Sunset on the shore
The Actors Center Journal Vol. 2, No. 4, November 2010
Dream Company II
Last issue your editor offered a possible Dream Company for the (never say impossible) dream of a National Theatre. Here is a second list:
FRANCIS CONROY
BYRON JENNINGS
PETER FRIEDMAN
AUDRA MCDONALD
ALLAN CORDUNER
JOHN ELLISON CONLEE
MICHAEL STUHLBARG
JAYNE ATKINSON
SAM TRAMMELL
LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA
ALLISON PILL
JAMES FRANCO
A dedicated reader of this Journal named Darrell Larson sent in a list of his own. I asked him to follow up with a proposed three year season. Here are his actors and his plays:
WALKER JONES
WAYNE DUVALL
PETER GERETY
NED EISENBERG
ZOE KAZAN
PAUL SPARKS
JASON BUTLER HARNER
SCARLETT JOHANSEN
EZRA MILLER
JOHN FRANKLIN THOMPSON
NANCY LEMENAGER
ALFRE WOODARD
Okay, here’s what I’d do:
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, Shakespeare, with Paul Sparks as Antony and Scarlett Johansen as Cleo.
CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA, Shaw, with Peter Gerety as Caesar and Zoe Kazan as Cleo.
NIGHT MUSIC, Odets, ensemble cast led by Ned Eisenberg as the Lieutenant, Walker Jones as Rosenberger, Ezra Miller as Steve, Zoe Kazan as Fay, with new music composed by Steve Mackey.
NUDE WITH VIOLIN, Noel Coward, with John Franklin Thompson as Sebastien Lacreole, Nancy Lemenager as Marie-Celeste
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TIMON OF ATHENS, Shakespeare, with Ned Eisenberg as Timon
THE TRIAL, Gide/Barrault/Kafka, with Jason Butler Harner as K
SEMI-MONDE, Noel Coward, on location in hotel lobby. Entire Company, with Nancy Lemanager as Dorothy Price.
THE SUNSET LIMITED, Cormac McCarthy, with John Franklin Thompson and Peter Gerety
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DANCE OF DEATH, Strindberg/Churchill, surrealist labyrinth, with Scarlett Johansen as Agnes the Daughter of the Gods, Jason Butler Harner as the Officer.
THE STONEMASON, Cormac McCarthy, with John Franklin Thompson and Alfre Woodard
BACK TO METHUSELAH, Shaw, full cycle (five plays). Entire Company, with Ezra Miller as Adam, Zoe Kazan as the Serpent, Paul Sparks as Cain, Jason Butler Harner as Pygmalion, Alfre Woodard as the She-Ancient, Walker Jones as Burge-Lubin.
ONE TOUCH OF VENUS, Perelman/Nash/Weill. with Nancy Lemanager as Venus, Jason Butler Harner as Whitelaw Savory, Zoe Kazan as Molly Grant.
Going forward I would be planning a marathon STRANGE INTERLUDE, O’Neill, and the world premiere of Denis Johnson’s PURVIS, with Wayne Duvall as Lyndon Johnson, Peter Gerety as J.Edgar Hoover, Ned Eisenberg as John Dillinger, Jason Butler Harner as Clyde Tolson, and Paul Sparks as Melvin Purvis.
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