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Red Hot Patriot

Red Hot Patriot (2012)

Red Hot Patriot (2012)

Red Hot Patriot
by Margaret and Allison Engel

Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel – it’s vulgar.”
– Molly Ivins

Production History
October 25 – 28, 2012 : work | space :: Denver, CO
November 2 – 10, 2012 : The Aurora Fox :: Aurora, CO
November 15 – 30, 2013 : The Dairy Center :: Boulder, CO

Awards
Best Drama, True West Award Nomination
Best Actress in a Drama (Rhonda Brown), True West Award Nomination
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play (Rhonda Brown), Henry Award Nomination
Best Political Theatre, Best of Westword 2013

The Company
Producers: A. Zeik Saidman & Brian Freeland
Associate Producer: Alana Smart
Direction: Brian Freeland
Stage Management: Tommy Sheridan
Lighting Design: Jacob M. Welch
Scenic Design: David Lafont
Sound Design: Max Peterson
Costume Design: Sharon McClaury
Publicity: Gloria Shanstrom

Ensemble
Rhonda Brown: Molly Ivins
Rhea Amos: The Helper

A very special thank you to our original production sponsors:
Presenting Sponsor: C. Richard and Marianne Reinisch Foundation | Sponsors: ACLU of Colorado, Brett Family Foundation, In memory of Joel Ehrlich, Caroline Lapp and Phil Barber, & John P. Oppenheim, PC, Attorney at Law | Beloveds: Bob Drake, Bruce & Jaren Ducker, Dr. Bob & Marilyn Fried, Paul & Jean Kottke, Elaine Selberg & Dan Recht, Jane & Stan Thalman, & Jan Temple

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Add It Up

Add It Up. Photo: Erin Preston 2012.

Add It Up. Photo: Erin Preston 2012.

Add It Up
An original interpretation by The LIDA Project inspired by the work of Elmer Rice.

Add It Up is a performance remix as interpreted by six sound, video, and performance artists from The LIDA Project. It is sound. It is light. It is music. It is words. It is images. It is machines. It is humans. It is about love. And hate. And murder. And death. And rebirth. And dancing. And eggs.

Production History
September 14 – October 6, 2012 : work | space :: Denver, CO

Awards
Best Use of Multimedia (Brian Freeland / The LIDA Project), True West Award

Media Coverage
Everything adds up as the LIDA Project embarks on its 18th season – Westword

The Company
Producers: Steven J. Deidel / Brian Freeland / The LIDA Project
Direction: Brian Freeland
Assistant Direction: Rhea Amos
Lighting Design: Steven J. Deidel / The LIDA Project
Sound Design: Lorenzo Sariñana / The LIDA Project
Costumes: Hart DeRose / The LIDA Project
Projection Design: Brian Freeland / The LIDA Project

Ensemble
Hart DeRose: 0
Michelle Hurtubise: Elmer Rice
Heidi Pachner: The Boss
Lorenzo Sariñana: Her
Matthew Schultz: Mrs. 0

Video

Images

 

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Auto da Fé

Trina Magness and Dan O'Neill in Auto da Fé  (2012)

Trina Magness and Dan O’Neill in Auto da Fé (2012)

Auto da Fé
An original adaptation of the book by Elias Canetti by Rebecca Gorman O’Neill.

A twisted creation developed by The LIDA Project ensemble, playwright Rebecca Gorman, and director Brian Freeland. Manipulations of darkness and light and juxtapositions of ghastly imagery help to re-imagine Canetti’s breakthrough 1935 work about a lone recluse and his infinite library of books.

Production History
May 11 – June 2, 2012: work | space :: Denver, CO

Awards
Best New Work (Rebecca Gorman O’Neill), True West Awards Nomination
Best Actor in a Drama (Dan O’Neill), True West Awards Nomination

Media Coverage
LIDA Project’s surreal Auto da Fé – The Denver Post
The Sound and The Fury – Westword

The Company
Producers: Brian Freeland, Steven J. Deidel & The LIDA Project
Direction: Brian Freeland
Words / Dramaturgy: Rebecca Gorman O’Neill
Production Stage Manager: G. Austin Allen
Lighting Design: Steven J. Deidel / Anna R. Kaltenbach
Scenic Design: David Lafont
Projection Design: Steven J. Deidel / Ryan Gaddis
Costume Design: Hart DeRose
Sound Design: Brian Freeland
Associate Sound Design / Operator: Anson Nicholson
Associate Lighting Design: Tommy Sheridan

Ensemble
Dan O’Neill: Kien
Trina Magness: Therese
Robin Davies: Doorman / Fischerle
Lorenzo Sariñana: George / Brute / Beggar / Others

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Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (2011)

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (2011)

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep
a devised work of The LIDA Project*

The LIDA Project’s 6-part award winning epic on health, care, mortality and dying in the United States originally premiered in December of 2011 in a unique collaboration between the LIDA Project and a group of guest directors and community leaders. The work was environmentally designed and performed in private residences.

Production History
December 02 – December 17, 2011 : site specific residences :: Denver, CO
January 27 – February 11, 2012 :site specific residences :: Denver, CO

Awards
Special Achievement – Denver Post Ovation Award

Media Coverage
LIDA health-care epic: Home theater for what ails us – The Denver Post
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep tackles health, care, death and dying in the USA – Westword

The Company
Direction: Robin Davies / Brian Freeland / Josh Hartwell / Jaime Lujan / Brenda Cook Ritenour / Kate Roselle / Tommy Sheridan / Kenny Storms
Artistic Director: Brian Freeland
Dramaturgy: Rebecca Gorman O’Neill
Movement: Tonya Malik-Carson
Scenic Design: Amelia Charter
Production Assistant: Laura Lounge

Ensemble
Rhea Amos, Meg Chamberlain, Hart DeRose, Nancy Flanagan, Michelle Hurtubise, Madeleine Joyce, Sonia Justl, Deanna Lowman, Heidi Pachner, Lorenzo Sariñana, Stefin Woolever, & Ryan Wuestewald

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The Works

The Soldier
The Soldier maneuvers through a recent Iraq War veterans struggles to care for herself and her relationships while her PTSD and grief from the war spin into a sadistic health insurance game show. Directed by Tommy Sheridan with performances by Rhea Amos, Hart DeRose, Nancy Flanagan, Michelle Hurtubise, Madeleine Joyce, Heidi Pachner, Stefin Woolever, and Ryan Wuestewald.

The Addict
The Addict is a cyclical spiral of losing control and asking for help. It grapples with both tangible and systemic addictions and whether or not we have the agency to choose our own paths. Directed by Kate Roselle and Kenny Storms with performances by Nancy Flanagan, Madeleine Joyce, Deanna Lowman, Heidi Pachner, Lorenzo Sariñana, and Stefin Woolever.

The Survivor
An exploration of how we grapple with death–both losing those we love and dealing with the knowledge of our own. Directed by Jaime Lujan with performances by Rhea Amos, Hart DeRose, Michelle Hurtubise, Madeleine Joyce, Lorenzo Sariñana, and Ryan Wuestewald.

The Middleman
An examination of the difficult choices that individuals have to make on health + care in a world of 7 billion people. Directed by Robin Davies with performances by Rhea Amos, Hart DeRose, Michelle Hurtubise, Heidi Pachner, and Ryan Wuestewald.

The Immigrant
An exploration of alternative medicine, cultural assimilation, and the red tape beaurocrtic hoops we have to jump through. Directed by Brenda Cook Ritenour with performances by Hart DeRose, Michelle Hurtubise, Deanna Lowman, and Lorenzo Sariñana.

The Patient
The Patient is a poetic and lyrical exploration of the ins outs ups downs of a person’s final moments and how hospice and its workers provide support to that person and their relatives. “What’s more important than our final moment,” one patient asks. Death responds, “Them.” Directed by Josh Hartwell with performances by Nancy Flanagan, Madeleine Joyce, Deanna Lowman, Heidi Pachner, and Stefin Woolever.

* Development collaborators: Rhea Amos, Meg Chamberlain, Amelia Charter, Robin Davies, Hart DeRose, Nancy Flanagan, Brian Freeland, Josh Hartwell, Michelle Hurtubise, Madeleine Joyce, Sonia Justl, Laura Lounge, Deanna Lowman, Jaime Lujan, Tonya Malik-Carson, Rebecca Gorman O’Neill, Heidi Pachner, Brenda Cook Ritenour, Lorenzo Sariñana, Kate Roselle, Tommy Sheridan, Kenny Storms, Stefin Woolever, & Ryan Wuestewald

 

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Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda

Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda (2011)

Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda (2011)

Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda
a devised work of The LIDA Project*

This original LIDA collaborative work inspired by Max Fritch’s The Firebugs and Albert Camus’s The Just, focuses on American pop culture and attitudes a decade after the Al Qaeda attacks on the United States. An irreverent, bombastic, and controversial examination of American politics and culture post 9-11.

Production History
September 9 – October 8, 2011: work | space :: Denver, CO

Awards
Best Multimedia Integration (Steven J. Deidel) -Denver Post Ovation Award
Best Lighting (Steven J. Deidel) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination
Best Sound (Kenny Storms & Max Peterson)– Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination

Media Coverage
Art from the ashes: A decade later, great art inspired by 9/11 is rare
Photo call: Opening night for new LIDA Project
The Terror, the Terror!
The Denver Post Fall Arts Preview

The Company
Producers: Brian Freeland, Steven J. Deidel & The LIDA Project
Direction: Brian Freeland
Dramaturgy: Rebecca Gorman O’Neill
Lighting / Projection Design: Steven J. Deidel
Sound Design: Max Peterson & Kenny Storms
Costume Design: Annette Westerby
Associate Lighting Design: Anna R. Kaltenbach
Associate Lighting Design / Lighting Programmer: G. Austin Allen
Projection Associate / Content Creation: Ryan Gaddis
Pixel Twister: Joe Deats
Camera Operators / Video Technicians: Tommy Sheridan & Alex Polzin
LIVE Sand Artist: Amelia Charter

Ensemble
Patrick Balai: Homeland Security / George W. Bush
Robin Davies: White
Hart DeRose: Anna Lucia
Dan O’Neill: Osama Bin Ladin
Safa Samiezade-Yazd: The Chorus
Matthew Schultz: Sadam Hussain / Bieber
Ryan Wuestewald: Wilson

Video

Images

* Development collaborators: Robin Davies, Hart DeRose, Brian Freeland, & Matthew Schultz. Additional collaboration from Steven J. Deidel, Rebecca Gorman O’Neill, Dan O’Neill, & Kenny Storms

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HOT + WAX: On Being Too Big To Fail (a piece in 8 bits)

Kenny Storms in HOT + WAX: On Being Too Big To Fail (a piece in 8 bits) (2010)

 

HOT + WAX: On Being Too Big To Fail (a piece in 8 bits)
conceived and directed by Julie Rada as devised with The LIDA Project*

A live performance blend of the Icarus story from Greek mythology, the 2009 economic crisis and 1980’s 8-bit video games. Princess Toadstool figures prominently, as does the boy whose wings melted in the sun. Joe Knossos, the head of the troubled financial products division, dodges the Minotaur as meat falls from the sky. The piece is highly-interactive with opportunities for witnesses to play old-school video games and manipulate the direction of the story.

HOT+WAX = flying too close to the sun.
HOT+WAX = getting all the coins.
HOT+WAX = finance porno.
HOT+WAX = 8 bits vs. naughty bits.

Production History
September 24 – October 23, 2010: BINDERY | space :: Denver, CO

Media Coverage
Icarus climbs corporate ladder in LIDA’s video game allegory – The Denver Post

The Company
Direction: Julie Rada
Scenic Design: Erin Ramsey
Lighting Design: Jacob M. Welch
Sound / Video Design: Ryan McRyhew
Music Composition: Ryan McRyhew / Neil Ewing
Costume Design: Annette Westerby
Properties Design: Annette Westerby
Choreography: Kelleen Shadow

Ensemble
Ploughman: Terry Burnsed
Mr. Joseph C. Knossos: Todd Webster
Daedalus: Leroy Leonard
Uncle Sam: Mike Marlow
Cellist: Eizabeth A. Nodich
Pasiphae / Your Mom: Elizabeth Parks
Icarus: Lorenzo Sariñana
Princess: Kelleen Shadow
Bull / Minotaur: Kenny Storms

Video

Images

* Development collaborators: Leroy Leonard, Elizabeth Parks, Julie Rada, Lorenzo Sariñana, Matthew Schultz, Kelleen Shadow, Kenny Storms, & Annette Westerby

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Mouse In A Jar

Trina Magness (Ma) in Martyna Majok's Mouse in a Jar. (2010)

Trina Magness (Ma) in Martyna Majok’s Mouse in a Jar. (2010)

Mouse in a Jar
by Martyna Majok

We see a mother on a leash. We see the bruises. We smell the meat burn. We hear a crash, a thrash. We know the Man in Boots is coming. We know the daughter is out there. We know there is something scrounging in the shadows.Mouse in a Jar is a horror story packed full of oddities and underground life forms. This is Stockholm Syndrome. This is the impossible grace of bondage. This is subterranean punk; acts of desperation required.

Production History
April 23 – May 29, 2010 : BINDERY | space :: Denver, CO

Awards
Best Actress in a Drama (Trina Magness), Westword
Actress in a Dramatic Role (Trina Magness) – Denver Post Ovation Award
Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Role (Kelleen Shadow) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination
Scenic Design (Nick Kargel) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination
Lighting Design (Steven J. Diedel) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination
Sound Design (Brian Freeland) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination

Media Coverage
Horror captured like a mouse in a jar, The Denver Post
LIDA presents, Mouse In A Jar, The Metropolitan
‘Mouse in a Jar’ is not horror but it’s certainly scary, The Examiner

The Company
Direction: Julie Rada
Asst. Direction: Lanie Reel
Scenic Design: Nicholas Kargel
Lighting / Projection Design: Steven J. Deidel
Associate Lighting Design: Anna R. Kaltenbach / Dan O’Neill
Video Foley Artist: Dan O’Neill
Sound Design: Brian Freeland
Costume Design: Annette Westerby
Properties Design: Julie Rada
Production Run Crew: Ryan Gaddis / Jules DuMond / Kenny Storms

Ensemble
Zosia: Janna Meiring
Daga: Kelleen Shadow
Ma: Trina Magness
Boy: Lorenzo Sariñana

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