Rabbit Hole Ensemble

Rabbit Hole Ensemble is a Brooklyn, NY based not-for-profit, Off-off Broadway theatre company. Under the Artistic Direction of Edward Elefterion, the ensemble has produced seven original works throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, and is currently in its third season.

Mission Statement

Rabbit Hole Ensemble emphasizes the communal nature of theatre through a distinctly minimalist aesthetic that focuses on space, audience, and the performer (especially the basic tools of physicality and voice) to produce a uniquely direct and candid experience.

Strong stories, told simply and theatrically, without much technology. [ [http://rabbitholeensemble.com/mission.htm Rabbit Hole Ensemble: Mission Statement, from the company's Official Website] ]

Aesthetic

“If it isn’t absolutely necessary, get rid of it.” [ [http://edwardelefterion.com/Rabbit%20Hole%20Ensemble.htm Edward Elefterion talks about Rabbit Hole's work on his website] ]

Rabbit Hole eschews technology in favor of the collective imaginations of performers and audience. Productions are stripped-down affairs in which the actors create everything onstage, often providing music and sound effects, as well as lighting with hand-held clip lights. Sets, costumes, and props are as simple as possible. By depending on the actors to communicate everything, the ensemble develops a creative relationship with audience members, who are asked to complete the onstage images in their own imaginations. [ [http://www.topix.com/forum/city/provincetown-ma/T9F5P4D37D1NR335E Topix.com: "Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre": Audience reaction to "The Night of Nosferatu"] ]

Techniques

The company’s emphasis on a minimalist aesthetic results in works that are light on technical spectacle, creating the world of the play largely through actor-generated movement and sound. In "The Siblings", an early RH production, this concept worked hand-in-hand with the existentialist material. The play had the feel of a work from the Theatre of the Absurd, focusing on a lack of meaning in a cruel, godless universe, but without that genre's suspension of a linear narrative. [ [http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/archshow.php?key=892 NYTheatre.com Review of "The Siblings"] ] "The Transformation of Dr. Jekyll", on the other hand, maintained many of the existential questions while taking the approach of a collage-style work, using everything from traditional dramatic conflict to puppetry in order to convey the story appropriately. [ [http://www.offoffonline.com/archives.php?id=842 Offoffonline.com: "Dark Side;" Review of "The Transformation of Dr, Jekyll"] ]

The focus of Rabbit Hole's four successive works based on Bram Stoker’s novel, "Dracula", and F.W. Murnau’s silent film, "Nosferatu," was a consideration of storytelling. In these productions, the company created and developed storytelling techniques that utilized the ensemble as a composer of atmosphere. Actor-produced lighting and sound created the impression of such settings as ships’ holds and forests (without the use of indicative set pieces), and the characterization of non-human entities such as horses to fog created environments which supported the action of the productions. [ [http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=22139 BroadwayWorld.com: "Gruesome Toothsome;" Review of "The Night of Nosferatu"] ]

The production, "A Rope in the Abyss," was both realistic and surrealistic simultaneously, with the characters of the play based in a world with a fourth wall, but also taking advantage of moments of metatheatre, by acknowledging the world of the actors, and their personal connections to the piece. Like the work of Grotowski, the impulse behind the production was to use the false reality of the theatre to face its audience with the intense, and often grim, realities of the world in which they actually live. [ [http://media.www.nyunews.com/media/storage/paper869/news/2008/04/11/Theater/When-Amnesia.Takes.The.Stage-3318608.shtml "Washington Square News:" "When Amnesia Takes the Stage;" Review of "A Rope in the Abyss"] ]

The company's current production, "Big Thick Rod," addresses the theme of exploitation. The play contains a combination of linguistic and slapstick humor, much in the vein of the Theatre of the Ridiculous plays of Charles Ludlam. "Big Thick Rod", by Resident Playwright Stanton Wood, will premiere in the New York International Fringe Festival, in August of 2008. [ [http://www.fringenycdata.com/basic_page.php?ltr=B FringeNYC 2008's List of Shows] ]

upport

Rabbit Hole Ensemble is a 501(c)3 non-profit company that relies on donations from supporters. The company is a member of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, and receives production assistance from New York Theatre Workshop, New York University, Urban Stages, and Sun Microsystems.

Works

*2005 – "The Transformation of Dr. Jekyll" (also 2006; New York International Fringe Festival)
*2006 – "The Siblings" (Midtown International Theatre Festival)
*2006 – "Nosferatu: Part I"
*2007 – "The Land of the Undead"
*2007 – "Nosferatu: The Morning of My Death" (Midtown International Theatre Festival)
*2007 – "The Night of Nosferatu" (picked up from its Manhattan run by Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre; Wellfleet, MA)
*2008 – "A Rope in the Abyss"
*2008 - "Big Thick Rod" (picked up from its FringeNYC run by The Access Theater Spotlight Series)
*2009 - "Shadow of Himself" (upcoming)
*2009 - "Candide Americana" (upcoming)

Awards and Honors

*2006 – Outstanding Direction: Edward Elefterion, Midtown International Theatre Festival “Best of the Fest Award”For "Nosferatu: The Morning of My Death"
*2006 – Nominated, Midtown International Theatre Festival “Best of the Fest Awards” [: [http://www.midtownfestival.org/bestofthefest.htm MITF 2007 Awards] ] ::Outstanding Overall Production of a New Play::Outstanding Ensemble: Danny Ashkenasi, Matt W. Cody, Paul Daily, Emily Hartford, Jenna Kalinowski, David Miceli::Outstanding Lead Actress: Jenna Kalinowski::Outstanding Lighting Design: Edward ElefterionFor "Nosferatu: The Morning of My Death"
*2007 – “Top 10 of 2007,” Popshifter.com: "The Night of Nosferatu" [ [http://popshifter.com/2007-11-29/top-ten-lists-of-2007/2/ Popshifter.com's Lisa Haviland Announces Top 10 of 2007] ]
*2007 – “Best Cape Theatre 2007,” "Cape Cod Times:" "The Night of Nosferatu" [ [http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071217/ENTERTAIN/712170340/-1/ENTERTAIN13 "Cape Cod Times:" Best Cape Theatre of 2007] ]
*2008 - Outstanding Direction: Edward Elefterion, New York Innovative Theatre Award
*2008 - Outstanding Lighting Design: Kevin Hardy, New York Innovative Theatre AwardFor "The Night of Nosferatu"
*2008 - Nominated, New York Innovative Theatre Awards:::Outstanding Overall Production of a Play::Outstanding Full Length Script: Stanton Wood::Outstanding Featured Actress: Tatiana Gomberg::Outstanding Ensemble: Danny Ashkenasi, Matt W. Cody, Paul Daily, Tatiana Gomberg, Emily Hartford, Ned MasseyFor "The Night of Nosferatu"

Community

In the spring of 2008, Rabbit Hole Ensemble founded a new initiative to bring theatre to underserved communities. With the original production, "A Rope in the Abyss," as its cornerstone, the project brought free performances to sites throughout Brooklyn, NY, including homeless shelters, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. "A Rope in the Abyss," a new play about neuroscience, brain injury, and the tenuous nature of identity, was presented in partnership with the Brain Injury Association of New York State. The project brought together hundreds of Brooklyn residents across five different neighborhoods, and will be continued annually, with a new show each year, as part of Rabbit Hole Ensemble's regular season.

References

External Links

[http://www.rabbitholeensemble.com Rabbit Hole Ensemble Official Website]
[http://bigthickrod.com "Big Thick Rod" Official Website]
[http://offbroadwayonline.com/home.php Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York]

Resident Artists
[http://edwardelefterion.com/ Edward Elefterion]
[http://www.emilyhartford.com/Welcome.html Emily Hartford]
[http://cbilighting.com/ Kevin Hardy]
[http://ashkenasi.net/ Danny Ashkenasi]
[http://mattwcody.com/ Matt W. Cody]
[http://www.danielstories.com/Welcome.html Dan Ajl Kitrosser]