PAST PRODUCTIONS
"Macbeth" – William Shakespeare
Hydeware Theatre’s first production. The cast of three actors played all 24 characters. The production took place at the southwest corner of Oak Knoll Park, and utilized Saunders Schultz and William C. Severson’s twisted metal sculpture “Primogenesis” as the primary background for the telling of a story of meandering deceptions and the ultimate addiction to absolute power. Minimal costume changes defined the characters, and sunglasses were used to define power figures. The fury of the final sword fight between Macduff and Macbeth was heightened by the musical accompaniment of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name Of” and the play ended with Macbeth dead and Macduff assuming the power of the throne.
Cast: Billie Jo Leuschen
Ray Reese
Rich Scharf
Director: Richard Strelinger
"The Tempest" – William Shakespeare
Hydeware’s second “Shakespeare in the Park” production. Produced in Forest Park, just north of the Planetarium, on the shore of Jefferson Lake. A large willow tree provided the background and staging area. The tempest that occurs at the beginning of the play was performed by Ariel, Prospero’s chief servant, using large water guns, water bombs, and four giant water balloons to soak the ship’s captain and passengers, and a fairy companion, beating on percussive equipment, including two sheets of steel, to simulate the sounds and fury of the storm. The storm ended with Ariel breaking a long strip of wood over her knee, thereby destroying the ship and stranding its passengers on Prospero’s island. Conceptually, the production revolved around slavery in America. Caliban, Prospero’s other servant, was played by an African-American male, and Ariel by a Caucasian female, both of whom wore heavy padlocked chains around their necks to symbolize their status as Prospero’s slaves. Throughout the play, Prospero manipulated and deceived all the other characters in the play, but none worse than Ariel, who does his bidding because he promises her that, by obeying him, she is earning her freedom. The play ended with Prospero reneging on his promise, and with the image of both Ariel and Caliban still locked in Prospero’s powerful grasp, despite their best efforts.
Cast: Alex Cannon
Ellen Clifford
Sarah Godefroid
Billie Jo Leuschen
Hannah Nielsen-Jones
Ray Reese
Chris Rohlfing
John Shepherd
Jason Smith
Richard Strelinger
Jim True
Director: Richard Strelinger
Assistant Director: John Shepherd
Stage Manager: Traci Eichhorst
"Betrayal" – Harold Pinter
"Betrayal," Harold Pinter's temporally convoluted, crackling look at marital infidelity was the second show of Hydeware's first full season, and moved Hydeware indoors for the first time. "Betrayal" tells the story of a simple affair amongst friends backwards, so that the first scene of the play is the last scene of the chronological sequence of the story. Hence, the first scene of the play finds Jerry and Emma meeting for the first time since their illicit affair ended two years previously, and the last scene of finds the action in Robert and Emma's home as the affair begins. Pinter's lyrical language, best known for using simple, direct dialogue to heighten the surrealism of his subject matter, is in full, disoncerting use in "Betrayal." As each scene progresses backwards along the timepath of Robert and Emma's infidelity, the realizations pile on, and each encounter between the three friends assumes new layers of tension and subterfuge. Using a simple set design of interchangable black rehearsal cubes, stripped down lighting and sound, and unobtrusive, deft direction, "Betrayal" laid the bedrock foundation of minimalism that Hydeware would continue to build on in future productions.
Cast: Billie Jo Leuschen
John Shepherd
Richard Strelinger
Director: Traci Eichhorst
"Betrayal" gallery
"Betrayal" review
"Oleanna" – David Mamet
The final show of Hydeware’s first full season. The show was performed at the historic Berzerker Studios, in a space nicknamed The Zoo Room. To throw the issues of gender and power that are at the heart of the play into relief, the stage was setup as a “runway” with the audience segregated into two groups that faced each other, men on one side and women the other. This forced the audience to observe the reactions of the opposite sex as the backdrop for the play itself. The costumes were used to conceptualize the power shift from John to Carol. John began the play sharply dressed and in control, while Carol, by contrast, was disheveled and confused. As the play progressed, John quite visually fell apart, and Carol’s costume changed to reflect her growing mastery of the situation. The only lighting was a set of two fluorescent light fixtures hanging directly above the stage. Simple, harsh, and direct, this lighting scheme accentuated the irony of such an important struggle transpiring in the dank underground of academia. The play climaxed violently, leaving John and Carol to face each other as Radiohead’s “Life In A Glass House” reverberated around the room.
Cast: Brian Hyde
Ember Hyde
Director: Richard Strelinger
Stage Manager: Traci Eichhorst
Lighting Design: Pamela Banning
Sound Design: John Shepherd
"Oleanna" Gallery
"Oleanna" Reviews
"Othello" – William Shakespeare
Third “Shakespeare in the Park” production. Produced in Tilles Park in St. Louis County at the stone structure on the south side of the park, near the entrance. The setting of the play was updated to the early 1980’s, and focused on American military involvement in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. The character of Iago was played by a female, thus altering drastically the power relationship between that character and Othello. This gender shift threw a whole new meaning on Othello passing Iago over for advancement, and Iago’s subsequent hatred for the Moor and her plan for revenge. Iago kills Cassio, Othello kills Desdemona, Emilia charges Iago and is killed. At the end of the play, Othello realized how his own thoughts, confusion, and eventual murderous madness have brought about all of this, and he committed suicide over the cold body of his once beloved wife. The play ended with Lodivico handing the position of power to Iago, and the image of Iago standing triumphant amongst the rubble of death her plan had created.
Cast: Pamela Banning
Ellen Clifford
Brian Hyde
Ember Hyde
Billie Jo Leuschen
Mark Maloney
Ray Reese
John Shepherd
Richard Strelinger
Corinne Swanson
Director: Richard Strelinger
Stage Manager: Traci Eichhorst
"Othello" gallery
"Othello" review
A Hot Dish - John Shepherd, Ember Hyde, Eric Begosian, Mike Gordon and Madeline George
There comes a time in every theatre's life when they must agree to disagree, and it was with "A Hot Dish" that this agreement occurred. Out of the chaos and rigmarole of choosing a Hydeware show, a system tried and true and yet somehow mysterious, there arose a great clatter from the minds of the Hydeware Five. The meeting had gone too long, dinner time was fast approaching, and the only thing now on everyone's mind was a hot dish.
It would be perfect; Mr. Shepherd had begun writing an experimental piece of theatre that would come to be known as "Jabberwocky." The tale of an anonymous theatre company and its audience, "Jabberwocky" documents the tedium and trials that go along with viewing live theatre. With the help of cue cards, and in true Ives fashion, the audience was fed lines to be delivered at opportune comic moments. The drums were pounding in Ember's head and "Sam, I am," a movement/music oriented free flowing expressionistic look at the life a woman, was born. Brian, who above all believed in his ability to outshine those who came before and to steal the light from all who would come after (and guided by his ego), chose to speckle the evening with delights of a mono dialogue nature. Pamela was bitten by the directing bug and decided that the evening needed something longer than fifteen minutes. "The Most Massive Woman Wins" would be staged to the delight of Hydeware, since bringing female voices to the theatre was and is a hot topic. And Richard, who had labored so diligently and with a true stalwart nature to bring the theatre from the ground to here, would take a break.
For one weekend a select few from the Saint Louis underbelly were witness to the theatrical oddity known as "A Hot Dish." In the end Richard just couldn't keep his hands out of the honey pot, if you follow me. He provided, for the end of the show, a breathtaking venture into the realm of living theatre. A plant in the audience stood and railed on and on about how he hated everything he had seen that night, and encouraged others to demand their money back. Brilliant.
Cast: Richard Strelinger
Pamela Banning
Ember Hyde
Brian Hyde
John Shepherd
Cassandra Bannon
Traci Eichhorst
Kelly Monatagh
"The Zoo Story" - Edware Albee
“The Zoo Story” eavesdrops on one extraordinary encounter between two very ordinary men on an ordinary day in New York's Central Park. Peter, buttoned-down husband and father, finds himself linked inextricably to the unannounced stranger Jerry, who shatters Peter's numb worldview forever with his overwhelming humanity. As Peter’s hopelessly ordinary life collides with Jerry’s hopelessly extraordinary life, their personal worlds ignite and explode in a roar of verbal pyrotechnics that only the crazed genius of Albee could imagine.
“The Zoo Story” was one of the riskiest productions Hydeware Theatre has ever produced. Being performed twice, the one-act showed audiences two completely different ways the play can be performed.
The 1st play was unrealistic, sterile, and sarcastic. The set was a TV studio -- proscenium stage, electrical equipment able to be seen by the audience, and a camera video taping. The 2nd play was realistic. The stage was comprised of real sod in a trust setting (the smell alone made you feel as though you were actually sitting in Central Park).
In the 1st you don’t have sympathy for Jerry; he’s an asshole. His entire interaction with Peter is a test. He knows that he is going to die. It’s what he wants and what he's going to try and get Peter to do for him. All he wants to do is test Peter’s willingness to accept it.
In the 2nd production, Jerry has been up all night debating what has happened with the dog. His interaction with Peter is about saving himself -- one last attempt to gain a human connection. He does not want to kill himself, and in the end finds that he can’t; he must make Peter do it for him. And vice versa: in the 1st show Peter does not accept or want to kill Jerry. In the 2nd, Peter has no qualms about killing Jerry.
To keep the audience in that moment of death at the end, we rigged up a system that allowed Jerry to continue bleeding, forming a large puddle of blood underneath him, until the last audience member had left.
Cast: John Shepherd
Brian Hyde
Director: Richard Strelinger
"The Zoo Story" Gallery
"The Zoo Story" Reviews
"Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet" - Ann-Marie MacDonald
Built on one of the oldest debates over the ethics of time travel -- whether we should alter the past -- and the never-ending quest to find out more about Shakespeare, this play is filled with time warps, battles, mistaken identities, twisted love, and cross-dressing. Confusing the plots of "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet" by introducing a "fool" character into the tragic tales, the show asks if a single person can change destiny. What if a wise "fool" were to warn Othello of Iago's treachery or inform Tybalt of Romeo's engagement to Juliet? Would that "fool" turn upside down two of the greatest romantic tragedies of Western Civilization?
Constance, an assistant professor, has been wasting her life away on The Gustav Manuscript, a literary theory Constance believes that once decoded, will reveal a "fool" character which was cut from the original texts of "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet," making these great plays comedies instead of tragedies.
Strangely enough, Constance is given the opportunity to prove her theory, as she is transported into the worlds of "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet" where she finds herself helplessly and hilariously affecting the plots, and best of all, where she discovers SHE is the "fool"...
The first play Hydeware produced at The Soulard Theatre, Anne-Marie Macdonald’s, “Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet,” was one of the funniest shows I have ever had the privilege to work on. Not only was the writing quick, inventive and clever but, the layers of play were brilliant and fascinating to expound upon. Plus, I was given the opportunity to work with some of the funniest actors I have ever seen on stage. One of which, Ken Haller, Judy Newmark, Theatre Critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, awarded with the best supporting actor in a comedic role.
“Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet” is a play about alchemy and identity. More precisely it is a play about the eternal struggle of people’s need to find and change into who they really are -- a question in Shakespeare’s plays his characters try, and for the most part, fail at answering. Which is the key to “Good Night Desdemona Good Morning Juliet,” in the end: all the characters discover something new about themselves, and fortunately enough, this discovery will only make them happier.
“Who are you? What do you want? How will you be remembered?” Questions that if you think about to much, have the ability to drive you insane. However, if these questions are answered through living life and through the experiences, love and happiness you find in life, they can bring you to understand who you are and what you want from your life.
Cast: Jennifer Blankenheim
Percy Rodriguez
Richon May
Wayne Robert Easter
Ellen Clifford
Ken Haller
Director: Richard Strelinger
"Goodnight
Desdemona Good Morning Juliet" Gallery
"Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet" Reviews
"Death and the Maiden" - Ariel Dorfman
For Hydeware's production of "Death and the Maiden" we decided to explore the latter half of our mission statement. Up until this point, we had never truly explored the social importance of theatre in Saint Louis without a clever gimmick. Ariel Dorfman's play explores the newly formed democracy of Chile and their transition from oppression to sovereignty. The play revolves around the character Paulina, a woman in Chile, who was abducted while rallying to the cause of the oppressed. Paulina was tortured by her abductors, sexually and mentally, all to protect the name of her husband, Gerardo. When Gerardo gets a flat on the way home years later, after her release, a mysterious stranger stops to help. That night Paulina recognizes the voice of Gerardo's Good Samaritan as Dr. Roberto Miranda, the cruelest of her captors.
In order to amplify the issues that are raised in this play, Pamela Banning created an interactive lobby display, which was filled with information on how to become involved in the struggle for human equality. Amnesty International was a prominent supporter of our cause and provided a great amount of the information available. Videos, slideshows, radio journalism, fliers and articles upon articles of survivor accounts of the atrocities in Chile were on display. Hydeware brought to Saint Louis a look at the harsh reality facing much of the world outside the relatively protected borders of the US.
Cast: Pamela Banning
Richard Strelinger
John Shepherd
Director: Brian Hyde
"Death and
the Maiden" Gallery
"Death and the Maiden" Reviews
"The Accidental Activist" - Kathryn Blume
Looking for a one-woman show, Hydeware happened across “The Accidental Activist.” We were swept away by Kathryn’s enthusiasm when we first spoke to her, and we knew we had to share this with St. Louis. As a major side-project in Hydeware’s third season, we decided to stay with a political theme.
It's November 2002. Kathryn, an exuberant, articulate, frustrated, and very funny out-of-work actress and environmentalist with gargantuan dreams of both stardom and world-salvation, gets particularly hot under the collar about the Bush administration's planned war on Iraq.
She casts about unsuccessfully for a way to both jump-start her career and forestall the impending war. On the verge of total surrender, she unintentionally kicks off a global act of theatrical dissent: the Lysistrata Project - world-wide readings of the ancient Greek anti-war comedy "Lysistrata."
After two months of 18-hour days, Lysistrata Project is a raging success, with over 1000 simultaneous readings in 59 countries and in all 50 states. But after the project is over, Kathryn still doesn't have an acting career and the U.S. goes to war anyway. Ultimately, she has to learn to redefine her definitions of success and learn to take active and attainable responsibility for the course of her life.
Kathryn’s “The Accidental Activist” was also a raging success in St. Louis. Hydeware attained its biggest audience turn-out for this one-night endeavor with the help from the St. Louis chapter of Instead of War.
Cast: Kathryn Blume
Director: Michaela Hall
"The Accidental
Activist" Gallery
"The Accidental Activist" Review
"Phyro-Giants" - Michael Blieden
Imagine this. You are at a restaurant with friends, enjoying your chicken and brie sandwich and a nice glass of red wine. There is a lull in the conversation and suddenly you hear the rather attractive woman at the table next to you say, "but if I am with a guy and he even like gets close to that area back there I can basically orgasm instantly." What do you do? Eavesdrop of course! That is what the audience did for "Phyro-Giants!," a wicked comedy that takes on marriage, fidelity, ghosts and God during a dizzying dinner between four friends and strangers who revealed more than they bargained for. Taking dinner theatre to a whole new level, our production was one long conversation about love, sex, and infidelity all played in real time and catered by the Soulard Coffee Garden .
Cast: Noelle Santa Cruz
JC Peirce
Rebecca Jaycox
Brian Hyde
Shameka Washington
Betsy Strelinger
Ken Haller
Director: Pamela Banning
Stage Manager: Anne Marie Groh
"Phyro-Giants"
Gallery
"Phyro-Giants" Reviews
"The Taming of the Shrew" - William Shakespeare
The fourth annual Hydeware in the Park, produced in Tower Grove Park, took this classic battle-of-the-sexes comedy and gave it a swift kick right where it counts, cracking open new and exciting ways to experience this cheeky, outrageous comedy about men and women's need to control each other. Despite all its puns, dirty jokes, and wild physical comedy, “The Taming of the Shrew” hides some very dark themes: sexism, degradation, domestic violence, and more. So we turned the tables on good old Billy S., by putting the male characters into the female (subservient) roles, and the female characters into the male (dominant) roles. The world of this play is now entirely a woman's world -- always has been, always will be. Women are masters of the army and politics. They are the explorers, scholars, and, most importantly, rulers of the house. In this world, it is the matriarch who will give or receive the dowry for her son's hand in marriage.
My favorite enhancement to the script was giving a new, one syllable, nick name to Petruchio. In the play Katherine is often referred to as Kate, therefore, Petruchio must also have a one beat nick name. Petruchio became Pet.
“For I am she am born to tame you, Pet,
And bring you from a wild Pet to a Pet
Conformable as other household Pets.”
Cast: Megan Kelly
JC Pierce
Richon May
Catherine Bright
Regi Davis
Ken Haller
John Shepherd
Ember Hyde
Brian Hyde
Director: Richard Strelinger
Stage Manager: Anne Marie Groh
"The
Taming of the Shrew" Gallery
"The Taming of the Shrew" Reviews
"The Woman In Black" - adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the book by Susan Hill
"The Woman In Black," Steven Mallatrat's gripping adaptation of Susan Hill's novel of the same name, was the second show of Hydeware's fourth season. Written and styled as an old-fashioned ghost story, WIB features two main roles, Arthur Kipps and the Actor. These two meet in an "empty" theatre to re-enact Kipps's meeting, many years before in a remote and spooky corner of England, of the Woman In Black, a mysterious character played with sublime understatement by Ellen Clifford. This show had a very simple goal: Tell a ghost story, tell it well, and scare the hell out of the audience. And, through outstanding acting and innovative production designs by Pamela Banning, Ember Hyde, and Brian Hyde, Hydeware did just that. Through a series of twists and turns, and through the unfolding story itself, the Woman In Black terrified any person unfortunate enough to have seen her. In this way, Kipps achieved the exorcisim he was hoping for through the telling, but not in a way that brought either he or the Actor relief. An interesting sidenote: Preparation for WIB was easily the most intensive Hydeware has ever experienced; there was little more than three weeks of rehearsal time. Due to a last second casting malfunction, Richard Strelinger, who was originally directing the show, stepped in to take over the part of the Actor, and John Shepherd took over direction.
Cast: Ellen Clifford
Richard Strelinger
Brian Hyde
Director: John Shepherd
Stage Manager: Anne Marie Groh
"The Woman
in Black" Gallery
"The Woman in Black" Reviews
"The Eight: Reindeer Monologues" - by Jeff Goode
A Christmas story of biblical proportions! “The Eight:” takes audiences to the dark, sinister side of what life is “really” like at the North Pole. When a doe says 'no,' she means 'no.' Scandal erupts at the North Pole when Vixson accuses the BIG MAN himself of sexual harassment.As mass media descended upon the event, the other members of the sleigh team demand to share their perspectives. A horrific tale of corruption and perversion emerged, which only implicated everyone from the littlest elf to the tainted Saint himself. With each deer's confession, the truth behind the shocking allegations becomes clearer and clearer. ...and murkier and murkier.Hydeware shattered every pure and virtuous thought you ever had for that tubby old man in red.
Cast: Russell James
Emily Strembicki
JC Pierce
Tyson Blanquart
Leah Schumacher
Pamela Banning
Ember Hyde
Brian Hyde
Director: Jerry McAdams
"The Eight:
Reindeer Monologues" Gallery
"The Eight: Reindeer Monologues" Reviews
"Poona the Fuckdog: and other plays for children" - by Jeff Goode
Hydeware's production of Poona was its most ambitious undertaking yet; with their largest cast, most playing 2 or 3 roles each, scrambling from role to role, entrance to entrance and costume to prop the audience was treating to a non-stop laugh ride that left everyone who saw this sold out show scrambling for breath. Performed in the round this ended up being the last show performed at the Soulard Theatre. Hydeware truly took Jeff Goode's script and made it their own for this production; contemporizing this still modern script Hydeware kept the issues raised in this political and socially challenging piece blaringly evident. They brought to the forefront issues such as childhood obesity, internet morality, nuclear war, presidential totalitarianism, time travel and much more than can be represented here. This story of adult fairytales gone wrong proved a perfect match for Hydeware; under the direction of Pamela Banning Hydeware sang and improvised its way through the looking glass. They actually took one lucky audience member along with them to a specially designed Hell created for and only viewed by one person a night.
Cast: Melissa Navarro
Jill Becvar
Rusty Jones
Emily Strembicki
Ken Haller
Megan Kelly
Richard Strelinger
John Shepherd
Brian Hyde
Tyson Blanquart
Director: Pamela Banning
Stage Manager: Anne Marie Groh
"Poona" Gallery
"Poona" Reviews
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" - by William Shakespeare
Hydeware's Midsummer was a non-stop 90 minute Shakespearean roller coaster ride. Hydeware pulled out all the stops with this adaptation of The Bard's classic, from Oberon and Puck munching on movie popcorn to the lover's plights to a Jerry Springer inspired lover's quarrel. This show marked the first ever child actor appearance in a Hydeware show, and there were 2; Emileigh and Hanna played and sang as a fairy and the changeling child, respectively. Puck was a cheerleader, in full costume, for the ensuing havoc and Bottom was transformed into a clown of an ass complete with pink wig. This was truly no limits Shakespeare hold em.
Cast: Ken Haller
Richon May
Ember Hyde
Anthony Winiger
Nicholas Kelly
Emily Strembicki
Amy Leon
Brian Hyde
Emileigh Groh
Hanna Groh
Director: Richard Strelinger
Midsummer
Gallery
Midsummer Reviews
"The Fever" by Wallace Shawn and "Man With Shotgun" by Byron Kerman
In Hydeware's first show out of the Soulard Theatre they found themselves in a space called the Tin Ceiling owned and operated by the wonderfully talented group of the same name. Ember Hyde performed a thoughtful and politically decadent piece, "The Fever", in a living room setting. To add to this feeling she handed out cookies and drink in performance to the audience, intimate treatment for an intimate affair. That show was followed by a late night performance of Byron Kerman's "Man With Shotgun". Performed by Brian Hyde this raunchy laugh-fest tested the audience's comfort level and required but one prop, a large cocked shotgun. A First for Hydeware.
Cast: Ember Hyde
Brian Hyde
Directors: G.P. Hunsaker - "The Fever"
Richard Strelinger - "Man With Shotgun"
"The Iceman Cometh" by Eugene O'Neill
This production was Hydeware’s largest and most ambitious undertaking ever, in every way. This is truly a show where there are no small roles, given that even the smallest part had at least two hours of stage time. In 4 hours and 45 minutes, Hydeware treated audiences to Eugene O’Neill at his finest, and given the breadth of the accomplishment, possibly Hydeware at its finest as well. Performed at the studio at RAC, Hydeware staged a realistic version of this period play, which is by itself a departure. This show is notably marked by a cast change at two weeks out when Brian Hyde was moved to the lead position of Hickey and Doug Hettich came in to take over the role vacated by Brian as Jimmy Tomorrow. Using the entire space, Hydeware set up tables on the fringe of the action and in the bar for the audience to sit at, bringing them in further than Hydeware ever had.
Cast:
Richard Strelinger
Robert Mitchell
Terry Love
Ken Haller
L.A. Williams
Khnemu Menu-Ra
Tyson Blanquart
Robert Ashton
Ralph Murphy
Douglas Hettich
Mark Abels
Megan Langford
Ember Hyde
Donna Michelle Morris
Rusty Gunther
Brian Hyde
Joe Nolan
Director: John Shepherd
"Bleacher Bums" by The Organic Theatre
Opening day for this baseball tale found Hydeware and the gang at COCA's black box theatre. In a town where baseball is king, Bleacher Bums is joker filled entertainment. The story is comprised of 8 Cubby baseball bums who watch the game from the bleacher seats; this past time for them is punctuated by a penchant for gambling and general debauchery. From making passes at the local sun bather to screaming obscenities at the Cardinals stinky belly itcher of a pitcher, Bleacher Bums takes every fan archetype and every gambling possibility and exploits it in 9 innings for the audiences viewing pleasure.
Cast:
April Lindsay
Justin Pollard
Margeau Baue Steinau
Brian Claussen
Ken Haller
Matthew Korinko
Rusty Gunther
G.P. Hunsaker
Nicholas Kelly
Richard Strelinger, Jr.
Director: Richard Strelinger
Bleacher Gallery
Bleacher Reviews
"Hamlet" by William Shakespeare
Hydeware's Hamlet was without a doubt our bloodiest show yet. Hamlet's father bore a 3 faced mask and a chain mail chest and a lot of orifice squirting blood. In 90 minutes audiences were treated to a condensed version of the Shakespeare classic that streamlined many roles and focused solely on the story that matters, Hamlet and his crazy journey back to sanity and then death. Conceptually focused on the five senses, 5 of the characters lost a sense through the course of the show. Claudius lost his sense of sight, Laertes lost his sense of hearing, Ophelia lost her sense of smell, Hamlet lost his sense of touch and Gertrude lost her sense of fashion\taste. Finding a few comedic moments throughout, Hydeware gave a tongue-in-cheek look at this morbid and yet satisfying classic.
Cast:
Elisabeth Wienke
Ken Haller
Luke Lindberg
Emily Strembicki
Nicholas Kelly
Rusty Gunther
Joel Snider
Megan McMullin Langford
Jon McGillberry
Brian Hyde
Director:Richard Strelinger
Insignificant Others...A Love Story - by James Russel Wax
Hydeware was as giddy as a school girl to be performing their first local and original piece of theatre. A play written by local playwright James Wax took on the complex and troubling issue of imaginary friends. The story centers around two people Richard and Allie and their imaginary friends Sunshine, a smoking, drinking, cursing clown and Dr. Cuddles, an overly affectionate teddy bear, respectively, who in one way or another cannot let each other go. Shown at The Tin Ceiling audiences were treated to 3 acts of pure dysfunctionality and true love, two ideas commonly associated yet craftily separated for the sake of Insignificant Others.
Cast:
Rusty Gunther
Meg Rodd
Emily Strembicki
Brian Hyde
Larry D. Quiggins
Mo Monahan
Megan McMullin Langford
Drew Somervell
Amy Leone
Jared Nell
Director: Nick Kelly
Stop Kiss - by Diana Son
Hydeware moved back to COCA for this theatrically stunning, female-driven piece. Callie and Sara meet in New York and through the course of the play, fall in love. But this is not your typical love story. After their first kiss, Sara is beaten into a coma and we watch Callie and Sara's relationship grow and move even further toward complete committment. With a slideshow and an emotionally driving soundtrack between each scene of this 23 scene play, every audience member was treated to an artistically stunning production.
Cast:
Amy Leone
Melissa Rae Brown
Alan David
Todd Oleson
Jeff Mattlin
Karen Palmer
Director: Ember Hyde
Stop Kiss Gallery
Stop Kiss Reviews
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Macbeth
II - by William Shakespeare
That's right folks, Hydeware has repeated a show, their
first show. The group which is not a fan of this practice decided
that this production was one that was deserving of another mounting,
since the original Macbeth was done so long ago and some of the group
was not here yet to enjoy the experience of a 3 person Macbeth.
Done in the same style as the first this prodcution boasted the
wonderful space in the Whitaker Theatre at Tower Grove Park.
While they kept favorites from the first production such as the toilet
which served as the throne and witches cauldron, and the Rage Against
the Machine in the final battle, Hydeware also used costumes and props
and an impressive array of weaponry to a greater degree this time
around, since an actual budget was there
to be used. Hydeware also developed a 10 minute speed version of
the play which they performed at a fundraising event a few weeks before
the show hosted by Ken Haller.
Cast:
Ken Haller
Ember Hyde
Brian Hyde
Director: Richard Strelinger
Macbeth II Gallery
Macbeth II Reviews
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The
Boycott - by Kathryn Blume
Hydeware moved to the brand, new Ivory Theatre for
their
next production of The Boycott. Hydeware
brought Kathryn Blume to
Cast:
Kathryn Blume
Director: Jason Jacobs
The Caucasian Chalk
Circle - by Berolt Brecht
Three weeks after closing The Boycott, Hydeware opened its last show of its 7th season with a cast as big as The Iceman Cometh: The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Using people’s silhouettes to create images behind a backdrop made for an artistically beautiful production. The images were used in a variety of ways, including emotions, set pieces, the theme from a scene, and the overall message of the show. Hydeware had a first in this production by having original music written by a local artistic and then performed live for each production.
Cast:
Elizabeth Lindsey
Charles Heuvelman
Megan McMullin-Langford
Robert Ashton
Mark Kelley
Karen Palmer
Emily Piro
Margeau Baue Steinau
Jenelle Chu
Catherine Lipinski
Michael B. Perkins
Ellie Schwetye
Jegar Fickel
Shanaz Ahmed
D. Conrad Burk
Ted Drury
Andrew Keller
Hanna Groh
Director - Ember Hyde
The
Caucasian Chalk Circle Gallery
The Caucasian Chalk Circle Reviews
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Side Projects
Hydeware will occasionally get some free time. Although it is rare it does happen and this time is usually spent in or around performing arts of some kind. These unorthodox endeavors have earned the designation of side projects.
The first side project undertaken by Hydeware was a collaborative piece involving music and theatre. A splashing together of the two arts was the premise of the evening, with each band and Hydeware creating their own part of the scene on their own. Along side Everywhen Studios, Hydeware and six other bands all joined together for one unforgettable night of music and mime. Although the two did not always mix as well as one would like, Hydeware came out of the experience with a whole bag full of knowledge.
Next on Hydeware's list of side projects came around Halloween, and took place at Berzerker Studios. Hydeware developed their own reenactments of the Jack the Ripper slayings. They were lucky enough to perform along side the legendary Saint Louis band, Son of William or SOW. The evening was full of loud music and bloody death.
In 2003 and then again in o4' Hydeware was given the opportunity to perform for, and to help mold the minds of, the students at Central College's Upward Bound program in Pella, Iowa. In 2003 Hydeware brought their production of "The Zoo Story" and performed both versions for the students and faculty. That same year and again in 2004 Hydeware also conducted a workshop that helped the students to explore the process used to create the two separate versions of "The Zoo Story," and respectively how to create a scene from nothing but a character and a conflict.