Rashomon
Date: January 10th
Time: 7:00
Place: Snow Black Box
1 minute monolog
by Fay Kanin and Michael Kanin
Adapted from Akira Kurosawa’s Academy Award winning film and based on
amalgamated short stories by famed author Ryunosuke Akutagawa.
Directed by: Roger Merrill
Snow Black Box Theatre
February 20-23, Feb. 26-March 1, March 4-8
A priest, a woodcutter and a wigmaker seek refuge from a downpour under the
ruins of the once grand Rashomon. As they talk, they marvel at recent
events: the wife of a samurai has been assaulted and her husband killed by a
roving bandit. At the trial, the witnesses each offered conflicting versions
of what happened. But whose version is true? In hard times, who will have
courage enough to tell the whole truth?
THE MAGIC FLUTE
Place: Snow Drama Theatre
Details
Directed by: Jon Linford
Acting Coach: John Bidwell
Snow Drama Theatre
March 21-22, 25-26, 28-29
Libretto by Emmanuel Schikaneder
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart composed THE MAGIC FLUTE in 1791, the last year of his life. It was
written for Schikaneder’s Theater auf der Wieden, a house that performed
folk-style comedies for the working class Viennese. In addition to writing
the words, Schikaneder also directed the production and played the role of
Papageno, while Mozart alternately conducted and played violin and keyboard.
While MAGIC FLUTE was intended as a comedy for public entertainment, its
lofty ideas and sublime musical score transcend its genre and make it one of
the great operatic masterworks of all time.
THE MAGIC FLUTE is a mythological fable that tells the story of the ascent
of mankind from innocence through the trials of life to eventual exaltation.
Both Mozart and Schikaneder were Freemasons, and Masonic rite and symbolism
permeate the opera; nevertheless, the work remains a light-hearted and
playful comedy. The hero of the story is Tamino, a young prince, who finds
himself in a foreign land; here he encounters the mysterious and dangerous
Queen of the Night, her beautiful daughter Pamina, the comical bird-man
Papageno, and the solemn Sarastro and his priestly court. Tamino encounters
much temptation along the way, but he eventually emerges victorious, and
receives Pamina and a kingdom as reward.
