“Echobell” was recently performed locally by Ghostbridge Theatre as a part of Theatre Terra Firma’s “Emerging: New Works by a New Generation.”

We’re so excited about the reading and hope to connect with great people!

We are blessed to be in such a supportive arts community in which an organization like Springboard even exists!

More detailed information can be found in the Projects section at www.ghostbridgetheatre.org.

Synopsis

In a world of absolute darkness, the High Creator of Sound attempts to restore Full Light to the world.  Teaching her daughter, Echobell, the power of sound vibration,  a fragment of the Light returns.  But should the Light be brought to the full council for the ritual of joining senses, or will the Sound Tribe act alone?

Performance Info

Venue: Blank Slate Theatre, St. Paul, MN

Dates: Thursday Feb 9, Friday Feb 10, Saturday Feb 11. All shows at 7:30 PM.

Tickets: $5

CRedits

Theresa Augsburger - Hears Well

Karen Elaine Massey - Echobell

Ali Daniels – Always Listening

Directed by: Jeff Nichols

PHOTOS

Video

On Thursday November 3 I attended the opening of ghostbridge theatre’s Ask the Question at Bryant Lake Bowl. Just looking for a quick rating? Eight out of ten—outstanding—some of the best theatre I’ve seen in the Twin Cities. Where too many shows are primarily flippant escapism, Ask the Question reaches toward an ethos of weight balanced by humor. Get your tickets now for either of the remaining Thursday evening shows.

The structure is incredibly clear without being blocky—this show has flow. An opening patter of interweaving lines spoken by all the characters communicates depth and a sense of surprise, setting up the work to come. While the intense and information-dense opening text flutters by, each character repeats a unique gesture that inaudibly sinks right to heart of what that character represents or holds dear. This opening draws the audience immediately into the world of the play. No clunky exposition here! I found myself imperceptibly leaning forward to make the mental connections faster, to catch the hints rapidly dropped by the rhythmic interplay of text and iconic gesture.

The playwright and director Jeff Nichols has an exacting sense of timing. For me, it was just at the right moment that this opening blur of overlapping text moved into a series of monologues. I will refrain from spoiling the meta-theatrical surprises that unfold from one monologue to the next. How are an author, a Pakistani prisoner, a cult leader, and a young veteran connected? See the show, and find out.

Particularly memorable and compelling were spoken word performances by Aly Westberg as the character of The Author, as well as the gorgeous and subtle insertion of musical director Karen Elaine Massey’s voice as a nostalgic childhood memory of The Author. Alex Cotant disturbingly found the humanity in the character of The Initiated One. Actor, director, and script powerfully combined to push my empathy buttons even for such an obviously messed up megalomaniac.

Touchingly edgy and realistic is the depiction by Christian DeMarais of Iraq war veteran Alex Dobson who has found a tenuous niche back at home as a museum security guard. His attempts to protect the art at all costs are a bit scary, not to mention his genuinely vulnerable reaching out to (or hitting on) a young art history co-ed researching her paper at the museum.

There are two shows left, both on Thursdays: November 10 and November 17. Get there before 6pm to ensure your seat and to catch Happy Hour: $3 domestic taps, $4 select taps, house wines, rail cocktails, and $4.25 appetizers. Make a date night of it, and grab dinner fresh from local farms like my wife and I did—BLB has food and drink service in the theater!

Ask the Question premiered in 2008 at The Marsh in San Francisco. Do not miss its limited run here in Minneapolis.

We want our show to be a great first production and introduction into the Minneapolis theatre community and cannot succeed in this fundraising project without your help!

Ahmed Kahlil Khan: Lijesh Krishnan
The Initiated One: Alex Cotant
Alex Dobson: Christian DeMarais
The Author: Aly Westberg

We’re so excited about working with our actors and are greatly looking forward to our performance at the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis on Nov 3, 10, and 17!

Synopsis

Can the Pakistani engineer accused of terrorist ties convince you he’s innocent? Will you drink the Elixir of Enlightenment offered by Loreleii’s radical free-market Leader? Is the Iraq vet suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or completely insane? And did that poet make the whole show up or is she just a creation herself?

A series of character monologues, spoken word, dance, and live music explore faith, ideology, and loss of certainty in contemporary America. Answers are impossible to pin down, but the struggle to find them makes for a fascinating journey.

Ask the Question premiered in 2008 at The Marsh in San Francisco.

Performance Info

Venue: Bryant-Lake Bowl

Dates: Thursday Nov. 3rd, Thursday Nov. 10, Thursday, Nov. 17. Doors at 6, Show at 7pm.

Tickets: $12/$10 students with i.d. or anyone with a Fringe button.

Call 612-825-8949 or visit www.bryantlakebowl.com for tickets.

CRedits

Aly Westberg (The Author) is a graduate from the University of MN Duluth where she received her B.F.A. in Musical Theater.  Most recently, you could have seen her in The Sound of Music, playing Maria, or in the hilarious sketch comedy Bye Bye Liver: the Twin Cities Drinking Play.

Lijesh Krishnan (Ahmed Kahlil Khan) would like to thank Jeff for the opportunity to be a part of producing this amazing script. His previous credits include Lysistrata and The Visit at Theatre on the Park, Change Agent at Savaali, One for the Road with Killing Joke, The Balcony at Nimbus Theatre, and The Laramie Project with the Eat Street Players. He thanks Colin for his loving support.

Alex Cotant (The Initiated One) is elated to be part of this great cast. Trained at the New Actors Workshop in NYC, he performed in Madison, WI for two years before moving to the Twin Cities. His Madison credits include: Macbeth (BST), Hamlet (IDAPS), Threepenny Opera (Madison Opera) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Strollers). Most recently he appeared in Fallout at the Loring Theater.  Alex would like to thank Jeff Nichols, as well as his family and friends.

Christian DeMarais (Alex Dobson) is an AEA-EMC actor who has performed all over the country in mediums of both stage and film.  Recent credits include: ORDWAY (Yankee Doodle!, Singin’ in the Rain), LOWRY LAB (Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story), GUSTAVUS (Hamlet), ST CROIX FESTIVAL THEATRE (Red, White & Tuna), FILM (Respice Finem, James, The Perversion of Günter Ingvarsen, Though This Be Madness (also writer), The Hamlet Experiments, Health Freaks.)

Directed by: Jeff Nichols

Musical Direction and Performance: Karen Elaine Massey

Lighting Design: Miles Bard

Promotional Poster

Promotional Video

Check out the production’s facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=263747766978871

and blurb on Bryant-Lake Bowl site!

http://www.bryantlakebowl.com/calendar/2011-09-22

Box Office: A History

Written by Steve Ackerman

Directed by Ellen Conn

"Ask the Question" will run at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis, MN: Nov 3, Nov 10 & Nov 17 @ 7 PM. See "Projects" page for more information.

Ghostbridge Theatre is auditioning 3 men and 1 woman for “Ask the Question”, which premiered at The Marsh in San Francisco in 2008. A series of character monologues, spoken word, dance, and live music, the show will perform at Bryant-Lake Bowl on Thursdays, Nov. 3, 10, and 17, at 7pm.

Audition date: Saturday, Sept. 24, 1-5 pm. @ Bryant-Lake Bowl
e-mail for appointment: janjj@hotmail.com
(contact us if interested but unable to make the audition date)
prepare 2 monologues (1-2 minute dramatic, 1-2 minute comedic)

Character breakdown:

Ahmed (any age): a Pakistani immigrant unjustly being held on suspicion of terrorist ties. An engineer whose faith is in science, not God, he recounts the life he has lost: growing up in Pakistan, marrying his wife, arguing with his religious brother.  Fearing for his sanity in solitary confinement, he turns to God in spite of his misgivings.

The Initiated One (over 30): second-in-command of the Loreleii Foundation, an Ayn Randian organization that purports to offer enlightenment to members.  Charismatic and righteous, he is forced to show a more vulnerable side as he turns personal betrayal into a bid for absolute power.

Alex Dobson (20′s): An overly-militaristic art museum security guard.  Young and full of humour on the outside, deeply jaded inside. As he tries to make a connection with an attractive young patron, memories of his time in Baghdad push him over the edge into a deeply myopic vision of human nature.

The Author (any age): She wanted to be a dancer, a poet, an opera singer, a writer.  Eventually she wrote a show.  *Dancers/movement artists with strong acting ability encouraged to audition.*

Rehearsals will start the week after auditions and run through October.  Actors will receive a $200 stipend.

“Ask the Question”
Written and Directed by Jeff Nichols
www.ghostbridgetheatre.org