PHILADELPHIA – Furthering its commitment to the intimate exploration of the human spirit through storytelling, Lantern Theater Company continues its 20th anniversary season with a world premiere adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ beloved poem A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Co-created by Lantern Artistic Director Charles McMahon and Philadelphia interdisciplinary artist Sebastienne Mundheim, the devised performance integrates Mundheim’s well-known puppet sculpture work with Thomas’ evocative language. The production is family-friendly for children 8 years and older and runs December 5, 2013 – January 5, 2014. [Full schedule including special events is below]
Rather than employing the Lantern’s signature style of adapting existing literary properties, A Child’s Christmas in Wales is being developed through an exploratory process between the creators, performers and design team. “This poem so powerfully invokes a sense of place that it creates a vivid environment for readers to enter into,” says Charles McMahon. “Collaborating on the work has allowed us to provide theater-goers with that same experience.”
Presented just before the centenary of Thomas’ 1914 birth, A Child’s Christmas in Wales is a nostalgic reflection on simpler Christmases past. The poem forms the basis of Mundheim and McMahon’s adaptation, which is performed by Charlie DelMarcelle, Doug Hara, Geneviève Perrier and Amy Smith. Together, the artists embrace the intimate space of the Lantern and the strict economy of poetry to develop a multisensory approach to telling Thomas’ story.
“When Thomas describes a fire truck in the poem, it becomes a visual anchor for the audience, and so I made a fire truck,” says Sebastienne Mundheim, who is also directing. “Thomas’ poem reminds us of the relationship between memory and storytelling. What we actually remember are a few visceral fragments, and we create a fluid truth around that memory. This piece allows us to build a story that jumps from one visual anchor to the next, allowing the audience to bring their own personal experiences to the performance.”
“Storytelling is the beating heart of what we do at the Lantern,” adds McMahon. “This collaboration with Sebastienne is an opportunity to be innovative in our approach to storytelling in a way that we typically cannot, challenging our artists, designers and audiences with a new way to see the world.”
A Child’s Christmas in Wales runs December 5, 2013 – January 5, 2014 (press opening: Wednesday, December 11, 7 p.m.). Tickets are $20 – $38 and are available online at lanterntheater.org or by calling the Lantern Box Office at (215) 829-0395. $10 student rush tickets are available 10 minutes before curtain with valid ID; cash only. Additional discounts are available for seniors, groups of 10 or more and U.S. military personnel. Lantern Theater Company is located at St. Stephen’s Theater, 10th & Ludlow Streets in Center City Philadelphia.
Cast & Production Team
A Child’s Christmas in Wales is performed by an ensemble of four artists, including Lantern favorites Charlie DelMarcelle and Geneviève Perrier. Charlie is a Lantern teaching artist and played the role of Mercutio in the Lantern’s production of Romeo & Juliet in 2012. He is currently appearing in the one-man show I Am My Own Wife at Theatre Horizon, and has performed locally with the Arden, Inis Nua, Azuka, EgoPo, White Box, Amaryllis, Delaware Theatre Co. and Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company. Geneviève is a two-time Barrymore Award-winning local actress recently seen in the Lantern’s production of Noël Coward’s Private Lives. She has performed with many of the area’s companies, including Philadelphia Theatre Company, the Arden, Act II, Azuka, EgoPo, Theatre Exile, Headlong, Pig Iron and Temple Repertory Theater.
Joining Perrier and DelMarcelle are Doug Hara and Amy Smith, both making their Lantern debuts. Doug has worked with Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company as an actor, musician, composer and assistant director since 1991. He has worked in regional theaters around the country, including Goodman Theatre, the Arden, Two River Theater Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Syracuse Stage, and many others. Broadway credits include Metamorphoses at Circle in the Square and The Boys of Winter at the Biltmore. Off Broadway: The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, Metamorphoses and Lookingglass Alice. He has also been seen in the films Since You’ve Been Gone and Mad Dog and Glory. Amy Smith is a founder and co-director of Headlong Dance Theater, a performance and creation research platform. Recent projects include This Town is a Mystery, More and Red Rovers. Outside of Headlong, Amy has performed in the work of Deborah Hay, Ishmael Houston Jones and others. She has also performed extensively in theater and cabaret, and won a Barrymore Award for 1812 Productions’ Suburban Love Songs and a Bessie Award (New York Dance Award) for Headlong’s ST*R W*RS and other stories.
The production team for A Child’s Christmas in Wales is led by Sebastienne Mundheim as director and production designer, and includes sound designer and composer Robert Kaplowitz, who won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Musical for Fela! Other credits include designs for LAByrinth, Second Stage, Primary Stages, Vineyard Theatre, MCC, the Arden, the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Sundance, PlayPENN and more. He received an OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence in Sound Design Off-Broadway (’06/’07) and an Audelco Award for Fela! Jillian Keys, a 2011 graduate of the University of the Arts, will design costumes for this production, and lighting will be designed by Shon Causer (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Liar).
About Dylan Thomas and A Child’s Christmas in Wales
“The language is enchanting and the poetry shines with an unearthly radiance.” – The New York Times on A Child’s Christmas in Wales.
Modern Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas (b. October 27, 1914) is perhaps best known for his poem Do not go gentle into that good night. He began writing as a teenager and continued through adulthood, touring four times in the United States. He recorded A Child’s Christmas in Wales in 1952, a year before his death at the age of 39. According to the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, this recording is credited with launching the audiobook industry in the United States.
Special Events
Presented in conjunction with A Child’s Christmas in Wales. For tickets and additional information: 215-829-0395 or visit www.lanterntheater.org.
A Sip Down Memory Lane with Wine School of Philadelphia Founder and President Keith Wallace
Friday, December 20 from 6-7:30 p.m.
In keeping with A Child’s Christmas in Wales’ universal themes of holidays and memories, participants will take a sip down memory lane during this Proustian style wine and cocktail tasting, focused around aromas that evoke memories. Sample seven wines, spirits and classic cocktails in all, coupled with traditional tavern fare.
Tasting: $30 ($27 for subscribers)
Tasting + 8pm Performance: $50
Puppet Workshops for Kids with Charlie DelMarcelle
Following 2pm performances on:
Friday, December 27; Saturday, December 28; Tuesday, December 31; and Saturday, January 4
Working with teaching artist and A Child’s Christmas in Wales cast member Charlie DelMarcelle, kids will explore the process of storytelling, create their own puppetry pieces, and collaborate to bring their work to life. Approximately one hour.
FREE for ages 8 and up
Space is limited – advance reservations required
About Sebastienne Mundheim | www.whiteboxtheatre.com
Sebastienne Mundheim is an interdisciplinary storyteller, installation artist and educator, as well as the founder and artistic director of White Box Theatre. Sebastienne has been creating arts-based interdisciplinary performance and community events for 20 years. Works have been commissioned and/or presented by: The Rosenbach Museum and Library, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts, Franklin and Marshall College, Keene State University, Vermont Performance Lab, Marlboro College, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts and the Irish Ministry of Arts and Culture. Mundheim has collaborated in the works of other artists including: Whit McLaughlin/New Paradise Laboratories, Kate Watson-Wallace/Anonymous Bodies, Thaddeus Phillips/Lucidity Suitcase, Stan Heleva/Walking Fish Theatre and Hua-Hua Zhang. She was a 2011 finalist for the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and received the Independence Foundation Fellowship in 2012. She received her EdM from Harvard in 2000.
White Box Theatre embodies Mundheim’s values and methodology. Aesthetically the work straddles visual, audio and narrative worlds, and have been described as “three-dimensional story-books,” and “melodic paintings.”
2013/14 Season
Lantern Theater Company will continue its 2013/14 season with William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, directed by Charles McMahon (February 6 – March 16, 2014); the Philadelphia Premiere of Athol Fugard’s The Train Driver, starring Peter DeLaurier and Frank X, directed by Matt Pfeiffer (April 10 – May 4, 2014); and C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, adapted by Anthony Lawton (May 27 – June 15, 2014).
FACTS
A Child’s Christmas in Wales
World Premiere
By Dylan Thomas
Created by Charles McMahon and Sebastienne Mundheim
Directed by Sebastienne Mundheim
Dates: December 5, 2013 – January 5, 2014
Previews run December 5 – December 10
Opening night is Wednesday, December 11, 7 p.m.
Performances:
Thursday, December 5 at 7 p.m.
Friday, December 6 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, December 7 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, December 8 at 2 p.m.
Tuesday, December 10 at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, December 11 at 7 p.m. (opening)
Thursday, December 12 at 7 p.m.
Friday, December 13 at 8 p.m. (Free, post show: Artists in Conversation)
Saturday, December 14 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, December 15 at 2 p.m. (Free, post show: Artists in Conversation)
Wednesday, December 18 at 2 p.m.
Wednesday, December 18 at 7 p.m.
Thursday, December 19 at 7 p.m.
Friday, Decembery 20 at 8 p.m. (Special Event: Sip Down Memory Lane)
Saturday, December 21 at 2 p.m.
Saturday, December 21 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, December 22 at 2 p.m. (Free, post show: Artists in Conversation)
Tuesday, December 24 at 12 p.m. (Free, post show: Artists in Conversation)
Thursday, December 26 at 2 p.m.
Thursday, December 26 at 7 p.m.
Friday, December 27 at 2 p.m. (Free, post show workshop for kids)
Friday, December 27 at 8 p.m. (Open caption)
Saturday, December 28 at 2 p.m. (Open caption, plus Free post show workshop for kids)
Saturday, December 28 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, December 29 at 2 p.m.
Tuesday, December 31 at 2 p.m. (Free, post show workshop for kids)
Thursday, January 2 at 7 p.m.
Friday, January 3 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, January 4 at 2 p.m. (Free, post show workshop for kids)
Saturday, January 4 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, January 5 at 2 p.m.
Location: Lantern Theater Company at St. Stephen’s Theater
10th & Ludlow Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Prices: Adults: $30-$38, Students: $10-$28, $10 student rush tickets available 10 minutes before curtain with valid ID- cash only. Special discounts are available for seniors and groups of 10 or more.
Tickets: Phone: (215) 829-0395, Online: www.lanterntheater.org
Cast (in alphabetical order)
Charlie DelMarcelle
Doug Hara
Geneviève Perrier
Amy Smith
Production Team
Production Designer Sebastienne Mundheim
Costume Designer Jillian Keys
Lighting Designer Shon Causer
Sound Designer &
Composer Robert Kaplowitz
Production Manager Meghan Jones
Stage Manager Rebecca Smith
Assistant Director Katherine Coots
