Nissequogue River State Park (I-Newswire) July 13, 2011 - Frolicking and Flirting in Kings Park!
Airmid Theatre Company presents the World Premier of
A LITTLE BETRAYAL AMONG FRIENDS
as part of its 3rd Annual Summer Theatre Festival
at Nissequogue River State Park
Love & deception abound in this comic world premier where SHAKESPEARE meets "SEX IN THE CITY."
Mature themes; Strong language. Airmid Theatre presents a play from the Spanish Golden Age, the only English language translation specifically commissioned for performance of the comedy, A LITTLE BETRAYAL AMONG FRIENDS by Caridad Svich freely adapted and translated from Maria Zayas de Sotomayor's La Traicion de la Amistad.
A LITTLE BETRAYAL AMONG FRIENDS will be presented for 16 performances; starting with a public preview on Tuesday, July 26 at 7pm; Opening Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 7pm thru Sunday, August, 14th at 3 pm. Performances run for three weeks; Wednesdays through Saturday evenings at 7pm, and Sundays at 3pm for a total of 16 performances. The play is performed outdoors behind the Bird Pond at the Nissequogue River State Park at 799 St. Johnland Road, Kings Park, NY 11754 (formerly the Kings Park Psychiatric Center). All performances are FREE to the public. Bring blankets and/or chairs since seating is not provided. CALL 631-704-2888 or email infor@airmidtheatre.org for more information.
This production is directed by TRICIA MCDERMOTT, sets by TYMBERLEY WHITESEL, costumes by BROOKE COHEN, featuring performances by returning company members ELYSE BEYER, DOMINIC DEGAETANO, ANTOINE JONES, with newcomers MICHAEL RINERE, STEPHANIE ISRAELSON with several guest artists and Actors’ Equity Association members CAROLINE STRONG and AMAR SRIVASTAVA.
Amor. Lujuria. Sexo. It's what's on the minds of everyone in this 17th century comic romp. Three women, all in love with the same man. One is his jilted fiancée. One is a toy for his pleasure. But the third… she is a free spirit in life and the art of love. Sex and the City has nothing on these upper class ladies who use all the tools at their disposal--love letters, disguises, late night assignations, and even carnal pleasures--to find and keep true love.
This romantic comedy puts a twist on the traditional Don Juan legend. In it we see how, even 400 years ago, women recognized their own sexuality and felt the tug of war between their own needs and the role they were expected to play in society. This piece can easily be seen as a theatrical precursor to the writings of women like Simone de Beauvoir or Betty Friedan, or to television and film works like Sex and the City.
ABOUT THE PLAY AND THE AUTHOR
La traicion en la amistad, or The Betrayal of Friendship, by Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor (1590–~1647). Ms. y Sotomayor is among the better known of her contemporaries but little is known about the life of this author and her writing. Despite the lack of information, her prose writings are often anthologized and studied today. She is known to have lived much of her life in Madrid, stayed for a 6-year period in her youth in Naples, Italy, and may have lived in Barcelona for an eight year period between writing her novelas. She published poems in the period between 1621 and 1639, and 2 novelas, in 1637 and 1647 respectively.
No exact publication date can be sited for this play, but historical references and critical comments place the play’s dates between 1628-1632. Similar to the plays of other authors from Madrid of this period, we see the play set in various places like the Prado and the Duke of Lerma’s garden. Also, like the plays of this period, we see the plot center around the peccadilloes of a braggart and seductor. However, our seductor is a seductress, Fenisa and her pursuit of a man named Don Liseo. The play is also unique in that Fensia holds herself out from the community of the other women in the play, and each male character pursues “his own interests” in the play. Dramatic conventions like those used by Shakespeare and other writers of the period include nighttime rendezvous, exchanges of love notes, and the meetings of balconies to help tell the tale until the story chaos unravels and order is restored.
A LITTLE BETRAYAL AMONG FRIENDS was the first commission of the Airmid Theatre’s translation workshop program in 2004 and reflects Airmid’s commitment to world literature and to working with living playwrights. Through the translation project, Airmid recovers the best texts written by female playwrights from all nations and ages for study, translation, and ultimately, for production in English. The first public reading of this new adaptation took place on December 11, 2006 and was made possible by the Open Meadows Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Grant administered by the Huntington Arts Council.
ABOUT THE AIRMID SUMMER THEATRE FESTIVAL
2011 marks the third year for Airmid’s free Summer Theatre Festival, which includes both A LITTLE BETRAYAL AMONG FRIENDS and the family series play JACK AND THE PRINCESS WHO NEVER LAUGHED. Audiences should provide their own seating, blankets on the grass, or chairs, and are encouraged to come to the park early to enjoy a picnic lunch or dinner in the park (not provided). Cancellation due to inclement weather will be announced 1 hour prior to performances. Call 631-704-2888 or check on Airmid’s Upcoming Events page for details. Parking fees maybe required based on time of arrival in the park.
Airmid’s Summer Theatre Festival has been funded in part by the Town of Smithtown, and Suffolk County under the auspices of the Office of Cultural Affairs, Steve Levy County Executive and administered by the Smithtown Arts Council. Funding support also provided by the Angela and Scott Jaggar Foundation for the Airmid family series, and Albrecht Viggiano Zureck & Company, Astoria Federal Saving Bank, JP Morgan Chase Bank, the Nissequogue River State Parks Foundation.
Festival Sponsorships and Advertising opportunities still available. Contact Airmid at support@airmidtheatre.org for details on donor/sponsor levels and ad sizes and pricing.
About Airmid Theatre Company
The Airmid Theatre Company, founded in 2000, is the only theatre in the world whose mission is to recover, collect, and produce classic works by women. With these plays at the heart of its mission, the company creates a safe home for women theatre artists, and ignites broad public recognition of the essential contribution women have made to the worlds of theatre, dramatic literature, and society. By establishing the history of playwriting by women and professionally producing their work, we open the door to broader discussion on women’s roles today, and in the future. For more information about Airmid Theatre Company, please visit www.airmidtheatre.org.
Airmid Summer Theatre Festival presents
A LITTLE BETRAYAL AMONG FRIENDS by Caridad Svich freely adapted and translated
from Maria Zayas de Sotomayor's La Traicion de la Amistad.
Directed by Tricia McDermott
Set Design Tymberley Whitesel
Costumes by Brooke Cohen
Preview, Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Opens Wednesday, July 27 through August 14, 2011
16 performances. Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:00pm, Sundays at 3:00pm
Free admission. (NYS Parks Parking fees may apply.)
For Information Call: 631-704-2888 or info@airmidtheatre.org
About Airmid Theatre Company:
The Airmid Theatre Company, founded in 2000, is the only theatre in the world whose mission is to recover, collect, and produce classic works by women. With these plays at the heart of its mission, the company creates a safe home for women theatre artists, and ignites broad public recognition of the essential contribution women have made to the worlds of theatre, dramatic literature, and society. By establishing the history of playwriting by women and professionally producing their work, we open the door to broader discussion on women’s roles today, and in the future.
Company Contact Information
Airmid Theatre Company
Cornelia Hanes
Nissequogue River State Park
11754
Phone : 631-704-2888
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