Renaissance Theaterworks Blog

PLAYWRIGHT:  DAVID HARROWER

Born in Edinburgh in 1966, David Harrower now lives in Glasgow, Scotland. After dropping in and out of college and working menial jobs as a young man, he embarked on a disciplined course of self-education, reading library books obsessively eight hours a day for two years. His first play, KNIVES IN HENS (1995), was a critical and popular success.  PRESENCE (2001), DARK EARTH (2003) and KILL THE OLD TORTURE THEIR YOUNG (2003) soon followed.  Harrower has also written dramatic adaptations and translations – of Pirandello, Chekhov and Schiller among them – as well as projects for BBC television and film. But it was BLACKBIRD (2005) that triggered his career’s meteoric rise.

BLACKBIRD

The Edinburgh International Festival commissioned Harrower to write BLACKBIRD, premiering it in 2005.  Receiving exceptional reviews, it was moved to London’s West End and Stockholm in 2006, produced in New York and San Francisco 2007, and in 2008 toured the UK and was then produced all around the world.

BLACKBIRD earned the prestigious Laurence Oliver Award (Britain’s version of the Tony’s) in 2007, jettisoning it to the forefront of outstanding new plays. It also won the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland in 2006 and earned Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago a Joseph Jefferson Award for “Best Acting” this past autumn.

Harrower’s inspiration for BLACKBIRD was a newspaper account of sex-offender Tony Studebaker, a military man who made contact with an underage girl on the internet, later having a sexual relationship with her.  (The play does not follow the story of that trial literally.) As a result of the Studebaker case, Britain introduced laws regulating Internet chat rooms that allowed older adults to “groom” underage victims.

According to Harrower, BLACKBIRD at one point contained 15 characters, 4 locales, the ghost of Marvin Gaye and a performance by a children’s choir.  “You kind of have to go to that stupid place… to get back,” said the playwright.  He then cut the cast down to 3 and finished the play in 4 weeks. The resulting work’s literary style is reminiscent of David Mamet’s with its distilled, staccato, strangely poetic dialogue.

BLACKBIRD is a challenging work for actors, director and audience members alike.  Its subject is painful and disturbing.  But the work’s authenticity and artistry struck both our Artistic Core and Play Selection Advisory Committee as haunting and outstanding.  Renaissance is proud to premiere this provocative and stunning drama to the Milwaukee community.  We hope that its unflinching examination of human interactions sheds light on this dark issue.

- Marie Kohler

Jennifer Rupp

Here’s Renaissance Theaterworks’ Co-Artistic Director, Jennifer Rupp, with her mouth open again – always performing. If she’s not performing on stage with fellow Red Pepper Jelly cast members, she’s performing her fundraising duties for Renaissance or performing her business manager duties for ComedySportz (where she works with her husband, Dick Chudnow, and son, Nick Chudnow). Interesting Facts: Jennifer can flip a coin on her belly, knows the National Anthem by heart and loves cookies…any kind of cookies.

Mathew Blades at 94.5 Lake FM interviewed Julie Swenson about Renaissance and our upcoming production of The Smell of the Kill.    Take a listen.

Listen now!

Most people recognize John McGivern as the wacky stylist in the ever-popular SHEAR MADNESS.   Other hometown appearances included:

You can also catch John on WKLH FM 96.5 Radio Show and, on Fridays, he hosts the Daily Dish segment on WTMJ 4.

BUT DID YOU ALSO KNOW?????

John is starring in Renaissance’s one-man production of “American Fiesta” April 23-May 23, 2010.   Single Tickets go on sale to the public March 1, 2010.   BUT, if you purchase a season subscription for only $75, you can get your “American Fiesta” tickets today.  Click here to order your subscription now!

MARIE KOHLER wears many hats for Renaissance Theaterworks.  A Co-Founder of the company, she is also a Co-Artistic Director and its Playwright-in-Residence. Born and raised in Wisconsin, Marie holds a BA with honors from Harvard University and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Marie’s lifelong passion and enthusiasm for the theater help shape the artistic vision of Renaissance Theaterworks. As playwright, she has written five well-received plays, four of which were written for and produced by Renaissance Theaterworks: COUNTING DAYS, MIDNIGHT AND MOLL FLANDERS, BOSWELL’S DREAMS and most recently, THE DIG in 2009.  Marie is proud to have been named “Artist of the Year” by the Milwaukee Arts’ Board in 2005. To learn more about Marie and her plays, visit her website.

Many of you have asked us, “who are the people on the cover of your season brochure?”   And we’d like to tell you.    So, every week we will post the photo and “411″ on each person featured on the brochure.   These artists, subscribers, donors, board members, friends, family and staff of Renaissance Theaterworks represent you, the loyal supporters of our company and its artistic vision.

Enjoy!