Posted 2007-10-21 06:49
New York, Chicago, Chiang Mai, “The DODO BIRD”
A Thrilling, Heartfelt Stage Drama, By American Playwright Emanuel Fried, Comes To Chiang Mai.
American actor, theater director turned English teacher, transports timely, important stage play from the stages of New York and Chicago to the auditorium of AUA’s language school, Chiang Mai.
“Chiang Mai, Thailand - October 19, 2007”
Stephan Benet Turner, from Chicago, Illinois is an English teacher at a very
well known and well respected Academy in Chiang Mai. He is also a theater
artist, who has taken up the challenge of bringing English language drama to
a city where there was none. Mr. Turner, the Artistic Director of Stage Actor’s
Ensemble of Chicago and Founder of The Performance Loft Theater, also in
Chicago, says that, “After two years of living in such a wonderful place, it
became apparent to me that the only thing missing from this great old city
was an outlet for live stage drama.” “I left the U.S. in search of a quieter
lifestyle, to get away from the cliquish rat race of the theater industry in New
York and Chicago and to settle down in a more peaceful environment.”
“Chiang Mai has everything I was looking for, except a place to practice my
craft.” With this thought in mind, Stephan, with the help of four other teachers,
has started a theater group within the old portion of the city called “The Gate
Theater Group.” Stephan says that, “Finding a suitable venue was the most
difficult problem we faced starting out.” But when I got the opportunity to meet
Mr. John Gunther, Director of the AUA Language Center, things just fell into
place.” John is very interested in the arts and even has experience as a
theater technician, so he was very sympathetic to our cause and agreed to let
us rent the AUA auditorium for our first production.”
That first production, “The Dodo Bird,” is an intense one act drama which
explores what it means to live on the fringe of society, to be a man who failed
to achieve the universal dream of being able to sustain himself and his family
and ceased to live by the culture’s standards. The Dodo Bird represents those
we often choose not to see: the guy with glazed eyes walking down the street
talking to himself, carrying a bottle in a brown paper bag, maybe asking for
change. All these Dodo Birds came from someplace, had parents once,
maybe their own family, maybe a job.
In this play, set in a nondescript western industrial town, the Dodo Bird is
fortunate to work as a millwright’s helper, due to the kindness of millwright
Russ Nowark, who keeps him on despite frequent hospital visits for the d.t.’s;
the job is just enough to get by on.
The story of how this particular human being reached this point of desperation
and isolation is revealed in one evening in a bar across the street from the
foundry, where the Dodo Bird is sober, washed, and waiting for a visit from his
estranged daughter.
The author, Emanuel Fried, has been a teacher of creative writing at State
University College at Buffalo, New York and served as a consultant to the
officers of the area’s AFL-CIO Council in carrying out an arts program for
labor. He has been a factory worker, a union organizer, a candidate for the
U.S. Congress, a writer of fiction and non-fiction in addition to his playwriting,
an insurance broker and an actor on Broadway. He wrote his first play long
ago in high school, about his experiences working as a bellhop. For years
while he was a union organizer, he wrote a short story a week for a labor
newspaper. His first play “Mark of Success” written in 1939, was not staged
until more than 20 years later at Catawba College in Salisbury, North
Carolina, as that year’s winner of their New American playwrights Contest.
“The Dodo Bird” first appeared in the winter of 1972-73, issue of Drama and
Theater, magazine published by State University College, Fredonia, New
York. It was last staged at The Performance Loft in Chicago seven years ago
in a production featuring Stephan Turner in the title role.
“Emanuel Fried’s The Dodo Bird is a surprisingly interesting piece of a kind
Of brutal, gutsy realism we seldom see today.”
-The Virginia Pilot
“There is tension here and a highly amusing bit when nice guy outwits brutal guy. There is also some very true language.”
-New York Post
“The Dodo Bird tells a highly suspenseful story and makes some highly relevant points. Mr. Fried is showing us how important job security is to maintenance of personal dignity. He is noting the predicament that faces every worker when he becomes obsolescent along with his job.”
-Nathan Cohen, Toronto Daily Star
“A powerful play. Incredible it has taken so long for Mr. Fried’s talent to be recognized.”
-Arnold Wesker, Author of The Wesker Trilogy
The play opens at AUA language school auditorium, 25 Rajadamoen Rd. in Chiang Mai on October 19th with additional performances on the 20th and 27th. Shows start at 7:30 pm each night. Donation, 250 Bt. For more information or reservations write to thegatetheater@asia.com or call 08-71-772195 No advance ticket sales.
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Posted 2007-10-19 21:36
the production of "The Dodo Bird" that is being staged by
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