Lucky Plush Productions: The Better Half Dance/theatre production puts a lively spin on the film noir classic, Gaslight, on October 4-5 at the Clarice Smith Center
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Sarah Snyder
ssnyder3@umd.edu
(301) 405-8151
August 29, 2012 – College Park, MD– Lucky Plush Productions presents The Better Half, a unique dance/theatre hybrid inspired by the classic film Gaslight. Performances will take place October 4-5 at 8 p.m. in the Clarice Smith Center’s Dance Theatre. Not only does the production poke fun at the 1944 melodrama about a villainous husband who tries to drive his wife insane, it samples contemporary scripts including The Bourne Identity and All the Real Girls. In the hands of Lucky Plush Productions, this rowdy, witty, and evocative piece transcends its sources to examine wedded (or unwedded) “bliss” from unexpected physical and emotional angles. Join the artists for a Talk Back after the October 4 performance.
About The Better Half
Co-created by Lucky Plush Artistic Director Julia Rhoads and stage director Leslie Buxbaum Danzig of 500 Clown, The Better Half accumulates layers of fiction and reality to reveal the elusive boundaries between self and character and between life and borrowed plotlines. Through a complex and expressive dance/theatre language, the work shifts back and forth from literal to abstract, while remaining accessible to a broad audience. The Better Half was co-commissioned by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
About the Artists
Choreographer Julia Rhoads is artistic director of Lucky Plush Productions, a Chicago-based dance theater company that has facilitated the relationship between dance, performance and new media technologies since 1999. Lucky Plush devises work with a focus on strong ensembles, innovative choreography, integrated technology and bold content and is known for its provocative commentary on contemporary culture.
Stage director Leslie Buxbaum Danzig is co-founder, resident director and former managing director of the Chicago-based physical theater company 500 Clown, which uses action-based performance, improvisation and circus arts to tell long-form dramatic stories that catapult the performers into extreme physical and emotional risk. She was at the Center most recently with 500 Clown and the Elephant Deal during the 2008-2009 season.
Tickets
More information can be found on our web site. Tickets for this performance are $30/$10 (Students/Youth), and can be purchased here or by calling (301) 405-ARTS (2787).
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The presentation of The Better Half is made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This project is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business & Economic Development, the MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Learn more about the Clarice Smith Center's donor support.