In the Raw
FAT BECKETT is a one-act comedic send-up of Samuel Beckett's work from a female perspective. Starring Gab Cody and Rita Reis. Written in French and English by Gab Cody based on characters created and developed by Gab Cody and Rita Reis. Directed by Sam Turich Gab and Rita use improvisational techniques based in clown, commedia dell’arte and buffoon to develop characters with a strong physical presence. IN THE RAW will present the first public reading of this new play. Playwright’s note: Today, Samuel Beckett’s estate stipulates that any presentation of his work must adhere to the playwright’s rigorous set of production strictures. For example, Beckett included stage directions that are not suggested but required. He also absolutely prohibited the casting of women to play the men’s roles in Waiting For Godot. Beckett’s vision was a complete one. He wished this vision to be realized only and exclusively within the parameters he set forth. Therefore, one must move beyond Beckett’s text to explore the sprit and substance of his remarkable legacy. Gab Cody explores and explodes Beckett’s legacy, transforming one of the most important playwrights of the 20th Century into the most inspirational of the 21st. Cody and Reis revamp Beckett’s existential questions for our generation, with a focus on the struggles and challenges of being female.
Each reading will be followed by a conversation with the audience about your reactions to the piece.
Artist Bio's Gab Cody - is a seriously funny playwright and filmmaker. She uses her professional skills as a storyteller and producer as well as a classically trained actor, improviser and standup comedian to create hilarious yet thought provoking works. Her recent plays, films and live shows be they fueled by Commedia Del Arte, Nietzsche, 1930’s screwball comedy or 1970’s horror films are always funny and insightful. Gab has a masterful command of genre. She pays homage to, skewers and parodies style throughout her work. Her plays have been staged at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami the Williamstown Theatre Festival, NYC’s Urban Stages as well as the Bricolage Theater Company’s 24-Hour play festival B.U.S., and nonameplayers’ SWAN Day festival. Her new full-length play Prussia: 1866 received a staged reading at The Workshop Theatre in New York in January 2011. Her film works include shorts, documentaries and many PSAs and have screened at Greetings From Pittsburgh: Neighborhood Narratives, the Cleveland International Film Festival, NYC Horror Film Fest, San Francisco Independent Film Festival, San Francisco’s Disposable Film Fest, 11/22 International Comedy Short Film Festival in Vienna, Austria. Her feature film “PROGRESSION” is in preproduction and scheduled for shooting in August 2011. Currently, Gab is a graduate fellow at Point Park University where she pursues an MFA and teaches mask, movement and improvisation in the Conservatory of Performing Arts. She is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Rita Reis - Originally from Portugal, Rita Reis has lived most of her life in French speaking countries, she loves to explore acting in different languages, and to collaborate in the development of new theater creations. In Europe and in Pittsburgh Rita has participated in several collective creations and performed in plays such as Uncle Vanya, Autumn Sonata, La Poche Parmentier, The Good Person of Szechwan, Portrait de famille, Ce n'était que pour rire, Lumouxe, Les pieds sur terre, Nous, Satiété, Rockaby , Casino Liberty and La Ronde. Last summer, the Beira Project took her to Mozambique, where with Luis Pedro Coelho she collaborated with local groups that use Theatre of the Oppressed to fight the HIV epidemic. For two months, they taught physical theatre in provincial high schools and directed A Rede, a collective creation based on La Ronde (beiraproject.org). The paper they wrote about A Redewas selected to be presented in the 2011 conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Rita is an MFA graduate fellow at Point Park, during the course of her studies she is teaching voice and movement for actors, and focusing her research in the development of the actor’s creativity through his physical and vocal instrument.
Sam Turich - New York directing includes: The Magnificent Hour at the NY Int’l Fringe Festival, Itamar Moses’ Dorothy & Alice and Insecurity Guards and sketch comedy troupes Key Grip and the Best Boys and Pressing Charges. At Gotham City Improv Theater and School, Sam created and directed Off the Top of Our Heads, which won the 6th Big Apple Improv Festival and the title "Best Improv Group in New York." Regional directing credits include Crush the Infamous Thing at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Alice and As You Like It at the Pitt Rep, Darwin and the Kid and Shakespeare’s Lovers & Fighters for the University of Pittsburgh’s Shakespeare in the Schools program.
MOMBIES, a short Sam directed, represents Lawrenceville in the feature film Greetings from Pittsburgh: Neighborhood Narratives, which screened to sold-out theatres and recently aired on WQED-TV. MOMBIES is also an official selection of the NYC Horror Film Festival, the San Francisco Independent Film Festival, the Cleveland International Film Festival, and the 11/22 International Comedy Short Film Festival in Vienna. Sam is the director of Greater Good Productions, which produces public service videos for clients including the Take Charge of Your Life Partnership and the Pennsylvania Department of Aging. He will pursue an MFA in Film and Digital Media at Chatham University starting this fall.
