Invisible Theatre News

Director keeps things moving in IT's 'Mesa' : November 18, 2012 12:00 am   •   Ann Brown Arizona Daily Star "Mesa" brings the question "are we there yet?" to life. The Canadian play, which made its U.S. debut Wednesday at Invisible Theatre, is based on a five-day, 1998 road trip that playwright Doug Curtis took, driving his wife's 93-year-old grandfather from his Calgary home to his snowbird home, a trailer in Citrus Gardens in Mesa. Two actors, Kevin Black, as 35-year-old chauffeur Paul, and Jay Hornbacher, as Grandpa Bud, hit the metaphorical highway lined with bittersweet moments and humor. Read the entire review here:  Director keeps things moving in IT's 'Mesa'

A 5-day trip with grandpa 60-YEAR GAP BETWEEN DRIVER, PASSENGER BRIDGED IN 'MESA' AT INVISIBLE THEATRE Kathleen Allen Kallen@azstarnet.com "Mesa" is particularly personal for playwright Doug Curtis and his wife and frequent collaborator, Heather Moore. The play, which Invisible Theatre opens next week, is based on a trip Curtis took from their Calgary home with Moore's grandfather. "My mother-in-law asked me if I would like to drive Grandpa Bud to Mesa," Curtis said of that day in 1998. Flying Grandpa Bud down wasn't an option. Read the entire preview here:  A 5-day trip with grandpa Jay Hornbacher, left, as Grandpa Bud and Kevin Black as Paul, who is tasked with driving Bud from Calgary to Mesa. Photo: Tim Fuller

Uplifting vignettes dedicated to mother : REVIEW Uplifting vignettes dedicated to mother   Kathleen Allen Arizona Daily Star September 8, 2011 ...  "Motherhood," a mash-up of monologues by a very impressive list of contemporary playwrights, took us from birth to almost every significant event in a child's life - playground rifts to sex talks to graduation, birth again, and, finally, mothering our own mothers. [Susan] Claassen smoothly wove the pieces together, creating an entertaining 90 minutes of wispy storytelling. Read the entire review of "Motherhood Out Loud" here:  Uplifting vignettes dedicated to mother Barbea Williams is one of four cast members in "Motherhood Out Loud," presented by the Invisible Theatre. The show is way, way inclusive on the various aspects of motherhood.

Invisible Theatre opens 42nd season with 'Motherhood Out Loud' Southwest premiere of multi-authored salute to moms Posted Sep 5, 2012, 4:30 pm Dave Irwin TucsonSentinel.com It’s a show with more writers than actors. “ Motherhood Out Loud ” is a celebration of all things mom. The show was created as a collaboration of more than a dozen writers from theatre, television, fiction and non-fiction to create a broad, diverse panorama of the motherhood experience. Beginning this week, the Invisible Theatre is presenting the southwest premiere of the show. Tim Fuller/Invisible Theatre Lori Hunt, Susan Kovitz and Barbea Williams in 'Motherhood Out Loud.' Read the entire preview here:  Invisible Theatre opens 42nd season with 'Motherhood Out Loud' :

Many voices on one topic: motherhood : Many voices on one topic: motherhood MONOLOGUES BY IMPRESSIVE PLAYWRIGHTS KICK OFF INVISIBLE THEATRE'S FALL SEASON   Kathleen Allen Kallen@azstarnet.com Susan R. Rose has had a storied career: In 1984, fresh out of college, she became the youngest producer on Broadway when she mounted "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and was nominated for a Tony. She went on to produce plays by Athol Fugard, David Rabe and Larry Shue, among others. She has also had a prolific career producing movies for television. But it is her role as a mother that she cherishes the most. And it led her to conceive and organize, with her creative partner, the late Joan Stein, "Motherhood Out Loud," a series of monologues by an impressive list of playwrights. Invisible Theatre opens its season with the play next week. Susan Kovitz is among Invisible Theatre's cast of "Motherhood Out Loud," a series of monologues by severa...

One-woman show offers multiple perspectives | The Invisible Theatre : One-woman show offers multiple perspectives Actress takes minimally decorated stage and doesn't let it go Posted Apr 17, 2012 Dave Irwin TucsonSentinel.com The Invisible Theatre’s Susan Claassen may have to relinquish her crown for one-woman shows. With its latest offering, “The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead,” Claassen, the theater’s charismatic managing artistic director, is making room for her protégé, Betsy Kruse Craig. “The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead” closes the Invisible Theatre’s 42nd annual season with a seven character tour-de-force. Betsy Kruse Craig, who is also an associate director at IT, takes the minimally decorated stage and does not let it go. Portions of her costume changes occur on-stage through a screen, so that we can better appreciate the extent of her transformations. The play unfolds as each character layers on information to the narrative from h...

'Vengeful Redhead': 7 characters, 1 actress : Embodying each requires more than a wig change Kathleen Allen Kallen@azstarnet.com   |  Posted:  Thursday, April 5, 2012  Betsy Kruse Craig is a stage veteran. Still, her upcoming performance in Invisible Theatre's "The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead" has got her a wee bit nervous. You see, she plays all the characters - young, old, male, female, blonde, brunette and redhead. "The play is intense," admitted Craig. "It's nothing like I've ever done before. Getting all those words and people straight …" The play's conceit is this: Rhonda has been married for 17 years when her husband calls her and tells her it's over; he's moved out of the house. This revelation, and her intent to confront the woman involved with her husband, brings on a catastrophic event. There are seven characters in the play, and each one has a different take on what happened at that event. T...