Actors React - Henry James | The Ogre

Photo: Bettman/Corbis  Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/sep/20/number-one-writer

An American ex-pat, author and intellectual, Henry James was the "top dog" in his day.  With over 20 novels, 112 stories, 12 plays and many literary criticisms to his credit, his writings highlighted his numerous talents in literature, psychology and philosophy.



Joining us is Sacramento actor Shawn B O'Neal, sharing his thoughts on Don Nigro's The Ogre and his portrayal of the famous Henry James.

Big Idea: What appealed to you about being a part of The Ogre cast?

Shawn:  This show has an eerie feeling of suspense throughout coupled with humor.

Big Idea: How would you describe James?

Shawn: I believe Henry James is massively self-conscious and ultimately, a pretentious person.  In The Ogre, James is a very lonely person who is not truly able to connect with many people.

Big Idea: What do you feel is most important in his world?

Shawn: His love of the creation of art.  His body of work is enormous and I feel it is what has driven him.  The idea of creation, his creation, living on long past his death. 

Big Idea: Do you have a favorite work of James?

Shawn: I'd have to say that I enjoyed his ghost story "The Turn of the Screw" best.  It is suspenseful without being contrived. 

Source: http://archive.org/details/twomagicsturnofs00jameiala

Big Idea: What is the most challenging part of exploring the world of the play through the eyes of a well-known historical figure?

Shawn:  Accuracy!  As an actor, you a taught to play a character for truth.  This is even more important when playing a historical person.  Accuracy and honesty are key.

Big Idea: In The Ogre, Henry James and Stephen Crane have a genuine friendship.  Why do you feel James befriends Crane?

Shawn: James respects Stephen Crane and enjoys the idea of being looked at as a mentor.  He appreciates Crane's talent and gift of writing, exploring different topics that challenge him.

Big Idea: How does the role of Henry James differ from previously roles that you have played?

Shawn:  Well - in my most recent Big Idea roles, I played a mentally damaged, child serial killer (The Pillowman), and a drag queen in mourning (Twelfth Night, or What You Will)...  so, this role is far more reserved and requires a great deal of restraint, a great deal of subtlety.  It's quite fun!

 "Pretty soon I will have to throw this away so I better try to be calm like Henry James. Did you ever read Henry James? He was a great writer who came to Venice and looked out the window and smoked his cigar and thought."

- Ernest Hemingway

Source: http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofpendenn01thacrich#page/n3/mode/2up

• Liukkonen, Petri and Ari Pesonen.  Kuusankosken kaupunginkkirjasto. www.kirjasto.sci.fi.com/hjames.htm, 2008.
• James's Legacy: The Afterlife of His Figure and Fiction by Adeline Tintner (1998) ISBN 0-8071-2157-6. Ernest Hemingway pp.176–188.

Press Pass | The Ogre

Big Idea had a fantastic opening weekend with the Sacramento premiere of Don Nigro's The Ogre! 

The View from the Seats | Patron Chat

"DO NOT MISS THIS ONE if you like "the meaning of life/what's it all about" philosophy.  Quirky and likable characters range from stuffy and proper, to recklessly flamboyant, to pragmatic realists.  The slow demise of the open-minded, rational main character - lucid and sane while at the same time physically deteriorating - is fascinating.  Be careful what you cling to, it may be your undoing." - Craig D.

"Had a great time seeing The Ogre last night... STELLAR performances!! The Ogre is a can't miss show!!" - Andie D.

"Big Idea Theatre's production of "The Ogre" is a book-nerd's delight--and it has a nice Halloween-y feel to it, too, what with all the ghosts." - Kel Munger, SN&R

Poets' Corner - Stephen Crane | The Ogre

Don Nigro's The Ogre centers around famed American author and poet, Stephen Crane, in the final years of his life.  Crane's poems, which he preferred to call "lines," embodied an unconventional poetic style for the time, written in free verse without rhyme, meter or titles for individual works.  

Tell me why, behind thee,

I see always the shadow of another lover?

Is it real

Or is this the thrice-damned memory of a better happiness?

Plague on him if he be dead

Plague on him if he be alive

A swinish numbskull

To intrude his shade

Always between me and my peace.

- Stephen Crane

Published by Cornell University Press

Love walked alone.

The rocks cut her tender fee,

And the brambles tore her fair limbs.

There came a companion to her,

But, alas, he was no help,

For his name was heart's pain.

- Stephen Crane

• Hoffman, Daniel. 1967. "Crane and Poetic Tradition". Stephen Crane: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Maurice Bassan. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.. Pg. 64

SIXTEEN SIXTEEN | The Ogre

Pick up your copy of the October Issue of SIXTEEN SIXTEEN for a note from The Ogre director, Gina Williams, along with info on the other exciting events from the 1616 Block.

Purchase tickets online today!

Opening Tonight! | The Ogre

The Ogre by Don Nigro opens tonight at the Big Idea Theatre!  Step into the abyss...

Enter Brede Place, the sinister mansion inhabited by famed American author, Stephen Crane, during the final days of his life.  Surrounded by a cast of enigmatic characters, Crane begins to question his sanity as he is haunted by mysterious screams and things that go bump in the night.

Performance Schedule: 

Friday, 10/5 | 8:00 PM

Saturday, 10/6 | 8:00 PM

Sunday, 10/7 | 2:30 PM

Thursday, 10/11 | 8:00 PM

Friday, 10/12 | 8:00 PM

Saturday, 10/13 | 8:00 PM

Sunday, 10/14 | 2:30 PM

Thursday, 10/18 | 8:00 PM

Friday, 10/19 | 8:00 PM

Saturday, 10/20 | 8:00 PM

Thursday, 10/25 | 8:00 PM

Friday, 10/26 | 8:00 PM

Saturday, 10/27 | 8:00 PM

Purchase tickets online today!

General Admission: $15

Students/Seniors/SARTA: $13

Thrifty Thursdays: $10

Photos by Benjamin T. Ismail

Lobby Board | The Ogre

The Big Idea lobby board is complete courtesy of Vince Natad, a talented Sacramento artist.  

It's almost time for opening!

The Ogre by Don Nigro

Oct 5 - 27

www.bigideatheatre.com

2013 Season Announcement!

Big Idea announces an exciting line-up for the 2013 season: Face the Tyrant.

Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after

And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;

He knew human folly like the back of his hand,

And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;

When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,

And when he cried the little children died in the streets.

               Epitaph on a Tyrant – W.H. Auden

What makes a tyrant? A large question that inevitably leads to larger questions still. W. H. Auden seemed to think that it didn't take much. Just take a normal person, a person with hobbies, one who laughs loudly, and even sometimes cries, and then add a little bit of power. Big Idea's 2013 season is riddled with questions about tyranny. The irony in this comes from the fact that as a company, we are an almost purely democratic entity. Big Idea is made up of 19 artists, actors, directors and designers who all have an equal say in the shows that we produce each year. Scripts are submitted annually, voted on by the company members, and the majority rules. Most years there is little consideration given to an overarching theme. This year, however, a theme emerged on its own. Seven plays all dealing in one way or another with themes of revolution, oppression, and the power of the human spirit to struggle against tyranny with every weapon in its arsenal; from bloody violence to raucous humor.

The season opens simply, with the courageous fight of one man to hold true to the highest of his beliefs in the face of political and religious persecution and is book-ended by fast-paced, time-traveling, complex exploration of the history of one man putting his boot to the throat of another. The season in between is a rollercoaster ride of comedy and drama that examines tyranny in the family, our own societies, and the world at large. As we all continue to watch, with hopeful anticipation, the effects of The Arab Spring and the growth of democracy throughout the world; and as we continue to struggle here at home with our own understanding of free speech and personal freedoms, now seems to be the perfect time to take this journey.

So come and join us in the fight, and we will see you at the theatre!

New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza At Talmud Torah Congregation: Amsterdam, July 27, 1656 
by David Ives. 

January 11 - February 9

One philosopher's progressive theories of divinity threaten to destroy an entire community.  This brilliant young man is presented with an unimaginable dilemma: be true to himself or face excommunication from his religion and in the process lose his family, his culture, and the woman he loves.

As You Like It by William Shakespeare, 
Adapted by Brian Harrower

March 1 - 30

All the world's a stage, including Arden Park, where Rosalind flees in a desperate attempt to save her life after a coup deposes her father.  Homeless and in disguise, she wanders through the urban wilderness, encountering a wacky assortment of colorful vagabonds and discovering love, laughter, and unexpected compassion along the way.  Happy endings abound in this modern version of one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies.

More big ideas coming soon.  Stay tuned!

 A Contemporary American's Guide to a Successful Marriage 
c. 1959 by Robert Bastron

June 14 - July 13

It's the late 1950s.  It is a time of innocence and overly-helpful public service announcements; where all a young woman needs to be blissfully happy is a husband, a home, and a baby to love.  Or so we were told.  Hilarity ensues as two young couples embark on their lives together aided by the ever present, but perhaps misguided advice of one eager public service announcer.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh

August 2 - 31

The untimely death of Wee Thomas the cat brings a heartbroken Irish freedom fighter with "anger management issues" home to say farewell.  His search for those responsible for his beloved feline's demise leads to a series of violent and bloody reprisals.  Uproarious, over-the-top, and unmistakably Irish, this play will have you simultaneously falling out of your seat with laughter and cringing in horror.

Lonesome Hollow by Lee Blessing

September 27 - October 26

In the not too distant future, a photographer of artistic nudes is sentenced to an open-ended imprisonment in a state run "penal village" for sexual offenders.  Seeking to find peace among a community of rapists and child molesters, he builds a Zen labyrinth under the watchful eye of a sympathetic guard.  With shades of Hawthorne, Guantanamo Bay, and A Clockwork Orange, this darkly thoughtful play explores the dangers of society's desperate quest for a sense of security.

Outrage by Itamar Moses

November 15 - December 14

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."  A time-bending roller-coaster ride through history, Outrage deftly moves between Ancient Greece, the Inquisition, Nazi Germany and modern day academia.  Outrage examines the price people pay for staying true to their principles in the face of vicious oppression and reminds us that the revolutionary of one era may become the tyrant of the next.

2013 Ticket Info:           

All “Thrifty Thursday” show tickets: $10

Advance ONLINE ticket sales: General Admission tickets: $16 | SARTA/Senior/Student tickets: $14

All Tickets sold AT THE DOOR: $20

Season Tickets: $70

Flex Passes: 4-show ($52); 6-show ($78)

Gift Certificates available!

www.bigideatheatre.com