While it may take a moment to settle into its clownish barrage of weirdness, it’s a rollicking mixed mythological adventure complete with fight scenes, a sex scene, hiss-worthy villains and a sly undercurrent of social commentary. Kevis Hillocks tags along as a skittish and prolifically (bleeped-out) cussing Br’er Possum. No stranger to audio drama (he also wrote the radio serials the Mime Troupe have done for the last couple summers), Sullivan also voices the squeaky Br’er Cicada and slobberingly voracious Br’er Catfish. San Francisco Mime Troupe mainstay Michael Gene Sullivan (whose play “ The Great Khan” is currently playing at San Francisco Playhouse) is comically befuddled as Vonda’s husband Waylon, who’s obsessed with samurai movies and keeps popping up in unexpected places. MyersBay Area playwright Andrew Saito is behind “Br’er Peach.” It’s a madcap mashup of African American folklore (particularly those that became popularized as “Uncle Remus” stories) with the Japanese legend of Momotarō, and present-day issues of corporate exploitation and displacement of communities of color. It’s split into three episodes of approximately 35 to 43 minutes apiece. Produced in collaboration with New York podcast play company the Parsnip Ship and in association with Business Lunch Productions, the rolling world premiere audio play had a preview launch in the Bay Area last March, officially opened with an online run with Dallas-based Bishop Arts Theatre Center in July, and now becomes available to Bay Area audiences through mid-December. But as venues closed during stay-at-home orders, Saito opted to adapt the story as a serialized radio drama. Saito started developing “Br’er Peach” five years ago in AlterTheater’s AlterLab playwright residency program, and it was originally scheduled to premiere as a play in the company’s live season. Courtesy of AlterTheaterCrystal Lucas-Perry plays Vonda in “Br’er Peach.”Īnd yet that’s just the beginning of the meandering journey of “ Br’er Peach,” AlterTheater’s three-part audio drama by Bay Area playwright Andrew Saito (writer of the Cutting Ball Theater’s “ Mount Misery” and “Krispy Kritters in the Scarlett Night”) that’s just now being made available to local listeners.ĪlterTheater is best known for staging plays in San Rafael storefronts, but like a lot of theater companies, it started exploring options for online drama during the pandemic.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |