WINNER! 2004 “BILLIE” AWARD

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy or Drama:

Priscilla Allen, The Painting

“A rare treat… A rich artistic melange… Priscilla Allen, grand dame of local theatre has outdone herself!…”

–Anne Marie Welsh, SD Union Tribune (Read Reviews)

The Painting

by

Eugene Ionesco

In a new Translation by Nadja Lancelot and Robert Salerno

Directed by Robert Salerno

Art Director, Set & Costume Design
Nadja Lancelot

Sound Design
Robert Salerno

Lighting Design
Sally Stockton

Costumes
Sheila Rosen

Stage Manager/Props…………………………….Charlie Riendeau
Photography/Cover Art by Savage Solutions http://www.savages4hire.com

CAST
(IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)

Priscilla Allen………The Corpulent Gentleman
Jim Turner ………………………………The Painter
Laura Bozanich………………………………..Alice
Jennifer Eve Kraus…………………..The Painting
Rachael Van Wormer………………The Neighbor

Setting: A Townhouse, Paris

C’est L’Absurd!
The Painting, one of Ionesco’s earliest works, was written at another time of great post-war turmoil. It harkens back to the anti-realistic styles of Jarry, Apollinaire, and Cocteau. Ionesco likened pure theatre to a sporting match with “live antagonism, dynamic conflict, and motiveless clash of opposing wills.” The Painting concerns a wealthy patron of the arts and a starving artist who engage in a kind of linguistic and aesthetic slapstick that is hilariously acerbic, sending up not only the bourgeoisie, but the art world as well. Ionesco exposes the ugly power differential created by circumstances of wealth and gender within the absurd landscape of his vision of modern life. That he does so with such hilarity and lightness is truly remarkable.- —Robert Salerno

“We laugh so as not to cry.”—Ionesco

Currently running with Robert Salerno’s award-winning production of Cocteau’s

The Wedding on The Eiffel Tower

March 7-28, 2004

Lyceum Space, S.D. Repertory Theatre