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Something in the Air at Playreaders
By Mike Gottlieb
Theater
Something in the Air
Weds, Thurs, Sept 5–(N)6, 7:30pm
St. Paul's Church
Cardo 6
10 Pesos
Michael Gottlieb directs the next Playreaders’ production of Richard Dresser’s hysterical black comedy, Something in the Air. The play, filled with film noir passion and irony, follows the path of “everyman” Walker, a down-on-his luck loser with a heart of gold. Walker, ready to throw in the towel, pursues one last life-saving opportunity; a no-risk investment; a sure thing. He purchases the life insurance policy of an impoverished dying man, Cram. In exchange for beneficiary rights, Walker agrees to pick up the dying man’s rent, expenses and insurance premiums.
But, as with all sure things, it goes wrong when Cram does not fulfill his part of the bargain and die. Instead, he is inspired to live as Walker’s desperation for him to expire grows. Finally, Walker, on the brink of financial ruin from the costs of Cram's little luxuries (pedicures, shoes, kites and porn), decides to nudge Cram along to his death. He hires a goody-two-shoes nurse to help Cram end his misery and pain.
Of course, in a comedy of errors, manners and intrigue, nothing is as it seems and no one escapes the double-cross and a lesson in morality.
New York theatrical reviews of Dresser’s comedy call the script “scathingly hilarious with wit-snapping dialog” and “an explosion of wry humor.”
Five of San Miguel's finest actors have signed on for Something in the Air:
Jim Newell plays Walker, our hero. Locals know Newell for his turn as Thomas More in last winter’s Actor's Lab staging of A Man for all Seasons and as the unsuitable groom in last month's Players’ Workshop production of Impossible Marriage.
Geoff Hargreaves plays Neville, the sly businessman with the foolproof scheme for fools. Geoff played Cromwell to Newell's More and recently starred in Playreaders’ Waiting for Godot.
Tom King is Cram, the curmudgeon who swings wildly back and forth between death-bed confession and a self-righteous mania to live to fight another day. King starred in last winter's Players’ Workshop production of Prelude to a Kiss and recently was seen as Anne's father in Willow Bend's staging of The Diary of Anne Frank.
Jill Gottlieb is Sloane, the mysterious femme fatale who sweeps Walker off his feet and into a desperate tailspin to please her, though she wants absolutely nothing. Gottlieb was recently seen in Playreaders' Good as New and played Mrs. Frank in the Diary of Anne Frank.
Anna Bensaud rounds out the spectacular cast as Nurse Holloway, the ultimate do-gooder out to do no good. Bensaud comes fresh off her hilarious performance as Pandora in Impossible Marriage.
Eli Nadel handles lights and sound.
Learn the pleasure of acting
Workshop
The Pleasure of Acting
Tues & Thurs, Sept 18–(N)Oct 25, 11am–(N)2pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Teatro Santa Ana will soon raise the curtain for the second edition of “The Pleasure of Acting,” an improvisation workshop open to everyone who wants to have the experience of acting while feeling safe from fear and frustration.
To act is to live an imaginary situation as though it were true. It is to play with life—(M)to reach for the highest emotional risk, yet to be safe you are someone else and the situation is not real. Acting is a way of deepening your knowledge of yourself, without judgment. It is learning how to laugh in the face of life.
This unique workshop will be taught by Ana María Muñoz, who has taught for 21 years in professional acting schools in Chile and Mexico. She learned the Actors Studio’s Method in Santiago from Luis Wigdorsky, who had studied with Lee Strasberg.
Muñoz was a speech therspist who, after studying acting, dedicated herself to vocal-coaching actors, as a researcher and teacher. She developed her own approach, an organic method based on developing body awareness and breathing release.
In 1994, Muñoz was invited to teach at the National Center of Arts’ Acting School (ENAT) in Mexico City. She has lived in Mexico ever since. She is the author of the book Bases Orgánicas para la Educación de la Voz, and of several articles. She has trained acting teachers in Mexico City and consulted for numerous theatrical productions, including Guanajuato´s Cervantino Festival.
After teaching for 11 years at the National Center of Arts, Ana María Muñoz now lives in San Miguel de Allende, and wants to share her passion and experience with people living here.
“The Pleasure of Acting” workshop will focus on developing improvisational skills, following the Actors’ Studio Method. Everyone will have the opportunity to play scenes on stage, solving a fictional conflict through improvisation. Physical exercises will open your body to acting and help ground emotions in scene conflicts. Everyone will learn much about the appreciation of acting from Muñoz’s comments on the improvised scenes.
Classes are presented in both English and Spanish. For more information, contact munoz_anamaria@yahoo.ca. You may register with José Luis at Teatro Santa Ana in the Biblioteca Pública.
First-person voices from 9/11 and the Iraq war
Theater
In Their Own Words: Survivors, Victims and Heroes of 9/11 and the Iraq
Tues, Sept 11, 5 and 7pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Relox 50A
50 pesos
www.theatersanmiguel.com
On September 11, Iguana Productions, in association with Authors’ Sala, presents In Their Own Words: Survivors, Victims and Heroes of 9/11 and the Iraq War.
In Their Own Words strives to shine a light on catastrophic events of the past six years in dramatized staged readings of first-hand experiences selected from books, interviews, magazine articles and internet sources. Riveting, tragic, humorous, this collection of original voices has been edited by Kirsten Dehner, and directed by Alan Jordan. It features Billie Bremer, Lou Christine, Marshall Dackert, William Henderson, Steve Hoffman, Merle Howard, Jill Gottlieb, Michael Gottlieb, Maria Eugenia Llano, Susan Page, Philip Sheridan, and Martha Hernandez as readers, with Libby Clemens on viola.
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