Dustin wills 🎈 DIRECTOR
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Resume
  • Gallery
  • Press
  • Contact
Picture
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.
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

photography by Erica Nix


Press
Hedda Games: Two Productions Take a New Look at Ibsen's Troubled and Troubling Heroine
Radio Interview for Lisa Schepp's Show: Off Stage and On the Air
Hedda Gabler/Heddatron: Will Cooler Hedda's Prevail?
Heddatron Puts Inventive Twist on Hedda Gabler: Austin 360 Preview
Austin American Statesman Review - Heddatron
Austinist Review - Heddatron at Salvage Vanguard
Austin Live Theatre Review - Heddatron
Austin Theatre Examiner Review - Heddatron: Wacky Farce Turns Ibsen's Classic Play on its Head


Awards
WINNER, Austin Critic's Table Awards: Special Citation for Robots
WINNER, Austin Critic's Table Awards: Best Supporting Actor - Robert Pierson
WINNER, Austin Critic's Table Awards: Best Video Design - Lee Webster
WINNER, Austin Critic's Table Awards: Best Lighting Design - Natalie George

NOMINATION, Austin Critic's Table Awards: Best Director - Dustin Wills
NOMINATION, Austin Critic's Table Awards: Best Scenic Design - Lisa Laratta
NOMINATION, Austin Critic's Table Awards: Best Supporting Actor - Jude Hickey
NOMINATION, Austin Critic's Table Awards: Best Sound Design - Buzz Moran

NOMINATION, B. Iden Payne Awards: Outstanding Actor - Robert Pierson
NOMINATION, B. Iden Payne Awards: Outstanding Scenic Design - Lisa Laratta
NOMINATION, B. Iden Payne Awards: Outstanding Sound Design - Buzz Moran
NOMINATION, B. Iden Payne Awards: Outstanding Puppetry - Julie Bot, Brackbot, Loveborg