Ladies and Gentlemen, Available Light is incredibly proud to announce our newest official Company Member – Carrie Cox.

Carrie is a long-time associate of our merry band of theatre-pirates, an early supporter of the BlueForms Theatre Group, a well-loved designer for BalletMet, Kristina Isabelle Dance, and other local performance artists, a Production Manager for the Bates Dance Festival in Maine, and a Production Coordinator and Lecturer for The Ohio State University Department of Dance.

You’ve seen and loved her work designing lighting and collaborating with AVLT on Stop Sign [language], Skyscrapers of the Midwest, and 33 Variations.

We look for any possible excuse to spend time with Carrie and we look forward to creating more great work with her.

Anne Evans wrote about her experience with the play for The Columbus Underground. Here’s a sample:

The pace of the play throws lots of heavy themes out to the audience without necessarily explaining them right away. It doesn’t really need to – for me, it was the discussion that happened once the play was over that made the experience well worth it… Go see the play with friends and give yourselves something to discuss for hours!

Read it all here.

Heather Gross of The Columbus Alive previewed our new show and spoke with director Matt Slaybaugh. Read it here.

And over at the Columbus Dispatch, Michael Grossberg talked to several cast members, and may have coined a new term – “Disney-topian.” Read his piece here.

Lil, Kim, Ian, Tim, and Julius goofing around with HERF guns.

You’re not going to want to miss this one.

Available Light's outrageous adaptation of Cory Doctorow's brilliant sic-fi novel, DOWN & OUT in the MAGIC KINGDOM, opens April 26, 2012.

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In the original Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom novel, Cory Doctorow saw the future in a huge number of ways. Some of the most compelling moments involve characters interacting with their heads-up-displays, or HUDs. It’s something we’ve taken great pains to replicate on-stage, and it will be a lot of fun to bring to life.

Along the way, though, we’ve needed to explain the concept to a lot of people. Luckily, Google showed-up with this video which makes it a lot more clear. Check it out, then see our version in Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom, starting April 26.

“What is true? What is false? What is, finally, important? It is not a sign of ignorance not to know the answers. But there is great merit in facing the questions.”
– David Mamet, True and False, Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor

Tuesday, April 17 – 7:30pm at:
The OSU Urban Arts Space
50 West Town St., Columbus OH 43215

THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS
Written and originally performed by Mike Daisey
Directed by Matt Slaybaugh
Featuring John Dranschak, Tim Fulton, Matt Hermes, Shanelle Marie, Jennifer Schlueter, Matt Slaybaugh, and Pam Welsh-Huggins.

AVLT brings you the most powerful and controversial play of the decade.

On January 6, 2012, after over 200 performances in 18 cities over 19 months, playwright and solo performer Mike Daisey appeared on This American Life to perform excerpts from his monumental solo show about Steve Jobs and Apple. Two months later, in an almost unbelievable turn of events, This American Life aired a retraction of their episode featuring Mike Daisey, stating –

We’ve discovered that one of our most popular episodes contained numerous fabrications. This week, we detail the errors in Mike Daisey’s story about visiting Foxconn, which makes iPads and other products for Apple in China. Marketplace’s China correspondent Rob Schmitz discovered the fabrications.

Over the next week, the internet pretty much exploded, as pundits, journalists, bloggers, and theatre artists fell all over themselves trying to condemn, defend, or question Mike and his work.
(READ MORE ABOUT THE CONTROVERSY.)

We’ll present the work in its complete and unaltered form on April 17. The reading will be followed by a talkback. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? We’ll try to figure it out.

ABOUT THE PLAY:
Mike Daisey turns his razor-sharp wit to America’s most mysterious technology icon in this hilarious and harrowing tale of pride, beauty, lust, and industrial design. He illuminates how the former CEO of Apple and his obsessions shape our lives, while following the trail all the way to China to investigate the factories where millions toil to make iPhones and iPods. Daisey’s dangerous journey shines a light on our love affair with our devices and the human cost of creating them.

“I will never be the same after seeing that show.”
– Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder, to the New York Times

“Mike Daisey, in addition to providing us with a riveting, hilarious, but ultimately gut-wrenching piece of theater, may actually end up being singularly responsible for bringing Goliath to its knees.”
– Michael Moore, Academy Award-winning Filmmaker

Admission is FREE to these casual readings of some the hottest plays on the planet. Join us on the last Tuesday of each month for cookies, coffee, and conversation.

The Right Now Readings will be at:
The OSU Urban Arts Space
50 West Town St., Columbus OH 43215

This morning, WOSU Public Radio featured playwright David Ian Lee, director Matt Slaybaugh, and cast member Jordan Fehr on All Sides with Ann Fisher. Ann spoke with David by phone before discussing our production of Sleeper and its creation with Jordan and Matt, live in the studio.

LISTEN HERE.

After thoroughly enjoying our opening of Sleeper last night, Arts writer Margaret Quamme applauded the show in writing. Here are some highlights.

Sleeper is a taut, emotionally demanding drama set in the years following 9/11. Available Light Theatre’s fluid, dynamic production of David Ian Lee’s play never lets its tension subside over the almost 2 1/2 hours of running time …

Lee has a gift for high-energy, jumpy, and often gleefully politically incorrect dialogue … At their most emotionally confused, the characters come across as intelligent, even if their brains aren’t getting them anywhere …

Director Matt Slaybaugh deftly locates the gap between the glib words and the less coherent feelings beneath them. Using a minimal but effective set, he keeps several scenes going simultaneously without losing the flow of any of them …

Eads and Weaver are particularly strong as the two lead women, finding depths and complexities in what could have been a simple dichotomy of liberal versus conservative …

Brant is quietly effective as a man increasingly in over his head. Welsh is touching both as Rachel’s husband and as Teri’s father, who suffers from Alzheimer’s …

Jordan Fehr is believably conflicted as a Muslim with ties to both London and his native Afghanistan …

The Available Light production grounds the more theatrical elements of the play in realistic character development, with the result that the smaller daily conflicts of the play come across as being as significant as the larger more world-shattering ones.

You can read her whole piece here.