| Mission Statement – It is the mission of Retro Productions to present works of retro theatre. Retro is defined as "involving, relating to, or reminiscent of things past (American Heritage Dictionary)." At Retro Productions we will strive to tell good theatrical stories which have an historical perspective -with an emphasis on the 20th century- in order to broaden our own understanding of the world we live in. We believe through stories of human lives and struggles, both dramatic and comedic, we can understand social history and culture and how it affects us today. | |
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Pictured: Casandera M. J. Lollar and Lowell Byers in Holy Days by Sally Nemeth. Photo by Jordana Zeldin. |
Pictured: Jim Kilkenny and Ric Sechrest in The Tender Trap by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith. Photo by Kristen Vaughan. |
History – Retro Productions was born out of River Heights Productions in the summer of 2006. At the dissolution of RHP, Founding Artistic Director, Heather Cunningham, sought to continue her work on its mission statement of “retro theatre.” As a result a new company with a new name carries on the work of River Heights Productions. RHP started in 2005 by studying the 1960’s as seen through the eyes of children in Catholic School Girls by Casey Kurtti and followed up in 2006 by looking at the housewife movement of the 1950’s in Mrs. California by Doris Baizley. In February/March of 2007, Retro examined the effects of the Vietnam War on late 1970's America in Emily Mann's Still Life, which Backstage East listed as a 2007 "Performance to Remember." For its third year Retro produced its first two-show season as a resident company at the Spoon Theater, including What I Did Last Summer by A. R. Gurney and Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth. What I Did Last Summer is a charming mid century coming of age tale which highlights growing up stateside during World War II. Mill Fire contemplates the nature of grief: when an explosion at the local steel mill takes the lives of several of the town's men, Marlene, one of the widows, refuses to grieve in the conventional way thought proper in 1978. For these shows Retro Productions was nominated for 6 New York Innovative Theater Awards. For season 4 Retro presented the light 50s sex comedy The Tender Trap by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith and in the spring will present Mark Medoff’s When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?, about a hold up gone wrong in a run down southwestern diner at the end of the 60s. In 2009-2010 Retro will celebrate turning 5 with the New York premiere Holy Days by Sally Nemeth, a Great Depression dust bowl drama, and The Desk Set by William Marchant, a 50s workplace comedy. For the 2010-2011 season Retro will present it's first British play with Benefactors by Michael Frayn, a drama that looks at two marriages and the fall of council housing (projects) in the late 60s in London. The spring production is still TBA. |
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| Pictured: Erik Potempa and Kristen Vaughan in Still Life by Emily Mann. |
Pictured: Heather E. Cunningham and Matilda Szydagis in Mrs. California by Doris Baizley. |
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