AKRON THEATRE HOSTS AKROPOLIS PERFORMANCE LAB FROM SEATTLE
SEATTLE ENSEMBLE PERFORMS AT BALCH STREET THEATRE
(AKRON, OH) Akron’s Center for Applied Theatre and Active Culture (CATAC) and New World Performance Lab (NWPL) present Seattle’s premiere ensemble-based theatre company, Akropolis Performance Lab (APL), and its production of The Glas Nocturne on November 20 and 21 at 8pm and November 21 at 2pm at The Balch Street Theatre, 220 South Balch Street, Akron, OH 44302. Tickets are $15 and seating is very limited. Reservations can be made by calling (330) 867-3299 or online at glas.brownpapertickets.com
The Glas Nocturne enjoyed rave reviews during its world premiere run in Seattle last spring. The performance is adapted by Co-Artistic Director Joseph Lavy from Hjalmar Söderberg’s scandalous 1905 fin-de-siecle novel Doktor Glas, It is a noir-style monodrama of psycho-sexual fixation, moral questioning, and murder — instigated by the story of a reverend, his wife, their doctor, her lover, and a little potassium cyanide.
In unfolding his tale, the emotionally isolated and psychologically repressed Dr. Glas manifests the tension between his scientific, analytical, restrained self and his poetic, erotic, sensualist self. The Glas Nocturne twines Glas’ intense revelations with live performances of solo piano nocturnes and evocative a cappella settings of Swedish songs of the night for an exquisite, resonant audience experience.
Akropolis Performance Lab (APL) is an ensemble-based theatre company founded in 
Seattle in 2000 by Co-Artistic Directors Joseph and Zhenya Lavy. Working in the artistic lineage of Central and Eastern European masters such as Meyerhold, Vakhtangov, and Grotowski, APL has developed Theatre of Polyphony, its aesthetic signature for ensemble-driven work at the nexus of physical action, song, and text that transcends popular pressures to common relevancy and pulses with the temporal force of artistic permanence. Recent work includes Pomegranate & Ash (2015, On the Boards Open Studio) and Uncle Vanya (2014).
The Akron performances of The Glas Nocturne mark a homecoming for Joseph and Zhenya Lavy, who were founding members of New World Performance Laboratory, graduates of The University of Akron, and long-time Akron residents before relocating to Washington state.
TRAILER VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/142063697
PRODUCTION TEAM
- ADAPTATION/MISE-EN-SCENE: Joseph Lavy
- CO-DIRECTORS: Joseph Lavy and Annie Paladino
- MUSIC DIRECTOR & PIANIST: Zhenya Lavy
PLAYERS
- DR. GLAS: Joseph Lavy
- CHORUS OF DREAM WOMEN: Annie Paladino, Catherine Lavy, Emily Jo Testa, and Zhenya Lavy
SCHEDULE
- November 20, 8pm
- November 21, 2pm & 8pm
- Run Time: approx. 90 minutes, no intermission
TICKETS: $15
About CATAC and NWPL
CATAC serves as the administrative umbrella for NWPL, an internationally acclaimed ensemble of theatre artists that has been active in Northeastern Ohio since 1992. Since taking up residence at The Balch Street Theatre in 2011, CATAC has produced a number of exceptional NWPL productions including “Virginia Woolf’s ORLANDO” and “Gilgamesh: He Who Saw Everything” as well as hosting various theatre companies such as Studium Teatralne from Poland, TAPIT Theatre Ensemble from Madison, WI, and Ma’Sue Productions. CATAC/NWPL spearheads numerous community projects, training sessions, educational programs, and performances throughout the region, nationally, and internationally. Currently, CATAC/NWPL is developing The Devil’s Milk Trilogy, a project which explores Akron’s relationship with rubber and the rubber industry.
NWPL 