The Government Inspector
Written by Nikolai Gogol
Directed by Emma Griffin
September 7 - October 5, 2008
A word of advice: If you are going to bribe someone, be sure you got the right man.
It’s in the middle of nowhere in the middle of Alaska – and the local town fathers are all working the system. Everything runs smoothly until the mayor learns that a big-city government inspector is coming to clean things up. Panicked, the townspeople come up with a plan: find the inspector and slip him some cash to look the other way. What happens if they bribe the wrong guy? That’s when things get interesting in this raucous comedy about dirty politics, small towns, and very silly men.
The Government Inspector is a watershed in the development of farce, and fans of funny—from the Marx Brothers to Will Ferrell—will recognize something. Guest Director Emma Griffin relocates the play from rural Russia to a rural Alaskan fantasia. Train tickets gambled away at cards become ferry tickets, and you’ll never be able to guess who finally catches up to this gang of petty crooks in the most famous surprise ending in theatre.
Contains some strong language.
The Government Inspector is sponsored in part by:
Andrew Mellon Foundation
Alaska Pacific Bank
The Juneau Empire
and Alaska Business Partners: Hecla Greens Creek; Haight & Associates, Inc.
POLITICAL FARCE BUMPS UP AGAINST REALITY
The Juneau Empire, September 18, 2008
PERSEVERANCE THEATRE CELEBRATES 30TH SEASON WITH GOGOL AND ROTCH
Alaska Public Radio Network, September 16, 2008
PERSEVERANCE OPENS 30TH SEASON WITH POLITICAL SATIRE
The Juneau Empire, September 11, 2008
CLASSIC RUSSIAN FARCE GIVEN NEW ALASKAN BACKDROP
Capital City Weekly, September 3, 2008
ARTISTIC TEAM
Director Emma Griffin
Set Design Art Rotch
Costume Design Jessica Trejos
Lighting Design Mark Barton
Properties Design Dave Dierdorff
Composer/Sound Design Rory Stitt
Production Stage Manager Brett Anders
Assistant Director Angela Hubbs
Assistant Stage Manager Leona Schraeder-Dee
CAST
Ramirez Bo Anderson
Jean Dobsky Christina Apathy
Judge Ibn Bailey
Superintendent of Schools Ed Christian
Lars Barnstable Ryan Conarro
Bill Jerry Demmert
Chief of Police George Holly
The Locksmith’s Wife Alicia Hughes-Skandijs
Anne-Marie Katie Jensen
Soapy Douglas Frank Katasse
Gene Bobsky Flordelino Lagundino
Doctor Becky Orford
Director of Utilities Kent Pillsbury
Sally Katie Poor
Mayor Dan Reaume
Postmistress-Bernice Gina Spartz
Sergeant’s Widow/Gendarme Sally Smith
Shooter, the Mayor’s servant Joe Symonoski
Waiter at the inn Austin Tagaban
DIRECTOR AND DESIGNERS
Brett Anders (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be a part of his second production with Perseverance, after stage managing the 2007 tour of Anita Maynard-Losh's Tlingit Macbeth. His recent work in stage management and event operations has taken him all the way from the Dallas Opera to Ohio's North Coast Thunder Rally. It is an honor for Brett to return to Perseverance Theatre: a beautiful, unique theatre in a beautiful community.
Mark Barton (Lighting Designer) hails from New York and is delighted to be working at Perseverance (and with Art Rotch!) for the first time. Recent New York work includes Elevator Repair Service's The Sound & The Fury (April 7th, 1928) at New York Theater Workshop; Young Jean Lee's CHURCH at P.S.122; and Chuck Mee's Paradise Park at Signature Theater. Many, many productions with many New York companies. Regional credits include work at Syracuse Stage, Southern Rep, A.R.T., Berkeley Rep, Lookingglass Theater, LA Theater Center, Woolly Mammoth, Asolo Rep, & the Hangar Theater. Travels with ERS's GATZ has taken Mark to Brussels, Amsterdam, Vienna, Lisbon, Zurich, Norway, Seattle, Portland & Philadelphia. Numerous productions with Emma Griffin at Curtis Opera Theater, Philadelphia, among many, many others.
Dave Dierdorff (Properties Design) Dave's property design work for Perseverance started with Le Club Hotzy Totzy in 1988 and has involved so many piles of liquor boxes, illicit loot for sleazy characters, and assorted items from the other side that he has acquired a special relationship with the community's bartenders, liquor stores, counterfeiters, and assorted drug dealers. His career with legislators in two states prepared him well for understanding the current show. He denies having witnessed anything that could be labeled corrupt, but admits seeing a lot of behavior that is properly labeled petty.
Emma Griffin (Director) Recent NYC productions: Stretch, a fantasia with New Georges, Removable Parts at HERE, Only Children at NYU UG Drama. Off-Broadway: Five Course Love at the Minetta Lane. Opera: Postcard from Morroco and Die Zauberflote at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She is the Artistic Director of the OBIE-award winning NYC Salt Theater where she commissioned and directed Phil Kline’s Zippo Songs. Other Salt highlights include Stage Door (FringeNYC Excellence Award as Best Director), Inky (world premiere), The Cherry Orchard and Conquest of the Universe. Regional work: Geva Theater Center, Syracuse Stage, Southern Rep, Actor’s Express, Virginia Stage, Williamstown Theater Festival. Upcoming: The Clean House at Geva Theatre Center, Wozzeck at Curtis Institute/Opera Company of Philadelphia. She is currently Adjunct Faculty at New York University, where she teaches directing.
Angela Hubbs (Assistant Director) is a junior at the University of Alaska southeast. She has been in Juneau for a year and in that time has been thoroughly involved in Perseverance Theatre. She acted on the Second Stage: Shake and Bake, and Proof. She was a light operator, switchboard operator, stand in for various shows last season. She sound designed for Yellowman and is very honored now to assistant direct for director Emma Griffin.
Art Rotch (Set Design) is the Artistic Director at Perseverance, after having worked in Juneau and at PT for over twenty years. He has recently returned to Juneau after six years in New York City. Art has designed dozens of productions over the years at PT with directors Molly Smith, Peter DuBois, and others including premieres by Darrah Cloud, Paula Vogel, and Deborah Brevoort. Art studied Russian Intellectual History at Harvard and wrote a thesis on Soviet dissident thought, and recently earned an MFA degree in Design from New York University. Regional theater credits: Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Epiphany Theatre Company, Foothill Theatre Company, Sacramento Theater Company, The People’s Light and Theatre Company, M Gorky Drama Theatre of Vladivostok, Russia, ActorsExpress and Trinity Repertory Company. Opera: Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard, Anchorage Opera, Aspen. Next Projects: Treasure Island (Sacramento), Doubt (Perseverance), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Juilliard), O Lovely Glowworm (Perseverance). Thanks to Akiko for her support and love.
Betsy Sims (House Sound Engineer) Betsy is a long time musician and live sound veteran. Best known perhaps as the founder of the Yukon/Alaska group “the Glacial Erratics”, she has produced many shows in the North – both for local and International touring artists while continuing to manage and tour with the multi talented Rory Stitt. During the summer months, you can find her singing for tourists at the Gold Creek Salmon Bake.
Rory Stitt (Sound Design) Over the last ten years Rory has worked as actor, sound designer, composer, orchestrator and music director. He has played Joe's Pub in the Public Theatre in Manhattan, The Knitting Factory in L.A. and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He is currently working on a series of compositions for chamber ensemble and voices incorporating multimedia collaborations, as well as a new musical incorporating Japanese kabuki theatre. For more information on Rory and his projects, his albums and his performances go to www.rorystitt.com
ACTORS
Bo Anderson (Ramirez) grew up here in Juneau and started out working for Perseverance Theatre as a carpentry intern in 2004. In 2005 he was hired on as Master Carpenter. Before starting his career here at Perseverance Theatre, he graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a BA in Theatre Performance and an Art minor. While in Fairbanks, he could be seen both on the stage playing such roles as “Peter” in Anatoly Antohin’s adaptation of Dostoevsky’s The Possessed, as well as behind it working in Theatre UAF’s scene shop, and even designing and building a set for Chekhov’s The Bear. He has always been a life-long lover of theatre and is delighted to be able to make a living off of it.
Christina Apathy (Bobsky) last performed on the Perseverance Stage as Hesther in Equus, and Juneau audiences may remember her swashbuckling turn as Constance in TR’s production of The Three Musketeers. Up next she will play Sister James in PT’s mounting of Doubt. In 2006 Christina directed Steel Magnolias and an original play A Fish out of Water with the Perseverance Young Company. She has performed Off-Broadway with the Actor’s Studio, on tour with The Acting Company, and regionally in cities around the country including Minneapolis, Princeton, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Indianapolis, Syracuse, Ithaca, Cleveland, and Knoxville. MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Thanks to Dan!
Ibn Bailey (Judge) Ibn would like to thank Perseverance Theatre for the opportunity to once again work on stage. From the great staff, actors and volunteers...this has been a wonderful experience to share with everyone. From his first show with Perseverance Theatre, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, performed as a site specific show in what is now the Nickelodeon Theatre downtown, to The Government Inspector, the magic is still just as new and exciting. Ibn would also like to thank his beautiful wife Maria (for putting up with him) and 4-year-old son Ezekiel. And lastly, to you the patrons of Perseverance for your continued support of this great thing we have going on in little ol' Juneau, Alaska.
Ed Christian (Superintendent of Schools) is thrilled to be appearing again on the Perseverance stage in this 30th season opener. Ed is a graduate of the University of Texas' Radio-Television-Film school, and has appeared in many Perseverance productions. Recent roles include Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing, the Gravedigger in Hamlet, and Frank Strang in Equus. Ed and his wife Louanne have lived in downtown Juneau for many years.
Ryan Conarro (Lars Barnstable) is excited to be part of PT's 30th year. This season, Ryan will perform in Shakespeare’s R & J, an all-male adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, with Thunder Mountain Theatre (www.thundermountaintheatre.org) in February. That production will run in rep with Christopher Shinn's Dying City, which Ryan will direct. He's also looking forward to leading two statehood projects this spring. The first is Yupiulleq Nutemmllarmek: Celebrating Statehood Yup’ik Style, a multi-disciplinary arts initiative that will bring together young people from around the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta for a region-wide performance in Bethel next April. He will also direct Eight Stars of Gold for Perseverance, an interview-based play which he's co-writing now. Ryan enjoys working as an arts educator at UAS and with the state arts council's artists-in-schools program. He also loves getting out into the great Southeast Alaska outdoors. Ryan came to Juneau from New York (after a spell in Nome), where he earned his BFA in theatre and English from NYU. This past June he also completed the SITI Company's summer theatre training intensive at Skidmore College.
Jerry Demmert (Bill) is making his tenth appearance as an actor on the PT stage, previously seen in Much Ado About Nothing, Black Comedy, Yeast Nation, Equus, The Who's Tommy, A Question of Mercy, and Hair; he understudied Ed Christian in The Laramie Project. Additionally, he was directed by Flordelino Lagundino in Brother (written by friend Ishmael Hope) for PT and True West for Thunder Mountain Theatre Project.
Ishmael Hope (Chief of Police) is the son of the late Elizabeth Freda Hope from the Goodwin family in Kotzebue, and the late Andy Hope III from Sitka, a Tlingit of the Siknax.adi clan. His Inupiaq name is Analook and his Tlingit name is Kaa Kwaask. He is of the Kiks.adi clan, of the Point House in Sitka. He has experience as a storyteller all over Alaska. He has acted for Perseverance Theatre since 2001 with Moby Dick, and he has worked for PT since 2003 as the Director of Outreach. He started and directed the annual festival of Beyond Heritage, a celebration of contemporary and traditional Alaska Native culture, now heading into its sixth year. He took his play, Gunakadeit, to the Smithsonian Museum for the American Indian in November of 2006.
Alicia Hughes-Skandijs (The Locksmith’s Wife) is pleased to be a part of this production. She is aware that a role like the Locksmith's Wife comes around once in a lifetime if an actor is lucky, and is savoring the experience. After previously working with Perseverance as a director and designer, it is exciting to finally tread the same boards where such greats as Levi Fiehler have walked before. She thanks her amazing family for their love and support.
Frank Katasse (Soapy Douglas) was born in Petersburg, Alaska then moved to Douglas less than a year later where he was raised up just a stone throw away from Perseverance Theater. As a child he developed an interest in theater, acting in a handful of productions before the age of 10. After that his interests shifted from the stage to the arena, as most of his hobbies were competitive sports. After high school, Frank's attention again shifted from sports back to the arts. He was "bit by the bug" as they say, and eventually finished up college with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theater from the University of Hawai'i: Manoa. It was in Hawai'i where Frank performed in over 20 shows at the University as well as in the community. He won the "Excellence in Acting" award from the Theater Department as a Junior; which was a first for the University. After graduating, he moved back to Douglas, and is excited to get an opportunity to work for Perseverance Theatre.
Flordelino Lagundino (Bobsky) has worked at Perseverance as an actor, director, teacher, and administrator for the past four years. This season he will direct Doubt on the Perseverance Theatre Main Stage as well as Shakespeare’s R & J, an all-male adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, with Thunder Mountain Theatre Project in February (www.thundermountaintheatre.org). He holds an MFA in Acting with a secondary concentration in Directing from The University of Texas at Austin. His Perseverance acting credits include the World Premieres of The Long Season, Voyage, and Yeast Nation, as well as The Last 5 Years, Hamlet, Hair, Twelfth Night, Noises Off, The Government Inspector, and King Island Christmas. He has performed regionally at The Shakespeare Theatre, The Kennedy Center, African Continuum Theatre Company, The Folger Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Zachary Scott Theatre Center, Imagination Stage, Young Playwrights’ Theatre, and was a guest artist with Living Stage Theatre Company. He is the founder of the Thunder Mountain Theatre Project and directed its inaugural production, True West by Sam Shepard last November. This past Spring he directed Ishmael Hope’s new play Brother on the Perseverance Theatre’s Second Stage, Proof for the University of Alaska Southeast/Perseverance Theatre Joint Theatre Program, as well as Yellowman on the Perseverance Main Stage. www.flordelinolagundino.com.
Becky Orford (Doctor) was seen last season as Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing here at PT, and as Mag in The Beauty Queen of Leenane with Thunder Mountain Theatre Project. She has also worked frequently with Theatre in the Rough, most recently in The Three Musketeers and The Tempest. September marks her twentieth year in Juneau, and twenty years of enjoying the vibrant theatre community here. Thanks to you all!
Kent Pillsbury (Director of Charities) Of the many places he's been and things he's done, Kent counts the Juneau/Perseverance experience among the most uplifting. A relatively new transplant from Maryland, he most recently appeared as Robert in the UAS production of Proof, in April '08. Previous credits, with Prince George's Little Theater in Silver Spring, MD, include Robin Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and roles in the PGLT production of The Sneeze, a collection of one-act comedies by Anton Chekhov; as Luka in The Bear, and Kamyshev in Alien Corn. Kent would like to express his heartfelt appreciation and immeasurable gratitude to Art Rotch and Emma Griffin for extending him this incredible opportunity, and all mad props and love to his fellow cast-mates, as well as all the people you never see who are associated with this production. He dedicates this performance to the most important women in his life: Caroline and Rebecca, Harriet and Flynne, and of course, Emily and Leah. Hi, Elmo!
Katie Poor (Sally) a junior at Juneau-Douglas High School, is honored to make her Perseverance debut in The Government Inspector this season. You may have seen her in the previous high school musical productions; Les Miserables and Into the Woods or in Perseverance’s STAR program Children of Eden. Katie loves the great outdoors, running in the beautiful South East, and singing opera. She’s very interested in pursuing vocal performance in college and possibly a degree in nutrition. Katie would like to thank her parents for the love and putting up with her incredibly chaotic schedule, the directors and cast at Perseverance for being welcoming in this great opportunity, running friends that keep her sane, and you, for supporting this fine local theatre. Thank you, and enjoy the show!
Daniel Reaume (Mayor) is thrilled to be back on stage after a year-long hiatus in Oregon. Dan has performed
many times for Perseverance starting way back in the Molly Smith era. Happy 30th anniversary Perseverance and may Art Rotch’s reign be long and glorious!
Gina Spartz (Postmistress-Bernice) has appeared in numerous Perseverance Theatre productions. She is pleased to be a part of the theatre's 30th anniversary season.
Joe Symonoski (Shooter, the Mayor’s Servant) Acting credits here at Perseverance include 20th Century Man in Hair, Part of the angry mob in Hamlet, and Verges in last year’s Much Ado About Nothing. I am excited to be involved with this talented cast. My character also fascinates me. A man, who I believe is always moving but never busy. It has been enjoyable to try to understand this man of so few words, who at the end of the day is still puttering around the Mayor’s mansion.
Sally Smith (Sergeant’s Widow/Gendarme) is making her first appearance on the Mainstage as an actor after 9 Perseverance productions as music director. Her acting credits of the ancient past include lead roles at the University of Illinois and in Fairbanks. In Juneau she first appeared as Lucy in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (an obvious typecast) and she last appeared in Fefu and Her Friends, a fund-raiser for A.W.A.R.E. Some would say, however, that her 9 years in public office should count as performance credit. Next project: a Christmas concert for Juneau Lyric Opera.
Austin Tagaban (Waiter at the inn) is 16-years-old. In 2007, he played Second Witch and Fleance in Tlingit Macbeth at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and Baby Raven in Raven Odyssey. He has also participated in Perseverance Theatre’s Young Company and STAR (Summer Theatre Arts Rendezvous) programs. When he isn’t on stage, he likes playing violin, reading, writing and drawing, as well as many other things. He would like to thank his family for their love and support.