A Noise Within, led by Producing Artistic Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, begins the second half of its 2013/2014 Season on February 15, 2014 with Tartuffe by Molière, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and concluding with Come Back, Little Sheba by William Inge.
This season the plays are thematically tied by the tireless search to find that which has been lost. Julia Rodriguez Elliott said, “Much of life is about managing loss – and the search to find what we perceive we have lost: the longing for spent youth, the sadness for the unyielding search for a lost child. Sometimes it is re-discovery – the thrill of a romance, a self-deception of great entitlement, or finding a key to a locked mind. We’ve chosen these stories because they all explore values we find precious – love lost, love found, meaning lost and meaning found.”
Single Tickets (starting at $40) and 3-Play Spring Subscriptions (starting at $109) for 2014 performances are available by calling 626.356.3100, ext. 1, visiting anoisewithin.org, or by emailing boxoffice@anoisewithin.org.
The three remaining plays of the 2013-2014 season at A Noise Within
Tartuffe by Molière (February 15 – May 24, 2014)
A fox is in the hen house; a rat is in the cellar; a snake is in the grass -- oh, Monsieur Tartuffe! The world’s most famous Scoundrel’s story, Tartuffe (1664) is comic genius Molière’s tale of naiveté, religious hypocrisy, and the triumphant victory of good over evil-and all in 1,962 twelve-syllable lines of rhyming couplets! Like Xerox and Keds, the title character became an English and French noun – a “tartuffe” (tärˈto͞of) is a religious hypocrite, or a hypocritical pretender to excellence of any kind. And like many sharp plays, the French Roman Catholic Church, upper-class French society, and the French mafia -- were publically offended; but when the Archbishop of Paris issued an edict threatening excommunication for anyone who watched, performed – or even read the play – the run ended. But then the Archbishop didn’t know anything about revivals!
Macbeth by William Shakespeare (March 8 – May 11, 2014)
Something Wicked This Way Comes! In a world rife with superstition and witchcraft, the Bard’s insatiable Scottish couple leads us down a traitorous and blood-soaked road to the throne only to learn that power attained through murderous greed is enshrouded with the sleepless shriek of a guilty conscience. One of the most powerful character studies in all of literature, Macbeth (1606) loses everything that gives meaning and purpose to life before losing his life itself. This is the first time in twelve years that A Noise Within has presented Macbeth. Production is directed by Tony-nominated Larry Carpenter, who comes to A Noise Within as part of the Edgerton Foundation Fellowship at Occidental College. Sound Designer Cricket S. Myers received a Drama Desk Award and was nominated for a Tony for her work on Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.
Come Back, Little Sheba by William Inge (March 29 – May 17, 2014)
At a time when the pace of American life was not so rapid, a middle-aged couple, awash in what-ifs and drifting apart, takes in a young, vivacious college boarder, creating an explosive catalyst for change. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said, “Inge writes with a relentless frankness and compassion that are deeply affecting.” Playwright William Inge knew the meaning of repression and loss. In 1947 he joined Alcoholics Anonymous, where he met “Lola,” who became the basis of Come Back, Little Sheba (1950). Shirley Booth came to her greatest acclaim as an actress winning both the Tony Award and an Academy Award for Best Actress for this role. His other plays include Bus Stop, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and Picnic, which won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. In the early seventies, after becoming one of America’s greatest and most known playwrights, Inge fell into a deep depression, having lost faith in his writing abilities, and committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in 1973 at the age of 60. After half a century, Inge’s contemporary masterpiece remains compelling and deeply resonate, as does the playwright himself, a closeted homosexual, whose final play The Last Pad (1972) featured an openly gay character.
About A Noise Within
A Noise Within performs and promotes classical theatre as an essential means for our community to confront the universal human experience, expand personal awareness and challenge individual perspectives. A Noise Within’s mission is to produce world-class performances of the great works of drama in rotating repertory with a resident company; to educate and inspire the public through programs that foster an understanding and appreciation of history’s great plays and playwrights;
and to train the next generation of classical theatre artists.
A Noise Within was founded in 1992. Operating out of a former Masonic Temple in Glendale, they staged a production of “Hamlet” that was accessible and relevant at a time when classic theatre was not widely performed in Los Angeles. The twenty-year evolution from a small neighborhood theatre to the current capital campaign has been marked by constantly raising the bar on what great classical theatre can be. The move to a new, permanent home provides A Noise Within with expanded artistic possibilities, a greater scope of educational opportunities, and the capacity to meet demand and reach its full potential.
A Noise Within Producing Artistic Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott both hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Florida and a Master of Fine Arts from San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre. In 1991, with a mere $3,000 from their personal savings account, they set an ambitious vision for ANW: to establish a home for the classics that would present a challenging repertory, take artistic risks, and ensure accessibility to diverse audiences. Through their passion and persistence, the theatre now ranks as the leading presenter of great world drama in Southern California.