Pericles Redux premieres Fri., July 17, 8 pm; continues Sat. (7/18), 8; Sun. (7/19), 7; Wed. & Fri. (7/22 & 7/24), 8; Sat. (7/25), 2 & 8 pm; Sun. (7/26), 2 & 7. Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City. Tickets available at Center Theatre Group, 213.628.2772 or online at PericlesRedux.com. All tickets: $40 except July 22, $25. All net proceeds will benefit Dax Foundation PACT grant recipients.
John Farmanesh-Bocca, founder and artistic director of the Not Man Apart Physical Theatre Ensemble (NMAPTE), gazes at the ample empty stage of the Culver City-based Kirk Douglas Theatre and smiles. “I really believe the truest, the most exciting theatre is bare stage,” he affirms. “It has the greatest opportunity to transport an audience because the possibilities are infinite.”
Jennifer Landon
Farmanesh-Bocca’s 13-person ensemble will have an opportunity to do just that when its critically acclaimed Pericles Redux, based on a play by Shakespeare, has its LA premiere as a visiting production at the Douglas for nine performances, under the sponsorship of the Dax Foundation to benefit recipients of the Foundation’s Performing Arts Charitable Trust (PACT). The production will feature the LA stage debut of three-time daytime Emmy Award winner Jennifer Landon, daughter of the late Michael Landon.
Farmanesh-Bocca currently serves as a contributing faculty member of New York University’s Classical Studio at the Tisch School of the Arts. Based both in Carmel and Santa Monica, California, NMAPTE reflects his artistic evolution. “I started my career as a dancer until I busted my knee,” he recalls. “Then I went to NYU and intertwined my dancing with my acting. That turned into choreography which turned into directing. This project distills all the techniques the ensemble has been honing over the years. It’s a mash-up of many different styles and techniques I am familiar with and love very much.”
Jennifer Landon, who has been basking within her director’s enthusiasm, laughs. “Mash-up! That’s a perfect way to describe the way John works.” Landon, who also studied at Tisch, actually met Farmanesh-Bocca five years ago in Santa Monica when she had taken a leave from college. “I began taking classes from John Ruskin at the Ruskin Group Theatre over at the Santa Monica Airport and Mr. Farmanesh-Bocca was giving workshops there. Over the years, I have continued to train with him at various locales, including his Big Sur Theatre Lab near Carmel.”
“I use the term mash up a lot because I think it best describes our approach,” Farmanesh-Bocca continues. “I actually think this is how our modern world expresses itself: the constant mashing together of ethnicities, cultures, sounds, rhythms, movements. It is a sturdier term than ‘intertwine’ or ‘amalgam.’ It better fits what we are doing.”
The director refers back to the expansive, bare Kirk Douglas Theatre stage. “And that’s a perfect canvas for our work. All of my theatre pieces have a very minimalist structure to them. It follows Grotowski’s concept of ‘poor theatre,’ wherein you try to accomplish the greatest effect with the least means possible. I also can enjoy a show like Spamalot but it is not my bag.”
Pericles Redux originally premiered at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival, where it achieved critical acclaim by the British press. “This play is about family,” the director affirms. “It is loved ones losing each other and fighting to reunite and have a life together. It is not a tragedy. It is not a comedy. I love the fact that Shakespeare created this work that can’t be clearly defined, just like life. It is what Chaplin mastered so well. In the midst of tragedy, there is something that is ridiculous and funny. It is all there in Pericles and it is up to us to bring it out.”
“I understand John’s language,” says Landon, who won three consecutive Emmys for her work on the series As the World Turns from 2005 to 2008. “Just the way John approaches the work and the way he relates to the actors; the journey he takes you on. John just makes the prettiest theatre I’ve ever seen. It is a heightened experience. John says, ‘It shouldn’t be what life is but what life should be like.’ Performers need someone like John who has such a strong vision and knows what he wants. It makes it so much more fulfilling for us to do our job.”
The full Pericles Redux ensemble includes Alix Angelis, John Farmanesh-Bocca, Michael Buffo, Vincent Cardinale, Jennifer Landon, Jonathan Martin, Rachel McGuinness, Dash Pepin, Arnell Powell, Randolph Rand, Alexander Rogers, Ashley-Nicole Sherman, Jones Welsh and Carvell Wallace.
Not Man Apart’s Pericles Redux is one of four initial LA-area live theatre productions from arts companies that have been awarded grants under the Dax Foundation’s PACT initiative. The companies include Shakespeare Santa Monica, Veterans Center for the Performing Arts, Not Man Apart Physical Theatre Ensemble and Independent Shakespeare Company, all of which are in production this summer in the greater LA area.
“These are praiseworthy, professional artistic endeavors that have not received the community financial support they deserve,” affirms Dave Weisman, Executive Director of the Dax Foundation. “Pericles Redux is a shining example of the vibrancy, creativity and inventiveness young production companies like Not Man Apart consistently deliver to our community. It’s a pleasure to support such compelling theatre. We are thrilled to be able to share this exceptional production with the people of Los Angeles.”
Feature photo of Vincent Cardinale, Dash Pepin, Mike Buffo, and Claire Moorer (Lying Down) and story photo of Vincent Cardinale, Dash Pepin, Mike Buffo, and Alix Angelis (Center) by Michelle Magdalena Maddox. Story photo of Jennifer Landon by CBS/Robert Voets.
