Whistler in the Dark: A Hard Heart

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a state agency. MCC logo

How much can be sacrificed before -- how much?

Praxis, the Queen of a city under siege, calls upon its Genius, Riddler, to save them from invading forces. However, Riddler's tactics seem to put the city in more danger at every turn and she puts the city at stake to prove the worth of her strategies - all while struggling to educate her thin-skinned son and waging her own war against the forces of love. A Hard Heart features striking language, a cacophony of ideas, and an explosive storyline as it questions the true price of survival during wartime.

"Better late than never for Howard Barker's "A Hard Heart". In fact, better late than early: Barker's play takes dead aim at political excesses that were not a factor in America when it was first written, and it now scans not merely as a warning, but an accusation. ... the indictment lands with startling force."
Sam Thielman, Variety

For mature audiences only.

For more information on Howard Barker, click here.

the company
	Travis Boswell received his formal training from Saginaw Valley State University, where he had the great fortune of working with his mentor, the late Marc Gordon. Since graduating, he has been working as an actor several different markets as well as mediums. In the world of cinema, he played the role of Darryl Jacobi in the multi-award winning short film Rhapsody in Red, and Stuart 'Stoop Lova' Jones, for The Westminster Wives Show. Travis is pleased to be returning to Boston with his good friends at Whistler in the Dark.
	Andrew Dufresne is thrilled to be working with Whistler in the Dark for the first time. A graduate of Drew University, Andrew has done a number of productions in the Boston area including Flesh and Blood and Stuff Happens both with Zeitgeist Stage Company, and Dancing at Lughnasa with Way Theatre Artists.
	Ben Fainstein was last seen in Whistler's production of Vampire and has previously appeared in Boston in Seal Skin (Dangerous Animal). Last summer he collaborated with Meg Taintor on the creation of The Psyche Project as part of FeverFest07. His directorial credits for Whistler in the Dark include The Flu Season, In Perpetuity Throughout the Universe, and Don't Exaggerate. Ben holds a B.A. from Middlebury College and would like to thank Richard, Kat, and the Company.
	Eliza Lay is an actress and acting instructor in the Boston area. Most recently she has worked with Way Theater Artists in Love-Lies-Bleeding and Dancing at Lughnasa, Zeitgeist Stage Co. with Sacred Hearts and Flesh and Blood, Boston Theatre Works in Gorilla Man, and 11:11 Theater Co with The Tempest and five Boston premiers. She is excited to be joining Whistler in the Dark with this production after appearing in FeverFest 07 last summer. Next she'll appear at the BCA with Imaginary Beasts in Six Impossible Things.
	Allison Ma'Luf is excited to make her debut performance in Boston with Whistler in the Dark. Allison's previous performances include such roles as Clelia in the Nerd, Killaine in The Clearing, Laura in Look Homeward Angel, Chic in Crimes of the Heart, Pooty in Reckless and Emily in Our Town for various theaters in Raleigh and Winston-Salem, NC.
	Nick Ronan is an actor and director returned to Boston after graduating the George Washington University with a BA in English and Theatre. He studied classical acting at the London Dramatic Academy, and spent last summer at the Williamstown Theatre Festival as an acting apprentice. Most recently, he appeared in Whistler's production of Vampire and directed the new one act What We Save as part of the Boston Actors Theater Summer Play Festival. Favorite roles include Carter in Neil Labute's Fat Pig, Bacchus/Eriscython in Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, and Ross in Albee's The Goat or Who is Sylvia?
	Meg Taintor holds a B.A. in Theatre and Women & Gender Studies from Middlebury College. As the Artistic Director for Whistler, she has directed Vampire, All This Flying, All This Tumbling Down, The B File, and The Possibilities (Eliot Norton nomination for "Outstanding Production by a Local Fringe Company") and performed in Howard Barker's Don't Exaggerate ( FeverFest 06), and in The Psyche Project (FeverFest 07). Some of her regional theatre credits include the National Players, Rorschach Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, the Potomac Theatre Project and Washington Shakespeare Company.
the playwright
	Howard Barker was born in a working class family in South London in 1946. His first stage play was performed in 1970. His early nausea with social realism, his embracing of tragedy ‘the greatest art form known to man’, his poetic discourse, and what he calls ‘a suffocating unanimity of critical and theatre opinion’ served to isolate him from mainstream theatre in this country, whose culture he describes as ‘utilitarian, entertainment-obsessed and awash with moral platitudes.’ Such a solitude has been compensated by a powerful and growing international reputation and the formation of a company specifically created to develop his theories of theatre, The Wrestling School . Barker sees his mission as developing a ‘conscience-free, speculative, tragic theatre speaking its own language …’ He describes his greatest achievement as earning world-wide status without compromising his principles. His best known plays are The Castle, He Stumbled, The Possibilities, and Gertrude, The Cry, all studies in the extremes of human behaviour, sexual passion and self-discovery.
the artistic team
	Carrie Davis (costume designer) graduated from Tufts University with a BA in psychology. She has worked in various aspects of theater and film, most recently stage managing for Imaginary Beasts' Under the Overcoat and costuming on-set for The Women and The Box. This is her first show with Whistler in the Dark.
	Kat Moulison (stage manager) Favorite credits: The Eight: Reindeer Monologues with Project X-Mas, The Boys Next Door and A Thousand Cranes with PS Films which traveled to Scotland to appear in The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Dancing at Lughnasa with Way Theatre Artists, Dracula, Batboy: The Musical and Return to the Forbidden Planet at SSC, among others. Kat would like to thank Whistler for the opportunity to work with a wonderful collection of artists.
	Richard Romagnoli (director) is the Chair of the Theatre Department at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, where he teaches acting, directing and theatre literature and regularly directs student productions. Richard is also a co-founder of the Potomac Theatre Project and a co-director with James Petosa and Cheryl Faraone. He has directed many plays for the company, including Howard Barker's Scenes From An Execution (subsequently co-produced and presented in NY with the Blue Light Theatre Company), Plevna, The Castle and No End of Blame; Havel: The Passion Of Thought, Safari, 1992... are we having FUN yet? (co-director); the American premiere of Harold Pinter's The New World Order, the same author's Mountain Language and No Man's Land; Iranian Nights and Vampire. For the Olney Theatre Center for the Arts he has directed The Importance of Being Earnest, Camille, The Homecoming, Candida, and Private Lives and has directed at the Shenandoah Playwrights Conference, Philadelphia Drama Guild, the Young Playwrights Festival at the Public Theatre in New York. He is a member of The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Several of his productions for Middlebury have been selected for the American College Theatre Festival in New England and at the Kennedy Center.
	Melissa Smith (Assistant to the Director) is a not so recent graduate of SUNY Potsdam where she earned a BA in Drama with an Acting Minor. While her love lies with acting, her history of working with meager budgets has had her wearing many hats. Her greatest summer was spent as a technical intern for Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival in Lee, MA. In 2001 Melissa co-founded The Bunbury Theatre Company in Jamestown, NY, where she filled the roles of actor, Production Manager, Artistic Director, designer, carpenter and general Jill of all trades. She has been away from the theatre since 2002 and is thrilled to be reintroduced by the wonderful people at Whistler in the Dark!
	Ginny Yang (graphic designer) graduated from Bates College with a BA in Theatre with a concentration in design. Along with costumes and lighting design she enjoys designing postcards and t-shirts. She recently moved to London to pursue further studies in costume design at London College of Fashion.