Woody Allen
Play It Again Sam
Despite all the accolades, I still believe Allen may be our most underappreciated writer. While his most important works are undeniably
his films, his brief time as a playwright brimmed with the talent would eventually emerge later. Play It Again Sam transcends the over-simplified,
often-stylized themes and hijinks that often relegate romantic comedies to being disposable pieces. Instead, it gets to the heart of what
makes us so fragile emotionally. Thirty years later and still funny and still relevant - not easily achieved.
- Mark Mangold
David Auburn
Proof
The first time I read Mr. Auburn's
Proof I knew we would one day perform it. Auburn's script is, in my humble opinion, a
true American masterpiece - a worthy descendent of
Long Day's Journey Into Night and
Death of a Salesman. Many of our long
time supporters approached me and said they thought this was the "best" show we had done, and wanted to hand the credit to
us and our evolution as a production company. While there may be some merit to that line of thought, I think the true
decisive factor was the strength of the script. This is, in no way, to take any credit away from the cast performing it.
A story is only as strong as the storyteller and the amount of effort and dedication Kate, Chip, Adrienne and Jeff put
into the show made it what it was. Thank you and cheers!
- Mark Mangold
Eric Bogosian
Talk Radio
It's 2006, and nearly 20 years since
Talk Radio was originally produced and Bogosian's script is still just as relevant today.
In many ways this script is even prophetic - when it was written there were no nationally syndicated "subversive" radio shows, and in
fact many of the early criticisms of the show centered around how ridiculous the notion was. So too were many of Barry's other predictions,
perhaps none more than his observation that "marvelous technology is at our disposal and instead of reaching up for new heights, we try to
see how far down we can go," a statement that all too well describes our relationship with the internet and how we have used it. Understand
though that at it's heart
Talk Radio is equal parts dark comedy and social observation, and Mr. Bogosian's approach here is similar
to the way that all great comics attack the issues of their time - by exposing them. What more can you ask of a play?
- Mark Mangold
Erskine Caldwell
Tobacco Road
Not a playwright, I know, but a writer of such impressive literary worth that I feel the need to address it. Caldwell's Lesters
represent such an amazing angle of the American Dream that Broadway audiences went to see them for 3,182 consecutive performances
over a period of seven-and-a-half years - still one of the longest running Broadway shows ever. Caldwell was one of the most
censored writers of his day - an American social realist whose frank depiction of the Lesters was neither sympathetic or accusatory,
and best of all it didn't need to take sides. The play itself was a call to action on the lone basis that no American would want
this family living anywhere near them - and many Southerners resented the way their quality of life was presented. Regardless William
Failkner considered him one of the five greatest novelists he had read, and in 2000, Tobacco Road was chosen as one of the 100 greatest
American novels of the 20th century. The privilege was ours.
- Mark Mangold
Eric Coble
The Dead Guy
Mr. Coble is the kind of playwright I prefer to take on; that is, sharp, witty, compelling and with a devlish sense of humor. The highest
form of flattery I can offer towards him is that the most asked question I got after the show was "who wrote that script?", a complement
both to Mr. Coble's writing and our staging of it. The script's vision is where I would like to see the future of our company lean (as well
as theater in general), for it lives in the now and the audience felt immediately involved with the story - as they would with anything on
television or on the big screen. Throughout history, theater has always adapted to the expectations of the audience and the capacity of its
presenters, and its our challenge here to increase both simultaneously.
The staging of the show would have been difficult wherever we did it, and it was made more stressful by the fact it was our first show in
our new home. Going into a show in a new building is always hard, particularly when you are leaving behind a place you are so familiar with.
It's hard to envision any kind of spectacle and suspension of disbelief to occur out of a barren stage and new environment, but with lots of
tinkering and no shortage of heroes (namely Mike, Tim, Brandon and Suzy) the illusion happened. Now that we've kindled the sticks once, it
will be much less stressful to figure it out again. Thanks to all.
- Mark Mangold
Christopher Durang
Marriage of Bette and Boo
All the people in Easton who knew theater were really surprised when we chose to do a Christopher Durang play. Durang, after all, may be
American Theatre's most controversial playwright and even though The Marriage of Bette and Boo is one of his more accessible pieces, it
still proved to be too much for a lot of our audience members. I blame ourselves.we had a few gigantic holes in parts of the production
and a number of the scenes fell flat. Too bad, because when his best shows are done well, Durang's audience gets to see and feel true wit,
loaded more with ethos than sarcasm and funnier than hell if you can handle it. No regrets here.
- Mark Mangold
Beth Henley
Wake of Jamey Foster
I've always been amazed by artists who can accurately portray the foibles and frailties of the ego. Henley is one of the few writers who
allow us to be embarrassed by the stances and poses we make, and provide characters funny enough for us to be able to rejoice in them. The
Wake of Jamey Foster is the one show where the actors and I were the farthest out of sync in our initial readings of the characters. Their
performances shed new light on characters I thought I instantly recognized and, when I was paying attention, told me something new about
the performers as well. Probably my favorite experience as a director..unless it was something else.
- Mark Mangold
Israel Horowitz
A Christmas Carol
Well, sadly, we've only produced Horowitz' version of A Christmas Carol and not any of the great plays that have made him of the most
highly regarded playwrights of his day. However, even though this version is mostly a cut and paste of Dickens' timeless text, Horowitz'
Christmas Carol offers a clinic on the playwrights' role in staging a story. Safe Bet: One day we will do The Indian Wants the Bronx.
- Mark Mangold
Warren Leight
Side Man
I don't know enough about Warren Leight's other works to comment on them in any meaningful way. However, I can safely say that Side Man
is probably my favorite play, and a show I will definitely revisit. I don't know of another play that so aptly moves modern theater into
the "now", an odd statement considering all the action occurs in the fifties. However, Leight's brave staging, loaded dialogue, biting
scenes and effortless nostalgia is ready to show to any of the hipster HBO crowd. A kickass modern drama.
- Mark Mangold
Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman
- Mark Mangold
Sam Shepard
Fool For Love
It's no coincidence that the first play we did at the Avalon was a Sam Shepard play; after all, if I had never discovered
Mr. Shepard it is quite conceivable I would have never gotten involved in the theater, period. My friend Paul Lovelace ran
into him at a bookstore near Washington Square Park and asked him to autograph a copy of Fool For Love. Within a year of
that chance meeting Tim, Brandon and I had signed up to produce Fool For Love as the first ever Cricket Theatre show, and
within three years I had read every one of his plays and several of his biographies. Shepard's writing represents to me the
link between the stage and the filmmakers who I was studying at the time as a student filmmaker (namely Scorsese, Altman,
Kubrick, Ray, etc.). Until I read his plays I didn't think that level of truth, honesty and hipness was capable of occupying
theater - I only knew of the more popular "shows" that centered around talking rabbits, odd couples and any host of silly people
in Victorian costumes running around aimlessly. Shepard's work was an awakening - one that still inspires me today - and
undoubtedly will continue to do so. I think it is safe to say we will revisit his work again.
- Mark Mangold
Paula Vogel
How I Learned to Drive
I got to see How I Learned to Drive during its Off-Broadway run when I lived in New York and, like reading Shepard, the show opened my
eyes to the how powerful an experience live theater can be. Getting the rights to perform this piece from Dramatists Play Service was
difficult and time-consuming, but we kept trying like hell until they finally gave it to us. This play was everything we wanted to be
at the time: fresh, hip, funny, powerful and revealing. The best way to sum up the power that Vogel's script possesses would lie in the
stories people shared with us after the show, and the emotions that her story provoked. Sharing any of that here would be inappropriate
- but I assure you that the play deserved all the acclaim it received.
- Mark Mangold
