Theatre performance to bring back 19th century

Audiences are promised an exciting adventure back to the 19th century when actor John Ammerman takes the stage in “Booth, Brother Booth,” April 22 and 23.
Ammerman, a twenty-year veteran of the professional theatre, is an associate artist with the Georgia Shakespeare Festival. He is the former chair of the acting program and the coordinating head of the graduate resident acting company for masters studies at the University of Emory. He is currently on the performance faculty of Theatre Studies/Theatre Emory at Emory University in Atlanta.
Georgia College & State University theatre professor Marlene Johnson said Ammerman as Edwin Booth in “Booth, Brother Booth” is a great show.
“Anyone that likes sword fighting or excitement and mayhem should see this play,” Johnson said. “He does a fabulous job with the sword fights. It’s a good story. It is dramatic, exciting and, more importantly, it’s well done. It’s about people who keep struggling to go on. It was one of the finest pieces of acting I’ve ever seen, certainly of a one man show.”
“Booth, Brother Booth,” a one-man play conceived and written by Ammerman features a solemn Edwin Booth destroying the contents of the theatrical truck owned by his dead brother, John Wilkes Booth, who was executed for the murder of Abraham Lincoln. While sorting through the trunk, piece by piece, Edwin recalls touring the mining camps and towns of California during the gold rush and the rivalry with his brother John Wilkes.
Edwin recalls scenes from “Richard III,” “Henry V” and “Hamlet,” Shakespearean portrayals that reflect emotions from his own life, as well as contemporary works like “The Corsican Brothers,” “The Yellow Dwarf” and “The Iron Chest.”
“The play is a ghost story,” Ammerman said in his playwright’s notes. “One that wrestles with the speculation of Edwin Booth’s love and competition with his brother John Wilkes. But also with the sorrow of life’s tragedies and misfortunes, for no one is immune from despair.”
Performances on April 22 and 23 begin at 8 p.m. in Russell Auditorium. Admission is $10 for the general public and $2 for senior citizens and students with a valid ID.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 16 2004. Filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry