SOLOs Episode 1

Presented by The Rock River Players and Hooker-Dunham Theater.

• 00:09 -  Welcome
• 02:18 - "Always Ridiculous" performed by Rose Watson
• 06:01 - "Milo the Cat" performed Jonathan Kinnersley
• 09:05 - "Annabelle Lee " performed John Ogorzalek
• 11:41 - "The Cherry Orchard" performed by Annie Landenberger
• 15:48 - "The Meaning of Life" performed by Tino Benson
• 23:38 - "Saint Joan" performed by Tom Ely
• 33:11 - etc.. - "The Stranger's Speech" performed by Dan Lloyd
• 36:18 - "Richard III" performed by Cameron Cobane

SOLOs Episode 1— a video montage of monologues and poetry by eight talented local actors filmed by Brattleboro Community Television — premieres simultaneously on BCTV and YouTube on Friday, November 13 at 7:30 PM. The show is coordinated with a participative online session where audience members will have a chance to meet the cast, directors, producers, and technical staff in a virtual “after-party” at 8:15.Each episode of SOLOs is a co-production of The Rock River Players and the Hooker-Dunham Theater filmed on the H-D stage.Bahman Mahdavi of the Rock River Players coordinated this first episode of the series. Mahdavi and RRP were in the midst of working with nearly two dozen performers to create a production of The Front Page when the pandemic hit. With in-person performance not a viable option, he became excited by the idea of developing solo shows that could be safely filmed and made widely available through BCTV and online.Annie Landenberger, founder of the Rock River Players, stresses the importance of creativity  in the face of the pandemic: "The Rock River Players are all about keeping the lively arts alive in the Valley and yet, here we are, stymied by a Covid reality. Kudos to Bahman for facing that reality and keeping theater alive for us, albeit virtually. Moreover he --in partnership with Jon Mack of Hooker Dunham and BCTV--have created a model that can endure as long as it needs to--until the dark cloud lifts, until we can applaud theater together again live, en masse.”“Even though the performances are by single individuals, the aim of SOLOs is to bring actors, directors, and writers together with their audience,” says Mack, who runs the Hooker-Dunham Theater. “The performing arts are all about the connection between artist and audience. The Hooker-Dunham is delighted to be hosting and co-producing an event which makes that connection while keeping safe. By collaborating with the Rock River Players, we can forge ahead to create exciting work.”This first show in the series is comprised of seven monologues and one poem. John Ogorzalek performs Edgar Allan Poe’s Annabelle Lee; Dan Lloyd enacts a Shakespeare monologue on the plight of immigrants; Cameron Cobane takes on Richard III’s “Now is the winter of our discontent”; and Annie Landenberger performs a piece from Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard. Tom Ely performs the Inquisitor’s monologue from George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan. Comic relief is provided by Jonathan Kinnersley in a cat’s view of its human “master” and Rose Watson performs Always Ridiculous by Jose Echegaray. Tino Benson will perform an original piece, titled The Meaning of Life.Other shows are in the pipeline: The next episode includes more Shakespeare performed by Michael Kennedy and Adrienne Major, T.S. Eliot’s Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock  and an excerpt from original play, Charles Henry’s Final Curtain performed by Ron Bos-Lun.  Mahdavi has already begun working up a show consisting of entirely original work, and a one-person show by Bill Forchion is also in development.