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Judevine

A drama by David Budbill.

Directed by Peter Hughes.

Since 1998 the Players has taken a production to the Colorado Community Theater's (CCTC's) annual festival. We've racked up a slew of awards in the process, and this past summer we took our production of All in the Timing by David Ives to the national festival in Harrisburg, Pa.

This year's CCTC entry is Judevine, a play by poet David Budbill. Peter Hughes will direct the show. Hughes directed All in the Timing and our 1999 first place winner, Haiku. He is the Players' artist-in-residence. In the cast are Andy Bock, Carol Meredith, Matt DiMinno, Robin Freeman, Gary Sohrweid, Shane Delavan, Isaac Manobla, Eric Dellinger, Din Manobla, Karen Kargel and Lisa Kraai. Molly Epstein is producer.

For the first time, we are offering preview performances of our CCTC festival entry as part of our regular season. Judevine will be at Center/Stage for a three-show limited engagement, March 15, 16 and 17. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m. There will be a Sunday matinee at 2:00 p.m.

This show includes some harsh language and is not suitable for young children.

This will be your only chance to see the show in Evergreen. It will travel to the CCTC festival in Fort Collins in June. The top two finishers at this year's festival get to go on regional competition where they'll vie for a chance to go to nationals (scheduled for Torrington, Conn., in summer 2003).

Judevine, like All in the Timing, is an ensemble piece. But where Timing was all about rapid-fire comedy and razor-sharp wit, Judevine is impressionistic, poignant with flashes of humor, a glimpse of peoples' lives through the eyes of a poet. It evolved from a series of Budbill's poems about an imaginary town in Vermont, a beautiful place where many people live tough lives. "It ain't no Vermont picture postcard," says the character Grace, who lives in a trailer with her three kids. Grace is both harsh and tender, like Judevine itself. She argues with the poet, who also is a character in the play. She argues with everybody. Grace is in many ways the lightning rod character, through whom all the emotions charged up by the play eventually run. But hers is just one story. There's also Antoine, a laborer with a gutter mouth and a big heart; and Lucy, who lives in her memories; Tommy, "a stick of dynamite ready to go off in somebody's face;" Raymond and Ann, an elderly couple of whom the poet says, "? when they came to this mountain fifty years ago they wanted only silence and each other and having found these things they were happy."

Because it's based on poetry, Judevine has a kind of raw emotional intensity that's unusual in a conventionally dramatized story. Peoples' stories are interwoven, along with the sounds of the way they talk and the sounds of wind and birds.

"The theatre, writes Budbill in his introduction to the play, "is a place where we pretend in order to reveal to ourselves what is most meaningful and most real." In Judevine Budbill reveals much that is both startling and true. This is a show not to be missed.

From the Author's introduction

"Judevine grew out of a series of narrative and dramatic poems and an hour-long play, Pulp Cutters' Nativity, written over the past twenty years, about the people in an imaginary town in the mountains of northern Vermont called Judevine - an out-of-the-way place full of people whom the hip consider nonexistent, invisible, but who are, in fact, sacred, unique, unrepeatable individuals, the equal of anyone in God's sight. Judevine is a third-world country within the boundaries of the United States where, as in so many third-world countries, there is incredible physical beauty, great suffering and hardship, and a tenacious and indomitable will to survive..."

"It is my hope and belief that the theatre is a place where we can give up our smart defenses and brittle sophistications, and dare to be open and vulnerable with each other, where we can feel secure enough, for a moment, to watch our lives being exposed. The theatre is a place where we pretend in order to reveal to ourselves what is most meaningful and most real..." - David Budbill

Director's Notes

Jude-vine. (food-vine) 1) Jude - Saint of lost causes. 2) vine - any plant with a long, thin stem that grows along the ground or climbs a wall or other support by means of tendrils.

A seed can root in the most debouched of terrains and, reaching for the light, grow to blossom.

A monument to the power of faith.

Clinging with a death-grip, some reach for the light, casting a shadow over those who give support. Their life force depleted, the blossom stunted and frail, still a blossom.

A monument to giving without taking.

The gardener, gentle hands and kind of heart, guiding without controlling, assists each with equal compassion, generous warmth and a knowing that has yet to find words.

A monument to giving one back to itself. Beauty can be found wherever one seeks it out.

Welcome to Judevine, "ugliest town in northern Vermont, except maybe East Judevine."

- Peter Hughes

Cast

Andy Bock David

Andy is currently a senior at CU Denver pursuing his BA in theater arts. Some of his favorite roles include Gary in both Noises Off and I Hate Hamlet. Upon graduation, he hopes to work for the Walt Disney World Company. As always, every performance is dedicated to his parents and his brother, Elliott.

Shane Delavan Edgar

Shane is excited to be a part of Judevine. You may have seen Shane in recent productions of The Foreigner and La Cage aux folles. He also represented the Players in competition with All in the Timing. Shane manages investments during the day and loves to participate in theatre as often as possible.

Eric Dellinger Tommy

Eric has been performing for 24 years. He has performed in shows like; Diviners, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Anna Klieber, Bus Stop, and many more. He recently made his Evergreen Players debut in The Foreigner. And while rehearsing the piece, he has been planning his wedding!

Matt DiMinno Antione

By day, Matt is a financial counselor. He enjoys reading and writing poetry. He is a cofounder of three theater groups and has acted in and produced numerous plays. He dedicates his performance to his wife, Laura, and his daughters, Melanie Rose and Susan.

Robin Freeman Lucy

Robin has happily performed with the Players before. She just finished a video, Say A Prayer for the Living, a tribute to 9/11, is the lead in an independent film, The Manatee's Love Song, and is in the television show, Busted, on the Discovery Channel.

Din Golden Grace

Din was last seen on stage in All in the Timing. She was chosen best actress at the regional community theatre competition in Cheyenne, WY. Other shows with the Players include Bye Bye Birdie, Working, and Broadway Bound. She dedicates her performance to her college theatre professors who helped her get rid of her New England accent and her parents who helped her find it again!

Peter Hughes Director

Peter is the Evergreen Players Artist-in-Residence and has worked at Universal Studios Hollywood, Los Angeles Music Center Opera and Summer Repertory Theatre. Evergreen Players directing credits include; Working, The Lion in Winter, Haiku, Steel Magnolias, All in the Timing, La Cage aux folles, and this season's, The Boyfriend.

Karen Kargel Alice, Edith

Karen's most recent performance was as Mrs. Webb in the critically acclaimed LIDA Project production of Our Town. She was last seen on Center/Stage as the wacky mystic, Helga Ten Dorp in Deathtrap. Working with visionary director Peter Hughes is an honor, she says. She is a school librarian and lives in Littleton.

Lisa Kraai Laura

Lisa is honored to again be working with the Evergreen Players. She was last seen in Evergreen Players' Steel Magnolias as Annelle. Lisa's other credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Nerd, The Dining Room, Eleemosynary, Into The Woods and Lovers:Winners for which she won a Best Actress Award and got to perform in Heidelberg, Germany.

Isaac Manobla Hopper Boy

Isaac has performed over the last two summers with the Evergreen Players' Drama Camp here at Center/Stage. His other interests include ice hockey, basketball and skiing. His next role will be as Maid Marion in Robin Hood, the spring musical at his school.

Carol Meredith Ann

Carol Meredith was last seen at Center/Stage in Heavens, A Nude Beach as Frinta and Christine; has worked at The Third Eye, Gabriels, Eugenes, and Summerstage. Favorite roles include: Freddie - The Club, Desiree - A Little Night Music, and Joanne - Company. As the Executive Director of The Arc, she advocates for people with developmental disabilities.

Gary Sohrweid Raymond

This is Gary's 3rd CCTC appearance with the Evergreen Players. He received Best Actor for his performance in Greater Tuna at the 1998 CCTC Festival and received an Outstanding Achievement Award in acting at the 2001 National Community Theatre Competition in Harrisburg, Pa. with the Evergreen Players' production of All In The Timing.

Production Crew