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DEATH PLAY, written and performed by Lisa Dring, received a 6-week production with Circle X Theatre Co. spring 2016. It first appeared at Actors Theatre of Louisville as a 10-minute piece in 2011, and grew with One Year Lease and Solo Creation Fest at Son of Semele before blossoming into the big, deathy show she is.
DEATH PLAY is an exploration of the echoes we leave behind. It's a story about the great magic and total crap of dying. Circle X production: Directed by Jessica Hanna Produced by Camille Schenkkan Associate Produced by Ian-Julian Williams & Jen Kays Set and Lighting Design by Kirk Wilson Sound Design by Jeff Gardner, additional sound by Ray Salas Costume Design by Ann Closs-Farley "It is one of those unique performances that forces deep thought and which ignites a process that will resonate within you for days or possibly even years after you have left the theatre... a compelling canvas of human existence with an emphasis on its inevitable end." - Examiner.com "Death Play is a thought-provoking and energizing play bound to resonate with anyone who has confronted death (or knows they will someday)." - Dumpling Magazine Dring’s tale is rich in the particulars of her many-sourced heritage, yet each detail has a universal ring. By opening her highly individual dance with death to us, and inviting us in, she makes us feel the breath of the Grim Reaper, intimately close, in our own lives... Ever engaging, Dring takes us into her life, where she (and we) must accepts the stones of grief. But then she tosses them like paper, or at least carries them lightly like papier maché. For all her serious depth, Dring’s persistent lightness bespeaks survival, overcoming; her tale, and her enactment of it, suggest that until death takes us, it can help to make us. Theatreghost.com But it is the story of her manifold, contradictory reactions to all this grief that is the most fascinating and entertaining. She tells her personal story with great candor reinforcing her words with dance, movement and mime. She easily shifts from engaging entertainer to the characters of her story. Tour-de-force is not too strong a term for her accomplishment. Paulmyrvoldstheatrenotes.com She (Dring) bounces skillfully across a spectrum of desolate greys and rainbow joys, shapeshifting and chameleoning herself in ways that honor the complexities of raw human emotion... ...for those who aren’t looking for a recreation of their own reality, it may be just the thing: powerful and connective because it is human; honest and dynamic because it’s Lisa Dring, speaking from her boisterous and tragicomic heart. Redefinemag.com Examiner.com also did a feature on the piece here. |
Death Play received its festival premiere in July 2015 with Solo Creation Festival at Son of Semele Theater.
Much gratitude to Ashley Steed, Matt McCray and Ashley Regan. |
The magical and marvelous One Year Lease Theatre Company gave me space and guidance to develop a part of this play in the mountains of Mikro Papingo, Greece.
Much gratitude to Ianthe Demos, Maja Wampuzjic, Jess Applebaum and James Hunting. |
The first part of of Death Play was developed with Actors Theatre of Louisville and its apprentice company.
Much gratitude to Annie Lanzillotto, Michael Legg, Amy Attaway, Caitlin O'Connell and Jane Jones. |
