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For Imediate Release:

Luvchild Theatre Ensemble

 

 

From the producers of the critically-acclaimed,
box office hit Sacrifice to Eros

in photo: Steven Dunlap

photographer: Kevin Higinbotham

Horse Trade Theater Group presents
a Ruby Rose Luvchild production

The Balcony
Directed by Jeff Harper

 

in photo: Mo Jordan, Sandy Dorsey

photographer: Kevin Higinbotham
 

in photo: Steven Dunlap, Sandy Dorsey

photographer: Kevin Higinbotham
 

A middle-eastern city in the midst of war.

Rebellion, Martyrdom, blood, love and fantasy all come together in this timely retelling of Jean Genet’s The Balcony.

The clergyman who would be Bishop, the Hanging Judge, the Chief of Police, the four-star General all feed their fetishes at The Grand Balcony, a brothel catering to the elaborate fantasies of the occupying forces and their court. While the rebellion outside grows stronger, Madame Irma orchestrates grand illusions to feed their fantasies of power.

As the war rages, fantasies start to crumble as the realities of war make their way into the sanctum of the Grand Balcony; the line that separates fantasy and reality is blurred.

in photo: Steven Dunlap, Sandy Dorsey

photographer: Kevin Higinbotham
 

in photo: Tiffany Scavinge

photographer: Kevin Higinbotham
 

 

map

85 East 4th Street
(Between 2nd Ave. and 3rd Ave)


Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays @ 8pm
and Mondays @ 7pm

(no wheelchair access)
Adult Tickets $15


Jean Genet (playwright), (1910-86), French novelist and dramatist, whose writings, dwelling upon bizarre and grotesque aspects of human existence express profound rebellion against society and its conventions.
Born December 19, 1910, in Paris, Genet was the illegitimate child of a prostitute. He was caught stealing at the age of ten and by early adolescence had begun to serve a series of sentences for theft and homosexual prostitution that spanned nearly 30 years. In 1947, following his tenth conviction for theft, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. While he was in prison Genet had been writing and publishing, and his growing literary reputation induced a group of leading French authors to petition for his pardon, which was granted in 1948 by the president of France.

Genet's first novel, an autobiographical work about homosexuality and life in the underworld, was Our Lady of the Flowers (1944; trans. 1964). His later novels include The Thief's Journal (1949; trans. 1961), The Miracle of the Rose (1951; trans. 1967), and Funeral Rites (1953; trans. 1969). Lyric imagery and use of underworld argot are characteristic of his prose.

In 1947 Genet turned to drama, the medium in which he made his greatest impact. His first play, The Maids (1947; trans. 1954), one of his most successful, marked his entry into the movement known as the theater of the absurd. In the play two maids take turns at playing the role of their mistress, seeking their identities amid ever-shifting reality and illusion. In the plays Deathwatch (1949; trans. 1954), The Balcony (1957; trans. 1958), The Blacks (1959; trans. 1960), and The Screens (1961; trans. 1962), Genet often used role playing and the inversion of good and evil as techniques for commenting on the falseness of social and political values.

All Genet's works expose his deep sense of sympathy with the outcasts of society as they are confronted by omnipresent crime, sex, and death. His plays are filled with ritual, cruelty, and his conviction of the absurdity of moral concepts. Although his writings were at first considered pornographic, Genet was soon recognized as an existentialist grappling with problems of identity and alienation, and he came to be regarded as one of the most influential 20th-century writers. In 1983 he was awarded the Grand Prix National des Lettres.

Jeffrey Collins-Harper, Director, made his professional acting debut at the age of 12 in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Happy Birthday, Wanda June. He has appeared on stage around the country in such productions as To Kill a Mockingbird, Equus, Death of a Salesman, Master Harold and the Boys, and Twelfth Night. His directing credits include Steel Magnolias, Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Equus (for which he was awarded a special citation for mime choreography), and The Bastard Love Child of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben. He directed the critically successful production of Sacrifice to Eros that opened Horse Trade’s fifth season at The St. Marks Theater. He is co-founder and co-artistic director of Luvchild Theatre Ensemble. Member, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

Kevin Higinbotham, Scenographer & Technical Director, was raised in Montana where he attended the University of Montana. He received his BFA in Painting and Photography in 1999 and became Assistant Tech Director at the University Theatre. Studying in Amsterdam, he received his MA in Scenography from The London Institute in 2001. While there he produced and directed many original works. He returned to Montana and became Tech Director of The University Theatre. His work as scenographer, scenic designer, and light designer has encompassed such shows as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Twelfth Night, The Cripple in Inishmaan, and American Roulette. In New York he has taught set construction for CUNY and is a lighting designer for New City Video.

Francesse M. Maingrette, Assistant Director, is a native of Haiti who moved to New York to pursue a Bachelor Degree in Film Production at Brooklyn College. She has produced an Off-Broadway production of Sacrifice to Eros and assisted director Jeffrey Collins-Harper. She directed and produced three short films: Playing Game, Wishing On Candles, and Superstition. She is the president of a film/video production company, FranceLeon Inc. where she is developing an episodic television pilot.

Alan Kenny-Rudolph, Production Manager, is a graduate of The TISCH Film School at NYU where he produced and directed a number of short films. For NYU Television he produced and directed a multitude of shows including live basketball games. His recent work includes the motion picture Stay directed by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball) starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts and a TV pilot directed by Barry Sonnenfeld starring Stanley Tucci. Mr. Kenny-Rudolph also worked on Door in the Floor, directed by Todd Williams, opening this summer. The short film Beautiful Night, which he produced, was in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival’s inaugural year. He has also produced on Theater Row.

The Luvchild Theatre Ensemble

It was June 2000 when Ron Stroman, an actor and playwright, approached Jeffrey Collins-Harper, an actor and director, with a concept for a one-man show that he wanted to see produced. Mr. Collins-Harper also had a vision of developing a new theatre company. The result of their collaboration was the one-man musical The Bastard Love Child of Aunt Jemima & Uncle Ben. Their first collaboration gained the attention of other artists who wanted to work with them, and with whom they wanted to work and from this an ensemble formed that became Ruby Rose Luvchild Productions and The Luvchild Theatre Ensemble.

Since their inception, they have produced a variety of theatrical productions including one man shows, full length plays, workshops, staged readings, and film screenings in venues from theater row to New York Comedy Club to their recent co-productions as guest artist with The Horse Trade Theater Group. In 2002 they opened Horse Trade’s Fifth Season with the critically acclaimed production of Sacrifice to Eros, which Stage Press Weekly called “a polished work by a dedicated team and well worth seeing.” They have also staged fund raisers for organizations in Manhattan and Long Island.

As they continue to grow and evolve, Luvchild continues to offer a variety of theatrical experiences, fostering the development of new works by both new and experienced playwrights to re-envisionings of works form the world theatre repertoire exploring the social and political themes of our times.

Jeffrey Collins-Harper, Co-Artistic Director, made his professional acting debut at the age of 12 in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Happy Birthday, Wanda June. He has appeared on stage around the country in such productions as To Kill a Mockingbird, Equus, Death of a Salesman, Master Harold and the Boys, and Twelfth Night. His directing credits include Steel Magnolias, Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Equus (for which he was awarded a special citation for mime choreography), and The Bastard Love Child of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben. He directed the critically successful production of Sacrifice to Eros that opened Horse Trade’s fifth season at The St. Marks Theater. Member, Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers.

Ron Stroman, Co-Artistic Director, is a graduate of Adelphi University. This dynamic actor has been seen in the title role of Shakespeare’s Othello and in The Owl and the Pussycat, T-Bone ‘n’ Weasel, and as the Lead Player in Pippin. He has won critical acclaim as a playwright and actor for his one man autobiographical pieces The Serpent’s Sermon, The Bastard Love Child of Aunt Jemima & Uncle Ben, and most recently Welcome to My Momentum and The Sikofitall Gudtyme Tour. His work has caught the attention of Danny Simmons of Def Jam fame, who invited Mr. Stroman to perform at the Def Poetry Slam at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.