DramaDogs’ Combines Eight Short Plays for a Complete Experience

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Sept. 12, 2014 - PRLog -- DramaDogs proudly presents an ensemble of short plays by award-winning playwright E.M. Lewis titled, “Dance Me to the End of Love” at Center Stage September 26 through October 5.   Ken Gilbert and E. Bonnie Lewis are founders and co-artistic directors of the company, now in its 16^th year. Combining the short plays into one interconnected show is definitely a new approach to the material.  DramaDogs’ consistently challenges theatrical traditions and expectations, striving to bring a new way to look at theatre for its audiences. “Blending the material was easy with one writer’s voice,” said Ken Gilbert, “and with Bonnie’s strong dance background, we choose to dance the Tango between the plays to bond the characters and actors’ relationships. It’s also a very stylized, intimate dance which reminded me of the plays.” This is one of the company’s trademarks to include a physical element to the show.  Like the tango, the company of six drape themselves across the words as they embrace, slink, weave, elevate, flip, kick, dip, push, pull and spin into the individual works helping the players and the audience to feel the movement of the lives exposed here.  Cast includes: George Coe, Ken Gilbert, E. Bonnie Lewis, Kathy Marden, Jennifer Marco and Mack Urbanowicz.  Set and lighting design is by the award-winning Theodore Michael Dolas with music composed and directed by Eric Valinsky.

These eight short plays delving into the human condition cover everything from relationships between friends, family members, a celebrity and fan, a teacher and student, to actors on the stage.  Titles of the plays are: $2,500 OBO, Apple Season, Ask Roberto!, Gin, If We Kissed, Reveille, Sing Me That Leonard Cohen Song Again and The Manuscript.   Serious, funny and often poignant, the stories are short but you’ll be thinking about them long after the lights have come down.The title for the show “Dance Me to the End of Love,” comes from a Leonard Cohen tune of the same name. The songwriter is mentioned in two of the scripts as well.

Bonnie and Ken became aware of Lewis’ work when they met here a few years ago at the first PlayFest Santa Barbara.(http://playfestsantabarbara.org/).  (They are not related).  Bonnie said, “E.M. can finesse the language so well. She has a real knack in mixing and matching relationships. There’s absolutely no stereotypical bias in any of these people she has created for the stage. She writes so believably and creates such fully realized people. We get a sense of not only the moment but also their history.  What has brought them to this moment we are encountering?   One of the characters I’m creating, I am struck by the depth of her passion and desires.”

"I'm delighted that Bonnie and Ken have put together this collection of my short plays to present in Santa Barbara.  They picked a couple of my old favorites -- and a few that are quite new -- but I'm seeing them all differently because they are set together.  It's funny how much a writer reveals of herself in her work; you have the funny and sad of me, now.  What I need and what I value and what scares me and what I love is all in there.  I'm terribly fond of these characters, and know DramaDogs will bring them wonderfully to life."

Playwright Lewis described in her blog what her plays tend to revolve around, “My plays are all very different from each other in form and subject, but like most writers, I tend to circle the same set of questions on a pretty regular basis.  ‘How do we go on?’ is a favorite for me -- taken from both existential and practical angles.”

Her award-winning plays have been produced around the country and around the world.  She is the winner of the 2009 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for her play Song Of Extinction and the 2008 Primus Prize for an emerging female theater artist for her play Heads — both selected by the American Theater Critics Association.

“Dance Me to the End of Love” plays at Center stage for seven performances over two weekends: opening Friday, September 26 and running through Sunday, October 5. Show times are at 8 pm Thursday, Friday & Saturday; 2 pm for Sunday matinees. Center Stage Theater is located in the Paseo Nuevo Mall, on the second floor arts complex.  Box Office is open Wednesday through Friday 12 noon to 5 pm; and one hour prior to all shows.  Visa or Mastercard accepted. Tickets are available online 24/7 at http://www.centerstagetheater.org. There is a $1.50 fee added to online sales. Phone: (805) 963-0408.   Priced at $23 general and $18 for students and seniors.

DramaDogs also has two “Pay What You Can” performances – Sunday matinee Sept. 28 at 2 pm and Thursday evening, October 2 at 8 pm.  Making theatre accessible to all is a top priority for the company.  Discounted tickets for these performances can be bought by cash or check, and are only available at the Box Office.  (Pls. no phone or online sales).  Call now and reserve your seats for what’s sure to be a memorable theater experience.