Archive for the Theatre Ventoux Category

It began in 1979 as a dream in the heart of a 14 year old boy sitting in his English class. It resurfaced in 1985 while that boy, now a young man, was making grand plans for a future with his best friend. It emerged again in 1988 as that young man immersed himself in university life. Finally, in 2007, in partnership with his best friend, and for some years now, his wife, and with the help of some of the most amazing people in Fresno, the dream took on a life of its own.

Theatre Ventoux is a dream brought to life.

This is who we are.

Theatre Ventoux has a singular mission: the creation of something wonderful. Whatever else we may intend, as a company or individually, the creation of a living, breathing embodiment of wonder is the driving force behind all that we do.

Theatre Ventoux does not audition actors. We choose and design our productions around artists whose work we delight in and whose character we respect. We choose our actors for the unique gifts that they bring to each of our productions.

Theatre Ventoux has a way of working. Dubbed the Ventoux Process, we provide our actors with specific tools which we believe nourish the creative impulse and aid in channeling that impulse into the conscious creation of something wonderful. Through work on Centering and the essential acting elements of Language, Relationship, Emotion, Action, Character and Presence we seek to clarify and challenge our craft as a means to up the stakes of our art.

Theatre Ventoux offers our patrons a money-back guarantee. If, after any Theatre Ventoux performance, a patron feels their time could have been better spent elsewhere, we will promptly refund the cost of admission. Time is all that we have; if we are wasting yours, we do not deserve your money.

Theatre Ventoux is a dream brought to life. Like all dreams, it is fragileand tenuous; it exists by virtue of the faith placed in it. So long as we have the faith of our artists, the support of our patrons, and the blessings of our family, we will continue to dream the dream.

That is what we do.

That is who we are.

we begin formal rehearsals for cb tonight. more of the ventoux process, dialects, rough explorations of space and relationship, on our feet playing with what is, once again, a fantastically talented and dedicated group of interpretive artists. thanks to ebay we have our props and costumes (or most of them), thanks to steve sansebastian (fresno auction company) we have our set pieces.

i guess all that remains is to rush in where angels fear to tread…but then, we’re no angels. or, perhaps we are, and angels were never what we thought they were.

at any rate: VLB!!!

etonne-moi
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Drumroll, please……..the cast of Equus is finalized and we couldn’t be happier. The production will go up this fall under the direction of Lisa Mercier-Taber, in partnership with our good friends at the California ARTS Academy. While our production is not an adaptation, it is a modern staging and revisioning of one of the more lauded and award winning plays of the last forty years. We expect it to be something wonderful, and we hope you will join us for it.

This Is Who We Are:

Martin Dysart/ Greg Taber

Alan Strang/ Stephen Torres

Hesther Saloman/ Jessica Reedy

Nurse/ Suzanne Garcia

Frank Strang/ Dave Otero

Dora Strang/ Devon Bailey

Harry Dalton/ Ronald Blackwell

Jill Mason/ Renee Newlove


Something Wonderful This Way Comes…

Fall 2007

Peter Shaffer’s

EQUUS

Reading these posts, one may begin to wonder if there isn’t perhaps some measure of rosy glasses going on, or maybe there is some whitewash on the fence? Vive le bullshit after all..
Well, the answer is no. The picture is what it is, no whitewash needed.
It really is going as well as described. What I think is being expressed is that it is going better than many of us expected…maybe? I know I had high expectations and that so far I’ve not only NOT been disappointed, but pleasantly surprised most of the time.
It really is no accident. The folks involved were asked and agreed to become a part of this production BECAUSE of their focused dedication. Theater Ventoux is a creative, fun, challenging, explorative, safe environment/process within which we can bring that focus to bear. (a synonym for press…hmmm) So everyone feels free to bring what they have into this environment and we play with all these ideas and keep what feels good and work past what feels difficult. And throughout this process we are encouraged and given tools to use to further our exploration.
As to my personal experience…WOW!!! I thought I had peaked - maybe plateaued - after Tuesday night (running Act 1 Mon. & Act 2 Tues.) but after Wednesday’s work I am able to distill the essence of Bushy down to the core and fill myself with that essence. For me this has been - continues to be (6 more changes) a very effective process of creative development and that is hugely satisfying.
Vive le bullshit? no shit!

Have you ever been in a show where you or another actor had an “off night?” Worse yet, have you ever been in the audience of a show that was having an “off night?” Why is it acceptable to excuse a sub-par performance? Don’t we, as actors, have an obligation to our castmates and audience?

We have one chance every night to make a lasting impression. The audience doesn’t care if we had a bad day at work or the dog threw up on the carpet or we had a fight with our significant other or if that certain “someone” came to see the show. Each and every person took time out of their lives and money out of their pockets to see us; we owe them the best work we can give. If a cast has an “off night,” are they going to offer rainchecks for people to come see a better show for free? Of course not. We shrug it off and say, “Oh well, I’ll/we’ll be better tomorrow.” I saw a show during the Rogue on an “off night.” I felt cheated, especially when a cast member said that the night before had been really good. “Thanks for coming; too bad you saw us on an off night.”

What will make Ventoux stand apart is the training the actors are getting. With what everyone is learning in terms of emotions, relationships, etc. if somebody has a bad day it won’t affect the performance. Every night we will bring our best game, because every night is opening night.

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