AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 20
Fri. & Sat. - 8:00 PM
Sun. - 7:00 PM
Special $5 Thursday performance - Sept. 17 - 8:00 PM

Wallace's play, about a plague outbreak that finds its characters in a three-month quarantine, is receiving an update to post-apocalyptic times, with terrifying results.

This play contains nudity and adult situations.
 

CAST
Anthony Galleran……………………………………………………............…….William Snelgrave
Brenda Kenworthy…………………………………….……..………….…………Darcy Snelgrave
Parker Morrison………………………………………....………...…….................................... Morse
Ryan Miller…………………………………………………..………….......................................Bunce
Ian Roland……………………………………………….…………..…........................................Kabe

PRODUCTION CREW
MaryAnne Mosher...................................................................................................................Director
Stephanie Cooke........................................................................................................Board Operator
Leslie Barry..................................................................................................................Lighting Design
Ted Leib...........................................................................................................................Sound Design
Garrett McDonald......................................................................................................Costume Design
Jessica Lynch........................................................................................................Costume Assistant
Reeni Lindblom..........................................................................................................Make-up Design
Ryan Miller................................................................................................................Make-up Assistant
David Yu...............................................................................................................................Prop Master
Brenda Kenworthy.............................................................................................Additional Properties
Fred Mosher..........................................................................................................................Set Design
Thai Chau............................................................................................................Publicity Photography

THE HUNGER ARTISTS THEATRE COMPANY
PRESENTS NAOMI WALLACE’S ONE FLEA SPARE
AUGUST 28 – SEPTEMBER 20, 2009 

FULLERTON, CA – The Hunger Artists Theatre Company is proud to present One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace as the next installment in our Season of Failed Relationships.  This production, directed by company member MaryAnne Mosher, runs from August 28 through September 20, 2009.

The Bubonic plague, 1665, London.  Followed the next year by the Great Fire of London. What happens when the glow of today's fire reaches the last, great outbreak of history?  Mosher's production poses this question and offers some answers, namely that what we have to fear is not just the physical injustices of an illness, but its effect on society...And our place in it.  Who will be left after the fire that follows?  And what will they be?  Burned? Or reborn?

One Flea Spare takes a look at the relationships of four people in the extreme situation of a quarantine due to an outbreak of the plague.  Mr. and Mrs. Snelgrave are a will to do couple whose house has been shut up for three months after one of their servants has died from the plague.  In the house with them is the young girl Morse and the sailor Bunce, all kept captive by the watchman Kabe, the only person outside that they have contact with.  The dynamics of these relationships lead to a clash and compromise of class distinctions and social mores, rife with sexual tension.

One Flea Spare premiered at the Bush Theatre London in 1995 and made its U.S. premiere at the prestigious Humana Festival in Louisville, KY in spring 1996.  It was awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn prize, the Fellowship of Southern Writers Drama Award and the Kesserling Prize in 1996. It premiered in New York in March 1997 at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre.

Stephanie Cooke is the Board Operator for this production.  Lighting Design is by Leslie Barry and Sound Design is by Ted Leib. Costume Design is by Garrett MacDonald with Special Effects Make Up by Ryan Miller and Set Design is by Fred Mosher.  Prop master is David Yu.

Naomi Wallace is an American playwright from Kentucky.  Her other plays include Birdy, The Inland Sea and Manifesto as well as the screenplays for Lawn Dogs and The War Boys with her partner Bruce MacLeod.

“When I first read the play, I had an immediate flashback to my game theory class in college, except the play was infinitely more interesting.  And of course Naomi Wallace's writing is superb, so poetic,” says director MaryAnne Mosher.

“As I immersed myself more in the world of the characters’ quarantine, the theme of isolation grew more important to me. As we started production, the first wave of the swine flu panic hit.  I guess it was a twisted bit of serendipity that presented such an important modern parallel.  This play offers a unique perspective on current concerns about a  pandemic because we have lived for so long without having to worry about one.  I don't think modern society fears a quarantine situation, and yet, 'social distancing' has recently entered the public vernacular.  And this is, of course, a euphemism for quarantine.  And it should be noted that in the event of a true pandemic, quarantine measures are indeed part of world and national health organizations' strategies for dealing with such an outbreak.  We're not as far removed from situations like these as we'd like to think.”

MaryAnne Mosher has been a Hunger Artists company member for several years. She directed a production of Top Girls in May 2008 as well as the one act Moon’s Interview for Beyond Convention II festival in November 2008.  She also directed Thing Quartet in the first Beyond Convention festival in 2007 and for our Dead Letter Office festival that same year.  She has appeared on stage in our productions of The Pledge Drive, Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pageant, Much Ado About Nothing, RE: Woyzeck, The Full Monty and Christmas Carol in our Dead Letter Office festival.  She has also appeared in Theatre Out’s productions of Small Domestic Acts and The Laramie Project which appeared at the Hunger Artists Theatre.  Most recently, she produced The Return of 24 Hour Theatre in July of this year.

“I am thrilled to be presenting One Flea Spare at the Hunger Artists,” says Artistic Director Amber Scott.  “The sense of isolation and the effects that the crisis of the plague outside this house and in have on these peoples’ personalities and on their relationships, make this a perfect fit for our season.”

Performances of One Flea Spare will take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm, with a special performance on Thursday, September 17th  at 8 pm. General admission tickets are $18; senior and students (with valid ID) may purchase tickets for $15.  Tickets for the Thursday performance are $5.  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 One Flea Spare or the Hunger Artists Theatre Company’s 13th season, please visit www.hungersartists.com.  Programming, dates and times are subject to change.