Absolute Theatre presents The Insidious Impact Of Anton

Jun 13, 2011
El Centro Theatre

THE INSIDIOUS IMPACT OF ANTON, a comedy, is the perfect follow up production to Absolute Theatre Company's smash hit, "The Girl Who Would Be King", which was listed as "best of the year" by Backstage and received two LA WEEKLY nominations. According to Richard Tatum, the director and co-founder of ATC, THE INSIDIOUS IMPACT OF ANTON was chosen because of "its incredible writing. It's sharp, smart and wildly theatrical."

"I'm Francesca. I'm the kind of person who always gets compliments. I don't tell you that to piss you off, I'm not that woman. You'll find I'm pretty up-front. I have a job, I have friends, I DON'T have a husband or a boyfriend. What I have, in the absence of the husband, is a life. I have a life. People, cable, books on occasion, sex when required. And an apartment that always gets compliments."-Francesca, Top of the show

Francesca is a 30-something urban dweller who knows who's who and what's what and will be more than happy to tell you exactly which is which. She has it all: the job that's not too demanding, the superintendent ex-boyfriend who still fixes her plumbing (to speak in euphemism), and the gay friend next door. Who needs ups and downs, she figures, when she can have contentment? Then she meets Anton, a mysterious stranger who keeps turning up, and the oddest things start happening. She gets fired from the cushy job, starts to actually care about people, and, worst of all, ends up dating Anton, a peculiar little man with an Eastern European accent. Ultimately, Francesca has to face what it means to be alive, and what it means to be human.

David Hilder's plays and musicals include Just Exactly Like (Finalist, 2010 Heideman Award); The Insidious Impact of Anton (Winner, Ashland New Plays Festival; Finalist, Lark Play Development Center's Playwrights Week); Shake the Santa (GrooveMamaInk); an A Train Musical (with composer Jess Klein, Neighborhood Playhouse); Gikh-kaa (Raw Impressions Dance Theatre); I Have Something to Tell You (with composer Gihieh Lee; Raw Impressions Musical Theatre); Maps (with composer Gilles Chiasson;Clear Space Productions, Dixon Place's WARNING: Not for Broadway Festival, Raw Impressions Musical Theatre); Leave the Room (Finalist, Lark's Playwrights Week and Abingdon's Wolk Award); Bay Orchard High (Expanded Arts, Cullen/Dumas Productions); Dinner Party! (EST, Smatterfest, Particle Wave Theatre); One for the Books (the intentional theatre group, EST); and others.

Helming the production, once again, is Richard Tatum, who was nominated for an LA WEEKLY award for best comedy director. He began directing twenty years ago at the Eugene O'Neill Center, but once in Los Angeles, he found his way to venerable Theatre West, where he directed experimental projects such as Rock Song and The Unusual Prospects. He was a founding member and Associate Artistic Director of the award-winning Ark Theatre Company; there he directed critically acclaimed productions of The Country Wife, The London Cuckolds, On the Verge, Good, and Hazard County, and World Premieres of The Big Ever After, Sounds of Silence and Gaining Ground. Around Los Angeles, he's directed the smash hit Group: The Musical for the LA Theatre Ensemble and The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Lyric Theater, staged readings at the Blank Theatre and the prestigious Slamdance on Stage, and worked with the Directors Lab West.

Alice Ensor & Joe Koonce formed Full Circle Theatrics, LLC at The El Centro Theatre in 2007, after spending more than a decade with The Theatre District. While with The Theatre District, they worked on more than 25 productions with Macario Gaxiola. The goal of Full Circle is to explore both revivals of shows that examine the human experience and to bring forth the voice of lesser known writers through the production of new works.

Absolute Theatre was conceived by Richard Tatum and Tracy Eliott. Their company's focus is to produce world premiere plays, rarely produced works, or completely fresh takes on classics. They believe whole-heartedly that collaboration between theatre companies is the key to the survival of theatre in Los Angeles.