New downtown Sioux City theater opens with Albee classic
12:29 PM
By Joanne Foxjfox@siouxcityjournal.com | Posted: Friday, October 10, 2008
SIOUX CITY -- Edward Albee's classic play, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" will be Shot in the Dark's premiere performance at a new downtown venue.
Written by the Pulitzer Prize author in 1962, the play was made into a 1966 movie that was nominated for an incredible 13 Academy Awards (in every eligible category) and starred the husband and wife team of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, in addition to George Segal and Sandy Dennis. The movie garnered Oscars for both women and nominations for both men, as well as nods for Mike Nichols as Best Director and for Best Picture.
But the SITD presentation will not try to recreate the film, said Michael Skaff, director.
"Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were at their acting prime when the movie was produced," so we aren't trying to copy the movie or their performances," he said.
However, any great piece of theater can be reinterpreted, Skaff said.
"We took the script, and looked at these characters from our 2008 perspective," he explained. "Also, I will bet the majority of people haven't seen the movie in years, if at all, so a memory of the movie has most likely faded."
After seasons at the Cattle Club Collective, Firehouse #3 and the Castle on the Hill, the new Evelyn Larson Theatre, located at 413 Nebraska St., is the permanent home of Shot in the Dark Productions, which was initiated in 2006, the result of a $22,000 Iowa Community Cultural Grant under the auspices of the Iowa Arts Council.
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" opens the season for Shot in the Dark Productions today and Saturday with continuing dates on Oct. 17, 18, 24, and 25. Tickets are $8 per person; $15 for couples and $5 for students and are available at the door. For more information please go to www.shotprod.org or e-mail sitdproductions@gmail.com.
Read more of this story Sunday in the Journal's print edition and online at siouxcityjournal.com.
Written by the Pulitzer Prize author in 1962, the play was made into a 1966 movie that was nominated for an incredible 13 Academy Awards (in every eligible category) and starred the husband and wife team of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, in addition to George Segal and Sandy Dennis. The movie garnered Oscars for both women and nominations for both men, as well as nods for Mike Nichols as Best Director and for Best Picture.
But the SITD presentation will not try to recreate the film, said Michael Skaff, director.
"Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were at their acting prime when the movie was produced," so we aren't trying to copy the movie or their performances," he said.
However, any great piece of theater can be reinterpreted, Skaff said.
"We took the script, and looked at these characters from our 2008 perspective," he explained. "Also, I will bet the majority of people haven't seen the movie in years, if at all, so a memory of the movie has most likely faded."
After seasons at the Cattle Club Collective, Firehouse #3 and the Castle on the Hill, the new Evelyn Larson Theatre, located at 413 Nebraska St., is the permanent home of Shot in the Dark Productions, which was initiated in 2006, the result of a $22,000 Iowa Community Cultural Grant under the auspices of the Iowa Arts Council.
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" opens the season for Shot in the Dark Productions today and Saturday with continuing dates on Oct. 17, 18, 24, and 25. Tickets are $8 per person; $15 for couples and $5 for students and are available at the door. For more information please go to www.shotprod.org or e-mail sitdproductions@gmail.com.
Read more of this story Sunday in the Journal's print edition and online at siouxcityjournal.com.
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