Curio Takes Audiences Down A West Philly ‘Road’ Curio Theatre Company March 14, 2009 Road, the first play written by British playwright Jim Cartwright, debuted in 1986 and explores the lives of the people in a deprived, working class area during a time of high unemployment. If the plot sounds eerily similar to life in America in 2009, that is exactly how Curio Theatre director Gay Carducci is hoping audiences will react. We received permission from the playwright to slightly alter the play and set it in West Philadelphia, changing the British expressions and places to our Philadelphian language. The Curio Company was thrilled when the permission was granted and the agent replied, "as you rightly say the play can and is often set in the location of where it's performed...Jim [the playwright] is quite happy for companies to make these changes." But don’t worry! Despite the play's extremely effective portrait of the desperation of people's lives, the script also contains a great deal of humour. Our director Gay Carducci says, "I have loved this play since I first saw it many years ago at The Wilma Theatre. Even then I thought about how the play depicts the despair and pain of poverty, not only in a small town in England, but in many areas all over the world. We chose to put this play in our fourth season long before the huge loss of employment hit America. After that happened I thought how appropriate it seemed to place this play right here in our own little corner of the universe. Approaching the play in this way really has made it a true company project. We are all walking this 'Road' together as one." Carducci's cast includes Curio Company members: Newton Buchanan as Scullery; and Paul Kuhn, Ken Opdenaker, Delante Keys, Aetna Gallagher, Chelsea Bulack and Erika Hicks in multiple roles Road won the Samuel Beckett Award, Drama Magazine’s Best New Play Award, and was joint winner of the Plays And Players Award and The George Devine Award. In 1988, Road was produced by The Lincoln Center, New York, and is now considered a modern classic. Curio Theatre will stage Road March 12 April 4 in the Sanctuary of Calvary Church Corner of 48th and Baltimore Ave.. Performances are 7 p.m. Thursdays and 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. $10 tickets this Sat. Mar. 14 Regular Tickets are $15 on Thursdays, $22 on Fridays and Saturdays. Students are $10 to any performance. (Adult Themes and Language- the subject matter is not appropriate for children under the age of 16) Visit www.curiotheatre.org for more information or call 215-525-1350 for reservations. -- Gay Carducci General Manager Curio Theatre Company 815 S. 48th St. Phila. Pa. 19143 610-368-4450 215-525-1350 [email protected] "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." Albert Einstein
