Davis, Dinklage and Streep Star in Charlie Kaufman Sound Play Hope Leaves the Theater in L.A.

By Ernio Hernandez
20 Jul 2005

Stage and screen stars Hope Davis, Peter Dinklage and Meryl Streep will star in original sound plays by Academy Award winner Charlie Kaufman and Francis Fregoli to open the season for UCLA Live.

Presented by UCLA Live and Arts at St. Ann's, the event titled "Theater of the New Ear," — with works set to music by Carter Burwell — will play at UCLA Live's Royce Hall, Sept. 14-16.

Davis (Spinning Into Butter, the upcoming "Proof"), Dinklage (Richard III, "The Station Agent") and Streep (The Seagull, "Angels in America") will be featured (most casting to be announced) in Charlie Kaufman's Hope Leaves the Theater and an as-yet-untitled work by Francis Fregoli. The scribes will direct their own works.

The sound plays will feature actors with scripts in hand joined on stage by a flurry of sound effects and a live band "to create multiple characters and parallel realities," according to production notes. "No film, no sets, no costumes. This will be an evening like none you’ve ever seen — or heard — before."

The design team will include foley artist Marko Costanzo, sound by David Schnirman, lighting by Manuel Lutgenhorst and music performed by Parabola.

Writer Kaufman earned his Oscar for his screenplay to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" after having been nominated for his "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation." He has also penned "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and "Human Nature."

For tickets to "Theater of the New Ear" at UCLA Live, call (310) 825-2101. For more information, visit www.uclalive.org.