Firescape Theatre
These days, we hang on to people and friendships through the impressions we get from their online profiles. Yet, over the years, people seldom share any deep and personal changes through social media. Allen Barton explores the collision of these relationships in his dark comedy Years To The Day.
Two 40-something men, who have been friends for decades but only cursorily in touch via social media over the past four years, finally get together for coffee. However, their long anticipated “face to face” meeting reaps surprising consequences now that truthful and dramatic changes in each of their lives are revealed. Can this long-time friendship survive?
“After meeting an old friend, four years to the day from our last get together, it struck me that though we knew what phones and computers we were using, we had no clue about each others lives, or what had truly happened to us in those years.”
– Allen Barton (Playwright)
San Francisco debut, for one weekend only!
Allen Barton (Playwright) is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, teacher and classical pianist. Following the 2010 premiere of his first play Engagement, 2013’s Years To THe Day garnered significant critical praise, was named one of LA Weekly’s 10 Best New Plays, was invited to be performed in Paris in October of 2013, and participated in the 2014 Edinburgh Theatre Festival. Much of his directing work has occurred for the Skylight Theatre Company, the non-profit theatre company associated with the Beverly Hills Playhouse acting school. Some of his productions include Engagement (also writer), The Interview, The Real Thing, Rabbit Hole, The Last Five Years, the world premieres of About Faith, Pink Dot, Suzanne Whang's hit one-person show, I Make You Laughing, and Guerrilla Rep’s inaugural production of Burn This. Under his own experimental Project X free theatre concept, he has helmed The Heidi Chronicles, Oleana and Speed The Plow. As a writer, he has additionally written several one-act plays, has written & directed five short films, and his first feature screenplay, Real Musicwas a top-three finalist in the CAPE New Writers Award Competition. Allen is also active as a classical pianist – he performed Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” at the 25th Annual S.T.A.G.E. fundraiser at the Wilshire Theatre, was a prizewinner in the 2002 Los Angeles Liszt Society Competition, has recorded five compact discs (available for download at the iTunes store) and performs solo recitals regularly on both coasts. In 2010 he was made a Steinway Artist. A native of Boston, a graduate of Harvard University and longtime student of the late Milton Katselas, Allen is currently owner and principal teacher at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.
Joel Polis (Director) most recently directed Lynn Manning's Sympathy For The Devil as part of KTC's LAbWorks 2012 at the Skylight Theatre Complex. Last season Joel directed the world premiere of Kathy Graf's acclaimed award-winning drama Hermetically Sealed (starring Gigi Bermingham) at the Skylight. Selected directing credits include Jerry Lambert's Straight Time at the Odyssey and Joe Bay's Last Fling at the Hayworth. An actor-turned director, Joel has over 100 TV and movie credits as well as scores of plays on his resume, most recently Kathy Graf's The Snake Can at the Odyssey Theatre. He is a graduate of Yale Drama School and USC's School of Theater.
Gary Grossman (Producer/Artistic Director) started his career in New York at the Public Theatre, Café La Mama, and Sheraton Square Playhouse. He has produced over 300 stage plays, including more than 50 world premieres. Among his celebrated productions are Romeo and Juliet directed by Milton Katselas (3 LADCC Awards), Dylan (3 LADCC Awards), Dream Man, Lone Star, Balm In Gilead, Four, The Tenth Man, Visions and Lovers, Rabbit Hole, La Ronde De Lunch, Influence, and Mad Women. In addition to his work for the Katselas Theatre Company, Gary has produced for the prestigious Matrix Theatre Company, where he was associated with the celebrated productions The Homecoming, Endgame, and The Seagull. For television he co-produced Sadie and Son (CBS) and the sitcom pilot Man In The Kitchen (ABC). He is the Executive Producer for award-winning director Chuck Workman's documentary, The Actor’s Life.
Jeff LeBeau (Jeff) is an Emmy Award winner and has numerous stage credits Off Broadway; Us (Lion Theatre, directed by Jennifer Gelfer), The Last Pitch (Noho Arts), and nationally; Agency (Coast Playhouse), Hurlyburly (Geffen Playhouse, directed by David Rabe), Translations (Capital Rep, NY), Harry Black (Ensemble Studio), The Chain and Hot N' Throbbing (Circle Rep, directed by Anne Bogart), Burning in China (directed by Caleb Deschanel, NY International Fringe Festival). He appeared in the West Coast premiere include Swimming and the LA Premiere of Big Death and Little Death at the Road Theatre Company. Selected Film/TV: American From the South, Spirit - Stallion of Cimarron, The Big Easy, Moving Pieces, Black Listed (directed by Robert Townsend), The Practice, Life As a House, and Summerland. Jeff has voiced work for Dreamworks Animation, Narration for A&E, and the Discovery Channel, and a Short Video Special for which he received an Emmy Award.
Michael Yavnieli (Dan) has collaborated on three projects with Emmy Award winner Gene Reynolds (The Tenth Man, Of Mice and Men, and The Time of Your Life, which also starred Tony Award winner John Glover). Michael was seen in the critically acclaimed Hermosa Beach Playhouse Production of Tracers, and played various roles in Balm in Gilead, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, and Anne Of a Thousand Days. Selected TV and film credits include having worked opposite Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Toni Collette, and Kiefer Sutherland among others.
Ines Wurth (Producer) is a Croatian actress and writer, lives and works in Los Angeles. Has a production company with cofounder, Mark Soper called IMC Productions. She started her acting career in London when she left Croatia as a teenager. As a member of Compass Theater in London, she performed numerous roles including Nora from A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen and Varya from The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov. Wurth received her BFA from UCLA, School of Theatre, Film & Television and is a company member of the award-winning Zoo District Theatre Company, www.zoodistrict.org. She has also worked as a director of (An Age of Angels) and a producer of (An Age Of Angels, Change-The Upcoming War With Iran, The British Ambassador's Bellydancer, Bully, Shoppers Without Borders, Tied Up In Knotts, Viva, The Contest, Maria Tecce: Strapless, Mrs. Bang - A Series of Seductions in 55 min, Mary & William, 2- Men No Show, Now That She's Gone, Silken Veils, Dr. Apple's Last Lecture, Simple Matters, Who's Your Daddy, Reverse Psycomedy, The Inventor And The Escort, Who Wants To Kill Yulia Tymoshenko (she also acted as Yulia Tymoshenko), Angry Young Women, The Interview, The Warriors and Years To The Day. TV credits: The Agency; Seven Days; MD’s; a movie of the week for NBC, War Stories etc, a pilot for Warner Bros, Sullivan Street; and a miniseries for BBC, The Cask of Amontillado. Film: Minority Report; Delivering Milo; Delicate Instruments, Albino Alligator.