PlayBill for SAM & JIM IN HELL - a reading at Lost Nation Theater
Lost Nation Theater proudly presents
a reading of SAM & JIM IN HELL
a new work in progress by Jeanne Beckwith
inspired by seeing the Samuel Beckett Bridge whilst in Dublin and thinking he would find that hellish!
Directed by Kim Allen Bent
Graphics and Stage Management: Kathleen Keenan
Virtual Consultant – Theater Engine
Featuring:
Sorsha Anderson, Ethan Bowen, Abby Paige, Scott Renzoni, and Margo Whitcomb
Thank you for joining us for tonight’s reading; we are so excited to share this early step in the process with you and are glad you are here with us for this virtual experience.
Tonight’s reading is free, but please consider making a donation to support the artists who are volunteering their time and talents Here
(the donations are being shared amongst the artists)
And for full show overview Click Here
Special Thanks To:
Annabelle & the staff at Capitol Copy, Dominic Spillane,, Jim Lowe & Mary Gow at The Times Argus; Doug A Smith – WNUB Northfield, Arthur Oliver and all the performers!
Characters in Order of Appearance
James Joyce read by Scott "Renzo" Renzoni
Colleen of the Gate read by Margo Whitcomb
Samuel Beckett read by Ethan Bowen
Suzanne Déchevaux-Dumesnil (Beckett's Wife) ready by Abby Paige
Lucia Joyce (Joyce's Daughter) read by Sorsha Anderson
If you are unable to join the post-reading zoom discussion and would like to share feedback with Jeanne, please email us at info@lostnationtheater.org and we will make sure she receives your comments.
LNT Sponsors
Capitol Copy, The City of Montpelier, Eternity, Montpelier Community Fund, National Life Group, Vermont Mutual, The World, Vermont Arts Council/NEA, State of Vermont, The Estate of Ted Richards, The Mary Shriver Fund of the Alan Weiss Estate
And all our Downtown On Stage and Business Contributors, and Private Contributors
Find all our sponsors here
Lost Nation Theater dedicates itself to staging stories about the hopeful possibilities of human interaction, to education, and realizing the powerful potential of theater to transform individuals and communities
Lost Nation Theater Staff
Kim Allen Bent & Kathleen Keenan - LNT Artistic Directors
Dona Bate - Accounts Manager
Robyn Osiecki - Technical Director
Lighting Supervisor - Samuel J. Biondolillo
Assoc. Managing Director : Brandy Perez
LNT 2021 Board of Directors
Laurie Callahan, Earl Fechter, Jessica Goodlin, Mara Ivers, Shanda Williams, Christine Zahm, Michael Zahm
Who's Who in Sam & Jim in Hell
SORSHA ANDERSON (actor reading Lucia) - Sorsha is delighted to join Lost Nation for a little more pandemic theater after participating in A Midsommer Nights Dreame on the State House steps. Sorsha is eagerly looking forward to the full return of the arts, but in the meantime, has funneled some of her creativity into another passion: teaching yoga - at Yoga Lab in Montpelier.
JEANNE BECKWITH (Playwright) - Jeanne’s plays have been staged from coast to coast and as far away as Dublin and Istanbul. For most of her adult life she has worked as a playwright, director, actor and dramaturg in academic, professional, and community theaters all around the country. Lost Nation Theater is one of her favorite places to play and work. LNT approaches life with joy and dedication. What more can you want? For more on Jeanne and her work go to: jeannebeckwith.com
KIM ALLEN BENT (Founding Artistic Director/Director) - founded LNT in 1977. A native Vermonter, he’s worked for professional theaters and university drama programs across America, Europe, and Canada as a director, actor, writer, and designer. As a playwright, his play, Stone, won the Hathaway Prize. His adaptations of Lyddie (2012), and Treasure Island (2015) premiered to rave reviews. In 2018, he translated Howard Frank Mosher’s Vermont novel Disappearances for the stage.
ETHAN BOWEN (actor reading Beckett) - Ethan Bowen has been a theater artist for 40 years. He is Artistic, Managing Director of Bald Mountain Theater in Rochester VT specializing in story theater. He has had wonderful adventures with Lost Nation including My Buddy Bill, A Little Night Music and others. Good to be back.
KATHLEEN KEENAN (Producing Artistic Director) - Prior to LNT, Kathleen worked Off Broadway, Lincoln Center, and was featured at NYC’s Folk City. LNT credits: title roles Patsy Cline (for which she won Broadway World’s Regional Theater Awards for Vocalist and Performance of the Decade), Shirley Valentine, Educating Rita, Molly Sweeney, Belle of Amherst and Frauline Schneider-Cabaret. Director: The 39 Steps, Lyddie, The Miracle Worker, To Kill A Mockingbird, Becoming Dr. Ruth. Music: Metamorphoses, Twelfth Night, Midsommer Nights Dreame, and Lyddie. Kathleen directed 2010’s world premiere production of Jeanne Beckwith's Love Letters Made Easy and had a blast re-imagining & restructuring that show with Jeanne for a special hybrid live-from-the-stage /virtual live stream production last month.
ABBY PAIGE (actor reading Suzanne) - Abby is a writer and theater artist. Born and raised in South Burlington, Abby is always delighted to return, even virtually, to LNT, where she appeared most recently in 2019’s “Price and Prejudice” and most repeatedly in David Budbill's “Judevine.” Her solo shows, “Piecework: When We Were French” and “Les filles du QUOI?”, explore the influence of French-Canadian culture in Vermont and New England. She hopes to bring the new show to LNT if the pandemic ever ends. You can read all about it at http://www.abbypaige.com
SCOTT RENZONI (actor reading James Joyce) - Renzo has appeared in 19 LNT shows since 2004, including two productions of David Budbill's JUDEVINE. Also a poet, bartender, and "Jeopardy!" champion, Renzo is a native Vermonter currently based in the Berkshires.
MARGO WHITCOMB - Margo welcomes the chance to be back with long time collaborators at LNT. More recently she starred in the LNT one woman show "Shakespeare's Will" on the Mainstage (our 2nd to last show before the pandemic) and portraying Bottom in this past September’s Shakespeare on the State House Steps’ Midsomer Nights Dreame project. Enjoy being together again! Additional “Pandemic Theater” projects include acting in THE NICETIES in April for Middlebury Actors Company and directing Lynn Nottage's SWEAT for American Dream Project.
Margo is a theatre artist, administrator and educator based in Vermont. Regional credits include the American premiere of David Harrower’s Mary Stuart (Vermont Shakespeare), original musical (Mad as the Wind and the Sea (Gospel Hollow), directing and developing Of the Better Kind (Theatre Kavanagh), Love Alone and The Kid Thing (VT Pride Festival), A Fleeting Animal, the opera from David Budbill’s award winning “Judevine” Durang Bang, Bad Dates, Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lost Nation Theater), Picasso at The Lapin Agile, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ,Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cabaret (Dibden Center for the Arts - NVU), Eurydice (Bake off: VSC). Regional: 2016 Alliance/Kendeda winner Start Down at Centenary world premiere of Pen winner How To Pray, Bekah Brunstetter’s You May Go Now, Neena Beeber’s The Dew Point, Sister Week and Road to Mecca (CSC-NJ), Hecuba (Williamstown/ACT) with Olympia Dukakis and Viola Davis, Another Side of the Island, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest (Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Alpine Theatre Project, Long Wharf Theater. ACT production highlights (Associate Dir)- Arcadia, (West coast premiere) Enrico IV, (Richard Nelson, adaptor), The Misanthrope, Celebration and The Room (Peter Reigert and, Diane Venora), The Tempest (David Strathairn, Michael Tucker and, Geoff Hoyle), Threepenny Opera ( Bebe Neuwirth, Anika Noni Rose), A Woman of No Importance ( Elizabeth Banks). Multiple award winner Glace Bay Miner’s Museum (Phoenix theater, SF), Getting Out (Il Teatro Theater, SF), Hamlet (adapted) and Cloud Nine (UCR), Time Lost (L.A. Playhouse), Top Girls (Warehouse Rep) Women of the Bear (Stage 3), Freudian Slip (New City Theatre), Danger! Woman on Board (SF Fringe). Former positions include Associate Artistic Director American Conservatory Theatre San Francisco and Artistic Director Half Moon Theatre, NY. Whitcomb teaches Shakespeare and acting at CCV Montpelier and has taught at NVU, Marymount Manhattan College, American Conservatory Theatre, SF College of Art and Design, Vassar College, University of California Riverside and Santa Barbara, University of Washington and City University of NY. She holds a BFA in Acting, (University of Minnesota), MA in Theatre History/Literature (UCSB) and an MFA in Theatre Directing (University of Washington, Seattle)