Minneapolis, MN -Striking clocks, surprise midnight visitors, imagine what A Christmas Carol might look like set in a contemporary New York penthouse. Writer Steve Epp re-tools Dickens' Victorian tale as an edgy, media-saturated comic mash-up in a little one-act experiment Want and Ignorance present: Little Dickens advised and directed by Dominique Serrand and Nathan Keepers of The Moving Company. Conceived over a year ago, the original idea for this comic sketch grew from a discussion by Marcus Dilliard and his Master of Fine Arts graduate students in Design/Technology at the University of Minnesota, when they began studying the screen adaptations and twentieth century spin-offs of Dickens' text. The goal was to illuminate the "outdated" notions of Want, Ignorance and the Common Good. For this resulting production, they designed the visual environment by weaving together vintage film clips with videos excerpted from modern retellings of A Christmas Carol to sharpen the send-up. Seating is limited for this experimental dark comedy to be performed live on stage December 13-16 at the Open Eye Figure Theatre, 506 East 24th Street Minneapolis, 55404. Free parking available at S.E. corner of 24th and Portland. Recommended for ages 12 and up. This production is a Reimagining Community and Arts Partnerships Program(RiCAP) project in collaboration with The Moving Company.
For tickets and information about Little Dickens visit openeyetheatre.org/dickens or
call the Open Eye Figure Theatre ticket office at 612-874-6338. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for general admission; a small ticketing fee appplies.
Epp, Keepers and Serrand are founding members of The Moving Company, a theatrical company, based in the Twin Cities. Formerly, they were company members and directors of the celebrated Tony Award-winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune which disbanded four years ago.
Dilliard is a long-time collaborator with both theatre companies.
Dominique Serrand (Advisor/ Director) Paris native Dominique Serrand was one of the co-founders of Theatre de la Jeune Lune and Artistic Director of the company from 1978 to 2008. He studied at the National Circus School and the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Serrand has been knighted by the French Government and inducted into the Order of Arts and Letters.His directing credits include Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, and the Guthrie Theater among others. In 2005, Theatre de la Jeune Lune received a Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre.
Marcus Dilliard has designed for theater, opera and dance across North America and in Europe, including numerous productions for Theatre de la Jeune Lune, The Guthrie Theater, The Minnesota Opera and The Minnesota Orchestra. He has also designed the lighting for productions at the Children's Theatre Company, American Repertory Theater, The Intiman, Penumbra Theater, Dallas Theater Center, The Shakespeare Theatre, The Athens Festival, Arena Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Minnesota Dance Theater, Flying Foot Forum, Katha Dance Theater, Portland Opera, San Diego Opera, The Spoleto Festival (Italy), Flanders Opera, The Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Pacific, The Ordway Music Theater, Pittsburgh Opera, Ft. Worth Opera, Vancouver Opera, Le Opera de Montreal, Canadian Opera Company, Chicago Opera Theater, and Boston Lyric Opera. He is the recipient of an Ivey Award, a Sage Award and two McKnight Theater Artist Fellowships. He is the Head of the Design and Technical Theater Program at the University of Minnesota and is a member of United Scenic Artists, the U.S. Institute for Technical Theater and is a graduate of Boston University's School for the Arts.
Steve Epp (Adaptor /Playwright) - Steve Epp was an actor, writer, director and co-Artistic Director at Theatre de la Jeune Lune from 1983-2008. In his 25 years with Jeune Lune, Steve collaborated in the creation and performance of over 50 productions. He was the winner of the 1993 Outer-Critics Circle award for best new play. Most recently Epp co-authored a new one-person play, The House Can't Stand, and Come Hell and High Water for The Moving Company. Epp holds a degree in Theatre and History from Gustavus Adolphus College. He was a 1999 Fox Fellow, and a 2009 McKnight Playwrights Center Theatre Artist Fellow. He currently appears in Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters produced by the Yale Repertory Theatre and Shakespeare Company now playing at the Guthrie Theater.
Nathan Keepers (Advisor/Director) is Artistic Associate of The Moving Company, where he's co-conceived, created and performed in Come Hell and High Water, Werther and Lotte and The War Within/All's Fair. Nathan was with Theatre de la Jeune Lune for 11 seasons and performed in various productions including, Fishtank, The Deception, The Miser, Tartuffe, The Little Prince and others. Locally he has been on stage at The Jungle Theater (Waiting for Godot, Fully Committed, The Swan), the Guthrie Theater and Children's Theatre Company. Nationally, Keepers has worked at Playmakers Repertory, American Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Alley, La Jolla Playhouse and The Folger Theatre in Washington, DC. He's studied with Pierre Byland in Switzerland, and Philippe Gaulier in London.
