SEPTEMBER 4, 5, 11, 12, 19, 2010
Saturdays - 5:00 PM
Sundays - 4:00 PM


The events of Othello are retold through the eyes of the women of Venice. Desdemona, the promiscuous wife of Othello; Emilia, the reluctantly faithful wife of Iago; and Bianca, Cassio's lover, a painfully naive prostitute. This is Katie Chidester's second production of the season.

CAST 

Kelly Sue Eder -- Desdemona
Amber Scott -- Emelia
Andrea Marie Freeman -- Bianca
 

PRODUCTION CREW
Katie Chidester -- Director
Jill Matzkanin -- Stage Manager
Ashley Martin, Fred Kinney, and Katie Chidester -- Set Design
Emily Brauer Rogers and Katie Chidester -- Lighting Design
Tim Murphy -- Sound Design

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AS WE PRESENT PAULA VOGEL’S DESDEMONA: A PLAY ABOUT A HANDKERCHIEF AS OUR THIRD SECOND STAGE PRODUCTION

SEPTEMBER 4TH- 19TH, 2010

FULLERTON, CA – The Hunger Artists Theatre Company is proud to present Paula Vogel’s feminist play, Desdemona:  A Play About a Handkerchief directed by Hunger Artists’ Associate Managing Director, Katie Chidester.  

Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief parallels the action of Othello by following the women in the play, but they’re not the women that you expect them to be.  Desdemona is a sexually adventurous young woman who has befriended Bianca, the camp prostitute for a chance to explore the seedier side of the world under her husband’s nose.  Along with her faithful handmaid Emilia, who’s married to treacherous Iago, they soon find out how much trouble one little handkerchief can cause.

Paula Vogel’s fourth play, Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief was first produced in New York in 1979, and has subsequently been produced at several theatres nationwide.

This production features Kelly Sue Eder as Desdemona, Amber Scott as Emelia and Andrea Marie Freeman as Bianca.   This is Kelly Sue Eder’s second appearance on the Hunger Artists stage, having previously appeared in our production of Buried Child as Shelly earlier this year. Amber Scott is also the Artistic Director of Hunger Artists and has appeared in many productions at Hunger Artists including The Lion in Winter, Much Ado About Nothing, RE: Woyzeck  and most recently Iocasta in Oedipus Rex.  Andrea Marie Freeman is making her Hunger Artists debut, and was most recently seen in The Twilight Zone at Stages Theatre

Jill Matzkanin is the Stage Manager for this production.  Ashley Martin, Fred Kinney and Katie Chidester provided Set Design and Tim Murphy is the Sound Designer.  Lighting Design was done by Emily Brauer-Rogers and Katie Chidester.

Paula Vogel was born in Washington D.C. in 1951.  She has been writing plays since the mid 1970’s, but first became widely known with The Baltimore Waltz which won the Obie Award for Best Play in 1992.  Five years later, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her best known work How I Learned to Drive, which was also produced at Hunger Artists in 2004.  Vogel taught for twenty years at Brown University, leading the graduate playwriting program.  She left Brown in 2008, to become Chair of the Playwriting Department at Yale School of Drama as well as the Playwright-in Residence at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Paula Vogel was born in Washington D.C. in 1951.  She has been writing plays since the mid 1970’s, but first became widely known with The Baltimore Waltz which won the Obie Award for Best Play in 1992.  Five years later, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her best known work How I Learned to Drive, which was also produced at Hunger Artists in 2004.  Vogel taught for twenty years at Brown University, leading the graduate playwriting program.  She left Brown in 2008, to become Chair of the Playwriting Department at Yale School of Drama as well as the Playwright-in Residence at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

“Like most actors, I will jump at the opportunity to play any Shakespearean character,” says director Katie Chidester.  “And unfortunately, like most actresses, I know my options are limited when it comes to getting female roles in any of Shakespeare's plays, which is a direct contrast to the seemingly numerous male roles. Well known cultural limitations of 16th century England, I'm sure, are to blame; something Paula Vogel decides to take on and address herself in this deeply moving piece. Rather than retell Shakespeare's Othello from a minor character's point of view, Vogel uses this opportunity to shatter the archetypes of virgin, mother and whore to give these women a real and human depth missing in Shakespeare's tragedy. I suppose I am so drawn to this piece of theater because it presents women I can relate to. As a longtime fan of Vogel, I have always admired her ability to write with a distinct feminist perspective without ever compromising good story-telling, comedy and wonderfully quirky characters. In 'Desdemona', Vogel poetically plays out the last hypothetical days of Desdemona's life and how her fate (as well as all the major players in Othello) hinges on the whereabouts of one small handkerchief. As Desdemona unfolds and the story gets closer to the inevitable ending, we realize Vogel's subtle commentary on the inherent obstacles of being a woman hasn't changed much since Shakespeare's time, which makes Desdemona a tragedy in itself.”

Katie Chidester has been a Hunger Artists company member since 2001.  She has previously directed Neil LaBute’s Bash in 2003, Searching for Americana by Emily Brauer in 2004 and both The Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pageant in 2006 and it’s sequel Flying Spaghetti Monster: The Holy Mug of Grog in 2008, and most recently this year’s production of Buried Child. She has also directed for our one act festivals Dead Letter Office  and Beyond Convention.  She has appeared in numerous productions at Hunger Artists including last year’s productions of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Taming of the Shrew and most recently in Lysistrata.

“I’m very proud to be a part of this production of Desdemona,” says Artistic Director Amber Scott.  “Vogel has taken these classical women, and made them human, giving them flaws and desires that were lacking in Shakespeare’s depictions.  This different viewpoint on a classic piece is a perfect fit for Hunger Artists, and Katie has a wonderful grasp on these characters.”

Performances of Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief  will take place on Saturdays at 5pm and Sundays at 4pm There is no show on Saturday, September 18th. General admission tickets are $15; senior and students (with valid ID) may purchase tickets for $12.  Patrons may purchase tickets online by visiting our website (www.hungerartists.com). To reserve tickets by phone, please call 714.680.6803. For more information about Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief or the Hunger Artists Theatre Company’s upcoming 2010 season, please visit www.hungerartists.com.  Programming, dates and times are subject to change.