DURANGO PLAYFEST ANNOUNCES ANOTHER NEW PLAY WITH MAJOR STARS
Mike Farrell of M*A*S*H fame and Laura Spencer will star in the reading of “Dizziness of Freedom”, a new play by Stephen Nathan.
Durango PlayFest announced today that Mike Farrell and Laura Spencer will star in the Festival’s staged reading of The Dizziness of Freedom by Stephen Nathan. The work is one of three plays that make up the inaugural season of PlayFest, including Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Lee Blessing and his play A Body of Water, with actors Dan Lauria (“The Wonder Years”) and Wendie Malick (“Just Shoot Me”). Farrell is well-loved and remembered for his role as B.J. Hunnicutt in the hit series “M*A*S*H”. When the popular show went off the air, he resisted series TV for many years until he was offered “Providence”, in which he played veterinarian Jim Hansen. In a career spanning almost 50 years, he has worked with and learned from many of the greats, attempting to make magic happen. “When it works in a big way as it did with “M*A*S*H”, history is made. But even when it works in a small way, people are touched and on occasion lives are changed.” As always, Mike relishes the chance to work with thoughtful, generous, talented people as is the case with The Dizziness of Freedom.
Laura Spencer received her BFA in Acting from the University of Oklahoma. Though her roots are in theater, she has mainly worked in film and television in Los Angeles since graduating college. She is known as Emily Sweeney in “The Big Bang Theory,” Jessica Warren in Bones or as Jane Bennet in the 2012 web series “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries”, an adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice”. She is also known for various other film and TV appearances. She is excited to return to the stage in Durango.
Ben Mattson is a local theatre artist who has performed and directed in the four-corners area. Some of his credits include Tom Collins in Rent, Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd, and Frank-N-Furter in Rocky Horror and he co-directed The Fantastiks at San Juan College. Ben is the theatre Director for Durango High School, where he gets to pass his love of theatre on to a new generation of immensely talented artists.
Jeni Mahoney will direct the reading. She is a playwright, director, and teacher. As Producing Artistic Director of id Theater and Founding Artistic Director of Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, she has been instrumental in the development of over 200 new plays.
The Dizziness of Freedom is the story of Roger, the last remaining tenant of an old apartment building scheduled for demolition to make way for a new shopping mall. At 75, with a history of left-wing social activism, Roger has no intention of giving corporate interests the satisfaction of moving without a fight – his last stand. A young attorney, Annie, shows up charged with the task of evicting Roger. What should be an easy task for Annie becomes a test of wills, integrity, fear, the gaping generational divide and a discovery of what transcends our differences and binds even the most unlikely pair of combatants.
Playwright Stephen Nathan has had an interesting and varied career starting in 1971 when he originated the role of Jesus in the musical Godspell, for which he won the Variety Critics Poll for “Best Actor in a Musical.” He received a gold record for his work on the original cast album. He also sang the anti-war ballad “Momma, Look Sharp” in the film version of 1776. As an actor, he worked on both coasts before settling in Los Angeles where he began writing and producing television in the late 70’s. In addition to developing feature films at all the major studios, Nathan has written and/or produced over five hundred episodes of television, both comedies and dramas, recently serving as Executive Producer for the Emmy-nominated “Joan of Arcadia” and Executive Producer of “Bones” for the show’s 12-season run. Among the acknowledgments Nathan has received are two Emmy nominations, a Writers Guild Award and the Humanitas Award. In 2016, his first play, The Ways of Necessity, was included in the NY Stage & Film season at the Powerhouse Theater. He is excited and grateful to have his play included in the inaugural season of Durango PlayFest.
This first season of Durango PlayFest will take place the week of August 6th with two reading-style performances of each of the three plays on the 10th and 11th. Performances will take place at the Durango Arts Center and the Henry Strater Theater. During the week of rehearsal, there will be “Meet the Artist” opportunities and a Playwrights Panel free to the public.
The PlayFest Advisory Committee is comprised of Terry Bacon, Richard Ballantine, Christina Erteszek, Jim Foster, Bud Franks, Fran Franks, Fritz Geisler, Margie Dean Gray, Hunter Johnson, David Hill and Felicia Lansbury Meyer.
End