SACRED FOOLS | MAINSTAGE 2002

Featuring
Lee Bradley - Joel Christian - Andy Corren - Henry Dittman
Lori Funk - Danielle James - Crystal Keith - Liesel Kopp
Nathan Kornelis - Michael Lanahan - Ashley West Leonard
Yuri Lowenthal - David LM Mcintyre - Lisa Anne Nicolai
Tara Platt - Mark Schrier - Jacob Sidney
Ruth Silveira - Amir Talai - John Wuchte

Produced by Crystal Keith
Associate Producers -
David Grammer, Laura Esposito and Bruno Oliver
Assistant Directors - Jessie Marion and Denise Barnard
Set Design - Aaron Francis
Lighting Design - John Sylvain
Sound Design - Jason Tuttle
Composer/Music Coordinator - Brenda Varda
Costume Designer - Laura Esposito
Assistant Costume Designer - Julie A. Lockhart
Costume and Curtain Crew -
Meredith Anne Patt, Aldrich Allen, Mary Hayes, Sondra
Mayer, Lisa Grant, John Altieri, Shirley Anderson, Tina Kronis,
Majken Larsson, Kara S. Leigh, J. Ryan Stradal
Carpenters - David Holcomb and Rik Keller
Pulchinella Masks - Richard Gustafson
Props Posse -
Richard Gustafson, Sondra Meyer, Angela Marie Rubino, Dani Barkat
Commedia Choreography - Sean Kinney
Stage Manager - Frank Stasio
Light Board Operator - Nick Aguayo
Sound Board Operator - Corey Klemow
Alvarez's Blood Rig - Joe Seely
Original Artwork - Dani Barkat
Graphics Layout Design - Chris Hutchings and Brad Friedman

REVIEWS!

LA WEEKLY - Pick of the Week!

Aaron Francis’ marvelously whimsical production of Clive Barker’s phantasmagoric chronicle of self-discovery showcases the horror movie–meister’s (Candyman, Hellraiser) macabre sense of humor. Drawing from Euro pean folktales, Barker traces the exploits of the hapless Til Eulenspeigel, a.k.a. Crazyface (Mark Schrier), a nomadic 16th-century fool for whom trouble, in the person of an unseemly and unseen Angel (Henry Dittman), is a constant companion. When a Spanish spy (Dittman) entrusts Til with a mysterious and priceless substance from the New World, other European agents (the hilariously buffoonish Joel Christian, Amir Talai and John Wuchte), as well as Til’s own estranged and homicidal brother Lenny (the grotesquely clown-faced David Mc Intyre), try to wheedle Til out of the secret stuff. Inspired comedic standouts include Jacob Sidney as a nefarious Spanish cleric, Ashley West Leonard as Til’s opportu nistic sister-in-law and Dittman as the rude Angel. With director Francis’ nimble staging of the large and gifted ensemble, Barker’s somewhat long commedia dell’arte–inspired fable — replete with outlandish characters, masks and antics — succeeds on numerous levels, from adult fairy tale to a crafty political satire, but mostly it affirms the desire to follow one’s dreams.

-- Mart�n Hern�ndez
�2002 LA WEEKLY

LA TIMES

Clive Barker fans are legion. But those who have carefully shunned Barker's typical gore-fests, both cinematic and literary, might be happily surprised by Barker's "Crazyface," now receiving its West Coast premiere at the Sacred Fools Theater.

Not that the play doesn't feature its share of the outr�, including a sadistic angel and a trio of commedia-inspired clowns inflicting tortures on those who have fallen afoul of church and crown. However, Aaron Francis, who directed and designed this ambitious and impressively realized production, wisely emphasizes the play's mordant humor, keeping its sanguinary elements to a minimum.

A familiar character from European folklore (and the merry prankster who inspired Richard Strauss' famous tone poem), Til Eulenspiegel, otherwise known as Crazyface, is the engaging simpleton around whom Barker's convoluted plot revolves. Til, played with puckish intensity by Mark Schrier, is a ragtag itinerant who roams Europe with his mother and three sisters-in-law--a Brechtian procession reminiscent of "Mother Courage." Unseen by the others, Til's constant companion is a hectoring Angel (Henry Dittman). The Angel, Don Rickles with wings, needles Til into injudicious outbursts that make the witch-hunting peasants very nervous.

Denounced as a madman and under sentence of death, Til flees for his life with his sister-in-law Annie (Tara Platt) in tow. Annie soon joins a band of fierce female brigands and goes off to complete the circuit of her implausible destiny. Meanwhile, Til, ever the victim of chance and circumstance, receives a mysterious box from a dying Spanish spy that contains a substance so rare and precious that the monarchs of Europe are willing to fight to the death over it.

Warfare, famine and intrigue soon rage, with Til at the center of the apocalyptic vortex. Barker's dystopian romp encompasses a Cain and Abel conflict, the Machiavellian connivings of an evil Inquisitor, and plenty of slapstick, including a comical interlude with a snorting family of pig farmers.

Chock-full of sly topical references (the mysterious box as a metaphor for nuclear capability, the Inquisitor as exponent of religious fundamentalism), Barker's imaginative but untrammeled parable is unfortunately long-winded. However, Francis and company rise to the challenge of their material with aplomb.

Schrier, the standout of the evening, spearheads a large and gifted cast. Also noteworthy: John Sylvain's lighting, Laura Esposito's costumes, Brenda Varda's original score, Jason Tuttle's sound and Richard Gustafson's masks and props--essential to this vivid, richly disorienting endeavor.

-- F. Kathleen Foley
�2002 LA Times