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Sabra Malkinson, Christopher Goodman, Matthew Godfrey A Patriot for MeBy John Osborne March 21 - May 4 2003 Produced by Write Act Repertory and Gene Franklin Smith Directed by Larry McCallister Set Design -- Susan Deeley Wells Lighting Design -- R. Robert Decew Costume Design -- Shon LeBlanc Hair and Makeup Design -- Diane Martinous Fight Choreographer -- Jerry Trimble Weapons Choreographers -- Andrew Villaverde, David Kessler Stage Manager -- Brad Riley
“This is a celebration of the individual against the rest, the us’s and the them’s, the free and the constricted, the gay and the dreary...”
For the first time, an American theatre company, the Write Act Repertory Company, will produce John Osborne’s controversial, provocative and timely play, A Patriot For Me. The production will be directed by Larry McCallister, director of Write Act’s critically acclaimed Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, and produced by Write Act’s Artistic Director and Founder Gene Franklin Smith. A Patriot For Me will open March 21, 2003 in Hollywood at the Write Act Theatre at St. Stephen’s.
John Osborne
shocked audiences in 1956 with his famous play Look Back In Anger, which
forever changed world A Patriot For Me is based on the factual story of Alfred Redl, an ambitious star- soldier in the decadent and decaying society of turn-of-the-century Austria, whose journey of self-discovery leads to blackmail, betrayal and murder. Redl is compromised by his newly realized sexual freedom and is compelled by the Russian army to spy on his beloved country and countrymen. Historically, Redl’s actions lead directly to the outbreak of World War One. The play’s unsparing examination of the hero’s moral and spiritual disintegration elevates this play to one of the finest of Osborne’s theatrical works. Gene Franklin Smith, Artistic Director and Founder of Write Act, will serve as producer of A Patriot For Me. Smith has produced a number of Write Act’s original world premieres, including the musical, Angel’s Flight and the comedy, Last Laugh. He is the author of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, Transports of the Heart and Devil’s Consort, all produced at Write Act. Larry McCallister, director of Write Act’s acclaimed Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, returns to Write Act with his considerable talents for staging epic, large-cast plays. A Patriot For Me will employ 17 actors, playing some 40 roles, in Osborne’s gripping tale of espionage, sexual manipulation and self-discovery. McCallister has directed several well-received Los Angeles productions, including the 20th anniversary production of Bent, Write Act’s world premiere of Devil’s Consort and Mike O’Malley’s Diverting Devotion. Write Act was granted the performance rights based on McCallister’s re-conceptualizing A Patriot For Me as an intimately personal story of one man’s search for identity, which takes him from the decadent court of Vienna’s Hofsburg Palace to the gaudy boudoirs of early 20th century drag queens.
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Synopsis
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TheatreMania.com Interview with Larry McCallisterMarch 24, 2003 PATRIOT GAMES John Osborne's A Patriot for Me receives its first production by an American theater troupe courtesy of the Write Act Repertory Company in Los Angeles. "The sheer scope of it is intimidating," says director Larry McCallister, "but the play has a great deal of value as a theatrical offering. And, as far as I'm concerned, its relevance continues to grow as we bully our way into the 21st century." Patriot is based on the life of Colonel Alfred Redl, chief of military counterintelligence for the Austro-Hungarian empire just prior to World War I. It follows the spymaster from his early days as a lieutenant and closeted homosexual to his fall from grace due to treasonous activities. McCallister is quick to point out, however, that "the character's downfall comes about because of indiscretion and arrogance rather than his sexuality." Indeed, when the play was first presented in 1965, it was condemned by the Lord Chamberlain for its sympathetic portrayal of homosexuals and, in particular, of men in drag. "The centerpiece of the play is this period-authentic drag ball," says McCallister. "The dress uniforms are exchanged for corsets, garters, and fabulous gowns." Some may find it surprising that Osborne -- best known for his groundbreaking work, Look Back in Anger -- penned such a play, but McCallister sees a continuity within the playwright's oeuvre. "John Osborne revolutionized the British stage in the post-World War II era
with what was dubbed his 'angry young man' social commentary," he states. "Patriot is quite clearly from the same source. Osborne here is attacking outdated political, social, and sexual conventions with the same ferocity as he does in his earlier works, but I think Patriot is a more subtextual play and shows him maturing as a writer." McCallister utilizes a cast of 12 men and two women; they play more than 50 characters within the piece, which spans the years 1890-1913. According to the director, A Patriot for Me remains timely in many ways. "Redl's fall in 1913 helped create an intelligence vacuum in the region where Archduke Ferdinand would be assassinated a year later, leading to World War I," says McCallister. "Part of the resolution of that war was the re-parceling of various Middle Eastern territories and the formation of the state of Iraq. We need to remain aware -- leaders and patriots alike -- that the smallest gestures can resonate into the grandest actions and thus need to be carefully considered."
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theatre by introducing the now-classic “angry
young man” anti-hero. In 1965, A Patriot For Me premiered in
London and was immediately shut down and condemned by the Lord
Chamberlain as “indecent” and “lewd” due to the play’s frank and
sympathetic depiction of homosexuality and drag queens. A Patriot
For Me later re-opened, and despite (and thanks to) the Lord
Chamberlain’s indecency ban, it became an enormous hit. A Patriot
For Me was last performed in Los Angeles in 1984 at the Ahmanson
Theatre by the Royal Shakespeare Company, starring Alan Bates.
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