The Actor’s Nightmare	The Bald Soprano	The Swimmer
by Christopher Durang	by Eugene Ionesco	by F. Xavier Hogan

Post-season show

Performed
September 15-17, 2005
at
The Boal Barn Playhouse

Production Staff

Director	Caitlin Osborne
Costumer	Emily Romanczyk
Technical Director	Oz Osborne
Stage Manager	Debbie Meder

About the Show

What makes a nightmare? In my dream world, scary things don’t take the shape of monsters under the bed. I dream that my teeth are crumbling, falling out. I blink my eyes and can’t get them open. I try to lead a class that gets larger, noisier, and more out of control. I must pack my bags to go on an important trip, but the piles of stuff are enormous, and I’m already late. And occasionally I find myself about to go onstage in a play that I can’t remember rehearsing. Situations familiar, spinning out of control.

Tonight we present to you three nightmares in the absurdist vein. Three familiar situations, where the events unfold as in a dream.

An empty theater, a living room, a park bench.

An unprepared actor, a nonsensical dinner party, a drowning man.

And just as in our dreams, each situation grows increasingly irrational, disturbing, and tense. And, naturally, humorous – after all, we can be sure that we are going to wake up.

If you have performed on stage, Durang’s Actor’s Nightmare may seem familiar. Can our hero perform Shakespeare, Noel Coward, and Samuel Beckett without rehearsal? Could you?

The Bald Soprano is Ionesco’s nightmare of miscommunication. What happens when the words we know just stop making sense? Can we ignore them, hoping that the meaning will be clear? Or must we become alive to the possibility that no one has been listening or understanding us for a very long time?

Hogan’s Swimmer gives us a window on a stranger’s enigmatic nightmare. Accept the absurd premise, and then try to arrive at a solution: If a man is drowning in no water at all, what could possibly save him? Love, a good swat on the head, a stiff drink? Therapy? A swimming lesson?

Enjoy the shows, and sweet dreams.

Caitlin Osborne, Director

The Cast

The Actor’s Nightmare

The Bald Soprano

The Swimmer

George Spelvin	J. Thomas Pogue	Mr. Smith	Mercer Bristow	The Swimmer	Kael Janson Weis
Meg, Stage Manager	Laura Waldhier	Mrs. Smith	Bonny Farmer	Woman	Pat Hazelton
Sara Siddons	Susanna Ritti	Mr. Martin	Rob Arnold	Policeman	Bob Lillie
Dame Ellen Terry	Elaine Meder-Wilgus	Mrs. Martin	Amber Daughtry	Kid on Scooter	Ben Correll
Henry Irving	Michael Waldhier	Mary, the Maid	Katie Brown	Young Woman	Amanda Memoli
		The Fire Cheif	Mark Schroeder	Tap Dancer	Jeff Bleam
		The Clock	Adam Swartz	Businessman	Rob Arnold
				Drunk	Os Osborne
				Young Man	Adam Swartz

Produced by permission of Dramatists Play Service Inc.	Produced by permission of Samuel French Inc.	Produced by permission of Pioneer Drama Service,
440 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016	45 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10010-2751	PO Box 4267, Englewood, CO 80155-4267