MADISON
- The old Iron Works in the Atwood neighborhood has become an unlikely hot
spot for the performing arts. Recently renamed the Kupfer Center as a part of
Atwood Community Center's acquisition of the property, the soon-to-be
renovated site has been the home base for Mercury Players Theatre for the last
two years. In addition to Arial dance troupe Cyropia's latest offering this
June (choreographed in the guts of the cavernous building), Mercury Players
Theatre will open its 2006-2007 Season this summer with a double bill of plays
entitled SWEET/PSYCHOSIS in the bowles of the old factory. This will be the
first in an ongoing series of found-space performances presented by Mercury
Players, dubbed MercLab.
SWEET/PSYCHOSIS is comprised of two short plays. The first, SWEET EROS by Terrence McNally, (CORPUS CHRISTI, MASTER CLASS) is a twisted romance which lasts but a half hour, to be followed by the slightly-over-an-hour play 4.48 PSYCHOSIS, by Britain's modern tragic protege Sarah Kane. Both plays are Wisconsin premieres and are directed, respectively, by Cara E. Peterson (Mercury's ON THE OPEN ROAD, NEVER THE SINNER) and Greg Harris (Broom Street's FIRE EXIT).
SWEET EROS is a monologue delivered by a poet, formerly a math teacher, who
has kidnapped a young woman and driven her to a remote house in the country.
When we first see her, she is gagged and bound to a chair, and in the course
of the action she is on the receiving end of a nonstop spate of reminiscence,
personal philosophy, sharp instruction, and true confessions and observations.
He strips her bare then goes over her body with a magnifying glass and
measuring tape. Eventually he frees her of gag and bindings, and takes her to
bed. The question which follows: what happens when he leaves the room?
4.48 PSYCHOSIS is the final play of Sarah Kane's brief, brilliant, and always controversial career, a visceral account of her battle with depression and contemplation of suicide. Completed two months before her death, the play is part poetic text, part dialogue, part performance art piece, blending its voices to present an anguished, honest account of mental and emotional extremity. 4.48 PSYCHOSIS shatters theatrical convention to become one of the most brutal and lyrical works of contemporary theater.
"The space is fantastic - sobering in its great emptiness, claustrophobic in its darkness, and raw in its abandonment," says 4.48 director Greg Harris. "Both plays require a particular atmosphere to acheive a dynamic audience/performance relationship - we have something here in the Iron Works that we could never get in one of our stages at the Bartell Theatre."
Mercury Players Theatre is one of six theatre companies who own and operate
the Bartell Theatre in downtown Madison. "But dont go to the Bartell for this
one!" urges Artistic Director Pete Rydberg. "If you're not in the Atwood
neighborhood for the show, you are in the wrong place!" That address is 144
Waubesa Street, and parking is avaialble on premises. Performance dates are
July 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, all shows 8 pm. This special double bill is for
mature audiences only. SWEET/PSYCHOSIS seating is limited and tickets are now
avaialble for purchase at
http://www.brownpapertickets