Undermain Theatre announces 25th anniversary season

by Shawn Parikh

This week, I had mentioned how Undermain Theatre was bringing back their hit of last season, Neil Young's Greendale, but along with this news, they have just revealed the 4 shows for their 2008-2009 season. They always provide some new and intriguing work to DFW so make sure to check it out:

• Neil Young’s Greendale from September 10 – October 4, 2008. Adapted by Bruce DuBose and directed by Katherine Owens. With what The Village Voice called its “celebrated production”, Undermain Theatre returns from a sold out run at The Ice Factory Festival in New York City and a feature story in The New York Times’ Sunday Arts & Leisure section. During the spring run of Neil Young’s Greendale, Undermain continued to develop the show with new staging and new cast additions. In September, Undermain will bring Dallas the winning, updated version of this profound Rock Opera by rock legend Neil Young – a one-of-a-kind experience.Including the same legendary band and power-house cast.
• Monkey: The Quest to the West from October 9-11 and October 16-18, 2008. Created and performed by Laura Jorgensen and Fred Curchack. Undermain Theatre brings back the exciting and entertaining work of performers extraordinaire Fred Curchack and Laura Jorgenson on the heels of last year’s NOH: Angels, Demons & Dreamers. Monkey: The Quest to the West is a theatrical adaptation of one of the most beloved novels from China, The Journey to the West. The story follows the supernatural trickster Monkey King who makes war with heaven until he is imprisoned under a mountain by Buddha. After five hundred years, he is freed to protect a Buddhist monk on his perilous journey from China to India to bring back spiritual teachings. On the way they encounter all manner of deities, demons, monsters and outrageous misadventures. This magical story has been adapted for The Beijing Opera, several kung fu movies (Jackie Chan and Jet Li are currently teaming up in a new version), plays, rock operas, cartoons, anime, manga, and cult TV series in China, Japan, England, and the U.S. ("Lost Empire").
• Eurydice from November 22 - December 13, 2008. Written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Bruce DuBose. Undermain Theatre is thrilled to take on the work of this brilliant young writer. Sarah Ruhl’s plays include The Clean House (Susan Smith Blackburn Award, 2004), Melancholy Play, Eurydice, Late: a cowboy song, Orlando, and Passion Play. She received her M.F.A. from Brown University, and is originally from Chicago. In 2003, she was the recipient of a Helen Merrill Award and a Whiting Writers’ Award. In Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl re-imagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story.
• The Black Monk from March 28 – April 25, 2009. Adapted by David Rabe and directed by Katherine Owens. David Rabe brings Anton Chekov’s surreal spiritual mystery to vivid life. Tony and Obie award winning writer David Rabe is the author of such classic American contemporary plays as Stick and Bones, Hurlyburly, Streamers, In the Boom Boom Room and more. He’s also written screenplays for films such as I’m Dancing as fast as I can, The Firm and Casualties of War. Undermain returns to Rabe’s work after the acclaimed production of Rabe’s play Goose and Tom Tom, which Rabe attended in 1991. Kovrin, a young scholar exhausted to the point of madness by his studies decides to visit his childhood friend Tanya on her father's garden estate. The two fall in love and plan to marry. Kovrin tells Tanya the legend of the black monk whose image has been reflected in mirages for a thousand years and who will soon return in the flesh. One day in the garden, the black monk appears to the young man and claims to hold the key to an enlightenment that may lead to total devastation.