Poster by Kimberley Mead.
SEASON 23 | AUGUST 2011
The Physicists
Written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Directed by Rudy Ramirez
Presented by the VORTEX Summer Youth Theatre 2011
View photos from the production here.
Three mad scientists--Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Johann Wilhelm Möbius--hold court in an insane asylum atop the Swiss Alps. As nurses begin turning up dead, a police inspector and a venerated psychiatrist join forces to find the cause. Is it the ghost of King Solomon? Is it Möbius's revolutionary theory, the Principle of Universal Discovery? Or is it the simple truth that what has been thought can never be unthought? Written under the threat of nuclear war and now produced in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, The Physicists provides an opportunity for the students of SYT to tackle science, politics, and ethics while telling a story that will make audiences laugh out loud before it chills them to the bone.
Summer Youth 2011: Xander Slay-Tamkin , Anissa McVea, Cassidy Timms, Josh Braun, Hannah Lyllith Newcomer, Rio Esquivel, Felipe Ramirez, and Martin Ramirez. Hunter Archield-Cupit, Molly Bentley, Emma Blaw, Taylor Cruse, Lois Durant, Sean Eure, O’tavian Fitzgerald, Maria Leuzinger, Nikaela Valentina Roe Sainz, Harley Jacob Schmalz, and Eric Spears.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Directed by Rudy Ramirez. Scenic Design by Ann Marie Gordon. Costume Design by Talena Martinez. Lighting Design by Patrick Anthony. Sound Design by Sergio R. Samayoa. Poster by Kimberley Mead.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Directed by Rudy Ramirez, VORTEX director, actor, and performance artist. Mr. Ramirez recently directed VORTEX’s critically acclaimed production of LEAR. He has directed numerous other projects including Wheels of Wonderland for the Austin Bike Zoo and Trey Deason’s play, Cardigan. His one-man shows and writing have received accolades around town. He recently received his MA from the University of Texas in Performance as Public Practice and additionally holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.
ABOUT SUMMER YOUTH
The Austin Chronicle lauds VORTEX’s Summer Youth Theatre (SYT) as “The Best Theatre for Kids That Treats Kids Like Grownups”. Now in it’s 20thth year, SYT has mentored hundreds of Central Texas students, teaming them with adult professionals to create many award-winning productions of great world literature including You Can’t Take It With You, R.U.R., Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, The Visit, Vitriol and Violets: Tales from the Algonquin Round Table, Machinal, The Frogs, and Moby Dick.
SYT 2010 provides students with experiences in all aspects of theatre including acting, technical theatre, and publicity. Rehearsals and workshops are Free to all participants.
Summer Youth Theatre is funded in part by VORTEX Repertory Company, the City of Austin under the auspices of the Austin Arts Commission, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.