Projects: Past
May 7 - 22, 2004
Smash Hit Valparaiso Returns to the Stage
Don DeLillo play exposes far reaching affect of the media
The Virtual Stage Co-op is pleased to announce that it is again bringing the play Valparaiso – written by multi-award winning American novelist Don DeLillo (Underworld, White Noise) – to the stage. The Virtual Stage Co-op’s Canadian premiere production in 2001 received significant critical acclaim and generated tremendous word-of-mouth buzz.
Michael
Majeski, an ordinary businessman, heads out on a routine plane ride to Valparaiso,
Indiana, but ends up in Valparaiso, Chile. The press catches wind of his misadventure
and turns him into a "media darling" overnight. As Majeski's fame
grows, his personal life erodes in front of the cameras; a creation of the
media, he is caught between sanity and celebrity. Valparaiso, DeLillo’s
second play, is a funny, sharp and deep reaching story about how the media
shapes our lives. This devastating and chillingly entertaining play makes
us look with unwavering directness at the world we inhabit – a world
in which the virtual and the real are skewed.
Valparaiso,
which will be replacing The Bliss in this year’s See Seven
season, runs May 7 – 22 at Performance Works on Granville Island. The
Virtual Stage’s artistic director and multi-Jessie award nominee Andy
Thompson (Reading Hebron, Brilliant!, The Fall) will be
reprising his acclaimed performance from the Canadian premiere in the starring
role of Michael Majeski. Other returning cast members from the Canadian premiere
include Diana Swayze (Loveplay) and Jessie award winner Daune Campbell (Little
Sister, Loveplay). Joining the cast for this mounting are John Murphy (Gut Wrench,
Loveplay, Some Assembly Required), Erin Wells (The Fall, Burning
Vision) and James Long (The Beginners, K). Jessie award winner Craig Hall (Delveki’s
Closet, Snowman) will direct. Lighting design by Itai Erdal. Stage managed by
Michael Brooks.
“Exceptionally brilliant. Voluptuous, erotic and wickedly
funny.”
Chicago Sun Times
“Well-realized theatrically… Playwright Don DeLillo's
Valparaiso explodes into philosophical fireworks… You have to wait for
the stimulation in Valparaiso, but when it comes, it floods your synapses.”
Colin Thomas, Georgia Straight
"Andy Thompson gives a bravura performance as a man who
has misplaced not only his body, but his soul. So superbly subtle is his acting
that the audience sees his persona crumble molecule by molecule. By the time
he and Livia, played with feral precision by Diana Swayze… they are
as vulnerable as cattle at a slaughterhouse.”
The Globe and Mail 
1/2
Valparaiso is produced by The Virtual Stage Co-op
Valparaiso opens Saturday May 8 at Performance Works and runs through
May 22.
Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Preview Friday May
7.
Matinees May 15 & 22, 2pm & Sundays, 3pm
Box Office (604) 257-0366 Tickets $20/16 Preview, Tuesdays and Wednesdays
are two-for-one.
Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright Street, Granville Island
Click here to purchase tickets online!
