Body Awareness
The Shirley, VT Play Festival
By Annie Baker
Directed by Paul Daigneault
Featuring Paula Plum, Adrianne Krstansky, Gregory Pember and Richard Snee
Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco
Costume Design by Bobby Frederick Tilley II
Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg
Original Music & Sound Design by Nathan Leigh
Production Stage Manager - Victoria S. Coady
October 22 - November 20, 2010
“Body Awareness” week on a Vermont college campus is the setting for this smart and touching comedy about ordinary people grasping for connection. When Phyllis, the organizer, and her partner, Joyce, agree to host a photographer famous for his female nude portraits, a firestorm erupts that could break apart their unconventional family.
Run time: 100 minutes without an intermission
Proudly sponsored by South Boston Yoga
Part of “The Shirley, VT Plays” Festival
This fall, SpeakEasy Stage will proudly team up with the Huntington Theatre Company and Company One to produce breakout writer Annie Baker’s first three plays – Circle Mirror Transformation, produced by the Huntington Theatre Company (October 15 – November 14), Body Awareness, produced by SpeakEasy Stage Company (October 22 – November 20), and The Aliens, produced by Company One (October 29 – November 20). All set in the fictional town of Shirley, VT, the plays will run together in the first-ever festival dedicated to the work of this wryly observant young writer. This festival presents a special opportunity to examine the rich and varied lives of a small town filled with humor, good intentions, unintended consequences, and accidental beauty. Audiences will experience three miniature portraits of Shirley, VT, a town not found on any map.
Learn more about the series or visit the official site.
October/November 2010
| SUN | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT |
| OCT 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 8:00 PM |
23 4:00 PM 8:00 PM |
| 24 3:00 PM |
25 | 26 | 27
7:30 PM Pay What You Can Performance |
28 7:30 PM |
29 8:00 PM |
30 4:00 PM 8:00 PM |
| 31 3:00 PM w/talkback |
NOV 1 | 2 | 3 7:30 PM |
4 7:30 PM |
5 8:00 PM |
6 4:00 PM 8:00 PM |
| 7 7:30 PM w/Spirituality & Arts talkback |
8 | 9 | 10 7:30 PM |
11 7:30 PM |
12 8:00 PM |
13 4:00 PM 8:00 PM |
| 14 7:30 PM w/talkback |
15 | 16 7:30 PM |
17 7:30 PM |
18 7:30 PM |
19 8:00 PM |
20 4:00 PM 8:00 PM |
Special Events
- Body Awareness - Opening Night
Friday, October 22, 8:00PM performance - Body Awareness - Press Performance
Sunday, October 24, 3:00PM performance - Body Awareness - Pay What You Can Performance
Minimum $14; Walk-up Sales Only; Day of Show Only
Wednesday, October 27, 7:30PM performance - Body Awareness - Out & About Night Reception with Cast
Friday, October 29, following the 8:00PM performance - Body Awareness - Post show talkback with director and cast
Sunday, October October 31, following the 3:00PM performance - Body Awareness - Spirituality and the Arts Talkback
Sunday, November 7, following the 7:30PM performance - Body Awareness - Post show talkback
Sunday, November 14, following the 7:30PM performance
Cast Biographies
ADRIANNE KRSTANSKY* (Phyllis) is thrilled to return to SpeakEasy having played Lisa in Snakebit. Other New England performance credits include Paradise Lost, Britannicus and Ubu Rock (American Repertory Theater); Othello (Commonwealth Shakespeare); November (Lyric Stage Company); Gary (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre); Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Vineyard Playhouse); Closer (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater); Bug (Boston Theatre Works); and 2.5 Minute Ride and Frozen (New Repertory Theatre). Off- Broadway: 365 days/365 plays (Public Theater) and Luck, Pluck and Virtue (The Atlantic Theater Company). Regional credits include A Clockwork Orange and Twelfth Night at Steppenwolf Theatre Company as well as performances at LaJolla Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville and Telluride Repertory Theatre among others. Film: The Company Men directed by John Wells.
GREGORY PEMBER* (Jared) is thrilled and honored to be making his SpeakEasy debut. A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Gregory recently graduated from The Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Musical Theatre. At TBC, Gregory played such roles as Romeo (Romeo & Juliet), Young Ben (Follies), John Wilkes Booth (Assassins) and Mark (Rent), the latter under the direction of Paul Daigneault. Other professional credits include Rolf (The Sound of Music), Will Parker (Oklahoma!), Man 1 (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change) and Jack (Into the Woods). Thanks to Mom, Dad and Bob for their unconditional love and support, and to Paul Daigneault for his guidance and this amazing opportunity.
PAULA PLUM* (Joyce) SpeakEasy: Reckless, The Savannah Disputation, The History Boys and The New Century. Lyric Stage: Blithe Spirit, Miss Witherspoon, Three Tall Women; The Goat…, The Heiress, and Sideman. A founding member of the Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Paula has played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Margaret in Richard III, and Lady Macbeth in the Scottish Play. She has appeared in Wit for Lyric West; Faith Healer, Molly Sweeney, Happy Days, and Breath of Life for Gloucester Stage; and No Exit, Ivanov, Mother Courage, and Lysistrata at the American Repertory Theater. She has been honored with three Elliot Norton Awards, four IRNES and, in 2003, was named a Distinguished Alumna of Boston University’s School for the Arts. A recipient of the Fox Actor Fellowship, Paula is currently in the first of a three-year actor residency with SpeakEasy Stage. She is married to actor Richard Snee.
RICHARD SNEE* (Frank) is delighted to be making his SpeakEasy debut. He most recently appeared in Blithe Spirit at The Lyric Stage Company and Table Manners at Gloucester Stage. He is a founding member of the Actors' Shakespeare Project and last appeared with them in Much Ado About Nothing. He has also been a member of the Boston company of Shear Madness since 1987. Among his numerous film and television credits is the animated FX series, "The Dick and Paula Celebrity Special," in which he "starred" with his wife Paula Plum. She was "Paula." He was "The Dick."
*Member of Actors' Equity Association (AEA), the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.
Reviews
Body Awareness offers "much more than just laughs. [It's] the deepest and richest of the Shirley, VT plays, and features a quartet of outstanding performers." —Boston Globe
"[Playwright Annie] Baker should thank SpeakEasy Stage Company for what they have done with her play... Four flawless performances make this such a delight... Even in the world of live theater, this kind of synchronistic magic is a rare treat to behold." —Boston Metro
"Body Awareness is the most conventional of the Shirley, VT plays, and the most overtly entertaining." —Boston Phoenix
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Jim Torres
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Phone: 617-482-3279
Cell: 617-529-1670
Fax: 617-482-3280
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Basic Show Information
Body Awareness
By Annie Baker
Directed by Paul Daigneault
Featuring Paula Plum, Adrianne Krstansky, Gregory Pember and Richard Snee
October 22 - November 20, 2010
















