RAT theater simple in CA w/ESCHER'S HANDS + Seattle MOBY DICK Feb 4 & 7

[Thsimple@aol.com]

HEY RATS! 
esp. those in the Bay Area- 

theater simple is down in Northern California doing a mini-(micro, even) tour 
of the Bay Area and Sacramento with ESCHER'S HANDS to benefit our upcoming 
tour to Australia!!(Yeah - our third trip around the horn for those who've 
been on the list that long...) If you(if you are local), or friends(if 
THEY're local) might be interested, we'd be mighty beholden if you'd pass 
this along.
(pretty please - especially since the engine in the touring car is in 
Roseburg, OR  being replaced while we're down here in SF, bereft in a rental 
clowncar...)

Alert: We will also be doing a benefit performance of HUNTING for MOBY DICK 
(one of the two plays heading for Oz mid-February) in Seattle on FEBRUARY 7. 
Pencil us in, and we'll get you more details soon!

Thanks again - Llysa Holland, Andrew Litzky, Amy Augustine and Monique 
Kleinhans
theater simpletons

PS - A point of pride - TWO of our plays last year were neamed to the Seattle 
Times Top Ten list for theater for the year - the Snow Queen being one of 
them. (Strindberg in Paris at On The Boards was the other named. Srtrindberg 
also took a Footlight for Drama, which was a nice surprise.)
Rehearsals down here for MOBY DICK and the generative adaptation of HARD 
TIMES are going well - grueling but incredibly inspiring! Wheeee!
give us a e-jingle and say hello. Love to see any RATs who can make it 
over.... 
***********************************************
MEDIA RELEASE
for immediate use  kill date 1/25/00 
theater/sexy thriller/benefit
for more info: Llysa Holland, theater simple - Bay Area phone: 510-769-2087
Escher's Hands website    www.southerndigital.com/theatersimple(pic and image 
of HANDS by MC Escher)


*     *      *      *      *
>From Seattle! 
 theater simple’s ferociously funny sexy thriller
 ESCHER’S HANDS by Seattle playwright Dawson Nichols

7:30pm Monday January 24, 2000   at the Adelphian Center for the Arts, Alameda
2167 Central (at Walnut)                
or
Studio Theatre,   1028 R Street,    downtown Sacramento (secure parking on 
premises)
    7:30pm Tuesday January 25, 2000


who: Seattle’s most highly decorated* touring fringe group brings their 
peripatetic theatrical hijinks to Northen California for two performance only 
of the sexy thriller, Escher’s Hands
(* TWO shows named to the Top Ten Plays of 1999 by The Seattle Weekly, and a 
1999 Footlight Award from the Seattle Times)

Two writers embark on a collaborative writing exercise BUT...  
HE wants a hard-bitten, edgy, violent Hammett-esque story about a hooker and 
her pimp, while SHE wants something deeply felt, and relationship-based. As 
they write, their creations appear to play out the writers’ shared story, and 
progressively the lines between who is in control and who is creating whom 
become deliciously deceptive,
 just like the drawing of the title. 
    “They say when it gets away from you - when the characters start writing 
themselves - when you lose control - that's when it gets interesting.” from Es
cher's Hands

Alternately funny, creepy, and sexy, rollercoaster-paced ESCHER’S HANDS  illum
inates exactly how badly communication between two people can go wrong - 
especially if they are moderately talented writers with control issues about 
their creations. Promising smart writing, great acting and a mindboggling 
tensely funny thriller, ESCHER’S HANDS  is an excellent mental getaway for 
the January blahs.

•   NOTE: STRONG LANGUAGE. SMOKING. GUNS. (whee!)

where/when: 
Adelphian Center for the Arts  2167 Central (at Walnut) Alameda
    7:30 pm Monday January 24, 2000

Studio Theatre,   1028 R Street,    downtown Sacramento (secure parking on 
premises)
    7:30pm Tuesday January 25, 2000

reservations encouraged: Alameda perf : 510 - 769 2087   (Eric Litzky)
                        Sacramento perf: 916 334-3334 (Yvonne Holland)
tickets: $25 tax-deductible donation or PAY WHAT YOU CAN - available at the 
door(cash or check)
for more info: (510) 769-2087 (local) or thsimple@aol.com

what are we doing in California??
This is a benefit to raise money for a February tour to Australia with 
Ghostlight of SF!
theater simple has come back to where it all began: Llysa grew up in 
Sacramento, Andrew in SF; they both got their degrees at SF State University, 
worked at Berkeley Rep (where they were members of Company Too) and they soon 
blazed a trail to the Pacific Northwest. They have been touring and winning 
fistfuls of accolades domestically and internationally for their work since 
1990. They have returned to the Bay Area to collaborate with Ghostlight, 
whose Hunting for MOBY DICK was previously seen at the Magic Theatre. 
Together the two companies will be tackling two adaptations of literature:  
Melville, with an restaging of MOBY DICK, and an adaptation of Dickens’ HARD 
TIMES. Both companies will be traveling to Adelaide, South Australia(www.adela
idefringe.com.au) for the largest arts festival in the southern Hemisphere, 
second in size only to Edinburgh, Scotland. 
Note: the last time theater simple performed in CA was in December ‘95. 
Hmmmmm.... 
About time we're back.

Hope to see you in the theater!
                    #  #  #
“Funny, intriguing and undeniably clever. HANDS UP!” -Seattle Times