THROWING BONES
For Immediate Release
Kill date: March 21st, 2010

ANAPHYLAXIS

by Mary Jane Gibson
Directed by Sheila Daniels

Limited Run at IRT Theater – New York Premiere
Awarded ARTISTIC PICK of the Seattle Fringe Festival

Throwing Bones, in association with IRT Theater’s 3B Development Series, is proud to present the New York Premiere of their award-winning hit from the Seattle Fringe. ANAPHYLAXIS is a chilling meditation on love and memory in the age of genetic modification. Opening on March 11, 2010.

Ana is allergic to everything. She was designed that way. Frank is under orders to replace her memory every few days; he’s not doing a very good job. When tinkering with DNA has gone too far, human nature takes a turn for the worse.

“In a sterile world, ANAPHYLAXIS is full of life creeping in from the edges. What appears to be a controlled environment full of repetitions and scientific detachment is instead a playground for a heartening lesson…that life surprises you. Frank is a scientist dealing in a world where extensive Genetic Modification has allowed allergies to run rampant. Ana is his subject. Things go wrong, terribly wrong and beautifully right at the same time… ANAPHYLAXIS is storytelling that pulls you in and entertains from the very beginning with both the subtle and the overt. It’s an unsettling reminder of the potential future of scientific “achievement” and the hope that the genuine routines of life will overcome.” – E.A. FARNHAM, Seattle Fringe Review

Directed by Sheila Daniels, ANAPHYLAXIS is the continuation of an award-winning collaboration that began in Seattle in 2003. Based in Seattle since 1994, Sheila served as Associate Director of Seattle’s Intiman Theatre, co-founded and served as Co-Artistic Director of both Theater Under Ground and Baba Yaga Productions, and has held positions as Associate Artistic Director at Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC) and Artistic Director of Theater Schmeater. A few of her directing credits include According to Coyote (Children’s Theatre Company, Minneapolis), Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Crime and Punishment, A Streetcar Named Desire (Intiman Theatre), Electra, Pericles (Seattle Shakespeare Company), Rubble Women (UMO Ensemble), Waiting for Lefty, God’s Country, and Arcadia (CHAC).
Throwing Bones’ production of ANAPHYLAXIS features original sound design by Mark Valadez, a New York City based sound designer and musician. He is resident sound designer for PL115 and has designed all of their shows. He is one third of the country/noise band The Ransome Brothers.

ANAPHYLAXIS features Mary Jane Gibson as Ana, the girl who is allergic to everything, and lives in the laboratory, and Scott Nath as Frank, the laboratory technician charged with her care.

Mary Jane Gibson (Ana) grew up in Newfoundland, and trained in Montreal and the UK. She wrote and performed in Anaphylaxis (Artistic Pick, 2003 Seattle International Fringe Festival), and with Nicole duFresne wrote and performed in Burning Cage (Artistic Pick, 2002 SIFF). New York credits include White Hot (HERE), Extropia and Liliom (Flying Carpet Theatre), M4M and Rehearsal: Vanya (Quality Meats). Mary Jane was awarded the Fox Foundation Fellowship in 1999. She is a founding member of The Fabulists — www.thefabulists.com.

Scott Nath (Frank, video production), an Iowa native, lived from the American south to the Pacific Northwest until settling in New York. NYC credits include Four Gorn Conclusions (Riant Theatre), Rehearsal Vanya (Quality Meats), Scribblin’ at the Automat (idegosuperego), Merry Wives of Windsor (Prospect Theatre), and Cold (PTTP), as well as a brief appearance on Law & Order. For the latest info about Scott, see www.scottnath.com.

ANAPHYLAXIS will have a preview at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, March 10th. Opening night is Thursday, March 11th with subsequent offerings on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday through March 21st. Evening performances start at 8:00 pm. Saturday matinees are at 2 PM and on Sunday the 21st the performance is at 3 PM. Tickets purchased in advance for all shows are $15.00 General, and are available online at www.brownpapertickets.com or by phone at 1-800-838-3006. IRT Theater is located at 154 Christopher Street, #3B, between Greenwich and Washington. For more information about ANAPHYLAXIS, please go to www.anaphylaxistheplay.com or call 646-942-7950.
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IRT Theater is located on the third floor of the old Archive Building in Greenwich Village. 154 Christopher Street, #3B (between Greenwich and Washington) New York, NY 10014 ANAPHYLAXIS
By Mary Jane Gibson Running time: 60 minutes
Performances: Preview – Wednesday March 10th, 8:00 Opens March 11th    8:00 PM 8 PM Evening Shows on March 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20 2 PM Matinees on March 13, 20 3 PM Matinee on March 21
All tickets $15
Advance Purchase:
www.brownpapertickets.com
1-800-838-3006
Information: 646-942-7950 www.anaphylaxistheplay.com and www.irttheater.org
Contact
info@anaphylaxistheplay.com

Read all the 2003 press after the jump:

The Stranger (link)
From the Sep 11 – Sep 17, 2003 issue
Bret Fetzer interview with Mary Jane Gibson:
“…a weird love story, and maybe a look at the future, but it’s mainly a black comedy. And we’re really close to the beer garden…”

The Stranger (link)
From the Sep 25 – Oct 1, 2003 issue
“…and Throwing Bones’ Anaphylaxis are plays that have actually inspired enthusiasm on the street…”

The Stranger (link)
From the Oct 9 – Oct 15, 2003 issue
“Fringe Festival Picks Plays” (announcement of the awarding of ‘Artistic Pick’)

Seattle Times (link)
October 1, 2003
announcement of artistic picks

Seattle Post-Intelligencer (link)
October 1, 2003
announcement of artistic picks

Seattle Times (link)
September, 2003
“One to Watch” (article about Mary Jane Gibson by Misha Berson)
“If you want to take in the acting prowess of Mary Jane Gibson on a local stage, you’d better jump to it. Last spring, the 28-year-old actress caused a stir with her haunting portrayal of a Victorian-era writer on the verge of a breakdown in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ at Theater Schmeater. She’s also won kudos for her forceful turn as a woman dosed with LSD and shock treatment in ‘The Burning Cage,’ a play Gibson co-wrote with Nicole DuFresne.

Before heading off to New York in October to try her luck there, Gibson will tackle another juicy part: that of the put-upon Isabella in Seattle Shakespeare Company’s ‘Measure for Measure.’ And this committed thespian will also turn up on Capitol Hill soon, in the Seattle Fringe Festival show ‘Anaphylaxis’.”

Seattle Fringe Review Rag (link at archive.org)
2003/09/22 15:26:28
Review Rag Writer: E. A. Farnham
“It’s a sterile world, but “Anaphylaxis” is full of life creeping in from the edges. What appears to be a controlled environment full of repetitions and scientific detachment is instead a playground for a heartening lesson…that life surprises you. Frank (Scott Nath) is a scientist dealing in a world where extensive Genetic Modification has allowed allergies to run rampant. Ana (Mary Jane Gibson) is his subject. Things go wrong, terribly wrong and beautifully right at the same time. Both characters are given potent senses of humanity by Nath and Gibson, and the staging and sound create a complete balance to pull the audience into the scene. Well directed by Sheila Daniels, “Anaphylaxis” is storytelling that pulls you in and entertains from the very beginning with both the subtle and the overt. It’s an unsettling reminder of the potential future of scientific “achievement” and the hope that the genuine routines of life will overcome.”

Joe Boling Review
Saturday, September 20, 2003
This performance got one of my very rare standing ovations. The story is somewhat derivative, though playwright Mary Jane Gibson says she is unaware of the earlier work I asked her about. Sheila Daniels directed. Scott Nath and Gibson are the players.

Ana is confined to an isolation ward; she is very unresponsive and has to be guided in every action. Frank, her doctor, comes in frequently to medicate and check up on her. As the pre-play action progresses, Ana gradually becomes more alert, more able to anticipate what will occur next, and eventually (as the pre-play merges into the real action) she begins to talk. She is being treated for severe allergies; once or twice she has been in anaphylactic shock and has had to be saved with emergency injections. Her memories are confused (her dreams are shown on a large video screen upstage).

It soon becomes clear that she is an experimental subject, and that her memories are being manipulated by Frank. It also becomes clear that Frank is not maintaining an arms-length involvement with his patient.

As the treatment progresses, Ana becomes more and more conscious that there is some sort of defect in her memories (things she knew yesterday don’t fit with what she knows today, and there is a hole in her life that she can’t fill). She becomes more insistent that Frank tell her what is going on, and assist her in recovering her mental health along with her physical health. Meanwhile, Frank is getting frantic, because he has lost control of her mental programming, parallel experiments are going badly in other labs, and he fears that he will lose Ana15 as well.

Both the writing and the acting in this are superb, and the staging is worthy of a studio film. This is way beyond your average Fringe fare, but right in line with Gibson’s Fringe entry in 2002, which was my pick for best of the fest last year. Don’t miss this one.