Stephen
Caffrey Filmography and Theatre work of the actor |
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2006 Stephen Caffrey starred in David Mamet's 1992 play
"Oleanna" as John the Professor , from June 16 to July 9 at the theatre, 29243 Pacific Coast
Hwy., Malibu. Stephen Caffrey and Darby Stanchfield portray the leads in the play directed
by Taylor Nichols. 2006
Dec
2005 - Jan
2006
By Starla Smith 12/14/2005 Naughtiness runs amuck in "Restoration Comedy," a retro romp of fashion, opulence and sexual cavorting. Think "Sex and the City" circa 1660 England. Former Artistic Director Sharon Ott returns to Seattle Repertory Theatre to steer the world première of Amy Freed's frothy and often lewd concoction of decadence, disguise and deception. The costumes are gorgeous, the sets imaginative and the actors superb. Ott adds so much frivolity to this production, you don't much care that "Restoration Comedy" has little plot. Its theme might be "Virtue is a bore, so let's have sex galore." Or perhaps, "The road to repentance seems lined with temptation. So why travel when you can give in?" Playwright Freed takes inspiration from two 1690s comedies, Colley Cibber's "Love's Last Shift" and John Vanbrugh's "The Relapse." Set in London and the nearby countryside, Freed's pseudo-satire sweeps us back into the late 17th century. With puritanical Oliver Cromwell dead, Charles II had returned to the English throne. And since he was a notorious libertine, it was open season on sin. Providing you observed proper British etiquette. Freed's play overflows with stock character types. Meet the Rake, the Virtuous Wife, the Empty-headed Heiress, the Country Bumpkin, the Reformed Roué, the Sexy Temptress, the Best Friend, the Fop, his Reckless Younger Brother and so on. As this wicked and wily crew interferes with one another's loves, lives and livelihoods, they inevitably rely on their worst behavior. Virtuous and beautiful Amanda (Caralyn Kozlowski) saves face, while her bounder of a husband Mr. Loveless (Stephen Caffrey) swives his way through every wench in Europe. He thinks Amanda is dead; she pretends he is. Mr. Worthy (Neil Maffin), a reformed rake betrothed to vacuous Narcissa (Bhama Roget), really wants Amanda. Then, to her shock and surprise, Loveless returns to London. Now she wants him to want her. So Worthy suggests she seduce her own spouse, masquerading as a courtesan. A delighted Loveless throws himself into his reform, but when Amanda's sultry kissing-cousin Berinthia (Suzanne Bouchard) arrives, he wants her as well. But by now, Amanda wants Worthy. Oh, lud and la-de-dah. In other words, what a coil! Meanwhile, Young Fashion (Matthew Schneck), a rakish wannabe without a shilling to his name, hits up his gasbag older brother Sir Novelty Fashion (Jonathan Freeman), the newly dubbed Lord Foppington, for a loan. Sorry, bro, nada a pence. So Young Fashion plots to steal his sibling's rustic-born fiancée and her plump dowry. Kozlowski makes a graceful, intelligent and lovely Amanda, deliciously wicked when she transforms herself from virtuous wife into vixen vamp. Determined to keep her man titillated, Amanda creates outlandish fantasies to catch her philandering hubby off-guard. She's so convincing, he even tries to tumble a doddering old messenger, presuming it's his wife in disguise. The talented Caffrey endows the debauched Loveless with a mix of caddish charm, drunken indifference and dissolute decorum. He's led by his organ, and we're not talking about his heart. As he quips in his witty intro, "That's me playing the part of the hunk. I'm going to exit now and come back drunk." As Worthy, the handsome Maffin comes off as dashing as Loveless is dissipated. The epitome of good taste and etiquette, Worthy turns a pretty leg and a prettier phrase, secretly languishing for the fair Amanda. But it's the supporting characters that tickle your funnybone, frolicking through multiple roles with glee. The marvelous Laurence Ballard almost steals the show as he takes on four different characters. He's especially hilarious as Old Coupler Manlove, a ridiculous velvet-clad matchmaker wearing an even more ridiculous wig of bobbing ringlet-like curls. Manlove makes the deal, but there's an extra fee. As he minces about, he can't keep his hands off the young men's chests, la-la-la-la-ing his delight. Ballard also does a redneck turn as Sir Tunbelly Clumsey, a beer-bellied, Gabby Hayes clone of a country squire. Roget shows off her comedic talents as silly, selfish Narcissa, a wealthy blond bimbo swathed in frivolous pink ruffles like a gift-wrapped bauble. In her portrayal of the dim-witted coquette, Roget preens and pouts in whiny confusion when she doesn't get her own way. Then Roget switches roles to become the rambunctious carrot-topped Hoyden, an oversexed, hyperactive hick who jumps up and down at the mention of men. Broadway notable Freeman plays the aspiring dandy and flaming queen, Sir Novelty Fashion, a.k.a. Lord Foppington, as the perfect fool who fancies himself "the King of Fashion." But his makeover scene, a runway of hipster Restoration couture devised by his pandering tailor (Gabriel Baron), seems out of sync with the rest of this show, despite the outrageous designs of costumer Anna R. Oliver. She dresses the popinjay in tacky chic, including a lamé skirt, skin-tight animal prints with butt zippers and dangling white lace cuffs. But the pièce de résistance? Foppington's cascading, floor-length wig simulates enough fake poodle pelts to incite a PETA riot. No guesswork needed about Bouchard's role, the sensuous Berinthia, a personable but clever mistress of double-entendres. Bouchard's all done up in fashionable scarlet, a declaration of her character which she delivers with sophisticated élan. As the zaftig Hillaria, Laura Kenny embodies the worldly, wisecracking sidekick. She blatantly flirts with Sir Novelty, but he's far more interested in his appearance than tupping the lusty, silk-clad matron. Word around town is that Oliver's sumptuous costume designs kept three theater shops working full time - and it shows. Every creation invites touch, including delicate see-through peignoirs, dazzling silk gowns, plush velvet waistcoats with matching feathered chapeaus, extravagant Frenchified wigs and assorted foppery frou-frous. And her collection for the country clan has hayseed written all over it. Hugh Landwehr's set offers a triumphant combination of Restoration regency and mischievous abandon. A harpsichord sinks slowly into the floor as it's being played. A miniature cardboard carriage rolls across the stage. Another cardboard illustration, a cow that moos, stands guard just outside the window at Amanda's country estate, while a crowd of cardboard yokels wave clubs whenever Sir Tunbelly's temper erupts. Truthfully, the R-rated script for "Restoration Comedy" needs revisions. Although Freed cleverly combines contemporary language with Restoration antics, her dialogue sometimes bogs down in an attempt to be funny. She could use a joke writer. The play's snappy beginning had us tingling in anticipation, but promises more mirth than it ulitmately delivers. When it works, it's wonderful. When it doesn't, ho-hum. ©Pacific Publishing Company 2006
March
2005: AMERICAN
CONSERVATORY THEATER
****************
January
2005:
CAST John
Bell ...........................................................JIM ANZIDE
Below is an extract from a review by Cornel
Bonca , the full review can be found at http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/05/18/theater-bonca.php The play’s about a slightly overly dashing
art dealer named Darius Wheeler (Stephen Caffrey), who comes upon what appears
to be an 11th century Japanese manuscript called a "pillow book,"
written by a Japanese courtesan a millennium ago and containing her meditations
on her many lovers. Darius, who has "an eye for beautiful
things"—paintings, ancient manuscripts, women—attracts a crowd with his
discovery: a couple of art professors; his brilliant erratic assistant; a
seducible journalist; and a cynical, disappointed artist who does restorations
for him. The manuscript’s tales are dramatized in stately fluid scenes in
which masked actors employ the slow ritual movements of Noh drama. Iizuka braids
such scenes with contemporary ones, which develop the thick and shrewd skein of
motivations—romantic, deceitful, financial—animating the characters’
efforts to profit either from the manuscript’s authenticity or forgery. This
interplay, brought off smooth as can be, is in keeping with Iizuka’s desire to
create a dramatic form that, as she puts it elsewhere in the play, mixes
"the Asian and the Western . . . the classical and the contemporary." Another review is to be
found at : http://u.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,211~23542~2637936,00.html http://www.lagunaplayhouse.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XXXXXXXX~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Real Thing
Stephen
Caffrey and Diana
LaMar are actors Max and Charlotte, performing in a play within a play
in the opening scene of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing. Stephen is currently busy rehearsing for the
October 21st opening of Tom Stoppard's 'The Real Thing' at The Geary Theatre in
which he plays Max. Rehearsal Photos by Ryan
Montgomery Below is
in part the press
release with details, dates & times
of the performances and ticket information and details of the website if
you wish to find out even more about A.C.T.
Rene
Augesen and Marco Barricelli Are The Real Thing! ***************************
Stephen Caffrey finished in a run of the play by Kelly Stuart, "Homewrecker". Here you will find reviews from various publications as well as a picture of Stephen from the play. The Evidence Room Homewrecker, now in its world premiere at the Evidence Room, is another crafty and typically bizarre comedy from Kelly Stuart, possessor of the same wonderfully warped mind responsible for Mayhem last year at ER and the remarkable Demonology several years ago at the Taper. And of course, there couldn’t be a better place to debut anything by Stuart than at ER—and no better director to understand her intentions than L.A.’s own resident theatrical madman Bart DeLorenzo. Two admitted homewreckers (Lauren Campedelli and Shannon Holt) sit in an airport terminal, each discussing her own extracurricular romance with a different married man. One admits to being a younger version of her lover’s current wife, “just not quite as emotionally dead,” while the other worries that if her wealthy Texan boyfriend finally left his wife and took up with her (“It’s very difficult when you’re rich”), she doesn’t have a clue what would happen to her voiceover work. Their ridiculously complicated relationships are both in flux, for sure. “Adultery should be fun,” laments one, “or why do it?”
The verbal sparing between Beth and Cindy is inventively juxtaposed with random appearances by George W. Bush himself (that dead-on scamp Don Oscar Smith), spouting actual statements attributed to the world’s dumbest and second most dangerous leader of all time. “I think we agree,” he grins maniacally, “that the past is over.” As each speech is punctuated by the sounds of urban violence, explosions and gunshots, the guy just keeps ducking, then reemerges unscathed to continue to spew his best presidential nonsense. There’s “The future is where wings take dreams” and “This issue doesn’t resognate with the people” and “Rarely is the question asked: Is our children being educated correctly?” Smith is totally hilarious as Dubya, just as stupid and transparent and slimy as the real guy. The fact that Stuart and DeLorenzo have cleverly portrayed Bush as a kind of a car salesman hawking his wares, becoming a kind of Greek chorus used to echo the network of little lies people tell one another, is a stroke of genius. It’s human nature to twist things in our communications with others in order to sleep at night — and it’s the very glue that keeps most organized religions funded and prospering. As Ayn Rand said in Altas Shrugged, most people are “secondhanders.” They live for what they want other people to think of them to be rather than to exist for themselves. And when an entire political party can get oil rich by stealing elections and spending four years blatantly lying to its constituents, the scale of the lies becomes a lot more than personal. There are four hysterical, suitably frantic and bravely committed
performances in Homewrecker, all actors who have obviously learned to
worship the ground their director walks on — and rightly so. DeLorenzo
makes the best use of the talents of Holt I have yet witnessed and,
together with Campedelli, these two could be the Lucy and Ethel of the
millennium. Above all its other worth, the fact that literally every one of Smith’s lines has been culled from George Bush’s own sneery and misspoken mouth makes it a shame Homewrecker isn’t taped to run on a continuous loop on national television right up to the November election. A Curtain Up Los Angeles Review Homewrecker By Laura Hitchcock In Kelly Stuart's hilariously sly play, Homewrecker, having its world
premiere at The Evidence Room, girlfriends Beth (Lauren Campedelli) and Cindy
(Shannon Holt) rendez-vous in an airport lounge, en route to meeting the married
men they expect to detach from their wives and attach to themselves. Beth, a
svelte sophisticate in a dark pantsuit with a curtain of black hair swinging to
her waist is smitten by a poetic English magician who knows how a girl wants to
define soulmate: "The first time I saw you it was like looking at
myself." Cindy, a big-hair blonde who gives new meaning to the term
"ditzy", is besotted by a Texan who's going to build her a house. HOMEWRECKER Playwright: Kelly Stuart Running Time: 110 Minutes, no intermission BackStage West Homewrecker
Hollywood Reporter **************** Stephen Caffrey starred in 'A Dolls House'. Images reproduced with permission Click here for
***** A powerful cry for individual conscience in a world of duplicity and betrayal, A Dolls House features in its heroine Nora Helmer one of the richest and most complex female characters in all theater. Nora has everything a woman of her era could possibly wanta doting husband, two bright children, and a promising future. But living like a toy in a dollhouse is not every womans chosen existence. When Nora discovers a side of her husband and her marriage that horrifies her, she must make a choice: to suffocate inside the constrictions of her domestic role, or to become a woman in control of her own destiny. Still startlingly relevant more than 100 years after its debut, Ibsens groundbreaking drama offers no easy conclusions or solutions. It is easy to see why A Dolls House has grown in stature (and controversy), and why the play serves as both a harbinger and symbol of the issues confronting modern women. As New York Times writer Ron Jenkins recently wrote of a current New York production of A Dolls House, When Nora walked out of her husband Torvalds house to begin a life of independence, her slamming of the door could be seen as the opening salvo in a battle over womens rights that continues today.
A.C.T. Associate Artist and core acting company member Gregory Wallace will portray the scheming blackmailer Krogstad; James Carpenter will play the family advisor Dr. Rank; and Joan Harris-Gelb will be featured as Noras childhood friend Kristine. Rounding out the cast are Joy Carlin as the maid. Real-life brother and sister Griffin and Louise Wurzelbacher alternate with Austin Greene and Tobi Moore as Nora and Torvalds children. The cast as Torvald Helmer, Noras husband, was Stephen Caffrey. AMERICAN
CONSERVATORY THEATER
A DOLLS HOUSE
By:
Henrik Ibsen Adapted from the Norwegian by:
Paul Walsh Director:
Carey Perloff Music:
Karl Lundeberg Choreographer:
Val Caniparoli Designers:
Annie Smart (sets), Sandra Woodall (costumes), David Finn (lights), Garth Hemphill (sound) *********** Many thanks to Scott
Walton from American Conservatory Theater for all of the
above information. Copyright © 2003 American Conservatory
Theater. ***************** Stephen Caffrey I received a letter from Stephen on 13th August 2001. Here is an extract from that letter : "...thanks you so much for your letter and kind words. ...Again my thanks
Stephen Caffrey
Interview
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