It begins performances Sept. 1, prior to an official opening Sept. 3, for a run through Sept. 25. The all-American cast, who perform multiple roles throughout the season, comprises J.C Cutler, Kate Eifrig, Jim Lichtscheidl and Valeri Mudek.
Originally commissioned by Joe Dowling, artistic director of the Guthrie Theatre, Tiny Kushner comprises the following plays: Flip Flop Fly!; Terminating or Sonnet LXXV or "Lass Meine Schmerzen Nicht Verloren Sein" or Ambivalence; East Coast Ode to Howard Jarvis: a little teleplay in tiny monologues; Dr. Arnold A. Hutschnecker in Paradise; and Only We Who Guard The Mystery Shall Be Unhappy.
According to press materials, Flip Flop Fly! revolves around a bizarre lunar encounter between two dead women, Lucia Pamela – the fabulous American concert pianist, singer, songwriter, recording star, bandleader and radio personality, who claimed to have made a record album on the moon in1969 – and Geraldine, the deposed queen of Albania. With one nattering on about her life in entertainment and the other about her life in exile, the two compare the courses of their lives. Terminating or Sonnet LXXV or "Lass Meine Schmerzen Nicht Verloren Sein" or Ambivalence, has Esther, an analyst, and her former patient, Hendryk, sitting in an office along with their lovers, Dymphna and Billygoat, respectively, as Hendryk, pleads with Esther to take him back as a patient. East Coast Ode to Howard Jarvis: a little teleplay in tiny monologues revolves around an outrageous 1990s scheme actually used to avoid paying taxes. As a housing detective discovers its success, news of the fraud spreads rapidly, prompting the government to investigate. In Dr. Arnold A. Hutschnecker in Paradise, Metatron, a Recording Angel with a million eyes, is holding a supervisory session with Dr. Hutschneker in an upscale office in heaven. The two discuss how Hutschneker’s pains and his denial of mortality could quite possibly be related to his sessions with his own patient, Richard Milhous Nixon, with whom he frequently meets in the afterlife. Finally, in Only We Who Guard The Mystery Shall Be Unhappy, now-former First Lady Laura Bush reads from "The Brothers Karamazov" to the pyjama-clad ghosts of dead Iraqi children, all of whom are watched over by an angel.
Kushner was last represented on the London stage by George C. Wolfe's production of Caroline, or Change (for which Kushner provided the book and lyrics) at the National Theatre. His Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America was also previously presented at the National Theatre. Other plays include A Bright Room Called Day, Homebody/Kabul, Hydriotaphia, The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, and Slavs!
Taccone is artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where he has staged more than 35 shows – including world premieres by Culture Clash, Rinde Eckert, David Edgar, Danny Hoch, Geoff Hoyle, Quincy Long and Itamar Moses. He made his Broadway debut with Bridge & Tunnel and last year returned there to direct Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking. In 2004, his premiere of David Edgar's Continental Divide transferred to the Barbican after a run at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He commissioned Kushner's Angels in America, co-directed its world premiere, and has collaborated with Kushner on seven projects including Tiny Kushner. Designs are by Annie Smart, with lighting by Alexander V. Nichols and sound by Victor Zupanc. To book tickets, contact the box office on 020 7328 1000, or visit www.tricycle.co.uk for more details.
