Theatre
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Live! on Stage
The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer
A drama for one actor, two opera singers and an orchestra
Starring Emmy Award winner John Malkovich
Tuesday, November 15 at 8 p.m.
$95, 85*
John Malkovich stars in a stageplay based on the real-life story of the notorious convicted serial killer Jack Unterweger. At times darkly comic, at other times bleak and brutal, The Infernal Comedy is an intriguing and innovative approach to delving into the twisted mind of, as Malkovich puts it, "a bad, bad guy." Watching John Malkovich perform, we immediately connect to the ideal for which dramatic art is made: the presence of the moment.
Malkovich has acted in approximately seventy films. He received Academy Award nominations for Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire and appeared in such successful movies as Empire of the Sun, The Killing Fields and Dangerous Liaisons.
Support for this performance provided, in part, by The Humanities Institute of the College of Arts and Sciences.
*Special Event: No discounts or coupons apply
Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest
Aquila Theatre Company
Sunday, November 20 at 3 p.m.
$40, 35, 30
Aquila Theatre Company presents a delightful and tantalizing production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. It's a tale of two young men who have taken to bending the truth to add a dash of excitement to their lives. The New York Times has described Aquila's productions as "gleefully engaging ... almost unbearable fun ... directed with inspiration and a beautiful use of physical humor."
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The Acting Company
in association with
The Guthrie Theater
Sunday, March 25 at 6 p.m.
Post-performance Q & A with the cast
$40, 35, 30
"The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in ourselves."
Julius Caesar is the classic story of pride and envy, arrogance and honor, opportunity and tragic strategic errors. Written in one of the most productive times of Shakespeare's life, Julius Caesar blends the historical events of the reign of this iconic Roman emperor with tragic elements and linguistic devices, creating one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies.
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National Theatre of London Live in HD
National Theatre Live is an initiative to broadcast the best of British theatre onto cinema screens around the world. Come to the Quick Center for a front row seat to the London stage!
Price: $25 Regular; $20 Seniors; $15 Children, Fairfield University Students, Faculty, and Staff; $10 Student groups (10 or more)
One Man, Two Guvnors
By Richard Bean
Based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni
Live - Thursday, September 15 at 2 p.m.
Encore - Thursday, September 15
at 7 p.m.
Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancée's dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who's been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Holed up at The Cricketers' Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.
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Live - Thursday, October 6 at 2 p.m.
Encore - Friday, October 7 at 7 p.m.
1950s London. In the kitchen of an enormous West End restaurant, the orders are piling up: a post-war feast of soup, fish, cutlets, omelettes and fruit flans. Thrown together by their work, chefs, waitresses and porters from across Europe - English, Irish, German, Jewish - argue and flirt as they race to keep up. Peter, a high-spirited young cook, seems to thrive on the pressure. In between preparing dishes, he manages to strike up an affair with married waitress Monique, the whole time dreaming of a better life. But in the all-consuming clamour of the kitchen, nothing is far from the brink of collapse. Arnold Wesker's extraordinary play premiered at the Royal Court in 1959 and has since been performed in over 30 countries. The Kitchen puts the workplace centre stage in a blackly funny and furious examination of life lived at breakneck speed, when work threatens to define who we are.
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Encore - Thursday, December 1 at 7 p.m.
From the screenwriter of Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, The Beach comes a new play, directed by National Theatre Director Nicholas Hytner. The play centers on an imaginary encounter between Joseph Stalin and the playwright Mikhail Bulgakov. Alex Jennings (The Habit of Art) will play Bulgakov and Simon Russell Beale (London Assurance) will play Stalin.
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Travelling Light
By Nicholas Wright
Live - Thursday, February 9 at 2 p.m.
Encore - Thursday, February 9 at 7 p.m.
How had a twenty-two-year-old pretentious layabout made a discovery that would elude every other cinematic pioneer for years to come?
In a remote village in Eastern Europe, around 1900, the young Motl Mendl is entranced by the flickering silent images on his father's cinematograph. Bankrolled by Jacob, the ebullient local timber merchant, and inspired by Anna, the girl sent to help him make moving pictures of their village, he stumbles on a revolutionary way of story-telling. Forty years on, Motl - now a famed American film director - looks back on his early life and confronts the cost of fulfilling his dreams.
Following Vincent in Brixton and The Reporter, Nicholas Wright's new play is a funny and fascinating tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood's golden age. The award-winning Antony Sher - whose previous work with the National Theatre includes Primo and Stanley - returns to play Jacob.
The Comedy of Errors
By William Shakespeare
Encore - Thursday, March 1 at 7 p.m.
Encore - Saturday, March 10 at 2 p.m.
Dominic Cooke, Director of the celebrated Royal Court Theatre in London, comes to the National Theatre for the first time to direct Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, opening in the Olivier Theatre in late November and continuing in repertoire until March 2012. Famed U.K. comedian and actor Lenny Henry makes his NT debut as Antipholus of Syracuse.
She Stoops to Conquer
By Oliver Goldsmith
Live - Thursday, March 29 at 2 p.m.
Encore - Thursday, March 29 at 7 p.m.
Hardcastle, a man of substance, looks forward to acquainting his daughter with his old pal's son with a view to marriage. But thanks to playboy Lumpkin, he's mistaken by his prospective son-in-law Marlow for an innkeeper, his daughter for the local barmaid. The good news is, while Marlow can barely speak to a woman of quality he's a charmer with those of a different stamp. And so, as Hardcastle's indignation intensifies, Miss Hardcastle's appreciation for her misguided suitor soars. Misdemeanours multiply, love blossoms, mayhem ensues.
One of the great, generous-hearted and ingenious comedies of the English language, Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer offers a celebration of chaos, courtship and the dysfunctional family.
Wien Experimental Theatre
Wednesday, October 5-Saturday, October 8 at 8 p.m.
$20
Fairfield's Department of Modern Languages and Literatures presents an original production in translation of Spanish playwright Juan Mayorga's 2009 play Perpetual Peace. Three dogs compete for the "collar," a coveted job in the state's security service. Each has personal reasons for wanting the job, no matter the risks. But what are they prepared to do to win? This play, by one of Spain's most important contemporary writers, is a nuanced and deeply-felt exploration of arguments for and against the state's use of torture in the war on terrorism.
Tuesday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Free; for reservations call (203) 254-4000, ext. 2066
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This debut play by Jason Mitchell is an exploration of the gay survivors of the Holocaust and sheds light on the post-war camp life of gay survivors.
After more than a decade of honing their skills at the Quick Center, our crack radio troupe offers you a brand new collection of original Golden-Age radio dramas. Overblown vintage commercials and occasional great writing make for a surprisingly vibrant evening.
$25 or series - 3 for $60
Friday, November 4 at 8 p.m.,
Saturday, November 5 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Hear the original 1938 broadcast that caused a national panic and catapulted Orson Welles to stardom. The classic H.G. Wells tale of a Martian invasion was creatively adapted as a series of news bulletins interrupting a normal radio broadcast evening, and was actually believed by hundreds of the listening public.
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*Just one twist... Instead of the Martians landing in New Jersey, they land in Connecticut and lay waste your favorite local sites.
Friday, January 20 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, January 21 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
From a strange comedy here to a downright disturbing horror show there, tune in to an odd collection of shows you won't see anywhere else. Some episodes are moving, others are downright awful, but they're all guaranteed to get your attention.
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Communists! The Red Scare on the Air
Friday, March 9 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 10 at 3 p.m., 8 p.m.
In the climate of fear and suspicion of the late 40s and early 50s, radio was one of the main fronts in the anti-Communist efforts of those like Senator Joseph McCarthy. As in the movie industry, radio writers and actors who were considered "un-American" were systematically routed out and the anti-Commie rhetoric could be heard everywhere. Communists appeared as villains in children's adventures and entire bombastic series appeared, such as "I Was a Communist for the FBI."
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Indicates Global Citizenship event.