Tuesday, October 01, 2013

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: STEPHEN SCHNETZER (AW, OLTL, DOOL, ATWT)

The folks at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis contacted the Soap Opera 451 blog to ask for help in getting the word out about their upcoming play, Tribes, co-starring none other than Stephen Schnetzer (Cass; AW & ATWT).

We are happy to oblige!

(EDITED ON 10/16/13 TO ADD: We've got video! Scroll down below!)

The Guthrie Theater today announced casting for its production of Nina Raine’s Tribes. Winner of the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and a 2010 Olivier Award nominee for Best Play, Tribes is a provocative, poignant family drama that illuminates the fascinating interplay of sound and communication, perception and true understanding. Wendy C. Goldberg (Guthrie: Dollhouse) directs this regional premiere that begins performances on the McGuire Proscenium Stage on Friday, October 5.

Billy is a young man born deaf and raised in an opinionated and intellectually raucous family that talks constantly. Not only have his parents and siblings never learned sign language, neither has Billy, who has had to adapt to the hearing world. Then he meets Sylvia, a young woman from a Deaf family who introduces him to sign language. Billy feels a confidence and sense of belonging he’s not known before and finally understands what it means to be understood.

On writing the play Nina Raine offers, “I first had the idea of writing Tribes when I watched a documentary about a deaf couple. The woman was pregnant. They wanted their baby to be deaf. I was struck by the thought that this was actually what many people feel, deaf or otherwise. Parents take great pleasure in witnessing the qualities they have managed to pass on to their children. Not only a set of genes. A set of values, beliefs. Even a particular language. The family is a tribe: an infighting tribe but intensely loyal.”

Tribes features the Guthrie debuts of John McGinty and Stephen Schnetzer. McGinty, who is himself deaf, will appear in the role of the central character Billy. His previous work includes roles in theater (Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum/DeafWest, Handicapped People In Their Formal Attire at Premiere Stages, Robin Hood: Thieves of Hearts at Cleveland Sign Stage), in film (Closed Caption, Conned, Love Signs) and on television (“I Killed My BFF” and “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”).

Schnetzer, known best for his roles on the daytime television series “Days of Our Lives,” “One Life to Live” and “Another World,” will play Christopher—the family patriarch. Schnetzer’s theater credits include The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? on Broadway and The Quality of Life, Legacy of Light and Noises Off at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

Tribes begins preview performances on October 5, opens October 11 and continues through November 10 in the McGuire Proscenium at the Guthrie Theater. Single tickets start at $29 and are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, 612.225.6244 (Group Sales) and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

***

To read our exclusive interviews with the actors who appeared on the last episode of Another World, click here.

Watch scenes from Tribes, below:







2 comments:

yellowdoggranny said...

I wish he was back on tv...I miss him sooo much.

jill said...

can't wait to see it! i've been a guthrie subscriber for over 10 years and i'm always happy to see my soap peeps on stage there. :) i'll be writing about it on my theater blog: http://www.cherryandspoon.com/