 photography by Erica Nix Like
any well-made play, this one starts with a booming voice from the sky -
though this booming voice arrives in the form of a hardcover copy of
Hedda Gabler torpedoing into the lap of a terribly bored Michigan
housewife. Suddenly, Jane Gordon finds herself captured by robots and
whisked off to the Ecuadorian rainforest to perform the titular role in
a robo-version of Henrik Ibsen’s famous drama. Jane’s ten-year-old
daughter, Nugget, with the aid of her milquetoast father, an eager
documentary filmmaker and her small arms dealing uncle must rescue her
mother from the mechanical grip of her robot captors - whether she
wants to be saved or not. Heddatron takes us on a hi(tech)storical
journey through our trigger happy-TV-4G-machine-obsessed
world to ask that great question, “What does it mean to be human?”
Salvage Vanguard, with the help of the University of Texas’
tech-savvy Robotics & Automation Society, is ecstatic to offer
a look at what happens when “real” robots and even realer humans battle
it out on the stage in the Austin premiere of Elizabeth Meriwether’s
genre-defying head-trip Heddatron.
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written by Elizabeth Meriwether
produced by Salvage Vanguard Theater directed by Dustin Wills assistant directed by Keri Boyd scenic design by Lisa Laratta costumes by Jessica Gilzow lighting by Natalie George video design by L'ee Webster sound design by Buzz Moran stage managed by Elle Mahoney co-technical direction by Mason Baker co-technical direction by Dorian Robison robots engineered by UT Robotics and Automation robot design by Dustin Wills Featuring performers Amy Downing, Robert Pierson, Jennymarie Jemison, Cyndi Williams, Kyle Lagunas, Scott Daigle, Jude Hickey, Jarret King, Matt Hislope and Ava Johns Also featuring robots Aunt Julie Bot, Judge Brack Bot, Hans Loveborg and Billy Bot. February 10 - March 6 2011 Thursdays - Sundays Salvage Vanguard Theater 2803 Manor Rd. Austin, TX 78722 www.salvagevanguard.org |