The story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is told in Shakespeare’s canonical tragedy of the same name. The young prince is exhorted by the ghost of his father, the King, to avenge his murder by the King’s brother (Hamlet’s uncle) who has now assumed both the Danish throne and Hamlet’s mother as his queen. Confounded by questions of duty, death, faith, death, love, death, and death, with betrayal and maybe even death lurking at every turn, Hamlet descends into a dark psychological spiral (mostly about death), which inadvertently causes his lover Ophelia, Ophelia’s father Polonius, and his own childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern all to meet their respective deaths. He baits his Uncle with “The Murder of Gonzago” (a play about death) into revealing the usurper’s guilt over causing the death of the King.  Hamlet eventually meets his own death in a vengeful duel with Laertes (Ophelia’s brother) who also ends up dying. Completely surrounded by death, Hamlet’s friend Horatio delivers a tragic closing monologue about death.

Dr. John Faustus is the subject of a number of myths and legends, most famous of which are the two versions by German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the Shakespearean contemporary Christopher Marlowe. If not the original, it is a certainly a canonical “deal with the devil” tale. Faustus, a genius professor at Wittenberg, grows tired with the limitations of mere mortal knowledge. He strikes a deal with Lucifer, exchanging his eternal soul for 24 years of service from the demon Mephistopheles. Faustus uses Mephistopheles’ dark powers to search aggressively for truth and knowledge — but as his pride and power swell so does his spiritual corruption. In the end, he finds that he cannot repent of his grave sins. At the end of the 24 years, Faustus is ripped limb from limb and his soul is dispatched to Hell. Oops.

The Rev. Fr. Martin Luther is widely known as the father of the Protestant Reformation. This Augustinian monk was on the faculty of the University of Wittenberg when he penned his 95 thesis, objections to what he saw as corrupt Church doctrine that, in his view, had lost sight of Christ’s original teachings. He is widely (and incorrectly) purported to have posted these to the door of a church in Wittenberg on All Saints Eve (now known as Halloween) in the year 1517. In reality, Luther presented his thesis as discussion points for inquiry at university seminars, and even mailed a handwritten copy himself to the Archbishop of Mainz. Accused of heresy, Luther was ordered by papal bull to recant several of his theses and summoned to defend his beliefs before the Holy Roman Emperor. When he refused to recant, Luther was excommunicated and condemned; but he escaped imprisonment and later helped shape the religious Reformation that began to sweep Europe.

What happened before to set these men on their respective paths? Find out the backstory of how they irrevocably affected each others lives in AVT’s production of WITTENBERG, on stage April 13-28 at the AV Winery!

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View photos from rehearsal.
View video clips and interviews.

APRIL 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28
WITTENBERG, by David Davalos

Produced by special arrangement
with Dramatists Play Service, New York.

This highly irreverent “tragical-comical-historical in two acts” explores how three men’s sagas overlap, intertwine, and irrevocably affect the course of each other’s lives.  Will Hamlet get his tennis chops back and finally declare a major? Can Dr. Faustus distill the perfect medicine for philosophical angst and win the love of his beautiful Helen?  Can the Rev. Fr. Martin Luther defeat the Devil in his privy and reconcile his feelings for the Church? And driving it all, what really is the nature of the Eternal Feminine? Find out (*we can’t guarantee that you will) in this outrageously nerdy romp through literature, love, philosophy, and religion… A play that, like life, swings from deeply serious to farcically absurd at the drop of a hat.

Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm.
There is no performance Sunday April 29th.

Starring: Phillip E. McKaughan, Grant Dagg, Will Nicolai, Missy Schaapman, Sarah Bialobroda, and Aamod Samuel.

All performances at the ANTELOPE VALLEY WINERY on 20th St. W. at Avenue M in Lancaster, CA. Arrive early for wine tasting!

This play contains language and themes unsuitable for young children. 

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Select Performance

Fri, Apr 13, 8pm – [Preview] $7.00 USD Sat, Apr 14, 8pm – [General] $10.00 USD Sun, Apr 15, 4pm – [General] $10.00 USD Fri, Apr 20, 8pm – [General] $10.00 USD Sat, Apr 21, 8pm – [General] $10.00 USD Sun, Apr 22, 4pm – [General] $10.00 USD Fri, Apr 27, 8pm – [General] $10.00 USD Sat, Apr 28, 8pm – [General] $10.00 USD

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Remaining tickets not sold in advance online and all student tickets ($8.00) will be sold at the door, via cash or check only, starting 30 minutes prior to curtain. 

The Friday Apr 13 performance (opening night) is our PATRON PREVIEW NIGHT. Patrons of AVT get in free, and all other tickets are just $7.

View a video clip from an early rehearsal:

Production Stage Manager: Karen Gruca
Technical Design Team: Nicelle Davis, Claudia Herrera, Pavlina Janssen, Jessica Katzman, and Phillip E. McKaughan
Produced and directed by Nalin A. Ratnayake

Please contact productions@avthespians.org if you intend to audition, have any questions, and/or to receive directions to AVT’s garage blackbox.

All roles will be cast by an open audition reading. Sides will be provided at the audition, and no formal preparation or monologue is required. Scripts will be provided to those cast, but those wishing to purchase their own copies for perusal can do so via Dramatists.

There will be 8 performances at the AV Winery: April 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28. Rehearsals of 2-3 hours duration will be held twice weekly, with additional rehearsals possibly added as needed. Technical rehearsals will be April 9, 10, 11.

Produced and directed by Nalin A. Ratnayake. Stage managed by Karen Gruca.

Setting: University of Wittenberg, Germany, October 1517.

Roles (open audition):
JOHN FAUSTUS, M.D., J.D., Ph.D., Th.D, a doctor – 30′s to 50′s male
HAMLET, prince of Denmark, a senior, major undecided – 20′s male
Rev.Fr. MARTIN LUTHER, D.D., a professor and confessor, 30′s male

The ETERNAL FEMININE, all played by one actress, early 20′s to early 30′s:
GRETCHEN, a tavern girl
HELEN, a lady of pleasure
MARY, Mother of God
LADY VOLTEMAND, an ambassador

Plot summary: It is October 1517 in northern Germany. The beginning of another fall semester at the University of Wittenberg finds certain members of the faculty and student body at personal and professional crossroads. Hamlet (senior, class of 1518) is returning from a summer in Poland spent studying astronomy, where he has come in contact with a revolutionary scientific theory that threatens the very order of the universe, resulting in psychic trauma and a crisis of faith for him. His teacher and mentor John Faustus (professor, philosophy) has decided at long last to make an honest woman of his paramour, Helen, a former nun who is now one of the Continent’s most sought-after courtesans. And Faustus’ colleague and Hamlet’s instructor and priest, Martin Luther (professor, theology), is dealing with the spiritual and medical consequences of his long-simmering outrage at certain abusive practices of the Church—the same Church to which he has sworn undying obedience. How these three men’s sagas overlap and intertwine and how they end up irrevocably affecting the course of each other’s lives is the substance of WITTENBERG, a comedy that reveals the story behind the stories of Hamlet, Doctor Faustus and the Protestant Reformation.

“A cocktail of brainy allusions, absurdist plot twists, sly wordplay and disarming anachronisms, fortified with serious ideas, WITTENBERG should delight Tom Stoppard fans, recovering English majors, disillusioned academics and anyone who has ever wondered what Helen of Troy was like in the sack…” — Washington Post

[Link to AVT Operational Plan v5.1]

The new Op Plan is in keeping with our founding principles, most notably that we are a community-driven community theatre company – of, by, and for our local neighborhoods.

AVT will use the month of December to internally effect a transition between membership definitions. Those on the list below are either presently members or eligible for membership under the old rules, and may opt-in to the new membership rules immediately if desired. Candidates for new membership, under the new rules only, will be considered starting January 1st, 2012. Membership will lapse for all current members who have not opted in to the new rules by Jan 1.

Sarah Allen
Sarah Arnac
Dean Berg
Sarah Bialobroda
Nicelle Davis
Anna Delrosario
M. Steven Felty
Jeremy Gruca
Joe Gruca
Karen Gruca
Mathew Gruca
Jessie Hassan
Claudia Y. Herrera
Kevin J. Hogan
Jessica Katzman
Juliana Katzman
Pavlina Janssen
Juan Juarez
Melissa Martin
Nikki Martin
Kara McCollum
Marcus McCollum
Phillip E. McKaughan
Stevelon Mims
Derric Neal
Lucas Nemeth
Will Nicolai
Nalin A. Ratnayake
Kelly Lynn Regan
Missy Schaapman

View photos from tech rehearsal!

Note that there is no performance on Sunday, November 13th.

NOVEMBER 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20
THREE DAYS OF RAIN
by Richard Greenberg

Produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, New York.

A year after he disappeared on the day of his father’s funeral, Walker Janeway returns to New York. Here he finds a clue to his troubled past: “April 3-5: Three days of rain.” So begins the curious journal of Ned Janeway, the father that Walker thought he knew. In Act II, we travel back in time to the mid-1960’s, where we are offered an alternative, unexpectedly romantic perspective of the family story. A many-layered drama peppered with witty moments that make us smile, Three Days of Rain ultimately questions every one of those little stories that we tell ourselves—the ones we need in order to make sense out of life.

Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm. There is no performance on Sunday, November 13th.

This play contains strong language. We do not recommend it for young children.

Remaining tickets not sold in advance online will be available at the door, 30 minutes prior to curtain, via cash or check only. 

The Friday Nov. 5th performance (opening night) is our PATRON PREVIEW NIGHT. Patrons of AVT get in free, and all other tickets are just $5.

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View photos from rehearsal.

Directed by Nicelle Davis
Stage Manager: Claudia Y. Herrera
Scenic Design: Nicelle Davis, Phillip E. McKaughan
Costume Design: Pavlina Janssen
Lighting Design: Sarah Bialobroda, Nalin A. Ratnayake
Sound Design: Claudia Y. Herrera
Properties Design: Nicelle Davis, Pavlina Janssen
Technical Crew: Sarah Bialobroda, Mathew Gruca, Jessica Katzman, Nikki Martin, Will Nicolai
Produced by Nalin A. Ratnayake on behalf of Antelope Valley Thespians.

Missy Schaapman, Nalin Ratnayake, and Phil McKaughan rehearse for Three Days of Rain.

AVT’s production of Three Days of Rain, by Richard Greenberg and set to open November 4th, is well underway with the rehearsal and technical design process. Director Nicelle Davis is moving forward with a beautiful and ambitious vision for the production, including a blend of solid and ephemeral elements to to bring out the play’s many-layered themes.

Working on an aggressive rehearsal schedule, actors Phil McKaughan, Missy Schaapman, and Nalin Ratnayake are beginning to mesh as a cast as we close to within one week of an Act I full run-through. Each actor is playing two roles, one in the modern day Act I, as well as a parent of each character in the 1960′s in Act II.

Starting from a staging plan designed by Nicelle and Nalin, member Sarah Bialobroda is observing rehearsals and starting the sketches for her first production as a lighting designer. Sarah has operated the lighting for the shows of many AVT productions to date.

Staging plan for Three Days of Rain (click image for larger view). This is the AV Winery's warehouse area, with north pointing down on the page.

Three Days of Rain was commissioned by South Coast Repertory in 1997. It received its New York premiere at the Manhattan Theatre Club in that same year, and went on to enjoy many subsequent productions, including in London’s West End. The script was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in drama.

AVT’s production will run for eight performances at the Antelope Valley Winery – Nov 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 18, 19, and 20. It is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, New York.

A year after he disappeared on the day of his father’s funeral, Walker Janeway returns to New York. He takes up temporary residence in the unused space where, thirty-five years earlier, his architect father lived and designed the great house that would make him and his partner famous. Here he finds a clue to his troubled past: “April 3-5: Three days of rain.” So begins the curious journal of Ned Janeway, the father that Walker thought he knew. Long-overdue confrontations with his sister and best friend slowly force new meaning as they reinterpret their relationships to each other and their respective pasts. In Act II, we travel back in time to the mid-1960’s, where we are offered an alternative, unexpectedly romantic perspective of the family story. A many-layered drama peppered with witty moments that make us smile, Three Days of Rain ultimately questions every one of those little stories that we tell ourselves—the ones we need in order to make sense out of life.  AVT’s production of Three Days of Rain is directed by Nicelle Davis in her debut production with the company.

Claudia Y. Herrera, Stage Manager
Kevin J. Hogan, Technical Director
Nalin A. Ratnayake, Producer
Starring Phillip E. McKaughan, Nalin A. Ratnayake, and Missy Schaapman.