Shakespeare & Company brings "Golda's Balcony" to Tremont Theatre for Boston premiere
Shakespeare & Company has secured the rights to present the Boston premiere of its widely acclaimed production of "Golda's Balcony" by William Gibson at the Tremont Theatre from January 3 through February 22, 2003. Gibson's startling and personal look at Golda Meir received its world premiere in Lenox this past season, selling out and extending its four-month run in Shakespeare & Company's intimate Spring Lawn Theatre. The 90-minute, one-woman production returns original Boston-based director Daniel Gidron and Annette Miller as Israel's passionate Prime Minister. Previews are January 3, 4, and 5 ($27 all tickets). The press opening is Tuesday, January 7 at 8 pm. The Tremont Theatre is located in Boston's downtown theatre district, adjacent to the Wang Center, at 276 Tremont Avenue. The theatre will seat 200 at general admission. Performances are Tuesdays at 8 pm ($30), Wednesdays at 2 ($30) and 8 pm ($30), Thursdays at 8 pm ($30), Fridays at 8 pm ($34), Saturdays at 3 ($38) and 8 pm ($38), and Sundays at 3 pm ($34). Artistic process William Gibson has created a career of writing important American plays, including "The Miracle Worker," "Two for the Seesaw," and "Monday after the Miracle." He began writing the script of a play titled Golda many years ago and personally spent time with Golda Meir on his many visits to Israel, and in New York, while researching his subject. His recent work on the text refined the play and shifted the play's title to "Golda's Balcony", which references a little-known and frightening element of Israel's national defense in 1973. Gibson spent the first part of this year revising the script with Shakespeare & Company through a series of invited readings. "After the first reading, Tina Packer (Artistic Director) asked if Shakespeare & Company could produce the play," said Gibson, who resides in Berkshire County. "It was a very simple answer from my point of view after seeing Annette as Golda - yes! Golda didn't pull any punches. She was one tough cookie, and Annette sees that and evokes this in her performance." Gibson spent much time in Israel in the 1970s researching his first version of the play. The cast included Anne Bancroft and featured Arthur Penn directing, but Gibson says, "Despite the pedigree, I didn't feel happy with the results. I didn't like what happened with it; I didn't like what I had done." Then a friend suggested he try writing the piece as a one-woman monologue, a notion he first called "ridiculous" but soon enjoyed. He now emphasizes that the crafting and re-writing of the current script of "Golda's Balcony" was completed prior to this year's violence. "The current horrors on both sides followed the writing of this piece. But after all, the situation, which is horrible now, has been horrible in a latent sense for 50 years. There's almost something timeless about the topicality of it. The details are different, but the conflict remains the same." Desperate situation "Golda's Balcony" revolves around the bloody 1973 Yom Kippur War. Meir, Israel's Prime Minister from 1969-1974, is faced with a desperate situation. The Egyptian and Syrian armies are gaining ground after their surprise attack, and the Americans are delaying their supply of Phantom fighter planes and the replacement of military equipment lost in the first few days of the war. The fate of Israel is at stake, and the situation calls for drastic measures. While awaiting word from the White House and dreading a potential Doomsday scenario, Meir reflects on her life and the difficult personal and political decisions that have led her to office: from her first memories of her father, a carpenter, nailing boards against a door in Kiev to prevent a pogrom's invasion, to her growing up and falling in love in Milwaukee; from her immigration to Palestine, to her struggle to prioritize family and Zionism; from the British Mandate (1914-1948) through the Second World War, to the establishment of Israel (1948); from Israel's War of Independence through the 1956 Suez War and the 1967 Middle East War, to the horrors of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. "What is the price for survival," Meir asks in the play. "What happens when idealism becomes power?" "Golda Meir's story is the story of the State of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict," says Gidron. "It is also a universal story of the price we pay for our success. The journey she undergoes during this fateful night of vigil, waiting for word from Kissinger and Nixon, is moving, touching, funny, and horrifying all at the same time. In view of the current political situation and upheaval, it is also, unfortunately, very timely. Passionate performances "As a director, I always enjoy working on an exciting new script, especially when the playwright is part of the process. It has been doubly exciting to work with as brilliant a playwright as William Gibson. And I have known Annette Miller for over 25 years. Although physically she is the antithesis of Golda, who was very short and compact, emotionally she has the fire, dedication, imagination, and power needed for the role and for the demands of a one-woman show. I can't think of a better actress for this role. "Being an Israeli, and having lived there during the Yom Kippur War, I was able to help Annette with the research and the specific details of that dark period. There are also many contemporary resonances that make "Golda's Balcony" seem prescient, considering it was written long before 9/11 or the Second Intifada." Gidron, born in Israel and now Boston-based, earned Fulbright and Wien Scholarships and received his MFA from Brandeis University. He has taught at Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Brandeis. He has directed his adaptation of Amos Oz's Late Love for Habimah, Haifa Theatre; Beckett's Endgame at Beit Lessin; Accidental Death of an Anarchist at Arab Theatre in Israel; and The Beauty Queen of Leenane at Beersheva Theatre. He has also directed at Peterborough Players, Jewish Theatre of New England, Worcester Foothills, La MaMa, Lyric Stage, Merrimack Repertory, and Nora Theatre, where he serves as Associate Director. He recently directed Ed Bullins'City Preacher at Boston Center for the Arts and The Unexpected Man at Nora Theatre. "I am thrilled to bring "Golda's Balcony" to Boston, my home town," says Miller. "It was exactly a year ago this month that we did an initial read-through at Shakespeare & Company, and the response was so positive that Tina, Bill Gibson, and the artistic associates gave it the go-ahead for the 2002 season. As the sole actor on stage, the creative process changed and strengthened as that special relationship between actor and audience developed. I can't wait to see how the show will shift now with a Boston-based audience." Miller played to critical acclaim as Golda Meir this season and as Ruth Steiner in last season's Collected Stories in Lenox. Her other work at Shakespeare & Company includes Twelfth Night (Maria), Richard III (Margaret), The Merchant of Venice (Nerissa), and two world premieres: Ethan Frome (Zenobia) and Mercy (Faith). On Broadway: The Odd Couple - female version (Sylvie). Off-Broadway: The Primary English Class (Debbie Wastba) and Berlin Kabarett (musical revue). Regional credits: Nobody Dies on Friday at American Repertory Theatre (Paula Strasberg), The Seagull (Arkadina), Hamlet (Gertrude) Glass Menagerie (Amanda), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Sister Woman), Eastern Standard (Bag Lady), Broadway Bound (Kate), Sisters Rosensweig (Sarah), Zorba (Hortense), Jake's Women (Edith). Film: Autumn Heart (Joanne), Boardwalk ( Lerner), Imported Bridegroom ( Birnbaum), Next Karate Kid (Shop Owner), Night School (Helen Griffin), and Treading Water ( Olson). Television: As the World Turns (Smythe/Bettina), See How She Runs (M.O.W). For tickets and group sales, call toll-free (866)-637-3353 or purchase tickets on-line anytime at www.shakespeare.org. Discounts: 10% off (except on Saturday nights) for ages 65 and older/18 and younger/groups of 15 or more; $10 Rush Tix may be available at ½ prior to curtain for students aged 23 and younger with valid I.D (based on seats-available basis). Parking is available within walking distance of the theatre. "Golda's Balcony" is presented in association with International Society. AT A GLANCE| PRODUCTION: | "Golda's Balcony" |
| THEATRE: | TREMONT THEATRE (NEXT TO WANG CENTER) 276 TREMONT AVENUE, BOSTON, MA |
| DIRECTOR: | DANIEL GIDRON |
| CAST: | ANNETTE MILLER AS GOLDA MEIR |
| COSTUME DESIGNER: | GOVANE LOHBAUER |
| SCENIC DESIGNER: | LAUREN KURKI |
| DATES: | PREVIEWS: JANUARY 3, 4, 5, 2003PRESS OPENING: JANUARY 7 @ 8 PM DATES: TUES/WED/THUR/FRI/SAT @ 8 PM; WED @ 2 PM; SAT/SUN @ 3 PM CLOSING: FEBRUARY 22, 2003 |
| TICKETS: | PREVIEWS: $27 ALL TICKETS OTHER DATES: $30 - $38 WITH STUDENT, SENIOR, GROUP DISCOUNTS AND $10 RUSH TIX AVAILABLE. |
| BOX OFFICE: | TOLL-FREE: (866)-637-3353 ON-LINE: WWW.SHAKESPEARE.ORG GENERAL ADMISSION |
