Anna Bella Eema
Written by Lisa D'Amour
Directed by Jeremy Paul
January 28, 2010 - February 13, 2010
7:30pm and 3:00pm, Storefront Studio
$10-$21
CPT is proud to present the regional premiere of "Anna Bella Eema", dark comedy about a woman, her daughter, and a strange girl in a trailer park. Onstage in the Storefront Studio from January 28 - February 13 (Paid Previews on January 28 and 29; Opening Night on Saturday, January 30). Written by Obie Award Winning playwright Lisa D'Amour, "Anna Bella Eema" combines creepy campfire stories, music, sound and fairy tales in an original, highly stylized one-act. "Anna Bella Eema" will be a co-production with Theater Ninjas, a CPT resident theatre company, and will be directed by Theater Ninjas Artistic Director Jeremy Paul. REGIONAL PREMIERE.
The Creative Production Team Includes:
Nadia Tarnawsky - Musical Direction
Curtis L. Young - Set Design
Allison Garrigan - Costume Design
Jeremy Paul - Lighting Design
Joan Hargate - Props Design
Carly Garinger - Stage Manager
Featuring Faye Hargate, Cassie Neumann, Beth Wood
Reviews
Reviews“As staged by Theater Ninjas artistic director Jeremy Paul in collaboration with CPT, it’s a dreamy and mesmerizing melding of frenzied stasis and languorous activity. The playwright’s abrupt but gauzy language and Paul’s dreamscape vision emerge through the effortless-looking work of a trio of actresses who portray three facets of the same woman – of all women – as well as individual women, their characters, bound by emotion, psychology and biology.”
Tony Brown, Plain Dealer
“Directed with laser-sharp precision by Jeremy Paul and featuring three luminous performances by Elizabeth R. Wood, Faye Hargate and Cassie Neumann, the 100-minute piece, presented without intermission, kept me rapt throughout. Filled with poetry, song, intense physical theatrics and choreographed movement, the play is a joy to watch. Anna Bella Eema is a performance piece of such heart, craft, fierce originality, and rich verbal and visual imagery that it never grows boring. Go with an open mind, willing to be challenged, stretched and even confused, and the rewards will be many.”
Fran Heller, Cleveland Jewish News
“Playwright Lisa D’Amour has a fine touch when it comes to speeches that combine banal facts with lean, poetic flourishes. And thanks to three outstanding performances, one’s attention virtually never wavers. As Irene, Elizabeth R. Wood is rumpled and resigned, but she still has enough moxie to rise up in defense of her daughter when pressed to the wall. Faye Hargate as Anna Bella beautifully merges the childlike seriousness and yearning for discovery of a typical fifth grader. And Cassie Neumann is riveting and chiseled as the mud girl.”
Christine Howey, Cleveland Scene
