Blessed Unrest proudly presents a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, adapted by Matt Opatrny, and directed and choreographed by Jessica Burr. A Christmas Carol runs from December 5 – 22, 2013 in a limited engagement at The Interart Theatre, located at 500 West 52 Street (at the corner of 10th Avenue) in New York City. Previews begin December 5 for a December 7 opening.
Performances are Wednesdays – Saturdays at 8pm and Mondays at 7pm with additional shows on Sunday, December 8 at 3pm and Sunday, December 22 at 3pm. The Saturday, December 14 8pm performance, along with a 3pm matinee, will take place at the Emelin Theatre (153 Library Lane) in Westchester. Tickets are $18 for performances at The Interart Theatre and can be purchased online at http://www.BlessedUnrest.org or by calling 646-238-0829. The show is appropriate for adults and adventurous kids 12 and up. The running time is 90 minutes with no intermission. Following every performance audience members are invited to stay and mingle with the artists and actors at post-show parties in the theater lobby. For info visit http://www.BlessedUnrest.org, Like them on Facebook at https://www.Facebook.com/BlessedUnrest, and follow them on Twitter at @_BlessedUnrest_.
Blessed Unrest gets to the heart of the classic with this powerful and illuminating adaptation of the shocking night when Ebenezer Scrooge is woken from his life of isolation and offered a shot at redemption. Six actors play thirty-seven characters, in this raw, physical and darkly funny exploration of Scrooge’s secretive past, the troubled present around him, and the tragic future that is coming if he continues to live with his eyes closed.
In 1843, Charles Dickens planned to publish a political pamphlet entitled “An Appeal to the People of England on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child,” but instead wrote A Christmas Carol. This adaptation returns to the story’s original intent as an examination of an unjust socioeconomic system that benefits a few at the top while the masses struggle to meet their basic needs. It shows the capacity of an individual to break out of solitude, strive to be known, and enact positive change.
The cast includes Damen Scranton (Princess Grace Award winner) as Ebenezer Scrooge, Sora Baek, Jessi Blue Gormezano, Tatyana Kot, Nathan Richard Wagner (After Midnight and The Gray Notebook with Target Margin) and Joshua Wynter (Hamlet with Metropolitan Opera).
The creative team includes Neal Wilkinson (Set Design), Cynthia Jankowsky (Lighting Design), Summer Lee Jack (Costume Design) and Sam Kusnetz (Sound Design). Jaimie Van Dyke is the Production Stage Manager.
Jessica Burr (Director/Choreographer) is the Founding Artistic Director of Blessed Unrest. She was honored with the 2011 Lucille Lortel Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women in recognition of her work as a director and the body of work that Blessed Unrest has created under her leadership. With Blessed Unrest she has directed and choreographed Eurydice’s Dream (NY Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Choreography/Movement), The Sworn Virgin (with Teatri Oda, Kosovo), The Storm, ArtCamp SexyTime FootBall, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and directed Nick (world premiere of a new translation of Chekhov’s Ivanov), Suzan-Lori Parks’ 365Days/365Plays, Doruntine (with Teatri Oda), and Measure for Measure. Burr has a B.A. in theatre and dance from Bard College, and has taught physical and devised theatre at Centenary College and Texas Tech’s WildWind Performance Lab.
Matt Opatrny (Playwright) is the Founding Managing Director of Blessed Unrest. With Blessed Unrest Opatrny wrote Burn, Crave, Hold (winner of the 2008 NY Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Production, nominee for Outstanding Original Script and eight others), co-wrote The Sworn Virgin and Doruntine (with Teatri Oda), co-wrote Eurydice’s Dream and ArtCamp SexyTime FootBall, and co-adapted Lying and Certain Things Which I Will Call Sacred (The Lovers’ Project). Opatrny has taught devised theatre at Texas Tech’s WildWind Performance Lab, and movement and stage combat at Centenary College, The School for Film and TV, Greenwich Academy and Columbia Preparatory. He has trained with the SITI Company and at Clemson University.
Blessed Unrest (theatre for the adventurous) uses the safe structure of training, rehearsal and performance to create an environment where dangerous things can happen. They produce dynamic, disciplined and exuberant new works for the stage in New York City and abroad, building original pieces and reconstructing established texts with their diverse ensemble of artists. They are a non-profit, ensemble-based, experimental theatre company generating original work since 1999, including over twenty full productions (thirteen world premieres), plus numerous workshops and readings.
Blessed Unrest is in residence at the Interart Theatre on West 52 Street and has performed at P.S. 122, Public Theater, NYU, Columbia University and Manhattan School of Music. They believe that artistic collaboration has the power to break down cultural barriers and build international bridges. They therefore pursue international exchange and partnership including with Teatri Oda of Prishtina, Kosovo with whom they have twice toured internationally with original bilingual plays.
Blessed Unrest’s productions have been described as having “magnetism and electricity” (TimeOut NY), “physical ingenuity and visual artistry” (NYTheatre.com) and as “a triumph of acting, choreography and sound design” (Back Stage).
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