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NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release:
April 13, 2012
Photos available on April 20, 2012
For further information contact:
Christi Courian
Jim Beaver
[email protected] [email protected]
541-552-6347
541-552-6093
Southern Oregon University Department of Performing Arts
presents “La Terrasse”
(Ashland, Ore.) – The Theatre Arts program of the Department of Performing Arts at Southern
Oregon University presents “La Terrasse” by Jean-Claude Carrière in the Center Square Theatre
on the SOU campus. Performances are at 8 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday, May 10-12 and May 1719 and at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 19 and Sunday, May 20.
Love is hard, but real estate is impossible. “La Terrasse” (The Terrace) is a wildly funny,
absurdist farce about breakups, unemployment, traffic jams, and house-hunting in our
increasingly disconnected modern life. “This play's themes are more opaque than many, but it's
my belief that Jean-Claude Carrière is making a statement about privilege and self-involvement
in the modern age,” said SOU professor and director Jackie Apodaca. “While the characters
fight, struggle, and even act out of deep personal despair, it's clear from the outside that nothing
is really wrong in their world. They have it all – and it's that ‘all,’ perhaps, that's driving them
nuts. I also believe there's an almost ‘Seinfeldian’ quality to the show. It's a play about nothing –
and everything.”
Playwright Jean-Claude Carrière was nominated for an Academy Award and won a BAFTA
Award in 1989 for his screenplay “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” In 2000, he received the
Laurel Award for Screen Writing Achievement from the Writers Guild of America.
“This is an unusual opportunity for the SOU Theatre Arts program to produce a really new piece
of work, which has probably only been produced twice in this country,” said Apodaca. “I worked
as an actor on ‘La Terrasse’ in its West Coast premiere for Genesis West in Santa Barbara,
Calif., and I was curious if, as a director this time, I'd be able to more fully highlight the comedy
while keeping the play's irony and darkness intact. I was also very excited to work on such a new
piece of theatre with a student cast in a university setting.” The play is funny, serious, dark,
intellectual and restrained; qualities that Apodaca describes as a challenge for actors as they
work with a very modern style of French humor.
Apodaca has directed many new plays in New York and Los Angeles, and recently staged “The
Taming of the Shrew” at the Shakespeare Santa Barbara Theatre. She is a professor of
performance in the SOU Theatre Arts department and taught acting, directing, auditions, film
and digital production, and the Hollywood industry for ten years at the University of California
at Santa Barbara. Apodaca is also a working actor, performing at The Roundabout Theatre
Company, The Denver Center Theatre Company, Summer Repertory Theatre, ONE Theatre
Group, and in several indie films and commercials. She is also a senior columnist for the actors’
trade paper, Back Stage, and writes “The Working Actor” advice column on their web site.
The cast includes Gavin Douglas, Hannah Gassaway, Olena Hodges, Scott Key, Zlato Rizzioli,
Mig Windows, and Andrew Yabroff. Scenic design is by Amelia Burke-Holt, costumes are
designed by Sarah Martin, lighting design is by Kevin Young and sound design is by Chris
Sackett. Mario Cambern is the stage manager.
Tickets are $21 regular, $18 senior, and $6 for students. The Theatre Arts building is located on
South Mountain Avenue in Ashland, next to the Music Recital Hall. For ticket purchases, call
(541) 552-6348. For more information, visit sou.edu/theatre.
– SOU –