2023 plays
OPENING June 9, 2023
VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK
ALL SEATS ARE FREE | NO TICKETS ARE NEEDED
Paul Ford
Paul is a long-time Albuquerque resident who has been working in the Albuquerque theatre community for many years. Formerly a professor of acting at UNM, Paul was the creator of Theatre-in-the-Making..
Paul’s local directing credits include:
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A Streetcar Named Desire
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Blythe Spirit
Acting credits include:
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Father in The Father
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The Ghost in Hamlet
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Lear in King Lear
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James Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey into Night
Comedy of Errors | Directed by Paul Ford
It could be argued that Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors has no socially redeeming value. A very young William Shakespeare cobbled together his own take on several ancient Roman comedies – zapped it with a modern sensibility – wrote in better jokes – added more plot twists – and included a dash of his growing romantic brilliance – and voilà.
It's all that and it is more.
It is filled with mad-dash playful action interrupted by stand-up routines – mistaken identities and their hilarious consequences – melodramatic longing and joyous reunions.
At its heart, is a play about the exuberance of youth.
The Comedy of Errors does not shed new light on the human condition or plumb the depths of the human psyche. It throws a brilliant and playful spotlight on the simple follies of humble humans.
It is a play about us.
How nice of Shakespeare to send us this giggling love letter 400 years ago. He knew we would open it with glee.
Julia Thudium
A confirmed army brat, Julia Thudium has been an actress since age 11, performing at Army bases across the United States. She has honed her skills through a variety of mediums, from tumbling to improvisation, from combat to clowning, the last occurring with the famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which she joined in 1989 as a member of the famous Clown Alley after graduating with 2 BFA's: a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, and a Bachelor of "Fun" Arts at the RBB&B Clown College in Venice, Florida.
After a 2 year stint riding the rails with the circus, Julia headed for Chicago where she performed all over the Chicago land and Regional Midwest, earning her Actors Equity card as well as her Screen Actors Guild membership in 1992. It was in Chicago where Julia branched out from performing, to working with Playwrights to develop scripts, and learning the art of Directing from some of Chicago's finest directing talents. She also collaborated with modern dancers and choreographers, culminating in a yearly program of original material crossing the boundaries of theatre performance and dance to create The City Sideshow.
Her ability to imagine and invent spectacle led her to a job offer in NYC, where she became a producer and learned to apply the art of Theatre to the Science of Communication through large staged events and business theatre. She worked for several production companies focused on the corporate world, all while improv'ing her way around the greater NYC area. In 1999 she decided to "head for the hills" literally, and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico as a freelance producer and assistant stage/deck manager. Since then her work has taken her all over the world, working on corporate events for many of this country's top Fortune 100 companies.
In Albuquerque, Julia has also been active in the Theatre and Film scene, performing both onstage and in front of the camera. Bringing together her artistic abilities with her skills as a producer, she became the Chief Instigator of The Mother Road Theatre Company, currently in it’s 13.5th Season; a professional regional company dedicated to promoting the arts in New Mexico through education and high standards of performance.
A Midsummer Night's Dream | Directed by Julia Thudium
If Samhain or Halloween is the night, where the veils between the living
and the dead are thin, in many cultures, Midsummer is the night that
the Faeries come out and play, the night when you dance around the
bonfire in the forest, only to realize you are not dancing alone and
when you open your eyes the next morning, you’re not sure if what you
experienced was real or simply a vision.
As a general rule, I prefer not to set my Shakespeare pieces in a specific
time period, and again I feel like Midsummer is in its own time. And for
me that is the magical moment between waking and sleeping - the slow
surfacing from the depths of your dreamscape - the liminal space on
the threshold of beginning. In order to have a beginning you need to
have a beforetime. It’s here where we find our Midsummer.
The Italians have a word for this beforetime. Dormiveglia - the space
that stretches between sleeping and waking. Not many people know
this, but it is in this place that the Faeries rule. Everything is possible in
the moments you dwell here; the sweet, the sad, the irreverent and the
ridiculous. If you know me, you know I prefer the ridiculous over just
about anything.
Last year when I took on As You Like It, I coined it the “Party Show” of
the Festival. This year is something a little different. This year we are
THE HEART show. I invite you to let yourself sink here in this moment in
the no-time. Let yourself be enchanted and pause in the mystic
doorway with us.
CAST of A Midsummer Night's Dream
All performances begin at 7:30 pm
No tickets are required and all seats are FREE.
You may bring lawn chairs, cushions and stadium seats for the benches, blankets and picnics and dogs on leashes. (no alcohol)
There is plenty of room for wheelchairs.