Provocative theatre group Sprung to perform "Capsize" Jan. 17
MIDDLEBURY, Vt.?With a chorus, two people, five chairs, and six buckets of water, the international movement theatre company Sprung uses the image of a capsizing ship to explore a foundering relationship in “Capsize,” set for 8 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 17, in Middlebury College’s Wright Memorial Theatre.
“Capsize” offers an image of how people fall, attempt to right themselves, and are changed by this effort. The production examines a couple and their movements, and tells their story using water, air, falling, separation, observation and failure. The actors simultaneously create a world that ranges from intimate and absurd to violent. Throughout, a chorus interacts with the characters.
“Capsize” is the latest creation of Sprung, a Chicago-based company dedicated to challenging how audiences and performers view movement and performance. A reviewer for the Chicago Reader said the production “captures perfectly love’s evolution from wonder to routine to restlessness to disintegration.”
Sprung’s stated aim is to examine familiar themes of life by applying movement and performance in order to create pieces that are “alive, mysterious and vibrant,” writes Jon Sherman, one of the company’s two artistic directors and a co-founder. Sherman, a 1994 Middlebury College alumnus, co-directs and performs in “Capsize.” According to him, Sprung’s members hope to provoke the imaginations of audience members, artists and students.
Sherman studied at L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris and the British American Dramatic Academy in London, as well as Middlebury College. He has performed in Switzerland, New York and Washington, D.C., with such theatres as Arena Stage and the Potomac Theatre Project?where Middlebury College theatre faculty Cheryl Faraone and Richard Romagnoli are directors. Sherman has played roles such as Roderick Usher in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Jules in “Jules and Jim,” and Antonio in “Twelfth Night.” In Chicago, Sherman has performed with several groups, including Lucky Plush Productions and Mordine and Company.
The performance of “Capsize” is cosponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series and the department of theatre and dance.
Wright Memorial Theatre is located on Château Road off College Street (Route 125). Tickets are $12 for general admission and $10 for seniors. For tickets or information, call the College Box Office at 802-443-6433. Online tickets and information are available at /arts/ .
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