Playwright: Louis Auchincloss
Cast: Jess Osuna, Sydney Sloane, Tony Weaver, Robin Noland, Ethel Colt, Patrick McVey, Stephen Levi, Kenneth Bridges, Alice Spivak, Martin Wolfson, Virginia Gilmore, Romulus Linney, Nan Martin, William Daniels, Richard Frey
Lighting Designer: Anthony Quintavalla Lighting Technician: Howard Goldstein Assistant to Howard Berghoff: Marlene Mancini
Playwright: Charles Nelson Reilly
Director: Charles Nelson Reilly
Cast: David Berk, Tanya Fredricks, Alice Borden, Carol Gelfand, Katherine Bruce, Richard Glynn, Margot Carpenter, Susanne Grayson, Alva Celauro, Ernie Kemm, Cynthia Crane, Tom Shields, Elinor Ellsworth, Ethel Smith, Joek Frederick, Michael Stoddard
Musical Director: Edward Strauss Lighting: Tony Quintavalla
An Experiment on the American was performed June 25th – 30th
Playwright: William Packard
Director: William Packard
Cast: Al Amateau, Roberta Bennett, Leigh Burch, Michael Higgins, Howard Johnson, Marlene Mancini and Andre Sedriks
Lighting Design: Andy M. Rasbury Lighting Technician: Richard Frey Production Manager: Marlene Mancini Assistants to Mr. Packard: Roberta Bennett, Leigh Burch, Marlene Mancini Poster Designer: Murray Sherman
The Poetry of William Packard was performed May 31st – June 2nd of the year 1968.
Synopsis:
Playwright: William Packard
Director: William Packard, Roberta Bennett, Leigh Burch, Penny duPont, Carol Lanyi, William Packard and Margaret Sherman
Cast: Walt Whitman, Robert Lowell, May Swenson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Allen Ginsberg, Stanley Kunitz, Henry David Thoureau, Robert Creeley, Richard Wilbur, W.H. Auden, Kenneth Patchen and Miroslav Holub
Lighting: Patrika Brown Production Manager: Marlene Mancini Assistants to Ms. Packard: Roberta Bennett and Margaret Sherman Program: Carol Bedger
An Evening of Spoken Poetry was performed Feb. 24 – 25th of the year 1968.
Synopsis:
Thirteen poems are presented in an Evening of Spoken Poetry by twelve different poets in an evening. These are performed in HB Studio in 1968 all starting at the time of nine in the evening.
Playwright: Walter Corwin
Playwright: John Gassner
Director: Marlene Mancini
Cast: Program #1 Mathilda DeDios, Ruomi Lee Hampel, Liz Newman, Matthew Tischler, Eva DePaola, Aurora Kaschner, Cirkl Piper, Monique Ellis, Rachel Kavish, Sara Rice, Heather Haggerty, Jamie Marsh, Jasmine Savio, Daniel B. Wooten JR Program #2 Alexa Angel, Vanessa Flores, Tara La Dore, Jethro Redstone, May Talman, Antonia Cucciara, Yvonnne Flores, Abby Lester, Ghana Smith, Matthew Tishcler, Mathilda Dedios, Sasha Graff, Shelly McCoy, Christopher Sturge, Dana Wright, Judy Zimbler, Monique Ellis, Sarah Krupnick, Makesha Oucre, Maude Sutherland and Jason Zimbler
Program #1 Director: Marlene Mancini Set & Costumes: Kathe Berl Lighting: Rick Butler Technical Director: Steven Cook Musical Director:Hope Albrecht Original Music:Carol Hall Stage Manager: Ann Day Production Electricians: Anton Graham, Kenji Larsen Program#2 Director: Marlene Mancini Set and Costumes: Kathe Berl Lighting: Rick Butler Musical Director: Michelle Grace Assistant Musical Director: Hope Albrecht Costume Assistant: Lydia Hamza Original Music: Carol Hall Production Manager: Brad Waller Technical Director: Steven Cook Stage Manager: Ann Day
The Second Shepherd’s Play was performed December 19th – 30th of the year 1968.
Synopsis:
The play’s first speaker is Coll, who begins his soliloquy complaining of the cold weather. He is “ill happed” (badly covered) no matter the weather, since whether “in storms and tempest” he must still tend to his flock. He also complains about his poverty, which he blames on the rich landowners, “these gentlery-men,” who keep him “so hammed, / Fortaxed, and rammed” (hamstrung or confined, overtaxed, and beaten down) that he cannot escape poverty. Coll continues his list of complaints, which he then directs to the rich landowner’s overseer, who interferes with the work on the farm. Coll uses the word “husbands” at line 33, not to mean a spouse, but in the archaic use of the word, as one who takes care of the land. Coll does not own the land on which he shepherds the sheep, and he feels himself oppressed by the wealthy. He is brought near to “miscarry” or ruin and thus will never be in a position to work his own land. Coll continues to lament his lack of power and that he dare not complain to anyone about how he is treated, since the landowner’s servant has too much power. Coll concludes his soliloquy with the more cheerful expectation that he will soon meet with other shepherds who also share his lonely life.
Gib soon enters the stage. He does not initially see Coll and begins to grumble about the terrible weather. It is so cold and the wind so fierce that his eyes water from the misery. Between the snow and sleet, his shoes have frozen to his feet, and he laments that life “is not all easy.” Gib also whines that his wife nags him. According to Gib, “she cackles” and thus “Woe is him” since “he is in the shackles,” imprisoned in marriage. The rest of Gib’s soliloquy continues to articulate his argument that men would be better off forgoing marriage. Men have no will after marriage, says Gib, because their wives control them, whether “in bower nor in bed.” Gil has learned his lesson about marrying, but he does note that some men marry a second time, some even a third time. At this point, Gil offers a warning and tells young men that there is little point in later saying, “Had I wist” (wished), since that serves no purpose. It is best for young men to “be well ware of wedding.” Gil describes his wife as one who has brows like a pig’s bristle and a bitter look on her face. She also has a loud voice and is as “great as a whale.” Had he known that she has so much “gall” he would have run until “I lost her” before marrying. At this point in Gib’s complaining, Coll finally speaks up and asks that God watch over the audience, who have had to endure Gib’s increasingly vicious harangue about his wife and marriage, in general. When Gib realizes that he is not alone he asks if Coll has seen the third shepherd, Daw.
Daw enters and does not see Coll and Gib. Like the others, he begins his soliloquy with a complaint about the miserable weather. The rain and wind is so fierce that Daw compares it to Noah’s flood. Daw, though, has faith that God will “turn all to good!” The floods afflict everyone, those in town and those who watch over the sheep and cattle in the fields. The weather creates equality among all men. When Daw greets Coll and Gib they tell him that they have already eaten and since he is late, he has missed the evening meal. His reply is that he will work as little as he is paid. This section of the play ends with Coll, Gib, and Daw singing together to cheer themselves.
Playwright: Martin Sherman
Directors: Walter Witcover
Cast: Terry Kiser, Boris Tumarin and Anna Sten
Scene: Gordon Micunios Lighting Designer: Tony Quintavalia, Technical Director: Philip Lerman, Crew: Frank Crocitto, Richard Frey, Andre Sedriks Violin Solo: Sidney Kaufman Sound: A. Vanvrylief and Harry Seymour Properties: Carol Branston and Dennis Kear Crew: Frank Crocitto, Richard Frey and Andre Sedriks
Next Year in Jerusalem was performed from June 19th- June 23rd of the year 1968.
Synopsis:
Playwright: Stephen Levi
Director: Stephen Levi
Cast: Kathleen Coyne, Deborah White, James Barron, Robert Crest, Jeanne Kaplan, Alice Spivak, Patrick McVey, Michael Holmes
Designer: Charles D. Tomlinson Lighting Designer: Peggy Clark Costumes: Lyn Carroll Stage Manager: Andy Rasbury Assistant to Mr. Levi: Deidre Donovan House Manager: Richard Frey Lighting Technician: Rowanne Gilman Program Designer: Carol Badger
Cherry Soda Water was performed May 20th- May 31st.
Synopsis:
After a day of work, a voluptuous prostitute searches for her 14 year old daughter Cherry. She finds a glowing case of cherry soda water on her front steps, a sign that her love has returned from the sea full of passion and tall tales. The exuberant Irish sailor wants to meet the daughter he has never seen, but she insists he settle down to become a husband and father before she will let him near Cherry. He can’t pay this price; he has one more voyage to complete before he dies at sea. This powerful love story is full of vitality. Published with Cherry and Little Banjo and Red Roses for My Lady in Cherry Soda Water.
Playwright: Stephen Levi
Director: Stephen Levi
Cast: Kathleen Coyne, Deborah White, James Barron, Robert Crest, Jeanne Kaplan, Alice Spivak, Patrick McVey, Michael Holmes
Designer: Charles D. Tomlinson Lighting Designer: Peggy Clark Costumes: Lyn Carroll Stage Manager: Andy Rasbury Assistant to Mr. Levi: Deidre Donovan House Manager: Richard Frey Lighting Technician: Rowanne Gilman Program Designer: Carol Badger
Cherry Soda Water was performed May 20th- May 31st.
Synopsis:
On the same night in a northern California coastal town, two families are challenged as reality crashes into fantasy in three related one act plays. In tone, Cherry and Little Banjo Red Roses for My Lady and The Gulf of Crimson vary from lost innocence to shattered dreams to revived love.
Playwright: Horton Foote
Director: Herbert Berghoff
Cast: Edward Anthony, Franc Geraci, Olga Bellin, Michael Holmes, Oliver Berg, Susan Kornzweig, Kenneth Bridges, Richard McConnell, Marlene Mancini, Leigh Burch, Thomas McCready, Michael Corder, Carol Pearce, Robert Duvall, Brooks Rogers, Romulus Linney, Dorothy Farrell, Jean Francis, Naomi Riordan, Richard Frey, Emma Rossi and Andre Sedriks
Designer: Philip Lerman Costume Designer: Sherry Amott and Whitney Blausen Lighting Designer: Anthony Quintavalla Special Props: Kathe Berl Lighting Technician: Howard Golstein Assistant Stage Manger: John Bettencourt Production Assistants: Whitney Blausen, Vernon Yates, Adrianne Despot, Nicole Rude, Richard Frey, Andre Sedriks, Eve De Kramer, Frank Crocitto, William Freedman and Carol Badger
Tomorrow was performed April 15th – May 4th of the year 1968.
Synopsis:
In 1930s Mississippi, lonely Jackson Fentry (Robert Duvall) lives by himself as the sole caretaker of a sawmill. One day, close to the property, he discovers a young woman, Sarah Eubanks (Olga Bellin), who is three months pregnant. Since she was abandoned by both her husband and her family, Jackson takes her in. The two fall in love and get married just before her death. Jackson raises the child as his own, until the boy’s uncles arrive to demand he be returned to the family.