Tag Archives: Diogenes Theatre Company

Amy Warner as Winnie. Photo by Larry Lamb.

Diogenes Theatre Company proudly presents
HAPPY DAYS by Samuel Beckett

Directed by Michael Evan Haney
Performed by Amy Warner and Michael Sommers

May 12 – 22, 2016

(Cincinnati, OH) April 22, 2016 —A woman buried up to her waist. A man sleeping in a hole. A revolver. Another happy day! In Samuel Beckett’s comic allegory on the human condition — his most uplifting play — Winnie keeps her sanity and optimistic outlook on life while facing greater and greater adversity.

Diogenes Theatre Company will produce “Happy Days” in the Aronoff Center for the Arts Fifth Third Theatre from May 12-22. Diogenes is thrilled to produce this iconic play with internationally acclaimed director Michael Evan Haney. The show was produced earlier this year by Open Eye Figure Theatre and enjoyed a successful run in Minneapolis from March 4 to the 19th. Haney directed the production for Open Eye Figure Theatre and it starred Amy Warner, playing the lead role of Winnie, and Michael Sommers as her laconic husband Willie. Warner and Sommers will reprise their roles in Cincinnati. Haney and Warner, who are married, relocated to Minneapolis in 2014 from Cincinnati and are excited to return to Ohio and share this play.

Haney worked on seven plays with Alan Schneider, who directed the 1956 American premiere of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Haney was drawn to Happy Days because of its deep, complex commentary on the human condition and long-term relationships.

Michael Sommers created the dystopian landscape which also made the journey from Minneapolis to Cincinnati for the production.

Amy Warner moved back to her home town of Minneapolis in 2014. Currently, she can be seen playing Cate Blanchet’s mother-in-law in the film CAROL. While living in Cincinnati, she acted at the Playhouse, Ensemble Theater, Cincinnati Shakespeare, Know Theater and New Stage Collective in plays such as Whose Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, Hamlet, 33 Variations, Other Desert Cities, Angels in America, A Little Night Music, The Goat, Speaking In Tongues and A Christmas Carol. While living in Los Angeles, she appeared in a number of episodic TV shows, including THE PRACTICE, ALLY MCBEAL, and E.R. While living in New York, she was a member of the Off-Broadway repertory theater, Classic Stage Company. Her many roles with them include Helena in FAUST and Athena in THE ORESTIA.

Michael Evan Haney has been a fixture on the Cincinnati theatre scene for the past 15 years. His work in Cincinnati includes for the Playhouse: A CHRISTMAS CAROL, BLACKBIRD, CRIME & PUNISHMENT, THE CLEAN HOUSE and the world premiers of THE HISTORY OF INVULNERABILITY, A DELICATE SHIP by Anna Ziegler and HIDINGBEHIND COMETS. For Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati: AN ILIAD, TRIBES and GROUNDED. For Cincinnati Shakespeare Company: HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES and OLIVER TWIST. He has directed at many regional theatres including Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and KC Repertory Theatre.
As an actor he appeared on and off Broadway and as Cate Blanchett’s father-in-law in the film CAROL. His production of THE SYRINGA TREE played Vienna and Frankfurt and across the U.S. and Off-Broadway he directed AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS for the Irish Rep. He is married to his favorite actress, Amy Warner.

Michael Sommers has worked in professional theater for 30 years and is recognized as one of the country’s most versatile and ingenious theater artists. An Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Minnesota, Mr. Sommers is a two-time Bush Fellowship recipient and a 2004 McKnight Theatre Fellow. In 2008 he was awarded a Ford Fellowship and in 2009 he was recognized with the Bush Enduring Vision Award. His signature work is produced at Open Eye — including A Prelude to Faust, Elijah’s Wake, and The Holiday Pageant. He has traveled internationally, teaching and performing in China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic and Mexico.

About Diogenes Theatre Company
Diogenes Theatre Company is a small professional theatre performing the best of comedy and drama in intimate studio settings . For more information visit – www.diogenestheatrecompany.com/.

About Open Eye Figure Theatre (OEFT)
OEFT creates original figure theatre, animating the inanimate on an intimate scale; trains the next generation of figure theatre artists; and advances adventurous, artist-driven programming in the Open Eye theater space. For more information visit – www.openeyetheatre.org.

Performance Schedule: May 12 – 22

• Thursday, May 12, 7:30 pm
• Friday, May 13, 7:30 pm
• Saturday, May 14, 7:30 pm
• Sunday, May 15, 2:00 pm
• Wednesday, May 18, 7:30 pm
• Thursday, May 19, 7:30 pm
• Friday, May 20, 7:30 pm
• Saturday, May 21, 7:30 pm
• Sunday, May 22, 2:00 pm

Tickets $29 — General Admission $14 — Students Reservations or pre-purchase recommended. Available at cincinnatiarts.org

Location Aronoff Center for the Arts650 Walnut St, Cincinnati, OH 45202 513-721-3344

The entrance to the lobby of the Fifth Third Theater is located at the corner of 7th and Main Streets in downtown Cincinnati.

Diogenes Theatre Company presents SAINT JOAN opening February 18th at the Aronoff Center

Sara Clark as Saint Joan.

CINCINNATI – February 12, 2016 – Diogenes Theatre will open George Bernard Shaw’s SAINT JOAN in the Aronoff Center’s Fifth Third Theatre on February 18th for the second play of their season.  Lindsey Augusta Mercer directs Sara Clark in the title role, in a thrilling staging with 360º audience seating!

SAINT JOAN, a masterpiece by George Bernard Shaw, is the story of the rise and fall of one of history’s most fascinating characters.  Joan is a young country girl who claims to hear voices from God that tell her to raise a siege at Orleans.  She claims that she has divine direction to chase the English out of France.  As she continues to claim victory after victory and her voice becomes more powerful, the church turns on her, setting up one of the most dramatic trials of all time.  The battle Joan will wage to hold on to her voice and her principles will be more daunting than any foe faced on the battlefield.  Saint Joan, originally staged in 1923-4, became Shaw’s most popular play almost immediately. Director Lindsey Augusta Mercer says, “Perhaps the most potent and timeless theme in Saint Joan is this idea of a “Will to Power.” At the time the play was written, the world was recovering from the horrors of WWI which undoubtedly influenced Shaw as he explored the political power dynamics surrounding Joan’s time.”  This piece was sure to resonate globally during Shaw’s time and continues to be just a powerful today.

Mercer, who has assistant directed many productions with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company says of staging the play in the round: “Theatre in the round is such an exciting challenge as a director. It may appear at first to be the most theatrical or dramatic stage format, but when it comes to the storytelling, it is the most realistic.  It is the perfect correlation to our human perspectives in life; we’re all technically in the same theatre, immersed in the same narrative, but each audience member experiences a different truth depending on where they sit.”

The play will feature Sara Clark as Joan.  The large cast of characters that surround Joan will be portrayed by only six other actors.  The ensemble includes: Billy Chace, Geoffrey Barnes, Patrick Phillips, Rory Sheridan, Nicole Jeannine Smith and Jared Earland.  Speaking of her cast, Mercer states, “This ensemble has embraced the challenge and of this play with so much modesty, imagination, and passion, and I could not imagine a better tribute to Joan, or to Shaw.”  The production team features costume design by Amanda McGee, set design by Sarah Beth Hall, sound design by Doug Borntrager, and lighting design by Alan Kleesattel.  The production is stage managed by Justin McCombs.  Brian Isaac Phillips serves as a special consultant for the production.

Performances will be on February 18, 19, 20 and March 2, 3, 4, and 5  at 7:30pm and February 21 and March 5 at 2:00pm.  All performances will take place at the Aronoff Center for the Arts’ Fifth Third Theatre.

Diogenes Theatre Company is a small professional theatre performing the best of comedy and drama in intimate studio settings .

For more information visit – www.diogenestheatrecompany.com/.

Tickets can also be purchased at www.cincinnatiarts.org/

Up next for Diogenes Theatre Company will be Samuel Beckett’s “Happy Days” directed by Michael Evan Haney and featuring Amy Warner, running from May 12-21 at the Aronoff Center’s Fifth Third Theatre.