Fatboy was originally produced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2004, where it won the Fringe First award. Critical praise for that production includes: "a highly entertaining, knockabout satire. . . comedy that in the end, demands that you stop laughing." -NY Times. "a groundbreaking piece of American absurdism...an important theatrical moment...this is a brilliant political satire, hitting the zeitgeist right where it hurts," -The Scotsman. ". . . a romp- a great, vulgar cartoonish satire. . . featuring a dazzling central performance"- The Sunday Times. ". . . the kind of frontal assault the younger audiences want to see, . . . they are getting their money's worth."- BACKSTAGE. ". . .savage. . grimly comic. . . shocking. . . employs comedy as a blunt weapon. . . Clancy sets you up for belly laughs, then sucker punches you in the gut."- TimeOut NY. "This is satire at its best: black, sharp and brutal." - The Guardian. "A 70-minute blitzkrieg in three acts. . . an impressively unrestrained production." - The Financial Times
The Associate Artistic Director of NeedTheater. Directing credits include Suzan-Lori Parks' Venus and an original adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. Other directing highlights include Collaboraction's Sketchbook 6 and several pieces for the nationwide 365Days/365Plays Festival. Ian spent eight years in Chicago, and in that time worked with Chicago Dramatists, The Goodman, Lookingglass, Steppenwolf, Steep Theater, Theater Wit, Strawdog, and Collaboraction, where he held the Associate Artistic Director position for the 2006-2007 season. Off-Broadway credits in New York include Richard and Anne with The Mirror Rep and the New York Theater Workshop reading series. He holds a degree in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is a graduate of The School at Steppenwolf.
Alexander Wells (Numb3rs, Radio Free Albemuth) stars as Fatboy and Rebecca Jordan as Fudgie. The cast also features Alan Simpson, Abigail Eiland, and Bobby Charles Reed.
Matt B. Wells and Micah Wylie are producing, with scenic design by Mark Mendelson, lighting design by Brandon Baruch, costume design by Vandy Scoates, prop design by Renee Peffer, makeup by Alison Kantrowich, original music by Dylan Ris, and dramaturgy by Dylan Southard.
RESIDENT ARTIST PROFILE- Jayk Gallagher
As a Resident Artist with needtheater, Jayk is grateful to return to his roots acting, directing, writing, and producing theater as a catalyst for positive social change.
Jayk will be acting in the upcoming needtheater Workshop of August G, and will direct Eric Coble's Natural Selection for the needtheater Spring Main Stage show.
After graduating from Emerson College with a BA in Theater Studies (Acting and Directing), and after causing a ruckus with his one-man show, Flesh-Eating Leftists, Jayk Gallagher split from Boston to LA in 2004.
Since then he's produced comedic work for the internet and Current TV, as well as appeared in numerous national commercials.
Jayk has a cat named Sooty, rides a moped that gets 70 miles a gallon, is six feet tall, and smells amazing.
RESIDENT ARTIST PROFILE- Daniel Burrows
Daniel Burrows is a graduate of Syracuse University's Musical Theater Program. He is in a serious relationship with Los Angeles and, through his involvement with needtheater, is now ready to take it to the next level. (He is also currently engaged to an actual female human.)
With needtheater, Daniel acted this year in LaLaLa and Birdy, and also worked as a Stage Manager. He loves the work and is pleased as punch to be a Resident Artist.
Daniel has worked often at the American Shakespeare Center in Virginia, where his favorite roles include Sebastian, Peter Quince, and Richmond. He has a background in Classical Theater and a foreground in what will someday be classical.
Daniel also collaborated this year in the making of Whiffleball, which he in terms "the greatest movie ever." Look for it online. He plays the guitar, loves karaoke, and can't wait to see you at the next needtheater show.
About me: ArtBash 29/08
Where the Arts Go to Party
A festival from the heart of LA's arts community.
To celebrate the worst financial crash since 1929.
Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008. 8pm-2am.
$20 admission, $10 open bar access.
At the A+D Museum,
5900 Wilshire Blvd,
(across from LACMA).
Presented by NeedTheater
in Association with the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
Featuring performances from over 50 artists, including...
DJ set by dj.AnaRoxSicc
Live performances by
Anacron of The Peanut Gallery, featuring Netherworlds (Murs, Himself,
and Anacron), Kruse, DJ Jedi (Digable Planets), and Tha Brothaload:
Blvme and Double-K (of People Under The Stairs).
Dance by
The Original L.A. Breakers, L.A. Contemporary Dance Company, Invertigo
Dance Theatre, Vox Dance Theatre, Kim & Bobby, the Follies Sisters,
and Monday Night Tease.
Theater by
Poor Dog Group, Mudskipper U, Cabeza de Vaca Arcestra, and CDN Collective.
Music by
Petrojvic Blasting Company, Soup Greens, Ryan Harrison, Gerhard Schultz.
Circus by
Kinetic Theory Theatre
Sponsored by
Barefoot Wine, New Belgium Brewing, LeTourmentVert Absinthe, Boru
Vodka, Monster Energy Drinks, Hansen's Natural Soda, Argentum Signs,
The Out Crowd, and the Studio Wardrobe Department.
Full info at www.artbashla.com
needtheater Presents
The West Coast Premiere of
FATBOY
A play by John Clancy
"FATBOY succeeds as sheer satire...Director Ian Forester is bracingly cheeky, as is his engaging cast." -LA Times
"GO!...[FATBOY] lands here just in time...Gleeful...Grand performances..."- LA Weekly
Fridays and Saturdays 8 PM
Sundays 5 PM
Sept 26 - Oct 26
The Imagined Life Theater (formerly known as 2100 Square Feet)
5615 San Vicente Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90019
$17 General Admission
$15 Students/Seniors
Free attendant parking included
Buy Tickets at
www.needtheater.org or 1-800-838-3006
More info:
www.needtheater.org
or
www.myspace.com/needtheater
Directed by Ian Forester
Produced by Matt B. Wells and Micah Wylie
Based on Alfred Jarry's groundbreaking absurdist play Ubu Roi, Fatboy follows its titular character and his wife Fudgie as they make their bloody climb out of the slums to the heights of power, along the way dealing destruction and death to all who stand in their way. Anything that exists they consume, until there is nothing left to conquer but the savage, ambitious, everlasting other.
Fatboy is a seventy-minute pitch-black comedy, a shock-opera of hilarious vulgarity that rips away the thin veil of politesse to show us our own grotesque reflection: selfish, venal, corrupt, marked by cruelty and ambition posed as patriotic virtue. The characters are super-sized and timeless, their hunger without end. Fatboy is a live-action Punch and Judy show, a fast-moving, shocking funhouse-mirror reflection of the world today.
Playwright John Clancy is the Founding Artistic Director of the Present Company and a founding Artistic Director of the New York International Fringe Festival, North America's largest theater and performance festival. His plays have won the American Shorts Contest, the San Francisco Playwrights Center Dramarama, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award. He has directed five Scotsman Fringe First-winning productions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, including Americana Absurdum by Brian Parks, Cincinnati by Don Nigro, Horse Country and screwmachine/eyecandy, both by CJ Hopkins, and his own Fatboy. Both Horse Country and Cincinnati went on to win the Best of the Fringe Award at the Adelaide Fringe in 2004. He serves on the Advisory Council of needtheater, the New York Theatre Experience and the 24:7 Theatre Festival in Manchester, England. He was awarded the New York Magazine Award in 1997 for "creativity, enterprise, and vision." In 2006, he received an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Direction. He lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with his wife, actress Nancy Walsh.
MORE ABOUT NEEDTHEATER
needtheater is committed to affecting positive change through engaging audiences in theater as social dialogue.
Our productions expand the idea of what constitutes "theater" through
interdisciplinary collaborations, unconventional performance venues
and non-traditional subject matter.
needtheater is also dedicated to facilitating conversations between its
artists and historically under served audiences through productions which
focus on the experience of living and working in Los Angeles in the 21st. century.
Who I'd like to meet: Artists. Audience. Activists. Donors. Volunteers.
Le Cirque Presents the Social Surrealist farce Los Bancos – The Immoral Haze Part 1 to be Broadcast on Resonance 104.4 FM resonancefm.com Thursday, March 26th @ 8 pm and Part 2 on Friday 27th @ 8pm (See Le Cirque Blog for Blurb)
Hello needtheater! Greetings from Georgia and hope your doing well! Thanks again for adding ADitude Advertising!
If you should ever have the need for unique promotional items like T-shirts that GLOW, T-Shirts in the shape of a Guitar, Thongs, Buttons, Beverage Koozies, Stickers, Magnets, Banners, Hats, Posters, Temporary Tattoos, Postcards, Guitar Picks, Shot Glasses, Coolers, Flip Flops, Beach Balls, Lighters and over half a million more cool products, please keep ADitude Advertising in mind!
Hello needtheater! Greetings from Georgia and hope your summer is going well! Thanks again for adding ADitude Advertising!
If you should ever have the need for unique promotional items like T-shirts that GLOW, T-Shirts in the shape of a Guitar, Thongs, Buttons, Beverage Koozies, Stickers, Magnets, Banners, Hats, Posters, Temporary Tattoos, Postcards, Guitar Picks, Shot Glasses, Coolers, Flip Flops, Beach Balls, Lighters and over half a million more cool products, please keep ADitude Advertising in mind!
Thank you so much for being a friend to "Daughters of Heaven". We'd love it if you (and all your LA friends, of course) would come to see this amazing production (if you didn't already know, this is the play which inspired "Heavenly Creatures"). The cast and director are extraordinary -- check out the rave reviews in Backstage West and LA Weekly!! Please help us spread the word -- and join us at the theatre's wine bar after the show! Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM through April 26 at Alexia Robinson Studios at 2811 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank. Check the website for more information and to purchase tickets -- www. brittaniajonesproductions. com
"needtheater is devoted to investigating original works of art that push the boundaries of performance and reverberate throughout the LA Basin with a much-needed theatrical noise."
More Noise!
Thanks for the add, and for the work that you're doing!
