Somehow, we're already entering our final weekend with HOPE & GRAVITY with 1812 Productions. Time definitely flies when you're having fun! It's been a really great process from start to finish and from on stage to back.
It's been a good while since I have worked on a piece with the playwright in the room with us, let alone one with the success and clout that Michael Hollinger has. I can't say enough about the the amount of trust he gave us while he allowed us to work out his words in front of him every day. He was gracious and lovely and supportive and patient. No actor could ask for more.
I can also confirm, the rumors are true: Jennifer Childs is kind of a genius, kickass, director/human. I learned a LOT from her in this process, and, as I told her on opening night, there is a great deal of her work in my work on this show. I really don't know if I would have been able to find the right place for Hal and Peter without her help.
Plus, Suli, Jessica, Sean, David, Grace, Jess, Julia, Lindsay, and Tom BRING IT every night down there at the Plays & Players Theater on Delancey Street. You've got 'til just this Sunday to come and see it before it's gone!
Here's a little bit of what they've been saying about us...
"Michael Hollinger’s title, Hope and Gravity, refers to elements in opposition: hope raises us up, gravity pulls us down. In his comedy, locally premiered by 1812 Productions, hope prevails — not only in the play’s themes but in Jennifer Childs’s entertaining production."
---Mark Cofta, Broad Street Review
"Producing artistic director and company cofounder Jennifer Childs directs a strong cast with broad strokes and high energy, nailing the laughs and most of the darker moments."
---Julia M. Klein, Philadelphia Inquirer
"There’s a thrill in chasing this plot — it’s always tantalizingly ahead of you — and finally nailing it. The thrill extends to witnessing five agile actors, some in dual roles, as they lay out this story that happens in the past, or sometimes in the future, yet also in the present."
---Howard Shapiro, WHYY
Gregory Isaac, David Ingram, Sean Close, and Jessica Johnson - Photo by Mark Garvin
David Ingram, and Suli Holum - Photo by Mark Garvin
Suli Holum and Gregory Isaac - Photo by Mark Garvin