Canyon Crest Academy’s Envision Theater to present ‘Anon(ymous)’

The award-winning Canyon Crest Academy Theater Program will perform “Anon(ymous),” an inventive modern day adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey that explores ideas of immigration, identity, and home. The production runs Jan. 14-22 at the Proscenium Theater, Canyon Crest Academy, 5951 Village Center Loop Road, San Diego, CA 92130.

“Anon(ymous,)” by Naomi Iizuka, follows Anon, an immigrant trying to find his way home as he encounters good and evil characters and adventures along the way.

Naomi Iizuka is currently head of M.F.A. Playwriting at UCSD. Previously she was a Professor of Dramatic Arts and Director of the Playwriting Program at UC Santa Barbara, and taught playwriting at the University of Iowa and the University of Texas, Austin. She has a B.A. in Classics from Yale University and an M.F.A. from UCSD.

The show is directed by Lisa Berger, who is a frequent director and guest teaching artist at CCA. “ANON is a challenging experiment in theatrical storytelling which makes it a very exciting piece for a director and actors to work on,” says Lisa. Lisa holds an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Montana, and is a graduate of the Meisner actor intensive in the William Esper Studio in New York. Her San Diego directing credits include Things We Want (New Village Arts), Killer Joe (Compass Theatre, Patte Award), and Looking for Normal (Diversionary Theater) among many others.

CCA’s Envision Theater program aims to graduate theater artists with a broad  understanding of theater, a variety of technical skills, and an ability to articulate their own creative process. Ensemble work and professionalism are core values of this program that are  referenced and re-visited in departmental productions, classes, and workshops.

“We push students here to work at a professional level, and without fail, they reach and exceed it,” says Michael Schwartz.

CCA’s Envision is a one-of-a-kind program that enables students to achieve high levels of excellence in creative endeavors by providing the latest and most advanced facilities, instruction, and guidance as a supplement to the traditional classroom foundations found in most other high schools. Envision uses guest artists to assist teaching in each of its six divisions: Digital/Fine Arts, Theater, Cinema, Dance, Vocal Music, and Instrumental Music.

Michael Schwartz never thought he would be a high school drama teacher before coming to Canyon Crest Academy. Favorite productions include Waiting for Godot  at Portland Stage Company and Ubu Rock at the Mandell Weiss Theater. He also worked on the national tours of Rent and assist Barry Manilow on Harmony.  Previous teaching gigs have included locales around the world with the International Schools Theater Association, the Museum of TV and Radio in Beverly Hills, upstate New York at Colgate University, and  many summers at La Jolla Playhouse Conservatory. Mr. Schwartz holds an MFA in directing from UC San Diego where he remains a guest faculty member.

Tickets run from $8-19 and can be purchased at www.CCAenvision.org/main/tickets

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Posted by Scott Reeder on Dec 30, 2010. Filed under Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry