Different Stages

Presents

The Playboy of the Western World

by John Millington Synge

Director Karen Jambon

Set Design Laura J. Sandberg

Lighting Design Amanda Harris

Costume Design Melissa Swartz

Stage Manager Jennifer McKenna

CHARACTERS AND CAST

Margaret Flaherty (Pegeen Mike),

daughter to Michael James Nikki Zook

Shawn Keogh, her cousin, a young farmer Cole Wimpee

Michael James Flaherty, a publican Steven Fay

Philly Cullen, a farmer William Holliman

Jimmy Farrell , a farmer Michael Joplin

Christy Mahon Scott Tesh

Widow Quin Sarah Seaton

Susan Brady Elizabeth Cobbe

Nelly Amy Lewis

Honor Blake Rosanna Butler

Sara Tansey Martina Ohlhauser

Old Mahon, Christy’s father, a squatter

Norman Blumensaadt

Location: Near a village, on a wild coast of Mayo

Time:

Act 1: An evening in autumn

Acts 2 & 3: The following day

There will be two intermissions (between acts).

Christy Mahon (Scott Tesh) and his father, Shawn Koeg (Cole Wimpee), Michael

Old Mahon (Norman Blumensaadt). James Flaherty (Steven Fay) and

Pegeen Mike (Nikki Zook).

PRODUCTION STAFF

Light Operator Sabrina Bell

Master Electrician Amanda Harris

Sound Operator Jennifer McKenna

Set Construction Laura Sandberg, Karon Jambon,

Costumes Norman Blumensaadt, Steven Fay

Graphic Artist Sarah Seaton

Photographer Brett Brookshire

Program Norman Blumensaadt, Royce Gehrels

Properties Karen Jambon, Norman Blumensaadt

Publicity Caron Ginn, Norman Blumensaadt

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND SPECIAL THANKS

Russ Wiseman - Dougherty Arts Center, Austin Circle of Theaters, Kyle Evans – bagpipes, Robert Rudie – violin and case, Dog and Duck Pub for letting us take pictures there, FranK Benge, Vortex Repertory Company for Joy.

Christy Mahon (Scott Tesh), Old Mahon Pegeen Mike (Nikki Zook) and Christy Mahon

(Norman Blumensaadt) and the Widow Quinn (Scott Tesh). (Sarah Seaton).

THE PRODUCTION COMPANY

NORMAN BLUMENSAADT (Old Mahon) is the Producing Artistic Director for Different Stages. Among the numerous shows that he has directed, a selection of just some of the more recent are “Summer and Smoke,” “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” “All My Sons,” “Arcadia,” “The Wild Duck,” “The House of Bernarda Alba,” “Arms and the Man,” and “Pericles, Prince of Tyre.” Memorable leading roles that he has portrayed include Aunt Augusta/Henry Pulling in “Travels with my Aunt” and Vanya in “Uncle Vanya.” In celebration of his long and outstanding work in the Austin theater scene, the Austin Circle of Theaters bestowed upon Norman the 1998 Deacon Crain/John Bustin Award.

ROSANNA BUTLER (Honor Blake) Rosanna is a senior pursuing her B.F.A. in Theatre Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

This is her debut with Different Stages. She was recently seen as the nasty neighbor kids Gloria and Gilbert in the "The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip". Other roles include Annie, from "Annie Get Your Gun", and Princess Winifred in "Once Upon a Mattress". She wrote a poem for this lovely cast: This bloomin' Irish cast has been a blast & gone way too fast... Thank Ya'll.

ELIZABETH COBBE (Susan Brady) is appearing in her first Austin play. She recently moved back to Texas from Cincinnati, where she performed in several shows, including another production of “Playboy”, during the course of which she repeatedly tried but failed to

acquire a taste for poteen. Her favorite role in Ohio was the Shepherd in “Oedipus Rex”; she also enjoyed a star turn as the Hassle-Free Fruit Seeker in a commercial for Chiquita.

STEVEN FAY (Michael James Flaherty) staggers into his 14th Different Stages appearance. His last DS role, in "Appointment With Death," earned him a B. Iden Payne Award nomination. He also appears at the Vortex.

AMANDA HARRIS (Light Designer) is a 20-year-old Theatrical Lighting Design major from Texas State University San Marcos. She is currently Stage Managing Texas State‚s production of “The Art of Dining” by Tina Howe. Hailing from Austin, however, she has previously been seen on stage in many a production with Sam Bass Community Theatre, including” Charley”s Aunt” as Kitty and “Much Ado About Nothing” as Hero.

WILLIAM HOLLIMAN (Philly Cullen) is an actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. This is my second show for Different Stages, the first being Agatha Christie's "Appointment With Death" this past summer. Proir to that, I appeared in Bedlam Faction”s production of "Screwed Into The Book Of Love" and The Bare Bones Festival's production of "Cruelty to Animals." I'm tickled to death (a common theme of all the plays I've appeared in) to have the opportunity to play Philly and repeat the beautiful and lyrical lines Synge wrote for us, but I must warn you, that if you don't tell all your friends to come and see the show, we might have to lock you in the west room.

KAREN JAMBON (Director) -- This is Karen's eighth collaboration with Different Stages, her fifth as director. Thanks to Norman for your confidence, Jennie for your support, and the cast and crew for your talent and trust. Directing for Different Stages: “The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket”, “Fuddy Meers”, “Betty’s Summer Vacation”, “Arms and the Man”.

MICHAEL JOPLIN ( Jimmy Farrell) is a graduate of the University of Texas Theatre program, where he starred as Segismundo in "Sueno", and Laurent in "Therese Raquin." He also played Don John in "Much Ado About Nothing" and Clowny in the world premiere of Megan Gogerty's "Love Jerry." For the past year he was living in Chicago and touring as a founding member of the improv comedy troupe, The Available Cupholders, and he starred in their feature film "Occupation: Future Guy."  He is pleased to return to the warm climate of his hometown and to work with Different Stages. When he isn't performing, he enjoys making music, painting, and sports. He looks forward to being on stage this winter at a theatre near you.

AMY LEWIS (Nelly O’Hara) Amy is a graduate of McMurry University with a BFA in theatre. She has previously been seen as Lucy in Steven Dietz‚s “Dracula” in the Austin area. Other previous roles include Lesly in “The House of Yes”, Aunt Ola in “The Cover of Life”, and Bianca in “Desdemona”.

JENNIFER MCKENNA (Stage Manager) a recent graduate of ACC's Drama Program, Jennifer is thrilled to be "using her degree" so soon after acquiring it. She was last seen as Mrs. Soames in "Our Town", and before that in Different Stages, "The House of Bernarda Alba". She is a dedicated singer, dancer, actor and audience member. She thanks her friends, family and colleagues for their support in all her artistic endeavors.

LAURA SANDBERG (Set Design) has been designing scenery and lighting for a little longer than she cares to admit these days, but takes solace in the knowledge that theatre helps keep her young at heart. She grew up in Texas, but trekked north to study theatre design at Northwestern University. Afterwards, she worked at the Norton Center for the Arts in Kentucky, designing local shows and serving as a technician/stage manager for touring performers like Marcel Marceau, Leontyne Price and Rudolf Nureyev. She returned to Texas to get her MFA at UT Austin, and works on theatre around Austin, as her day job as a computer geek permits. Favorite design credits include: “The Snow Queen”, “A Doll House”, “Our Country's Good”, “Etta Jenks”, “Mad Forest”, “King Stag”, “A Perfect Ganesh”, “Liu The Dragon King”, and “The Hobbit”.

MELISSA SWARTZ (Costume Design) designed her first production at the age of fourteen and has designed almost fifty more since. She holds a degree in apparel design from Ball State University. Melissa came to Austin to do an internship with Zachary Scott Theatre, fell in love, and decided to stay. Productions include: "Schoolhouse Rock II!", Zachary Scott Theatre; "Blues in the Night", Musical Theatre of Chicago; "Children of Eden", "The Wizard of Oz", Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s "Cinderella", "The Who’s Tommy", "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", Muncie Warehouse Youth Theatre. She would like to thank Alejandro and her family for their support.

NIKKI ZOOK (Margaret Flaherty – Pegeen Mike) is a native Austinite who has been rather busy lately… theatre-wise. Most recently, you may have seen her as the goth-punk clown Feste in OnStage‚s production of Shakespeare’s "Twelfth Night" or as the British doctor, Sarah King in Agatha Christie’s "Appointment with Death." This is Nikki’s third Different Stages production. And after playing Raina in "Arms and the Man," she is utterly delighted to collaborate once again with the like of brilliant director Karen Jambon. Nikki is immensely gratified to be working with such a talented cast and crew. She is truly thankful to them for the many, many laughs and wonderful moments, on stage and off. She sends out much love to her AWD peeps, her family, her husband and her True Love! Your support means everything!

MARTINA OHLHAUSER (Sara Tansey) graduated from Boston's Emerson College with a B.A. in TV/Video Production. She has taken theater courses at Southwest Texas State University and attended summer repertory programs at Stephan F. Austin University. Most recently, she has appeared in the SWT production of "The Pirates of Penzance."

SARAH SEATON (Widow Quin) is a native Texan raised right here in Austin. This is her second appearance with Different Stages, and she would like to thank Norman and Karen for the opportunity. Her favorite roles have been Meg Magrath in the OnStage Theater Company's production of "Crimes of the Heart," and Clara Breedlove in the Different Stages production of "The Traveling Lady," for which she won a B. Iden Payne Award. She dedicates her performance to USN Capt. Amy Hauck, M.D., her sister and friend, and would like to thank her husband, David, for his ten+ years of love, support and patience.

SCOTT TESH (Christy Mahon) Scott) is happy to make his second appearance with Different Stages with this role, having played Pericles in Shakespeare's "Pericles" earlier this year. Favorite previous roles include Jess in “The Compleat Works of Wllm Shakespeare Abridged” (New Heights Theatre), Theseus in “A Midsummer Night's Dream” (Barter Theatre), Trent Conway in “Six Degrees of Separation” (Main Street Theatre), and Jack in “The Witlings” (Main Street Theatre).

COLE WIMPEE (Shawn Keogh) Raised in McClendon Chisholm, Cole spent his youth riding 4 - wheelers, trying to invent time machines with his identical twin brother, and watching over a family of Barbados sheep, which eventually were killed by a pack of wild coyotes. He has since performed in Dallas, Houston, Washington D.C., New York City, and studied abroad with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon. In Austin, Cole has worked with KIA Productions, Seven Ages Theatre, Refraction Arts Project, Gobotrick, The Rubber Repertory/Vortex, Gypsy Baby, and is an intern for Physical Plant Theatre. He is of Choctaw-Welsh-German-Irish descent and is honored to be working with Different Stages.

About the Playwright

JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE

Synge was born near Dublin in 1871 and died in 1909. He received his degree from Trinity College, Dublin, then went to Germany to study music and later to Paris, where he lived for several years working at literary criticism. Here, he met a compatriot, William Butler Yeats, who persuaded Synge to live for a while in the Aran Islands and then return to Dublin and devote himself to creative work. “The Aran Islands” (1907) is the journal of Synge's retreat among these primitive people. The plays of Irish peasant life on which his fame rests were written in the last six years of his life. The first two one-act plays, “In the Shadow of the Glen”, (1903), a comedy, and “Riders to the Sea” (1904), considered one of the finest tragedies ever written, were produced by the Irish National Theatre Society. This group, with Synge, Yeats and Lady Gregory as co-directors, organized in 1904 the famous Abbey Theatre. Two comedies, “The Well of the Saints” (1905) and “The Playboy of the Western World” (1907), were presented by the Abbey players. The latter play created a furor of resentment among Irish patriots stung by Synge's bitter humor. Synge's later works included “The Tinker's Wedding”, published in 1908 but not produced for fear of further riots, and “Deirdre of the Sorrows”, a tragedy unfinished at the time of his death but presented by the Abbey players in 1910.

About the Play

"The Playboy of the Western World" was produced for the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland--a theater founded by W. B. Yeats and others to foster a new generation of Irish drama. The aim of the Abbey group was to promote drama that spoke positively for the Irish people--positively and compellingly to them and for them in conjunction with their quest for independent statehood.

From W. B. Yeats, "J. M. Synge and the Ireland of His Time," Essays and Introductions (New York: Collier Books, 1968)

“On Saturday, January 26, 1907, I was lecturing in Aberdeen, and when my lecture was over I was given a telegram which said, `Play great success.' It had been sent from Dublin after the second act of `The Playboy of the Western World,' then being performed for the first time. After one in the morning, my host brought to my bedroom this second telegram, `Audience broke up in disorder at the word shift.' I knew no more until I got the Dublin papers on my way from Belfast to Dublin on Tuesday morning. On the Monday night no words of the play had been heard. About forty young men had sat in the front seats of the pit, and stamped and shouted and blown trumpets from the rise to the fall of the curtain. On the Tuesday night also the forty young men were there. They wished to silence what they considered a slander upon Ireland's womanhood. Irish women would never sleep under the same roof with a young man without a chaperon, nor admire a murderer, nor use a word like `shift'; nor could any one recognise the country men and women of Davis and Kickham in these poetical, violent, grotesque persons, who used the name of God so freely, and spoke of all things that hit their fancy”.

From Declan Kiberd, "Sharp Critique of Excess" (1980), in J. M. Synge: Four Plays

"In portraying an Irish hero who is acclaimed by village girls for a deed of violence, Synge offered . . . `a subtle irony on the cult of the hero.' His play shows that the so-called fighting Irish can only endure the thought of violence when the deed is committed elsewhere or in the past. But when a killing occurs in their own back yard, then they become suddenly aware of that gap between poetic stories and foul deeds. Far from being another attempt to pander to the British notion of Ireland, Synge's play was an honest attempt to express the nation to itself, to reveal to his own countrymen the ambiguity of their own attitude to violence. . . . He saw only too well how generations of Irishmen would sing ballads of glamorized rebellion and offer funds for the freedom-fighters--so long as the fighting took place at a safe distance in past history or at the other side of a patrolled political border. He believed that a writer's first duty may be to insult rather than to humour his countrymen, to shock his compatriots into a deeper self-awareness of their own dilemmas. He exploded forever the strange myth of the fighting Irish and, like Joyce, revealed to his countrymen an even more distressing truth--the fact that their besetting vice was not pugnacity but paralysis . . . ."

Different Stages, Inc. has been a community-based organization since its inception in 1981 and incorporation in 1984. It produces works by playwrights whom we believe to be defining forces in theatre. We seek to entertain with performances that reveal life in all its comedy, tragedy and intensity; and we hope to educate by choosing plays that provide exceptional insight into the human condition. By challenging ourselves as artists and our audiences as participants, we endeavor to provide the community with vigorous and exciting live theatre.

Board of Directors: Karen Jambon Henry V. Fitzgerald, Jr., and Randolph Stripling. Operating Board: Norman E. Blumensaadt, Mike Groblewski, Royce Gehrels, and Paula Ruth Gilbert.

Director Level $5000+

The City of Austin

Actor Level $1000 - $5000

Karen Jambon & Jennifer Underwood

Stage Manager Level $500-$999

Tera Quest Metrics, Inc. Norman S. Blumensaadt

Designer Level $250-$499

Royce Gehrels, Bruce McCann, Emily Erington, Don Howell

Stage Hand Level $100-$249

Connie McMillan, Kathleen Lawson, Ann Blumensaadt, Janie Hayes & Jimmy Bisese, Karen Kuykendall, Irene Dubberley, Suzanne Winkelman, Mary Margaret Farabee, Richard A. Muscat, Tom White, David Smith, Harvey Guion

Audience Level $20-$99

Carl Anderson & Peyton Hayslip, Paul G. Minor & Erin Ochel, Rodolfo R. Alamia, M.D., Helen M. Mrasek, Rebecca Robinson, Courtney Dial, Reba Gillman, Patricia Bennett,

Charles Ramirez Berg, William L. Cohagan, Ronald Seeliger,

Bobbie & Larry Oliver, Bill Johnson & Elota Patton,

Marvela Pritchett-Paschall, Richard & Marcia Kinsey,

In-Kind Donations

Mary Alice Carnes, Sarah Seaton

Different Stages’ Repertory

Begun as Small Potatoes Theatrical Company

1981: August Strindberg’s Creditors and The Stronger. 1982: William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 1983: George Bernard Shaw’s Candida; Anton Chekhov’s The Brute, Swan Song, and Celebration. 1984: Luigi Pirandello’s Right You Are (If You Think You Are); Jane Martin’s Talking With… 1985: Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9; William Shakespeare’s As You Like It; Carl Sternheim’s The Underpants; Michael Weller’s Moonchildren. 1986: Amlin Gray’s How I Got That Story; William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale; Eugene O’Neill’s Beyond the Horizon. 1987: Michael Weller’s Loose Ends; Aristophanes’ The Wasps; Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart; Arthur Schnitzler’s Anatol. 1988: Wallace Shawn’s Aunt Dan and Lemon; Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood; Moss Hart’s Light Up the Sky; Jean Racine’s Phaedra; Jean-Baptiste Molière’s The Misanthrope. 1989: Caryl Churchill’s Fen; Charles Ludlam’s The Artificial Jungle; William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. 1990: Eric Overmeyer’s On the Verge; Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night; Milan Kundera’s Jacques and His Master; Tom White’s The Trouble with Tofu; William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. 1991: George Kelly’s The Show-Off; George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession; Keith Reddin’s Life and Limb; Mozart/Lorenzo da Ponte’s Così fan Tutte; Jean-Baptiste Molière’s The Learnèd Ladies. 1992: Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind; Carlo Gozzi’s The Raven; Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck; Charles MacArthur’s Johnny on a Spot; George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer. 1993: Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good; Charles Ludlam’s The Secret Lives of the Sexists; Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending. 1994: Constance Congdon’s Tales of the Lost Formicans; William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline; George M. Cohan’s The Tavern; Marlayne Meyer’s Etta Jenks. 1995: Pierre Marivaux’s The Triumph of Love; Tom Stoppard’s Travesties; Larry Kramer’s The Destiny of Me; Alexander Ostrovsky’s The Diary of a Scoundrel. 1996: Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest; Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee; William Congreve’s The Way of the World. 1997: Terrence McNally’s A Perfect Ganesh; Dorothy Parker’s Here We Are; Alan Ayckbourn’s Drinking Companion; Terrence McNally’s Noon; George M. Cohan’s Seven Keys to Baldpate; Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock. 1998: Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia; Aeschylus’ Agamemnon; Giles Havergal’s Travels with my Aunt; Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. 1999: Edit Villareal’s My Visits with MGM; Jean-Baptiste Molière’s The Hypochondriac (tr. Martin Sorrel); Edward Percy and Reginald Denham’s Ladies in Retirement; Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. 2000: Peter Parnell’s The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket; Ann Ciccolella’s Fruits and Vegetables; George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly’s Merton of the Movies; Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan. 2001: Milcha Sanchez-Scott’s Roosters; George Bernard Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple; J. B. Priestly’s Dangerous Corner; Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke. 2002: Ann Ciccolella’s Madame X; David Linsay-Abaire’s Fuddy Meers; Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest; Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba. 2003: Christopher Durang’s Betty’s Summer Vacation; Horton Foote’s The Traveling Lady, William Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona; Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. 2004: John Patrick’s The Hasty Heart; Tom White’s The Misses Overbeck; Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney, George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man. 2005: William Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Edit Villareal’s Marriage is Forever, Agatha Christie’s Appointment with Death, John Millington Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World. 2006 Two Into War (The Gifts of War and The Retreating World), Amy Freed’s The Beard of Avon, Emylyn Williams’ Night Must Fall.

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