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Playing NOW through Dec 1, 2024
Photo by Leontyne Mbele-Mbong
Photo: Joseph Giammarco
Photo by Jay Yamada
Photo by Leontyne Mbele-Mbong
Reviews are coming in!
Actors’ Reading Collective reveals power of stories in riveting ‘Antipodes’
The play is an excellent choice for the Collective’s first full production, allowing for oodles of deep, personalized subtext. ...The cast, under Alyson Schacherer’s elegant and seamless direction, is stellar throughout.
~Jean Schiffman, Local News Matters
Annie Baker’s script is a feast, and this pandemic-born theater casts it with eye-popping talent
...eye-popping list of local talent in the cast — the likes of which other young companies could only dream of. ... Schacherer’s cast members don’t just chow down; they’re connoisseurs, homing in on just the right inflection, stress and rhythm that makes a line suggest worlds of the unspoken.
~Lily Janiak, Datebook
KALX: Arts in Review with Gregory Sharpen | Nov 21, 2024
Listen to actors Liz Sklar and Howard Swain discuss The Antipodes
KPOO: Let Me Touch Your Mind with DJ Marilynn | Nov 18, 2024
Hear Stage Manager Leontyne Mbele-Mbong discuss The Antipodes
The Actors’ Reading Collective presents
the West Coast premiere of
The Antipodes
by Annie Baker
directed by Alyson Schacherer
November 8 - December 1, 2024
514 Fourth St.
San Rafael, CA 94901
​​​A play about people telling stories about telling stories.
In Annie Baker’s The Antipodes, a group of people sit around a table for a TV show? A film? A mythology? This is a world where ghostly fables co-exist with mundane discussions of snacks and sexual exploits, where the vague instruction to tell stories about “something monstrous” (though “it might not be a literal monster”) becomes maddeningly impossible. Part satire, part sacred rite, The Antipodes asks what value stories have for a world in crisis.​
Running time: 1h55m, no intermission
Content Warning: This show contains sexually explicit language.
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Cast: Samuel Ademola*, Harry Davis*, Isabel Langen*, Robert Parsons*, Timothy Roy Redmond*, Rajiv Shah*, David Sinaiko*, Liz Sklar*​​, Howard Swain*
*Member, Actors' Equity
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Venue:
Marin Shakespeare Company
514 Fourth Street
San Rafael, CA 94901
Contact Box Office at 415-499-4485
For Student Groups of 15 or more
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​​​​Fri., Nov 8 @ 7:30pm - Preview
Sat., Nov 9 @ 7:30pm - Opening
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Our Cast & Creative Team
Cast (in alphabetical order)
Samuel Ademola*
Harry Davis*
Isabel Langen*
Robert Parsons*
Timothy Roy Redmond*
Rajiv Shah*
David Sinaiko*
Liz Sklar*
Howard Swain*​​
Adam
Brian
Sarah
Sandy
Dave
Josh
Danny M1
Eleanor
Danny M2
Creative Team
Alyson Schacherer
Leontyne Mbele-Mbong
Cassandra Carpenter
Jeff Rowlings
Emilie Talbot
Kate Boyd
James Ard
Brian Scott​
Director
Stage Manager
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Props Designer
Scenic Designer
Sound Designer
Magic Consultant​
Production Team
Leontyne Mbele-Mbong
Tim Redmond
Luisa Sermol
Robert Parsons
Brittany Mellerson
Julius Rea
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Production Manager
Licensing Coordinator
Equity Coordinator
Casting Coordinator
Lead Electrician
Electrician
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Cast (in alphabetical order)
SAMUEL ADEMOLA (Adam) is a Nigerian-born actor, screenwriter, standup comedian and poet. His notable theatre performances include Pass Over (The California Theatre, 2023), Between Riverside and Crazy (Left Edge Theatre, 2019), A Time to Kill (Chatauqua Playhouse, 2018). Samuel's film credits include Freaky Tales (Sundance, 2024), Nash Bridges - TV Movie (USA Network, 2021), First Date (Hulu, 2021).
HARRY DAVIS (Brian) is an actor from Orinda, CA. He is thrilled to be in this production of The Antipodes. In the past, Harry has played MacQueen in Murder on the Orient Express at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Sonoma Shakespeare. He has his BFA in Acting from UC Santa Barbara, and he also writes plays. (he/him)
ISABEL LANGEN (Sarah) has appeared as Katja in Born in East Berlin and Blaze in A White Girl’s Guide to International Terrorism (San Francisco Playhouse), Alison in Word for Word’s Anniversary! Stories by Tobias Wolff and George Saunders (Z Space), #2 in The Wolves (Marin Theatre Company), Flutterbye99 in An Invitation Out (Quantum Dragon Theatre), Lavinia in Titus Andronicus (Theatre Lunatico), and Pearl in Bull in a China Shop (Mendocino Theatre Company). isabellangen.com
TIMOTHY ROY REDMOND (Dave) is thrilled to be part of ARC’s first, full production. He is a founding member of ARC and has appeared in many readings, most recently performing in Buzz (Leonard the Gravedigger). He has performed with many theatre companies in the Bay Area over the last 15 years, including Berkeley Rep, CenterREP, CentralWorks, Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Marin Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Shakespeare Napa Valley, Shotgun Players, Symmetry Theatre, TheatreFirst, TheatreWorks, Ubuntu Theatre Project (now Oakland Theatre Project), and ZSpace, among others. Regional credits include Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, Relentless Theatre Company, and South Coast Repertory. Thanks, as always, to his wife Amber for her endless support.
RAJIV SHAH (Josh) was most recently seen in A Perfect Ganesh at the Will Geer Theatricum (Stage Scene LA’s Outstanding Featured Performance in a Drama). A Bay Area native, Rajiv has appeared on the stages of Campo Santo/Intersection for the Arts, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Asian American Theater Company, San Jose Stage, Magic Theater, Aurora Theater, the Ramona Bowl and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, as well as others. Upcoming feature films: Splash City, No Address, and The Comic Shop. Also a filmmaker, Rajiv wrote and co-produced the feature film distributed worldwide, Run the Tide, starring Taylor Lautner, Constance Zimmer, Kenny Johnson.
DAVID SINAIKO (Danny M1) is an actor, teaching artist and proud member of ARC, where he played Vanya in Life Sucks. Houston’s Alley Theatre: Hercule Poirot in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and Murder On The Orient Express. Bay Area credits: Timon of Athens; Mount Misery; Ubu Roi; The Chairs; Tenderloin; Lady Grey; The Tempest; …and Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi; The Bald Soprano; Endgame (Cutting Ball); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf; Hamlet; Village Bike; Antigonick; Arcadia (Shotgun Players); Jihad Jones & the Kalashnikov Babes (Golden Thread); Wreckage (Crowded Fire); One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (SF Playhouse). Chicago’s New Criminals: Heart of a Dog; The Balcony; Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas; Accidental Death of an Anarchist.
LIZ SKLAR (Eleanor) is a Bay Area based actor. Selected credits include Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Desdemona in Othello at CalShakes, Major Powell in A.C.T.’s Men on Boats, Annie in The Real Thing at Aurora Theatre Company, Trouble Cometh and Becky Shaw at SF Playhouse, Care of Trees at Shotgun Players and Mother of The Maid, Wink, The Wolves, Anne Boleyn, The Whale, Failure: A Love Story, Lasso of Truth, Othello, Seagull and Bellwether at MTC. She starred in the Indie Film, The Mentor. Sklar holds a BA in Theater from Brown and an MFA from A.C.T.
HOWARD SWAIN (Danny M2) moved to the Bay Area in 1976. Over the years he’s worked with A.C.T, Berkeley Rep, San Jose Rep, the Magic, Eureka, Word For Word, TheatreWorks, Aurora, The Jewel, SF Playhouse, and Marin Theatre, as well as the Oregon, Santa Cruz, California, and Marin Shakespeare Festivals. He appeared with New York Theater Workshop, and performed with the National Tours of Steve Martin’s Picasso At The Lapin Agile and Love, Janis. Television appearances include Nash Bridges and Hill St. Blues, and in such films as Cherry 2000, Miracle Mile, Teknolust, in Horizon, Night Of The Scarecrow, and Valley Of The Heart’s Delight.
Creative Team
ALYSON SCHACHERER (Director) has been a member of The Barrow Group Theatre Company in NYC since 2007. There she’s directed: The Pavilion (“A tantalizing revival” -NYTimes), Gruesome Playground Injuries, Dying City, Becky Shaw, ScoreFest (original music recording, CalArts residency at Disney’s REDCAT). Also: I Made This For You (original clown show, Hollywood Fringe), Heroes and Other Strangers, Mommy Blogger, The Bedbug Problem, Bodies are Weird.
Alyson teaches acting and coaches on projects such as: Fallout, Ramy, And Just Like That, Wolfs (with Brad Pitt & George Clooney), Fargo.
See her in Space Cadet (w/ Emma Roberts) on Amazon Prime. www.Alyson-Schacherer.com
LEONTYNE MBELE-MBONG (Production and Stage Manager) is an actor, and production and stage manager. She appeared this year at the African-American Shakespeare Company in Pipeline, Marin Shakes in The Untime, and CalShakes in As You Like It. Bay Area credits include roles at A.C.T., African-American Shakespeare Company (TBA Award for Medea), Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley Rep, CalShakes (BATCC award for Lear), Central Works, Lamplighters Music Theatre, SF Shakespeare Festival, Shotgun Players, and TheatreFirst; Regional credits: Guthrie in Minneapolis, MN and TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AK. Leontyne is a proud founding member of ARC, and an Associate Artist with Marin Shakespeare Company. www.leontynembele-mbong.com
CASSANDRA CARPENTER, (Costume Designer) USA Local 829 Costume Design, has been a Costume Designer in the Bay Area for Theatre, Opera, and Dance for over 30 years for almost every theatre or company in the Bay Area.
Her studio, CMC & Design, operated in San Francisco from 1997 to 2016. Clients included Smuin Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, Macy's Passport, Baz Luhrmann’s La Boheme, Jersey Boys, and White Christmas (SF, LA, UK, and Broadway).
Costume Coordinator and Supervisor at SF Opera 2022 Merola, Dialogues of the Carmelites; 2023 Merola tour, Boheme Out of the Box.
San Jose State University, Designer/ Instructor Costume and Makeup Design for Film and Theatre 2011-2021.
JEFF ROWLINGS (Light Designer) was Production Manager at American Conservatory Theater, San Diego Rep, and Magic Theatre. He co-founded Foghouse Productions which produced R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe in San Francisco, Chicago, and Seattle. Jeff designed set & lights for Viola Davis’ west coast premiere of Paradise in LA. Bay Area designs include set for 1984, lights for Born with Teeth and Eureka Day at Aurora; lights for Jazz and The Oldest Boy at Marin Theatre; set for Why We Have a Body and The House of Yes at the Magic. Jeff is President of the Board for Mendocino Theatre Company. Designs there include set & lights for The Thanksgiving Play and Woody Guthrie’s American Song.
EMILIE TALBOT (Props Designer) is an actor, director, teacher, and member of the Actors Reading Collective. Appearances with ARC include Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Pipeline, and Buzz. Recently she worked with the Prague Shakespeare Company in the Czech Republic and has appeared appeared on numerous stages across the country from Boston to La Jolla, Ashland to Dallas. Film and Television work includes 13 Reasons Why, Sonder, A Wake, Starting Over, and the recently completed Little Mother Lies. She was awarded Best Actress of the Year by the New York Film Awards, and 2023 Best Performance of Festival by the Actors Awards. (she/they) www.emilietalbot.com ​
KATE BOYD (Scenic Designer) designs scenery and lighting in the Bay Area. She recently designed the lights for Bees to Honey at Marin Theatre and scenery for The Language of Wild Berries for Golden Thread. At Aurora Theater she has designed Born with Teeth, Hurricane Diane and Everything is Illuminated. She has also designed at Portland Center Stage, Magic Theater, New Conservatory Theater, Merola Opera, the SF Conservatory of Music, Company C Ballet and Theaterworks. Kate is a resident artist with Golden Thread Productions and a recipient of the Gerbode Design Fellowship. Kate teaches stagecraft and design at Lick-Wilmerding High School. (she/her)
JAMES ARD (Sound Design) is a sound designer, composer and noisemaker with a focus on new works, live experiences, and immersive stage productions. James’s recent work includes collaborations with American Conservatory Theater, the Atlantic Theatre Company, Center Repertory Company, Cutting Ball Theatre, The Public Theater, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Ensemble Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, Joe Goode Performance Group, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage, San Francisco Playhouse, Sibiu International Theatre Festival, Stanford University, Summerhall at the Edinburgh Fringe, UC Berkeley and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Ard is a Resident Artist with Golden Thread Productions and Crowded Fire Theater.
BRIAN SCOTT (Magic Consultant) is excited to be collaborating with the production team. Brian is a professional Bay Area magician who has been entertaining audiences for over 30 years and has consulted behind the scenes with numerous theater productions and operates the Bay Area School of Magic. Brian has worked on projects that have been seen on multiple national television programs and in the New York Times. (he/him)
Fall 2024: ... top theater picks
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Lily Janiak September 5, 2024 Updated: September 5, 2024, 2:10 am
https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/theater/bay-area-fall-theater-2024-19666743
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The Antipodes. In the pandemic’s early days, James Carpenter and fellow A-list Bay Area actors started doing what they could to stay busy, keep their skills sharp and still feel like artists by reading plays together on Zoom. But what started as, jokingly, Just a Bunch of Friends Sitting Around Reading Plays Theater Company soon became much more serious, meaningful and organized. Four and a half years later, what’s now called the Actors’ Reading Collective is mounting its first fully staged production, and it’s a hot-ticket West Coast premiere by Annie Baker, of The Flick and Janet Planet fame.
The Antipodes is set in a well-resourced but windowless conference room where a group is brainstorming story ideas for an unnamed purpose. It could be a TV pilot, or something much weirder. To generate possibilities, the lanyard-wearing participants dredge up the most embarrassing anecdotes from their own lives, told with Baker’s fearless candor and her unparalleled ear for unfiltered human speech.
Annie Baker
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright
Annie Baker's full-length plays include The Flick ( Pulitzer Prize, and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award, OBIE Award for Playwriting, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), Circle Mirror Transformation (OBIE Award for Best New American Play, Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), The Aliens (OBIE Award for Best New American Play), Body Awareness (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Play/Emerging Playwright), and an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, for which she also designed the costumes (Soho Rep). This year she moved from the stage to the screen with her recent film Planet Janet.
Ms. Baker was named a 2017 MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, recognizing her gift for “mining the minutiae of how we speak, act, and relate to one another and the absurdity and tragedy that result from the limitations of language.” Her plays have been performed at over 150 theaters across the USA and in England, Australia, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, Latvia, Sweden and Russia.
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Baker's The Antipodes premiered Off-Broadway at the Signature Theatre Company in 2017, with a subsequent production in 2019 at the National in London. With your help, ARC is excited to produce the West Coast premiere for Bay Area audiences in November 2024.
Our donors
oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!
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