Role(s) – Old Shanachie
Company/School – New Zenith Theatre
Date(s) – 2003/04
Director – Larry Hunt
Writer – Paula Wing
Photo(s) – See below
Review(s) – N/A
New Zenith Theatre to Present the New England Premiere of “The King of Ireland’s Son”
(Waterbury, CT – March 19, 2003) The New Zenith Theatre for Young Audiences will present the New England premiere of Paula Wing’s imaginative new play “The King of Ireland’s Son” April 9 through 13 in NVCC’s Mainstage theatre.
Performances are April 10, 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. and April 13 at 2:00 p.m. In addition, a limited number of free tickets are available to schools for special student performances at 10 a.m. on April 9, 10 and 11. Seating for all morning performances require reservations; please contact Jillian Wildman, educational coordinator, at (203) 575-8038 for information.
The action-packed story features Sean the Red, a young prince who is summoned by a mystical bird to free his imprisoned sister. During his quest, he encounters a faithful companion, a mighty giant and a treacherous sea serpent. Ultimately, he is forced to make some unexpected discoveries about what it takes to become a true hero. The New Zenith production combines the artistry of masks, shadow puppetry and original sound and music to bring to life this extraordinary play, which unfolds into a road map about self-discovery.
“The King of Ireland’s Son” is recommended for ages eight and older and is sponsored in part with a grant from the Waterbury Foundation. In addition to helping underwrite a portion of the production, the Foundation’s grant allows 4th and 5th grade students from Naugatuck’s Central Avenue School to journey “inside the process”–learning how a full scale production is developed, rehearsed and produced.
“The King of Ireland’s Son” features Doug Sobon of Naugatuck as Sean the Red; Mike Manna of Waterbury as Shaking Head; Cortney Bergin of Bristol as Trembling; and Danielle See of Woodbury as Princess Finola. Other cast members include Vilai Bouttaphom, Gary Rosengrant, Jillian Wildman, Shannon Sullivan, William Ward, and Mirna Chinchilla, all of Waterbury; Ben Grinberg of New Preston; Caitlin Legere of Naugatuck; Maria Franceskino and Marissa Ranalli of Watertown; Gary Ploski of Mt. Vernon, N.Y.; Diane McCarthy-Bercury of Bethany; Craig Clavette of Torrington; Kyle Jones of Sandy Hook; and Charlene Ciardiello of Branford.
Bethlehem resident and New Zenith Artistic Associate Larry Hunt, creator of the internationally acclaimed mask and movement company, Masque, takes on dual roles as director and mask designer/creator. Other members of the production team include: Bill Cone, set designer; Jonathan Curns, lighting designer; Linda Valdes, costume designer and Antonio Biello, sound designer/ composer. Ed Wierzbicki, New Zenith artistic director and assistant professor of theatre arts at NVCC is the producer, Jillian Wildman is the educational coordinator, Geoff Ault is the production manager and Bridget Garthwait is the stage manager.
Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children and students. For box office information and ticket reservations, call (203) 575-8193. To make group arrangements for one of the morning performances, call (203) 575-8038.
Established in 1999 as part of the college’s theatre arts department, the New Zenith Theatre for Young Audiences is committed to building a thriving, rich and positive theater experience for children, teachers and families.
Production experience
Looking back I still wish the songs hadn’t been cut from the show. A story about legends with no songs about those legends. Instead the stage was filled with shadow giants and a great enormous dragon controlled by some five (5) people. All the while masks covered the faces of the majority of the cast save for the lead actor and actress.
I wore a mask covering all but my goatee which happened to be about four (4) inches in length. With a staff and a slow walk Gram didn’t recognize my for close to five (5) minutes on stage. Thanks Gram. = )
I enjoyed playing with my physicality for this show. Moving slowly is easy. Having purpose and making it look believable… That’s another story.
Within a few minutes of the show officially ending I shaved of the goatee. It had grown for months and was gone faster than most people could count to 30.
While not one of my favorite shows it was very opportune to work with puppets with a mask on. Seeing and hearing were very different inside that mask.
