Reviewplays.com - Best of 2004
ReviewPlays selects best of year:
THE OUTSTANDING PLAYS OF 2004
HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE
The Raven Theatre - Athena Theatre Company
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES BY A MALE ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE
GJ Echternkamp
Waiting for Godot
The Raven Playhouse - The Athena Theatre Company
Jon Emm
How I Learned to Drive
The Raven Playhouse - The Athena Theatre Company
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Veronique Ory
How I Learned to Drive
The Raven Playhouse - Athena Theatre Company
Click here for the full list at Reviewplays.com
Waiting for Godot
June 2004
Interview with Veronique Ory
Review by ReviewPlays.com
We performed a scene from Waiting for Godot
May 15 & 16, 2004 at the NoHo Arts Festival.
NoHo’s Official Arts & Entertainment Source
The Raven Playhouse
5233 Lankershim Blvd
NoHo Arts District, CA 91601
Map
Performances: TWO WEEKS ONLY!
Preview: Thursday, June 10th @ 8:00pm
Friday and Saturday @ 8:00pm
June 11-12, 18-19
General Admission: $15
Waiting for Godot - Video Trailer
Here is the Godot Video Trailer with an interview with Veronique on local Cable Access.
Waiting for Godot's Veronique Ory
Actress Veronique Ory triumphed as Babe in the Athena Theatre Company's production of Crimes of the Heart in 2003. She is currently at work on their next production, Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot running June 11-19 at The Raven Playhouse in NoHo.
DG: Waiting for Godot is a difficult piece. Why did you choose this particular play at this point in time?
VO: I have wanted to do Waiting for Godot since college. Elizabeth Welsh (co-founder of Athena Theatre) and I became very excited about producing the play because it is such a great piece and because it presented an opportunity to stretch our creative muscles in a new direction. The challenge of working on a Samuel Beckett play is amazingly rewarding to an artist. Due to its difficult nature, we had to find a director (Claire Titelman) who is familiar and comfortable with theatre of the absurd. Beckett's language can be confusing, but with the right director, the story can be painted very clearly for the audience, and the characters become so real and relatable.
DG: I have never seen females portray these roles!
VO: We wanted Vladimir and Estragon, played by Ory, to be female to tell the story in our own way. When Beckett was alive it was impossible to do such an interpretation because he did not want any alterations to the script. I discovered that without making any alterations to the text, I could tell the story of two people waiting to be saved in a different way. It displays that everyone is waiting for something, but from a female perspective.
DG: Describe Athena's origins and your very first production.
VO: Athena Theatre Company was created by Elizabeth Welsh and me in November 2002. Athena Theatre's debut production was Two Encounters, Birdbath, and Ferryboat by Leonard Melfi. These selected one-act plays explore the theme of what it means and what it takes for people to ultimately connect in a large and often isolated world. Written in the 1960's, Melfi is adept at flashing a mirror at human interaction and connectedness that still rings true in today's modern world. The plays ran for six weeks at the Tamarind Theatre in Hollywood.
DG: What is your mission statement?
VO: The specific purpose of Athena Theatre is to provide a supportive and creative environment for artists (actors and the technical crew team), where we take risks, try new things and consider new approaches. To provide theatre we are proud of and passionate about, representing the strength, intelligence, beauty and unique perspective of women in society. Our charitable purpose is to educate through the arts; we are currently looking for interns.
DG: Did you do theatre elsewhere before LA? How would you compare LA to those other venues?
VO: I did theatre in New York before I moved to Los Angeles three years ago. I received my B.A. in Theatre at Russell Sage College where there is a regional theatre on campus, The New York State Theatre Institute. Working in theatre in New York, there was a sense that people were fully committed to it. In Los Angeles, theatre seems to be something that people mostly do on the side.
DG: What is Veronique Ory's goal?
VO: To tap into the community that truly is passionate about creating theatre and to produce wonderful plays. athenatheatre.com for more information.
Waiting for Godot - Reviewplays.com
"Nothing to be done!" Samuel Beckett's masterpiece has the two main characters repeat the line, which can take on a different meaning from person to person and from time to time. Is it referring to boredom, is it talking about hopelessness, or maybe acceptance at the inevitability of life
The Athena Theatre Company takes a huge leap in presenting this classic example of Theatre of the Absurd, by courageously exchanging the gender of the two principal characters. If someone has never heard of Godot, this piece will fall neatly into place as Veronique Ory and Schantelle Cason play the title roles of the seemingly destitute Estragon and Vladimir with wonderful commitment and veracity, giving realistic portrayals of people in limbo. If you know the play, the gender exchange may grate at first, but soon becomes natural as the characters easily flow into the situation. Sitting on bench by a tree, they wait for Godot, who presumably will bring something better for them. Their disjoined chatter about removing a boot, wanting food and other trivialities exemplifies how people might pass the time to prevent boredom, although they often delve into the private and personal, but quickly back off.
Making the characters female permits some unscripted liberties and inevitably their sexuality becomes part of the tension that drives the story. When Pozzo, the presumed land owner enters, it's as if a new world opens. Nathan G. Johnson is superb playing a rambling often irrational man, with complete mastery of Lucky, a slave puppet who carries Pozzo's suitcase, food basket and stool. GJ Echternkamp gives a brilliant performance, speaking only when commanded by Pozzo, suffering humiliation and physical abuse. Some scenes suggest sexual intimacy between the two women and Pozzo, yet the dialog never wavers from the original even when their actions seems to correspond with their words. Pozzo and the two women remain at odds, and his appearance is another element in the passage of time. As in the original play, Godot never arrives, but sends a boy with word that he will be there the next day. Another day of waiting is in store for Estragon and Vladimir, where they will talk about boots, perhaps discuss committing suicide, perhaps nothing. They'll spend their day waiting for Godot.
Director Claire Titelman has chosen to have the main characters speak their lines with a high energy and volume, so that at first it seems overly done but as their anxiety and anticipation becomes more evident, it's easy to see how people could exhibit high tension. The starkly barren set with only a wooden crate and a dead tree in the corner is brightly lit, giving a feeling of stifling blandness, which echoes the characters' feelings.
The play has only a few performances, so it would be a good idea to call early for reservations. (818) 754-1423. www.athenatheatre.com
Veronique Ory
website
Metamorphoses (Eurydice)
Pterodactyls (Emma Duncan)
Slow Dance on the Killing Ground (Rosie)
Wait Until Dark (Susy)
A Lie of the Mind (Beth)
Proof (Catherine)
The Shape of Things (Evelyn)
How I Learned to Drive (Li'l Bit)
Waiting for Godot (Estragon)
Beirut (Blue)
Crimes of the Heart (Babe)
Two Encounters, "Birdbath" (Velma)