced
2. Production Photos of A Lie of the Mind
3. Cap T Wins 3 B Iden Payne Awards

Capital T presents

Directed by Gary Jaffe

Costume Design by Glenda Barnes

Sound Design by Brett Hamann

Scene Design by Mark Pickell

January 19-February 12

Blue Theatre

Twelve superheroes take up residence in a secret submarine to hold a fundraising drive for their upcoming production of William Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST. Seriously. Infusing elements of Shakespeare’s language, comic book lore, and choral arrangement, Mickle Maher’s SPIRITS TO ENFORCE is formally innovative, wryly humorous, deeply compassionate — and holds firmly to the belief that the the theater can create anything out of nothing at all.

“90 minutes of frenzied hilarity”

- The Daily Texan

“Each of the dozen players is stamped out as crisply as a newly-minted quarter…every actor in the piece seems to perform at the absolute top of their game, creating an ensemble the likes of which many theatre patrons may not see again for some time”

- Austin Theatre Examiner

“Twelve superheroes plus The Tempest equals FronteraFest at its finest…The best play…at FronteraFest in..five years”

- Austin Chronicle

“Top-Notch Cast…

“Spirits to Enforce is a fun adventure”

- Austin American-Statesman

“Hilarious, layered, well-executed…Gary Jaffe’s direction of the highly complex script is strong…the ensemble carries the show”

- Austin Chronicle

Cast

DALE- Braden Hunt
CRAIG- Toby Minor
EMORY- Jay Fraley
WAYNE- Travis Bedard
RANDALL- Blake Smith
BRAD- Tyler Jones
OLIVER- Stephen Mercantel
CECILY- Jenny Gravenstein
SUSAN- Allison Gregory
DONNA- Karen Alvarado
DIANA- LaTasha Stephens
REBECCA- Tiny Robinson

About the Playwright

Mickle Maher – Playwright
Mickle Maher is a co-founder of Theater Oobleck and the author of numerous plays, including An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening, and The Hunchback Variations (both published by Hope and Nonthings). His children’s book, Master Stitchum and the Moon, is published by Bollix Books. In recent years his Spirits to Enforce was mounted by Oobleck, and he contributed the translation for Redmoon Theater’s production ofCyrano. Redmoon also produced his latest play, The Cabinet, (a re-imagining of the filmThe Cabinet of Doctor Caligari) last winter.

Related posts:

1. Secret Identities of the Cast of Spirits to Enforce Revealed!
2. Interview with Spirits to Enforce Mastermind Mickle Maher
3. SPIRITS TO ENFORCE Video Trailer

Capital T presents

Directed by Mark Pickell

Sound Design by Adam Hilton

Costume Design by Cheryl Painter

Extended thru November 13th

Thursday-Saturday at 8pm

Hyde Park Theatre 511 W 43rd St

Pam and Richard are hosting their best friends, Wendy and Tom, for their annual dinner get-together. An animal sacrifice kicks off the evening, followed by a little more sex, violence, deception, revelations, wrestling and dancing than previous years. A darkly comic evening where the line between civilized and primal man is blurred, and where not everyone will survive long enough to enjoy the brownies for dessert.

‎”HUNTER GATHERERS is fast-paced, aggressive, and yes, often VERY FUNNY”
- Austin-American Statesman

Read the full review

You put these four characters together and, hells yes, hilarity will ensue. You put these particular actors in those roles, and that hilarity will ensue with professional skill and verve…Bradley, particularly, who is quickly becoming Capital T’s Not-So-Secret-Weapon-of-Vigorous-Stagecraft, unleashes his inner Neanderthal to raucous, laugh-inducing effect…all four actors work the material with ease and sweet timing…And, yeah, it’s a hoot.
- Austin Chronicle

Read the full review

“A hilarious and unforgettable theatrical experience…There are plays that hit with the power a lightning bolt, striking suddenly and out of nowhere, igniting the air with excitement and leaving the audience dumbstruck. Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Hunter Gatherers is one such play…From this rich soil, Pickell and his fine ensemble grow a bizarre and intricate piece of flora, which weaves its vines around the audience and doesn’t relinquish its hold until the violent, bloody, sexually charged finale.”
– Austin Theatre Examiner

Read the full review

“There’s never been a dull moment in anything that Mark Pickell and Capital T Theatre produce and “HUNTERS GATHERERS” is no exception…if you have a sense of humor and want to be shocked then this will completely mesmerize you…“HUNTERS GATHERERS” is a must-see.
- Do512

Read the full review

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Cast

Richard – Kenneth Wayne Bradley

Wendy – Liz Fisher

Tom – Brad Price

Pam – Rebecca Robinson

About the Playwright

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb – Playwright
is a San Francisco-based playwright whose works include boom (TCG’s most-produced play 2009-10), T.I.C. (Trenchcoat In Common), Hunter Gatherers (2007 ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award, 2007 Will Glickman Prize), Colorado,and Multiplex. His work has been seen Off-Broadway and at theaters across the country including at Ars Nova, SPF, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Seattle Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Public Theatre, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep, Wellfleet Harbor Actor’s Theatre, Dad’s Garage, and in the Bay Area at Encore Theatre, Killing My Lobster, Marin Theatre Company, Impact Theatre, and The Bay Area Playwrights Festival. He is under commission from South Coast Repertory and American Conservatory Theater, and is a Resident Playwright at the Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco. He holds a degree in Theater and Biology from Brown and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. He likes to promote himself online at www.peternachtrieb.com.

Related posts:

1. Researchers unearth cast of HUNTER GATHERERS
2. Cap T wins 4 Austin Critics’ Table Awards
3. Cap T nominated for 12 Austin Critics’ Table Awards

Capital T presents

Directed by Mark Pickell

Scenic Design by Mark Pickell and Tommy Grubbs

Sound Design by Adam Hilton

Costume Design by Cheryl Painter

May 27th – June 26th 2010

Thursday-Saturday at 8pm

Hyde Park Theatre 511 W 43rd St

“[Joey Hood and Katie deBuys] give amazing performances, and the sound, set, lighting design, and Mark Pickell’s directing, are all brilliant…an excellent production” – Austin Theatre Examiner

The same critically acclaimed, award winning creative team that brought you last summer’s sold out smash hit KILLER JOE (Nominated for 6 B Iden Payne Awards including Best Comedy) presents BUG by Tracy Letts. We have reunited the entire cast, crew and design team to bring you the most anticipated and thrilling show of the summer.

Tracy Letts’ followup to KILLER JOE centers on Agnes (Katie DeBuys), a lonely, middle-aged waitress victimized by her abusive ex-husband (Ken Bradley), and tortured by the kidnapping of her child in a supermarket almost ten years ago.  After spiralling into a world of alcohol, cocaine, and seedy motel rooms, Peter (Joey Hood) a timid Gulf War veteran and drifter in search of a friend wanders into her life.  As their interest in each other grows, so does their paranoid obsession with understanding what –or who –  brought them together. Did we mention the infestation of bugs?

Cast

Kenneth Wayne Bradley

Joey Hood

Katie DeBuys

Ken Webster

Melissa Recalde \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

About the Playwright

Tracy Letts – Playwright
has been a Steppenwolf ensemble since 2002. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play August: Osage County, which played on Broadway for over a year, following a sold-out run at Steppenwolf in 2007. August also enjoyed a sold-out engagement at London’s National Theatre and a U.S. National Tour in summer 2009. Other accolades include five Tony Awards (including Best Play), an Olivier Award and six Jeff Awards (including Best Play). Mr. Letts is also the author of Superior Donuts, which had its world premiere at Steppenwolf in 2008 and opened on Broadway in 2009; Man from Nebraska, which was produced at Steppenwolf in 2003 and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize; Killer Joe, which has been produced in Chicago, London and New York; and Bug, which has played in New York, Chicago and London. He has appeared at Steppenwolf in Betrayal, The Pillowman, Last of the Boys, The Pain and the Itch, The Dresser, Homebody/Kabul, The Dazzle, Glengarry Glen Ross (also in Dublin and Toronto), Three Days of Rain, Road to Nirvana, Picasso at the Lapin Agile and the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Glass Menagerie. Other Chicago stage credits include The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (A Red Orchid Theatre), Conquest of the South Pole (Famous Door), Bouncers (the Next Lab) and his directorial debut at the Lookingglass Theatre with Great Men of Science Nos. 21 and 22. He also appeared in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, directed by ensemble member Amy Morton. Television credits include: The District, Profiler, Prison Break, The Drew Carey Show, Seinfeld and Home Improvement. Film appearances include Guinevere, U.S. Marshals and Chicago Cab.

Related posts:

1. Hyde Park Infested with the Cast of BUG
2. Cap T wins 4 Austin Critics’ Table Awards
3. Cap T nominated for 12 Austin Critics’ Table Awards

Capital T presents

The regional premiere of the Pulitzer Prize nominated

Dying City

by Christopher Shinn
Directed by Derek Kolluri

Stage Manager – Cathrin Winsor

Scenic Design – Mark Pickell, Derek Kolluri, and Dan Farrar

Lighting Design – Dan Farrar

Costume Design – Heather Lesieur

Running Crew- Josh Singleton, Isaac Buckland, and Jeff Smith

January 19th – February 6th 2010

The Blue Theatre 916 Springdale Rd Austin, TX 78702

The first casualty of war is the truth. Christopher Shinn’s crafty and unsettling new play Dying City seeks that truth in a a quiet, transfixing tale of grief and violence, set in the shadow of the Iraq war.

When an Iraq war widow is unexpectedly visited by her dead husband’s twin brother, the two are forced to explore the repercussions of their loss, confront the secrets of the past, and admit the truth about the tragic legacy that connects them. Capital T proudly presents the regional preimiere of this Pulitzer-nominated play examining the politics of the American soul starring Liz Fisher and Mark Scheibmeir.

Cast

Kelly – Liz Fisher

Peter/Craig – Mark Scheibmeir

About the Playwright

Christopher Shinn – Playwright
was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and lives in New York. His plays have been premiered by the Royal Court Theatre, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, the Vineyard Theatre, South Coast Rep, and Soho Theatre, and later seen regionally in the United States and around the world. He is the winner of an OBIE in Playwriting (2004-2005) and a Guggenheim Fellowship in Playwriting (2005), was a Pulitzer Prize finalist (2008), was shortlisted for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play (2008), and has also been nominated for an Olivier Award for Most Promising Playwright (2003), a TMA Award for Best New Play (2006), a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play (2007), and a South Bank Show Award for Theatre (2009). In 2009, his adaptation of Hedda Gabler premiered on Broadway at the Roundabout (American Airlines Theatre) and he has also written short plays for Naked Angels, the 24 Hour Plays, and the New York International Fringe Festival (2002 winner, Best Overall Production). He has received grants from the NEA/TCG Residency Program and the Peter S. Reed Foundation, and he is a recipient of the Robert S. Chesley Award. His plays are published in collections from TCG and A&C Black, and in acting editions from Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts. He teaches playwriting at the New School for Drama.

Creative Team

Mark Scheibmeir – Peter/Craig
Mark was most recently seen onstage as Mr. Darcy in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE at UT. He last appeared for Capital T in the summer hit I HEART WALMART as the Greeter Trainer. Some of his favorite roles include “Virgil” in ARTOIS THE GOAT (film), “Ray X” in BAD PENNY and “Cheswick” in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST. He was recently seen in Austin Shakespeare’s production of AN IDEAL HUSBAND and as Eros in the Cohen New Work’s Festivals Production of THE PSYCHE PROJECT. Mark is represented in Austin by Liz Atherton at Tag Talent. He won the W.H. “Deacon” Crain Award at the 2009 Austin Critics Table Awards this year. He received his B.S. in Radio-Television-Film at The University of Texas at Austin. He returned to UT as a member of the MFA in Acting Program where he is in his final year.

LIZ FISHER – Kelly
Liz was last seen on stage as Varya in Broken String’s Production of THE CHERRY ORCHARD. Favorite roles include: Lily in Hyde Park Theater’s Bombs in Your Mouth (BIP nomination, Austin Critics’ Table nomination)Hyde Park Theatre’s Featuring Loretta (BIP nomination, Austin Critics’ Table nomination), Humans, and The Pillowman; Minus Tide (BIP nomination) for the Rude Mechs and Bayou Radio; Marci in Austin Playhouse’s Dug Up; Austin Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Dog in the Manger (BIP nomination); Reefer Madness, Reefer Madness: Rehashed, and Love’s Labour’s Lost for The Bedlam Faction; HBMG Foundation’s Stroke; The Seagull (Austin Critics’ Table nomination) for Breaking String Theater; Unlimited Automotive’s The Sweetest Swing in Baseball; and Elephant’s Graveyard for UT Department of Theatre and Dance. Film credits include Holy Hell (recently screened at the Austin Film Festival), The Happy Poet, Nightlife, and Six Minutes. Liz is a Core Company Member of Hyde Park Theatre.

Related posts:

1. Cast for Dying City Will Have You Seeing Double
2. Interview with Dying City Director Derek Kolluri
3. Cap T interviews Dying City playwright Christopher Shinn

Capital T presents

Sick

November 5-December 5

Hyde Park Theatre

Following up after its summer hits KILLER JOE and I HEART WALMART Cap T presents SICK by Zayd Dohrn. SICK is an uproarious look at a family of germ-ophobes who have severe allergies to everything from Cheez-Whiz and cleaning supplies to city air. As prisoners inside their vacuum-sealed home and garbed in non-allergic clothing they live each day in terror that a stray mold spore or chemical will sneak into their lives. When Dad brings home one of his graduate students, the family’s fear crescendos– with chaotic comedic consequences.

Cast

Sarah – Tayler Gill

Jim – Joey LePage,

Davey – Stephen Mercantel

Sidney - Joe Reynolds,

Maxine – Rebecca Robinson

“…a young Edward Albee, daring to write humor that hints at danger inside American families” Dallas Observer

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Listen to an interview with Playwright Zayd Dohrn

Read a New York Times Feature Article on Dohrn

About the Playwright

Zayd Dohrn’s plays, including Sick, Magic Forest Farm, and Reborning, have been produced and developed at Manhattan Theatre Club, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Marin Theatre Company, Summer Play Festival, Alliance Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Southern Rep, and Kitchen Dog Theater, among others. He received Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Prize, the Theatre Masters Visionary Playwrights Award, the Sky Cooper Prize, and the Jean Kennedy Smith Award, as well as residencies and/or commissions from Ars Nova, Dallas Theatre Center, Chautauqua, and the Royal Court Theatre of London. He earned his MFA from NYU and was a two-year Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow at Juilliard.

Related posts:

1. Infectiously Talented Cast Announced for SICK
2. Cap T Nominated for 17 ATE Awards and Wins 5 including ‘Company of the Year’!
3. Cap T Nominated for 11 B Iden Payne Awards!

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Comedy – Mason Stewart – B Iden Payne Nomination

Capital T presents

I ♥ Walmart

August 13-August 29

Hyde Park Theatre

Hot on the heels of its summer hit, KILLER JOE, Cap T presents a new original work, I ♥ WALMART, August 13th-29th at Hyde Park Theatre. The play takes an irreverent and insightful look at the people who love Walmart, and the people who love to hate Walmart.

The play was conceived by Mark Pickell and Carrie Klypchak to answer the simple question “Why do so many people love Walmart and continue to shop there?”. The play offers 12 contrasting Walmart experiences in an effort to explore the unique and divisive role Walmart plays in our society and culture. The show is being launched just in time to mourn (or celebrate) the conversion of Austin’s Northcross Mall into an “upscale” Pantheon of 24-hour consumerism.

Welcome to Walmart by Mark Pickell performed by Mark Sheibmeir
Fuckin Walmart by Jim Fritzler performed by Joey LePage
Bob by Brad Klypchak performed by Adam Hilton
Windchimes and Varicose Cream by Kenneth Wayne Bradley performed by Travis Dean
Sarah by Aimee Gonzalez performed by Miriam Shoemaker
Rebranding Meeting by Larry Hill performed by Mason Stewart
Gina by Spencer Driggers performed by Kelli Bland / Laura Cheek
Why I Sold My Baby at the Walmark by Elizabeth Orndorff performed by Carrie Klypchak
Is it a Local Call to the 51st State? by Craig Kenworthy performed by Mateo Barrera
Rock and a Hard Place by Brad Klypchak performed by Ben Wolfe
Requiem for a Retailer by Al Pergande performed by Molly Fonseca

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Related posts:

1. We ♥ the I ♥ Walmart Cast
2. Everyone Hearts Walmart Opening Party
3. Final Performance of I ♥ Walmart Live Webcast

Capital T presents

Killer Joe

by Tracy Letts

Directed by Mark Pickell

Killer Joe is Knocking Crtics Dead!–Read the Reviews!

Heads roll, shatter and blow in KILLER JOE, the savagely funny, pitch-dark comedy by Pulitzer Prize Winning playwright Tracy Letts (AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY).

The play focuses on the Smith family, a greedy, vindictive clan of trailer-trash Texans who hatch a plan to murder their estranged, naggy, alcoholic matriarch to cash in on her insurance policy. Unable to bring themselves to do the deed, they hire Killer Joe Cooper (Ken Bradley), a full-time cop and part-time contract killer. Once he steps into their trailer, their simple plan quickly spirals out of control.

No related posts.

Outstanding Acting in a Leading Role – Austin Critics Table Award Nomination

Top 9 Arts Happenings of 2009 – Austin American-Statesman

the US Premiere of

The Bird

and The Bee

by Al Smith and Matt Hartley

Chloe and Jacob are beautifully in love. The first time they meet, they end their lives.

The Bird and The Bee are  two short plays explore the trajectory of two disaffected youths in two starkly different stories. Acted by the same company of 6 actors the Bird by Al Smith explores Jakob’s journey, while The Bee by Matt Hartley tells Chloe’s story.

The runaway hit of the 2008 Edinburgh Festival is making it’s US premiere as part of FronteraFest 2009.

Cast

Chase Wooldridge*

Tayler Gill

Melissa Recalde

Blake Smith

Matt Wasson

Mary Katherine Dickey

*nominated for Outstanding Acting in a Leading Role – 2009 Austin Critics Table Awards

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Related posts:

1. Capital T Announces cast for The Bird and The Bee
2. Interview with Al Smith writer of the Bird
3. Interview with Matt Hartley writer of The Bee

Winner – Outstanding Actress in a Lead Role – Xochitl Romero – B Iden Payne Award 2009

Blackbird

By David Harrower

Cast

Ray – Ken Webster

Una – Xochitl Romero

Related posts:

1. Blackbird Review by KUT (Video)
2. Statesman Reviews BLACKBIRD
3. Cap T Wins 4 B Iden Payne Awards