THE PLAY:

DIRECTOR’S NOTE: Like most of his plays, The Seafarer is part comedy, part melodrama, part real, part supernatural. McPherson loves to explore the nexus of the natural and the mystical. He is deeply humane and deeply spiritual. The play takes place on a windy and desolate stretch of Irish coast north of Dublin, a place of “myths and legends” according to the playwright. What begins as a comedy about two bickering brothers on Christmas Eve morning evolves into an archetypal battle of good and evil in the form of a drunken poker game. The script is riveting, and I’m convinced we have the perfect company to realize it. I’m delighted to be part of this Mother Road production. I urge Albuquerque audiences to see Conor McPherson’s brilliant play.

PRESS

“The unique and extraordinary aspect of McPherson’s writing is the way in which his characters reveal themselves in tiny details which almost imperceptibly build up an extensive picture of the past, present and future, not just of themselves but of Ireland.” The Sunday Mail (London)

“…dark and enthralling Christmas fable of despair and redemption… tingles with the author’s acute and authentic sense of what is knowable and unknowable in life… The Seafarer may just be the pick-me-up play of the season.” NY Times

“…a midnight-black comedy, one that wrenches laughter out of the despair of frustrated men whose lives have come to naught…No matter what you’re expecting at the halfway mark, you won’t feel cheated when the curtain falls.”  Wall Street Journal

STARRING: Vic Browder, Peter Shea Kierst, Shangreaux Lagrave, Tom Schuch and David Sinkus.

WHERE: The Filling Station, 1024 4th St, SW, Albuquerque, just south of downtown, corner of 4th & Pacific. Map

WHEN: March 9 – April 1, 2012, Thursdays & Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 6:00 pm, Sundays at 2:00 pm

TICKETS: $18 general, $12 students & seniors, $10 all tickets on Thursdays

RESERVATIONS & INFORMATION: 505-243-0596, reservations@motherroad.org and online at Brown Paper Tickets.

About Virtual Reality they said:

Really, it’s not surprising. You’ve got Bill Sterchi and Chad Christensen-Brummett, two of the best actors in Albuquerque, duking it out through a play penned by Academy Award-winner Alan Arkin. Add the fact that it was produced by Mother Road Theatre Company, a strong contender for the best company in the city, and of course you’re going to have a great show.

and about The Memory of Water they wrote:

This play broke my heart and then put it back together. … for all the sadness the show evoked, it was delivered so gracefully that it felt like catharsis. It’s a piece I’ll remember.

Be sure to read the entire story for the rest of the story to learn the rest of what they said about Mother Road and the other fantastic shows from this year!

“Mother Road Theatre Company has produced a show that may be the best to
come out of Albuquerque in 2011. Shelagh Stephenson’s The Memory of Water,
directed by Mark Hisler and Vic Browder, is in one great eruption
heartbreaking, fantastically funny and absolutely riveting.”

“Every time I write about this company I have to talk about how
outstanding it is…”

“Stephenson’s script is is gorgeous and sharp, but it’s the actors who
make this piece mesmerizing.”

“Stepenson’s piece seems like an appropriate play for this time of year,
which has a way of heightening our joys and heartaches. Don’t go because
you want to feel warm and fuzzy. Go because you want to feel.”

Mother Road Theatre Company works its magic with this carefully constructed script. I loved the production I saw at The Filling Station. The cast is excellent, the direction crisp and thoughtful, and the impact strong.

and

“The Memory of Water” is seriously funny.

Read the entire review on the Albuquerque Journal website.

Time is running out! This weekend will be your last chance so book your tickets for The Memory of Water online today!

Please Note: Opening Night is SOLD OUT

The Globe and Mail describes The Memory of Water as:

“…both gloriously funny and deeply felt…Indeed, The Memory of Water is so funny that it appears at first to be pure black comedy, with the newly bereaved sisters indulging wildly in witty bickering and dope-induced dress-ups… Their quarrels over the funeral arrangements, their well-worn family roles, their unsatisfactory men and their mixed memories of a highly feminine working-class mother are hilarious…In The Memory of Water, Shelagh Stephenson skillfully charts the joyous and painful territory of family relationships with insight and compassion.”

Set in a small English seaside town in the dead of winter, this comic and touching account of three estranged sisters on the wake of their mother’s funeral takes a unique look at grieving and colorful family dynamics.  The sisters’ particular memories of childhood and their Mum (who appears both as a lively ghost and an awkwardly placed corpse) carom off each other in cleverly written and irreverent scenes of sibling one-upmanship. Adlerian views of birth order, biological bonds of sisterhood and how whiskey and pot can make for complicated funeral planning.

Winner of the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy!

“This touching and hugely entertaining comedy provides an insight into the lives of three sisters who are reunited for their mother’s funeral. A neurotic maternal type, a paranoid doctor and a brattish youngest sibling recall their childhood, but find that personal grievances have coloured their memories, which differ greatly and cause immense friction.” —The Independent

“This is a lovely piece, full of humour and heart…Where the play works best is…in its satisfying mixture of sardonic humour and deep emotion. Excellent jokes give way to festering resentments, booze and dope-fuelled hilarity to sudden glimpses of buried secrets and aching pain.” —The Telegraph

The outstanding ensemble cast includes veterans of the Albuquerque theatre scene:  Morse Bicknell, Pip Lustgarten,Vivian Nesbitt, Tom Schuch, Wendy Scott, and Julia Thudium.

When:  December 9*-24
Curtain: Thursdays & Fridays 8:00 pm, Saturdays 2:00pm & 6:00 pm, Sundays 2:00pm.
Where: The Filling Station, 1024 4th St. SW, corner of 4th & Pacific, located on historic, pre-1937 Route 66.
Tickets:  $18**General, $12 Students and Seniors, all Thursday tickets $10.
Reservations: 505-243-0596, reservations@motherroad.org.
Online Ticketing: Coming Soon.

OPENING NIGHT GALA! Friday, December 9. Fabulous food and libation starting at 7:00pm, curtain at 8:00.

Take a tour of the site and get a sneak peak at the design!

Enjoy refreshments, snacks and fun as we introduce the new cast and crew!

• What: Keshet Performing Arts Center Footprint Party
• Where: Building site on the corner of Bellamah & Rio Grande (Just East of Rion Grande)
• When: 10/12/11 from 4:30 to 6:30

For more information contact tom@motherroad.org at 505-379-5153 or jane@keshetdance.org at 505-224-9808

“Company co-founders Vic Browder and Julia Thudium direct their fine cast with precision and insight, and the actors respond with outstanding performances.”

“Kristin Hansen is amazing as Beatrice who struggles to hold her family together. I have never seen her perform better. She is fully engaged and absolutely believable.”

“(William) Stafford presents Miller’s nonstop dialogue with passion and he nicely captures his character’s self-delusion and self-righteousness”

And from Justino Browkaw in the Daily Lobo:

“Mother Road thoroughly transforms the Filling Station ion a slice of 1952″

“The Cast Uniformly shines in this terrifically detailed, vibrant sandbox. Each performance is nothing less than stellar”

“Kudos to (Vic) Browder’s set design and Tom Studer’s lights, which create so many levels and worlds that one feels as though he has squeezed the entirety if Red Hook into the theatre. Costumes by Paula Steinberg and dialect coaching by Steve Corona also largely contribute to creating the world and characters inhabit.”

This is the first show in our 4th Season. I really still can’t believe we’ve been around for 4 years already.

We’ve been so blessed to be welcomed into Albuquerque’s theatrical community.

One of our biggest blessings this year came in the form of our sponsor:

They are providing us with rehearsal space for our season. Yay!!!

As I’m writing this – lighting is being focused, set is being painted and Brent Stevens our sound designer and my co-host on Classical 95.5 KHFM is creating a 1950′s radio broadcast for walk in. Exciting stuff as it all comes together.

Here’s a total list of the cast: William R. Stafford, Nicholas Ballas, Kristín Hansen, Julia Harris, Julian Singer-Corbin, Justin Tade, Bill Mohr, William Johnson and Kevin O’Boyle.

Opening Night will feature catering by Alexa Grodner. She’s promised to make her famous Pork Loin. Oy. Tractor Brewing will also be there selling beer and wine… What could be better!

This just in: on the Saturday Sept. 10th show, we will have 2 signers for the hearing impaired. Very excited to have them onboard for this show, so please spread the word!

I was hoping to write a blog for the whole rehearsal process but time slipped away. I’ll try to keep you posted this week.

It’s strange and wonderful and awful to send a show out into the world. I love to watch the blossoming of the actors as they respond to the energy of the audience. I have to say we have the BEST opening night audiences for our shows. Responsive, friendly, tipsy…!

We were so packed I was sitting on a box tucked into a corner. I go through so many emotions watching the show. Scared, excited, sad, worried I didn’t do enough or pushed too much. Mostly I’m just proud. Proud we’re still around, proud we are giving Albuquerque some amazing theatre, and proud to be the “Chief Instigator” of this theatre company filled with unbelievable individuals.

Some of my favorite things about the show:

The hymn sung in harmony in the Whaleman’s chapel
After – Death to the White Whale chant – the crew telling Ishmael about Moby Dick – through the fight.
Starbuck and Stubb after the fight – Peter’s delivery on “Thank you Mr. Stubb”

How Nicholas looks at the Harpoon after he “baptizes” it.

Rebecca’s voice

Queequeg in his top hat

John Hardman trying to steal the show
Ernie and the harmony on the death of Ahab
And on and on and on…

Thank God for the folks at SunVista, Maestas and Ward. They invited us back to our rehearsal space for one more night. The trick was that since we’d left, they had started doing construction in the space, so we couldn’t have a run through due to noise. We headed into the conference room and had ourselves another line through. I asked the cast just to have fun, let go of all their acting choices and see what popped up. I love what happened. It was playful and joyful. Everyone got into the spirit of it.

We got to tell each other what we learned from each other and how much we appreciated each other.

Things happen for a reason. I feel good. Really good. And I think the actors and Mandie do too. I am very blessed with this cast, this show.