Author: Rock River Players

Dreamscapes, Episode 2 of SOLOs, premieres this Friday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 PM on BCTV and BCTV’s “Hooker-Dunham Presents” channel on YouTube. Immediately after the Premiere, viewers are invited to join cast, directors, and the videographer for a live “After Party” via Zoom. (Links to the premiere and the Zoom “After Party” may be requested by emailing the Hooker-Dunham Theater at info@HookerDunham.org.) There is no charge for either event.

A co-production of the Hooker-Dunham Theater and the Rock River Players, the SOLOs series aims to provide quality theatrical entertainment while maintaining social distancing protocols during the pandemic.

Dreamscapes is a set of four solo performances filmed on the Hooker-Dunham stage of classic and contemporary monologues that center around sleep and dreams.

In Michael Kennedy’s “Shakespeare on Sleep,” a compilation of monologues from Macbeth, Henry IV, The Tempest, Hamlet, and the Sonnets, Shakespeare’s characters struggle to sleep for fear of what dreams may come.

Ron Bos-Lun’s dreamscapes are of a different sort. He portrays Charles Henry in Cass Morgan and Sarah Knapp’s recent play, Charles Henry’s Final Curtain. An early 20th century painter and vaudevillian, Charles Henry created vibrant backdrops that graced the stages of theaters and granges throughout the northeast.

Jon Mack, performs T.S. Eliot’s classic poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Prufrock fears rousing himself from his dream-like state to face life’s larger questions.

Adrienne Major’s as Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest must renounce the magical powers she has used to bewitch and enchant if she is to attain freedom and redemption.

Much more is in the pipeline: Bill Forchion is filming “Spirit dance: a conversation with the ancestor” — a shamanic journey of hurting, healing and hoping. Travis Laplante, a frequent contributor of solo saxophone performances at Yellow Barn in Putney, is also putting together a SOLOs episode. Many of our area’s most talented performers and directors are developing both classical and original monologues for future shows.

For free links to the Premiere and the After Party, email info@HookerDunham.org. More information is available on the Hooker-Dunham (www.hookerdunham.org) and Rock River Players (www.rockriverplayers.org) websites.

Presented by The Rock River Players and Hooker-Dunham Theater.
00:09 – Welcome
02:18 – “Always Ridiculous” performed by Rose Watson
06:01 – “Milo the Cat” performed Jonathan Kinnersley
09:05 – “Annabelle Lee ” performed John Ogorzalek
11:41 – “The Cherry Orchard” performed by Annie Landenberger
15:48 – “The Meaning of Life” performed by Tino Benson
23:38 – “Saint Joan” performed by Tom Ely
33:11 – etc.. – “The Stranger’s Speech” performed by Dan Lloyd
36:18 – “Richard III” performed by Cameron Cobane

SOLOs Episode 1— a video montage of monologues and poetry by eight talented local actors filmed by Brattleboro Community Television — premieres simultaneously on BCTV and YouTube on Friday, November 13 at 7:30 PM coordinated with a participative online session where audience members will have a time to meet the cast, directors, producers, and technical staff in virtual “After Party.”

Each episode of SOLOs is co-production of The Rock River Players and the Hooker-Dunham Theater filmed on the Hooker-Dunham stage.

Bahman Mahdavi of the Rock River Players coordinated this first “episode” of the series. Mahdavi and RRP were in the midst of working nearly two dozen performers to create a production of The Front Page when the pandemic hit. With in-person performance not a viable option, he became excited by the idea of developing solo shows that could be safely filmed and made widely available through BCTV and online.

Annie Landenberger, a founder of the Rock River Players, stresses the importance of creativity in the face of the pandemic: “The Rock River Players are all about keeping the lively arts alive in the valley and yet, here we are, stymied by a Covid reality. Kudos to Bahman for facing that reality and keeping theatre alive for us, albeit virtually. Moreover he –in partnership with Jon Mack of Hooker Dunham and BCTV–have created a model that can endure as long as it needs to–until the dark cloud lifts, until we can applaud theatre together again en masse.

“Even though the performance are by single individual’s, the aim of SOLOs is to bring actors, directors, and writers together with their audience,” says Mack, who runs the Hooker-Dunham theater that is currently closed to audiences due to the pandemic. “The performing arts are all about the connection between artist and audience. The Hooker-Dunham is delighted to be hosting and co-producing an event which makes that connection while keeping safe. By working together with the Rock River Players, we’re able move forward.”

The ensemble is excited to have the opportunity to watch their show simultaneously with the audience and to conclude the evening with a brief online get-together that will be like the informal gatherings and “after-parties” that often follow theatrical premieres. Anyone who requests the link will be invited to a group online meeting with actors, directors, and technicians to share their reactions after seeing the show.

The first show in the series comprises seven monologues and one poem. John Ogorzalek performs Edgar Allan Poe’s Annabelle Lee, Dan Lloyd enacts a Shakespeare monologue on the plight of immigrants, Cameron Cobane takes on Richard III’s “Now is the winter of our discontent,” and Annie Landenberger of the Rock River Players performs a piece drawn from Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard. Tom Ely performs the Inquisitor’s monologue from George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan. Comic relief is provided by a monologue of a cat’s view of its human “master” and Rose Watson performs Always Ridiculous by Jose Echegaray. Tino Benson will perform an original piece, titled The Meaning of Life.

Other shows are in the pipeline. The next episode includes more Shakespeare performed by Michael Kennedy and Adrienne Major, T.S. Eliot’s Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and a reprise of a portion of a recent original play, Charles Henry’s Final Curtain performed by Ron Bos-Lun. Mahdavi has already begun working up a show consisting of entirely original work. A one-person show by the delightful Bill Forchion is also in development.

The Premiere will air on BCTV and YouTube at 7:30 on Friday, Nov. 13. To request the link to the YouTube video and to the “After Party” email info@hookerdunham.org. The production and after-party are free of charge.

For more information verbatimvt@gmail.com or call 802-348-7156.