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James Donlon and friends are onstage for a limited engagement not to be missed.
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SHOW (February 17/18 & March 3/4) - MIME SONGS - A collection of contemporary mime works probing all of us.………..with Donlon’s own athletic technique and a reverence for Free Fall. Silence has never been so noisy!
JAMES DONLON (Host & Performer) has been a celebrated international performer, master teacher, and director of mime and physical theatre since 1970. The New York Times has called Donlon’s work "an extraordinary blend of skill and lunacy”. For the last 53 years Donlon has performed his original solo programs throughout North America, Europe, and Latin America to enthusiastic audiences. James is the only physical theatre artist invited to perform with legendary San Francisco entertainer Robert Shields of the CBS Shields & Yarnell show. He is the first American mime-clown to perform in the famed Teatro Dimitri of Switzerland. He was film movement coach for Oscar winners Javier Bardem, Kathy Bates and Frances McDormand. James created TV fight choreography for Linda Ronstadt. Among his former students are legendary Broadway musical star Terrence Mann, Tony award winner Bill Irwin, TV/fillm star Benjamin Bratt, and Hollywood writer Noah Harpster(A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood). He has been on the faculties of many noted acting schools including San Francisco’s The American Conservatory Theater, The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, The Yale School of Drama, and UC-Santa Barbara. . Mr. Donlon has presented residencies with special institutions like El Teatro Campesino, Mexico City's Bellas Artes, Prague's national Academy of Performing Arts (AMU), and Dublin's Gaiety School of Acting. In 1973 James was the founder of the Menagerie Mime Theatre studio in San Francisco, and the Flying Actor Studio with Leonard Pitt in 2009.
SHOW (February 17/18 & March 3/4) - Leonard as co-host will dip into his repertory of unusual theatrical offerings providing a short glimpse of how his art influences us all.
LEONARD PITT (Host & Performer) began his performing career in 1963, when he traveled to Paris to study mime with Etienne Decroux. He spent four years with Decroux studying six days a week, became Decroux’s assistant, and performed in two troupes under his direction. He returned to the United States in 1970 and settled in Berkeley where he established the Leonard Pitt School of Movement Theatre attracting students from around the world. He also began creating solo performance work. In 1973, Leonard traveled to Bali where he studied mask theatre and was honored to perform with his teacher in temple and village festivals. He returned to Bali in 1978 to study mask carving. Leonard’s solo performances, 2019 Blake, Meantime, and Doppo, Clown Of Yesteryear, received wide critical acclaim. Leonard was a founding member of George Coates Performance Works and collaborated on The Way Of How and Are/Are. He has presented his work at universities, theaters and festivals around the world including Russia, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Holland, England, New Zealand, Australia, and Brazil. In 1986 he co-founded Life On The Water, a theatre in San Francisco presenting artists performing original work. In 1997, Leonard and movement artist Ruth Zaporah collaborated on a two-person show, Seduction. In 2009, Leonard and James Donlon opened The Flying Actor Studio in San Francisco offering a full time one year program in the art of physical theatre. Leonard is also an author and has written three history books on Paris. His fourth book, A Small Moment of Great Illumination is about the the life of the 17th century Anglo-Irish healer Valentine Greatrakes. His memoir, My Brain on Fire, Paris and Other Obsessions was released in 2016. Leonard continues working on a multitude of projects living by his motto: Find your inner maniac. All the fun does to the obsessed. Oh, Leonard is in the book, The Making of Jurassic Park.
SHOW (February 17) - THE GREAT GARBOLSKI: A solo seven character clown odyssey. The Great Garbolski puts on the family show he always dreamed of. Get to know the eccentric Garbolskis! See Uncle Tibi wrestle the Sitsquatch. Find out what Gisela has in her giant bag. Try to avoid stepdad Jimmy E. Honkenstern as he wanders the theatre working security. The brothers Garbolski make you laugh, cry, eat a pickle. An absurd exploration of family, intergenerational trauma, dictators, pickles and what it means to be American. MICHAEL HAYS (Performer) studied mime/clown at Flying Actor Studio, clown at SF Clown Conservatory, Acting at CSU, and Improv at iO and BATS. He has performed his solo material at the Arcats Fringe Festival, Lunacy Festival, Piano Fight, & the Marsh in San Francisco. He also can be seen performing and singing with the Sour Mash Hug Band and Zla Vila, both based out of San Francisco.
SHOW (February 18) - MINGALABA is a channel-flipping exploration of personal pain and good-humored resilience. This experimental piece explores madness, pantomime, punk, comedy and the absurd. Created as a one hour physical improvisation, the show is extremely minimal and fast moving. "A breathless brawl of inner demons and social conventions." A rollercoaster ride of surprises for the audience. No coffee required. MINGALABA reeks of the pure enthralling and chaotic energy of mindlessly clicking through TV channels on a humid summer afternoon. There’s nothing mindless about Sundquist’s performance though, as he commands you through a series of winding and awe-inspiring sketches and tidbits that cause everything you think you’ve learned about the show to come crashing down at your feet. Allow yourself to be transported to strange worlds as beguiling as TV, but without all the guilt of a Netflix binge. Best of the Fringe 2018 + Self Production Independence Award for Boulder Fringe 2019. This show has been performed at festivals in California, Oregon and Colorado. "Living cartoon" JAMES SUNDQUIST (Performer) is a Bay Area based artist. His solo works have won best of the San Francisco Fringe over three years: Expeditious Intent (2017), MINGALABA (2018) and AEON (2019). Currently developing a new work for deaf audiences with Juliana Frick called SENSELESS. James studied at the Flying Actor Studio with James Donlon & Leonard Pitt. |
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Sierra Camille |
SHOW (March 3) - Prepare to be saved by The Church of All Screens! Everything loved by the red white and blue, THE MISS AMERICAN DREAM SHOW serves it up with satire and physical comedy. Blanca Fiberton delivers thought provoking snacks about immigration, the second amendment, and her very own church! Laugh your way through these unpopular truths with American Hero, Blanca Fiberton.
SIERRA CAMILLE (Performer) studied with James Donlon in the Southern Oregon University BFA Actor Training Program and at the Flying Actor Studio. Sierra grew up talking too loud and taking up as much space as possible. After wading in the worlds of dance and theater, she has found circus to be a place that embraces her poignant skills as a physical theater artist, aerialist, and clown. An avid collaborator and leader, Sierra co-founded Levity Aerial Troupe and Skytopia Aerial Arts. Specializing in aerial silks and physical theater, audiences have called her “an electrifying beam of positivity and happiness in this cynical world”. Sierra earned a BFA degree in theater performance and a certificate in nonprofit management from Southern Oregon University. She’s currently talking loudly and dancing about in Oakland, CA.
SIERRA CAMILLE (Performer) studied with James Donlon in the Southern Oregon University BFA Actor Training Program and at the Flying Actor Studio. Sierra grew up talking too loud and taking up as much space as possible. After wading in the worlds of dance and theater, she has found circus to be a place that embraces her poignant skills as a physical theater artist, aerialist, and clown. An avid collaborator and leader, Sierra co-founded Levity Aerial Troupe and Skytopia Aerial Arts. Specializing in aerial silks and physical theater, audiences have called her “an electrifying beam of positivity and happiness in this cynical world”. Sierra earned a BFA degree in theater performance and a certificate in nonprofit management from Southern Oregon University. She’s currently talking loudly and dancing about in Oakland, CA.
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Alina Ceñal |
SHOW (March 4) - WORDS FROM A CUBAN FATHER created and performed by ALINA CEÑAL, directed by JAMES DONLON: Mambo, carnival, revolution, Fidel and my dad, Miami, hotdogs, drag queens, the circus, Hollywood, music and dance highlight Ceñal's bilingual experience of being yanked from her native Cuba as a child and yearning to return. The strong presence of her father guides her through the American cultural landscape.
ALINA CEÑAL (Performer) - Cuban born, arriving in Miami at the age of 4 with ‘clave’ in her veins, the love of rhythm and dance has stayed with her ever since! As a natural physical comedian, Alina has always enjoyed making people laugh. While attending the University of South Florida as a dance major, she performed at Ringling Brothers Circus World as an aerialist. Next came Hollywood for 20 years performing in television, theater, and film. Some TV credits: The Shield, Judging Amy, Days of our Lives, Diagnosis Murder, Quantum Leap, Matlock, Webster. STAGE: Oregon Cabaret Theater, Southern Oregon University, San Diego Rep, LATC, Odyssey, South Coast Rep, Mark Taper Improvisational Theater Project, Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, and international company of “A Chorus Line”.
Teaching children life skills through the magic of theater has been the center of Alina’s work. She founded Kids Acting Out-West in 2005 bringing theater to after-school curriculum and summer camps. Alina has toured her solo bilingual show WORDS FROM A CUBAN FATHER nationally and internationally. After reconnecting with her motherland, she created CUBA: MY RETURN, and recently played 2 different Cuban grandmas in CHRISTMAS CONTIGO and IN THE HEIGHTS at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre.
ALINA CEÑAL (Performer) - Cuban born, arriving in Miami at the age of 4 with ‘clave’ in her veins, the love of rhythm and dance has stayed with her ever since! As a natural physical comedian, Alina has always enjoyed making people laugh. While attending the University of South Florida as a dance major, she performed at Ringling Brothers Circus World as an aerialist. Next came Hollywood for 20 years performing in television, theater, and film. Some TV credits: The Shield, Judging Amy, Days of our Lives, Diagnosis Murder, Quantum Leap, Matlock, Webster. STAGE: Oregon Cabaret Theater, Southern Oregon University, San Diego Rep, LATC, Odyssey, South Coast Rep, Mark Taper Improvisational Theater Project, Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, and international company of “A Chorus Line”.
Teaching children life skills through the magic of theater has been the center of Alina’s work. She founded Kids Acting Out-West in 2005 bringing theater to after-school curriculum and summer camps. Alina has toured her solo bilingual show WORDS FROM A CUBAN FATHER nationally and internationally. After reconnecting with her motherland, she created CUBA: MY RETURN, and recently played 2 different Cuban grandmas in CHRISTMAS CONTIGO and IN THE HEIGHTS at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre.