Les Chaises

Directed by Jonathan Man

Written by Mary Mazzilli

Produced by David Albrecht

"Engaging and very human stories"

Uktheatre

Summer Tour

Old Red Lion (July 2009), Camden People’s Theatre as part of Camden Fringe August 2009, Southwark Playhouse ( Only Clearance and Foreplay were performed here), Lion and Unicorn Theatre (Sept. 2009)

“Les Chaises” -three short plays- is based on the premise that ‘chair’ has strangely inspired many artists as an object and a symbol for a manifold of meanings (among the most famous Eugene Ionesco’s Les Chaises-1956 and Caryl Churchill’s farce sketches This is a chair (1999), as well as contemporary conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth). The selected plays have been chosen on the premise that theatre can entertain and surprise in its simplicity and directedness.

Clearance

by Fiona Whitelaw

Directed by Sharon Enav

Jean is clearing her father’s house, after his death in a care home. All of the furniture has been taken, except for one leather chair in an empty room. She invites the local antique dealer to value the piece, when his son arrives to look at the chair, her reasons for holding onto it begin to unravel. If Alfie persuades Jean to part with the chair, what else will be cleared out and what may replace it?

Cast

Griffin Stevens –AlfieJean

Ingrid Evans- Jean

Other voices – Kath Perry, Marc Forde, Orie Enav
Sound Design – William Morris

Foreplay

by Sue Lernier

Directed by Amy Skilling

A comedy of relationships. Alistair wants a baby. Janey’s not so sure. They go to a sex therapist for help. By the time they’re finished, the therapist needs help. This darkly comic romp exposes a disintegrating relationship through the psychiatrist’s chair.

Cast

Paul Innes –Alistair

Joleen Stovold-Janey

Benita Gibbons-Simla

Attempts on A Missing Chair

by Mary Mazzilli

Directed by Mark Huhnen

An elderly couple are arguing on who should sit on the only chair in the room. Now their grandson has gone missing and they try to come to terms with their loss. A janitor (an ex-soldier who had been fighting in Iraq till he was sent back on mental health grounds) listens to the couple’s conversation and he offers his help. Inspired by Ionesco’s Les Chaises, this is an ‘absurdist,’ whimsical play about the meaning of ‘missing’, longing for that special something or someone that has long gone or was never there in the first place.

Cast

Mark Huhnen - Old Man

Jennifer Pearcy-Edwards- Old Lady

Alex Kanefksy-Janitor.