Monday, January 10, 2011

The Faces of Doctor Crippen Poster Design

Artistic Associate and fellow devious black heart Phineas X. Jones has designed both the poster and postcard for our upcoming production of The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen at the Steppenwolf Garage Rep. To be frank about it, they totally kick ass. Phineas is a master of his craft. Look at how deftly he handles the skull topper?

Check out some more of his work at http://octophant.us/
You can buy directly from the web and own some amazing original art for your tree house.


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs754.snc4/65411_473738223140_713688140_5881612_4035021_n.jpg

Sunday, January 9, 2011

The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen: In Rehearsal!

Hello friendly friends and blog followers.

We're spending the next month rehearsing The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen for the Steppenwolf GARAGE REP. It's going to be a guaranteed slam-bang, utterly ridiculous, curiously creepy, funny, scary, deep dark and beware-y kind of time. If you loved Mr. Spacky, The Mysterious Elephant and The Dastardly Ficus. This show is for you. (Kiss blown.)

Written by Emily Schwartz, Directed by Jimmy McDermott and featuring: Cory Aiello, Delia Baseman, Scott Cupper, Weston Davis, Carol Enoch, Jenifer Henry, Matt Holzfeind, Bob Kruse, Jennifer Marschand, Kate Nawrocki & Stuart Ritter.

That's right, the gang's all here. (Well, almost Liz Bagby is working behind the scenes on music and scenic design as she'll be acting in Signal Ensemble's upcoming show, and me (Emily) who is writing the play.)

Let's take some questions from the peanut gallery:
How is it going?
Awesomely.
Are you super stressed?
Yes. This is a big one for us! We've been beating the storefront path for six years and we're ready to spread our wings in 2011.
So there's a murder in this, correct?
A pretty horrific murder but there is also singing and acrobatic frippery.
And it's based on a true story?
Yes, it is. The story of Doctor H. H. Crippen who was accused of murdering his wife and running off with his typist (who was dressed as a boy) in 1910.
So it's funny?
Very much so. There are moments of the show where the comedy shines through. It's hard to have a team like ours and not try and pull all that you can from the hilarious absurdity of this poor man's situation, however there are also sections of the play that revolve around the love story or very sudden and extreme violence. So hopefully the show will touch on many different emotional levels. Keep in mind that this one is probably not for anyone under the age of 15 due to the graphic nature of the crime and the gory story we're telling. We don't want to be the cause of anyone's neurotic reoccurring nightmares.
How do you like working with Jimmy McDermott?
Jimmy just came off of directing the wildly successful Boojum! at the DCA storefront theater and has been very hands on with the entire team. It's a joy having him around and his humor and thoughtfulness concerning the text will really take this show to the next level. It's exciting to watch the piece come together and take in rehearsal in process.