(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – “Working on A Special Day,” a production of The Play Company and Mexico City-based Por Piedad Teatro, runs on the St. Germain Stage at Barrington Stage Company (BSC) from Wednesday, June 18 through Sunday, July 6, 2014. Directed by and featuring Ana Graham and Antonio Vega, “Working on A Special Day” is a new play about a life-changing encounter between an overworked housewife and a mysterious bachelor on May 8, 1938 – the day Rome celebrates Hitler’s visit to Mussolini’s Italy. A bittersweet drama unfolds within the charged political landscape of rising fascism in Rome.
“Working on A Special Day” is based on “Una Giornata Particolare” by Ettore Scola, Ruggero Maccari and adapted by Gigliola Fantoni; the production is translated by Danya Taymor, Ana Graham and Antonio Vega. The original staging concept is by Laura Almela and Daniel Gimenez Cacho.
“Working on A Special Day” was presented Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in January/February 2013 with Ana Graham and Antonio Vega. The Flea Theater presented the U.S. debut of “Working on A Special Day” in January/February 2012.
The New York Times in its Off-Broadway run hailed “Ana Graham and Antonio Vega, the director-performers of “Working on a Special Day,” playfully remind us of something simple: Theater is a place for make-believe. And using the humblest of means they keep reminding us throughout this show.”
The Play Company and Mexico City-based Por Piedad Teatro recently traveled to the Edinburgh Fringe and Australian Fringe Festivals receiving accolades and awards for “Working on A Special Day”
Ana Graham (Actress, Director, Translator and Costume Designer) Studied theatre at the Núcleo de Estudios Teatrales in Mexico City. She is Artistic Producer and founder of Por Piedad Teatro where she has developed most of her work. Her body of work includes directing Samuel Beckett’s The End and Ettore Scola’s Working on A Special Day. As actress, translator and costume designer: The Golden Dragon, Ladies and Gents, Playing the Victim, Sarah Kane’s Psychosis 4.48, Crave and Blasted, for which she was awarded Best Actress and Best Translator by Mexico’s APT Some Explicit Polaroids, The Country, and Grace and Glory for which she was awarded Best Young Actress by the APT, and Interiors by Woody Allen. In film: “Mezcal” for which she received an Academy Ariel nomination as Best Actress and “Cuento de Hadas para Dormir Cocodrilos.” In2012 She was appointed as Mexico’s Tourism Ambassador for her contribution to Arts and Culture.
Antonio Vega (Actor, Director and Translator) is an actor, playwright and translator with a degree in performing arts from the Jalisco School of Theater in Mexico. Some of his credits include: The Lonesome West, Festen, Don Juan Tenorio, and Women Dreaming of Horses. In 2004, he joined Por Piedad Teatro, becoming its artistic director in 2009. He has appeared with the company in Working on A Special Day, The Golden Dragon, Ladies and Gents, Some Explicit Polaroids, The Country and Playing the Victim. In NYC he directed Don’t Touch Me Amigo at Intar. In 2011 he was awarded the annual grant for performing artist from Mexico’s National Fund for the Arts. He is currently developing Por Piedad Teatro next play Duchamp Syndrome that will premier in Mexico and NYC in 2015.
Working on A Special Day will be presented at the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield. Performances of Working on A Special Day are Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30pm, Saturday at 4pm (excluding June 21), and Sunday at 3pm. There will be an additional matinee Thursday, July 6 at 4pm. Press Opening: Sunday, June 22 at 3pm. Tickets start at $40. Low priced previews June 18 and June 19 are $15. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the Barrington Stage Box Office at 413-236-8888 or visit Barrington Stage Company (BSC). The Box Office is located at 30 Union Street, Pittsfield.
Barrington Stage Company, a professional award-winning Equity regional theatre located in the heart of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, MA, was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. Barrington Stage’s mission is three-fold: to present top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways to bringing new audiences into the theatre—especially young people. Barrington Stage garnered national attention in 2004 when it workshopped, and premiered William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin’s musical hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which later transferred to Broadway, where it won two Tony Awards. In 2009/2010 Barrington Stage produced the world premiere of Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session, which later moved Off-Broadway and played for two years. St. Germain’s Becoming Dr. Ruth (which premiered at BSC as Dr. Ruth, All the Way in 2012) played Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre in fall 2013. Barrington Stage has been voted “Best Live Theatre” in 2011 and 2012 by The Berkshire Eagle readers and named “Best Theatre Company” in Metroland’s Best of the Capital Region.