Parson’s Nose Theater, led by Artistic Director Lance Davis, announces its 16th anniversary season of classic theater in Southern California.
“This year, we’re talking about the power of family, the power of belief,” says Mr. Davis. “Belief in religion, belief in money, belief in love, belief in friendship, belief in country…what do you believe in? Five timeless comedies, by our finest writers, that will make you laugh and make you think. The kind of moment where you stop your laugh to say, ‘Whoa! What did he say?’. George Bernard Shaw’s Androcles and the Lion asks what’s worth dying for. Dickens’ A Christmas Carol asks what’s worth living for. Molière’s The School for Wives suggests that it’s extremely foolish to even try to stem a young girl’s love. Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows shows the power of ‘family’ through a rat, a mole, and a badger on an English riverbank. And the compendium As You Were: Stories for GIs in WWII offers a treasure box of ‘home’ for boys and girls serving their country in 1943.
“With the addition of our community programs – The Reader’s Theater Workshop and the PNT Academy reading of Our Town – we look forward to an exciting year and hope you’ll ‘pay what you will’ to join us!”
The company’s season presents two Reader’s Theater Series performances and three Full Productions. The Reader’s Theater Series includes December’s A Christmas Carol and The Wind in the Willows in March 2016. The 16th Season begins with a Full Production of Shaw’s Androcles and the Lion opening in October and running through November, followed by Molière’s The School for Wives in January and February 2016, and concluding with As You Were: Stories for GIs in WWII in April and May. All Reader’s Theater and Full Productions are original adaptations by Parson’s Nose Artistic Director, Lance Davis, who also will be doing an original translation of The School for Wives.
Parson’s Nose presents their 2015-16 Season with a mixture of readings and full productions. Performed readings are presented one weekend only, allowing audience members to be introduced to a play they haven’t read before, or to enjoy a performance where the language and characters are the focus without the distraction of costumes, props, and sets. Full productions will have a 7-8 performance run, including sets, costumes, and props, but keeping those elements to a minimum so that the story doesn’t get lost in the spectacle.
Parson’s Nose is also happy to announce that they will continue selling their entire season – both Reader’s Theater and Full Productions – as “Pay What You Will”. Says Davis, “It’s essential that all people have the opportunity to hear the works of some of the greatest writers in history. Thanks to our generous supporters, we can keep all of our shows affordable – no one is ever turned away because they couldn’t afford a ticket.”
Parson’s Nose Theater’s 2015-2016 Season: The Five Plays
(All performances are at Lineage Performing Arts Center, 89 South Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena)
Androcles and the Lion by George Bernard Shaw
Full Production
Previews: October 24-25, 2015
Runs: October 31, November 7, 8, 14, 21, 22, 2015
Shaw’s whimsical retelling of Aesop’s fable of kindness. Romans vs. Christians. What would you die for?
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Reader’s Theater Series
December 19-20, 2015
Parson’s Nose’s annual celebration of the English language when we revel in Dickens’ own words, the delicious description of Victorian London we skimmed in high school but now can enjoy over a cup of wine or cocoa.
The School for Wives by Molière
Full Production
Previews: January 30-31, 2016
Runs: February 6, 13, 14, 21, 28, 2016
Old Monsieur Arnolphe is determined to create “the perfect wife”, uneducated and devoted. He keeps his orphaned ward, Agnes, completely isolated and uneducated until their marriage. Agnes, however, now of age, has other plans.
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Reader’s Theater Series
March 19-20, 2016
An allegorical story of an idyllic England before The Great War. Mole and Ratty and Badger and Toad share adventures along the River Bank in a time of character, loyalty, respect, and kindness.
As You Were: Stories for GIs in WWII compiled by Alexander Woollcott
Full Production
Previews: April 16-17, 2016
Runs: April 23, 24, 30, May 1, 7, 8, 2016
Knapsack stories and songs for our service men and women, including…
The Duke and the Dauphin by Mark Twain
Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor
The Declaration of Independence
Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Dana
The Skylight Room by O.Henry
I Hear America Singing!
Tickets for all Parson’s Nose Theater readings and full productions are “Pay What You Will” however reservations are strongly encouraged. Tickets are available by calling (626) 403-7667, visiting http://www.parsonsnose.com, or by emailing [email protected].
All performances are at Lineage Performing Arts Center, 89 South Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena.
About Parson’s Nose Theater
Parson’s Nose Theater is a non-profit, 501(c)3 theater company located in Pasadena, CA dedicated to introducing classical theater to modern audiences. Through condensed adaptations of the works of Shakespeare, Molière, Shaw, Goldoni, Goldsmith and more, lives of the old, young, and in-between are enriched with this introduction to the works of some of the greatest writers who’ve ever lived. Productions are presented in a fun, commedia dell-arte style that makes them both engaging and easy to understand. Parson’s Nose believes the classics are stories that have endured because they speak illuminating truths to each generation. The joys and problems of 17th Century families form a bridge to those of the 21st.
Parson’s Nose Theater was founded in 2000 by Lance Davis and Mary Chalon Davis. After previous relationships with InterACT Theater and The Geffen Playhouse, Parson’s Nose took up residency at Lineage Performing Arts Center in Pasadena, CA. Parson’s Nose takes pride in paying actors above the Actors Equity requirements because they believe artists should be paid appropriately for their talents. To date, Parson’s Nose has introduced approximately sixty-five fun, condensed, professional presentations of thirty-two comedies to over 65,000 kids and adults. Parson’s Nose takes pride that no one is ever turned away from attending a production because they could not afford a ticket. Parson’s Nose is the only company in America devoted to this new way of experiencing the classics.
Parson’s Nose Founder and Artistic Director, Lance Davis, is a classically and comically trained actor who spent over twenty years working in New York. A guest teaching opportunity brought Lance to Los Angeles where he quickly realized that many students had little, if any, experience with live theater, and none with live classical theater. Many of his own friends admitted that they too never experienced Shakespeare or other classical theater out of fear they wouldn’t understand it. With the help of his wife, Mary Chalon Davis, and the generosity of Terry Perl, they founded Parson’s Nose Theater in 2000 to inspire the young and reward the old, by developing in them an appetite that would lead to further exploration of the unique art form, ‘Theater’.
