Theater News

Allen, Cerveris, Kind, McDormand, et al. to Guest Star in an oak tree

Richard Kind
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
Richard Kind
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)

Joan Allen, Matthew Arkin, Michael Cerveris, Michael Countryman, Alison Fraser, Richard Kind, Frances McDormand, and Laila Robins will be among the upcoming participants in Tim Crouch’s two-actor play an oak tree at the Barrow Street Theatre.

In this unusual 65-minute piece, Crouch plays a provincial stage hypnotist who killed a young woman in a car accident. Each night, he asks for a “volunteer” from the audience; this role will be performed by a different person, including the aforementioned actors, at each show. The volunteer, whether male or female, will turn out to be the father of the dead girl. The actors will not have seen the script prior to the show; instead, they will receive all the information necessary via an ear piece (through which Crouch will feed them their lines), a clipboard with the script, or another method.

The show debuted at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2005; it has since toured England, Latvia, Lithuania, Israel, Ireland, Russia, Canada, and other countries. Crouch was last seen on stage in New York in My Arm, which played at 59E59 in 2004 and at The Public Theater earlier this year.

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an oak tree

Closed: January 14, 2007