So many plays are fine existing on the page, in a drawer, or transferred to two dimensions but Talya Chalef's "L'Chaim", though it reads beautifully, is a play that demands to be realized. It is a magnificently theatrical, hole-in-the-soul filling, wonder of a play that must be given breath."
Taylor Mac
Polish woodcarver Chaim Chalef uses his art to run away from Auschwitz, lives in the forest with a band of Partisans and reunites with his wife eight years after the war starts. They head to Melbourne for a new life.
Jude wakes up to realise the sky is about to fall on her head and unless she participates in an absurd game of life involving a chorus of bucket-wielding townsfolk, a psychopathic butcher and an animated projected chicken, she may just lose.
A dying old man lies in a hospital bed contemplating whether to leave this earth for the stars.
Three almost autobiographical stories told through installation, projection, movement and poetic text, immerse an audience in a timeless tale of choice, love and life.
Jude wakes up to realise the sky is about to fall on her head and unless she participates in an absurd game of life involving a chorus of bucket-wielding townsfolk, a psychopathic butcher and an animated projected chicken, she may just lose.
A dying old man lies in a hospital bed contemplating whether to leave this earth for the stars.
Three almost autobiographical stories told through installation, projection, movement and poetic text, immerse an audience in a timeless tale of choice, love and life.
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The Ensemble
Writer / Director: Talya Chalef
Set Design: Jung Griffin http://www.junggriffin.com/
Sound Design: David Corsello http://www.davidcorsello.com/
Lighting Design: Nicholas Houfek http://www.nicholashoufek.com/
Projection Design: Sofy Yudistkaya http://yuditskaya.com
Additional Choreography: Melanie Armor http://www.nervetank.com/The_Nerve_Tank/About.html
Stage Manager: Johanna Kasimow
Producer: Natalie Gershtein http://www.beautifulcitytheatre.com/
Cast:
Laura Sheedy
Grant Cartwright (http://www.grantcartwright.com/) ((*** Coming from Melbourne, Australia)
Jessica Kaufman
Emma Meltzer
*Howard Thoresen
*Katie Consamus
Actors appear courtesy Actors Equity.
L'Chaim - 5 minute uncut excerpt Act 3.
