  |
|
January 4, 2007
|
Fork in the road Life turning points tie together Yellow Taxi Production’s four main stage performances in 2007, artistic director Suzanne Delle said. Heading into its fifth year as southern New Hampshire’s professional theater company for contemporary and provocative work, Yellow Taxi will this year present plays that focus on how a person’s major decisions can affect others. American Plan by Richard Greenberg, first produced in 1990, explores how “what was OK in 1969, the way people chose to live, was not OK in 1960 ... and the way people were sort of trapped in their box,” said Delle, who directs the show. “It’s a theme Yellow Taxi goes back to time and time again, having an authentic life and being able to choose your life.” Because of the scenes’ variety of settings, the play requires a neutral black box space. For that, Yellow Taxi will be bringing the audience on stage of the Stockbridge Theater at Pinkerton Academy in Derry to maintain an intimate feel. The show runs March 1 through March 4 and features Washington, D.C., actress Lindsay Duso and Peterborough actor Joshua Moore. Greenberg is known for Three Days of Rain, which recently starred Julia Roberts on Broadway. Yellow Taxi’s next show is set in 1965. Six Nights in the Black Belt: The Jonathan Daniels Story will premiere May 4 through May 13 at the 14 Court Street Theater in Nashua. The script examines the motives of New Hampshire native Jonathan Daniels, a civil rights activist, and how his beliefs changed those around him. A staged reading is planned for Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hunt Building in Nashua, where writer Lowell Williams of Nashua, Yellow Taxi’s playwright in residence, will take audience feedback. Yellow Taxi’s fourth annual free performance at Greeley Park in Nashua is unique in that it’s a romantic comedy told by a cat. Indoor/Outdoor, by new writer Kenny Finkle, met the requirements for staging in a suburban neighborhood, Delle said: “It’s enjoyable. It’s light. It has ‘Indoor/Outdoor’ in the title.” Samantha decides to explore the outside world when a “sexy ally cat” starts telling her about his trips to the beach and forest. Samantha likes being outdoors but learns that “having a roof over your head … is pretty good, too,” Delle said. Yellow Taxi will use the park’s bandstand and park grounds for the staging. The show runs Aug. 4, 5, 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. Delle saw String Theory in Washington, D.C., and thought the script was good but the production wasn’t. Jacqueline Reingold’s play deals with midlife as a single woman—reaching age 40 and realizing your parents are aging, friends are getting ill and you want to have a baby, Delle said. Reingold mentored Lowell Williams during his MFA studies. “I really wanted to see if Yellow Taxi could put its own stamp on the play,” Delle said, and “see if we can’t do it justice.” String Theory runs Oct. 12 through Oct. 21 at the Hunt Building in Nashua. Yellow Taxi also hopes to present Santaland Diaries, a one-main show by humorist David Sedaris, in December, and continue presenting it every other year. They hope to run an insider Hollywood late-night comedy in June as a fundraiser. Andrew Hannah, who has acted in and directed several Yellow Taxi shows, is tentatively planning Yellow Taxi improv for the summer with a Nashua bar venue. Visit theatermania.com for tickets to Yellow Taxi shows or yellowtaxiproductions.org for more about the company. |
12/28/2006 Standout performances of '06 12/21/2006 Curtain Calls
|
Navigation
