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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

Images

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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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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

Images

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Roller Skating With My Cousin

Chorus (a.k.a. The Large Hadron Collider) in Roller Skating With My Cousin. Photo: Erin Preston (2010).

Chorus (a.k.a. The Large Hadron Collider) in Roller Skating With My Cousin. Photo: Erin Preston (2010).

Roller Skating With My Cousin
a devised work of The LIDA Project*

Part science lab, part disco, Roller Skating With My Cousin combines the mythology and archetypes of the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel with the sexual revolutionary act of roller skating, while simultaneously asking whether we can all create a custom-designed universe in our kitchen sink and, furthermore, why did Ronald Reagan fail as the anti-Christ? This mash-up of themes results in a lively, dark romp in which a synchronized chorus of roller skaters builds a tower under a star-flecked mirror ball sky.

“Roller Skating With My Cousin is a musical love letter from the future, on wheels, with utter disregard for logic and linearity…let LIDA be your guide… For sensible people, the 1980s have long been thought of as a time best forgotten…Then along came the delightfully whacked-out lunatics at the LIDA Project.”
-Kurt Brighton, The Denver Post

“It’s riveting, surprising, a beautiful cross…between theater and life.”
-Juliet Wittman, Westword

Production History
January 15 – February 20, 2010: BINDERY | space :: Denver, CO

Media Coverage
Rolling ’round the 80’s (The Denver Post)
Review: Bob Bows (Colorado Drama)
A Wheel Deal (Westword)

The Company
Direction: Brian Freeland / Tonya Malik-Carson
Stage Management: Tommy Sheridan
Asst. Stage Management: Ryan Gaddis
Lighting Design: Steven J. Deidel / Anna R. Kaltenbach
Projection Design: Steven J. Deidel
Sound Design: Brian Freeland
Scenic Design: Steven J. Deidel
Scenic Charge: Schuyler Burks
Costume Design: Julie Rada
Properties Design: Julie Rada


Ensemble

Ed Cord, Desiree Gagnon, Miriam Suzanne, Melanie Owen, Julie Rada, Matthew Schultz, & Crystal Verdon.

Chorus
Julie Adams, Gabrielle Begeman, Vicky Cruz, Danica Dalezal, Sara Downey, Allison Hakala, Heather Rae Johnson, Jessica Kolacny, Ariel Quigley, & Stacey Spaulding.

Images

Video

* Development collaborators: Ed Cord, Steven J. Deidel,  Brian Freeland, Desiree Gagnon, Tonya Malik-Carson, Miriam SuzanneMelanie Owen, Julie Rada, Matthew Schultz, & Crystal Verdon.

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joseph k.

Dan O'Neill (Joeseph K.) & Josh Hartwell (Kafka) in joesph k. Photo: Erin Preston (2009).

Dan O’Neill (Joseph K.) & Josh Hartwell (Kafka) in joseph k. Photo: Erin Preston (2009).


joseph k.
an original work by Martin McGovern

Based on the writings of Franz Kafka, joseph k. is a journey through the beauty and paranoia of one of the greatest literary minds in Western literature.

Production History
May 22 – June 20, 2009 : BINDERY | space :: Denver, CO

Awards
Best New Work (Martin McGovern) – Denver Post Ovation Award
Best Scenic Design (Brian Freeland) – Denver Post Ovation Award
Best Director of a Play (Brian Freeland) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination

Media Coverage
Review – The Denver Post
CULTURAMA: LIDA’s ‘joseph k’ throws gloomy shadows
Review – Colorado Drama

The Company
Direction: Brian Freeland
Assistant Director: Melanie Owen
Costume Design: Julie Rada / Annette Westerby
Lighting Design: Steven J. Deidel / Anna Kaltenbach
Master Electrician: Anshuman Bhatia
Projection Design: Steven J. Deidel
Scenic Design: Brian Freeland
Sound Design: Brian Freeland

Ensemble
Dan O’Neill: Joseph K
Josh Hartwell: Kafka
Brandon Kruhm: Franz
Doron Burks: Willem / Bloch
Lorenzo Sariñana: Investigator / Magistrate / Titorelli
Petra Ulrych: Frau Grubach
Elgin Kelley: Fraulein Burstner / Leni / Fraulein Montag / Urchin Girl
Julie Rada: Felice / Wife / Urchin Girl
Ken Witt: Huld
Mike Marlow: The Whipper / Ensemble
Elizabeth Parks: Ensemble

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MANSON | family valUes

MANSON | family valUeS. Photo: Eric Weber (2003)

MANSON | family valUeS (2003). Photo: Eric Weber.

MANSON | family valUes
by Robin Davies & Brian Freeland as devised with The LIDA Project*

MANSON | family valUeS is based on the lives of Charles Manson and his followers during the events leading up to and following the ritual murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others during the summer of 1969. Created in the unique style of The LIDA Project, MANSON | family valUeS offers a bizarre and wickedly eerie look into ‘the Family’ that changed our definition of evil forever and spawned America’s first pop-culture media villain. Built from actual events and transcripts.

“MANSON | family valUeS” embodies the spirit of all that live theater should. It is bold, difficult and occasionally jaw-dropping.”
– John Moore,
The Denver Post

Production History
February 14 – March 22, 2003: BINDERY | space :: Denver, CO
April 18 – May 8, 2006: Camden People’s Theatre :: London, UK
May 30 – 31, 2006: The Bug Theatre:: Denver, CO
June 2,3, 9, & 10, 2006: The Vortex:: Austin, TX
June 7 – 8, 2006: Seven Stages:: Atlanta. GA

Awards
Best Theater Ensemble Work – Best of Westword, 2003

The Company
Direction: Robin Davies / Brian Freeland
Technical Director: James McElwee
Scenic Design: Jason Humphrey
Lighting Design: Anna R. Kaltenbach
Sound Design: Tyler Potts
Costume Design: Gina Penka
Video Design: Scott Kinnamon

Ensemble (2003)
Tamara Bradley, Jeannene Bragg, Jon Brown, Lindsay Gegenberg, Sarah Gibson, Jennifer Harris, Josh Hartwell, Elgin Kelley, Bartlett Meeks, Joseph A. Norton, Brandy Qualls, Jadelynn Stahl, Camilla Susser, & Guy Williams

Ensemble (2006)
Stacey Rae Allen, Nissa Almquist,Renee Morrison, Sophie Nimmannit, Julie Rada, Jadelynn Stahl, & Guy Williams

Images

* Development collaborators: Tamara Bradley, Jeannene Bragg, Jon Brown, Sarah Gibson,‎ Anita Harkess, Jennifer Harris, Josh Hartwell, Anna R. Kaltenbach, Elgin Kelley, Joseph A. Norton, Brandy Qualls, Jadelynn Stahl, & Guy Williams

The History of the Devil (Scenes from a Pretended Life)

The History of the Devil (1999). Photo by Eric Webber

The History of the Devil (1999). Nils Ivan Swanson (L) as The Devil and Luciann Lajoie (R) as Sonneillon. Photo by Eric Webber.


The History of the Devil (Scenes from a Pretended Life)

by Clive Barker

Production History
October 22 – December 18, 1999 : The MK-Ultra Theatre:: Denver, CO

The Company
Direction: Robert Burns Brown
Assistant Direction: Jana Curtis
Producer: The LIDA Project / Brian Freeland
Lighting Design: Anna R. Kaltenbach
Sound Design: Diana Linger

Costume Design: Jim Miller
Properties Design: Brian Freeland

Ensemble
Jane: Amy Glassman
Procell: Anita Harkiss
Sonneillon: Luciann Lajoie
Kate: Janette L. MacDonald
The Devil: Nils Ivan Swanson
Popper: Tara M.E. Thompson
Sam: Dane Torbinson
Verrier: Kelly Wade
Milo: Rodney Wess
Belial: Jamil Wold