and 16 years of producng powerful theatre!

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click on the E-mail link on left of this page under the River Stage logo
or leave a message on his office phone at 916 691-7153

"Founding Artistic Director Frank Condon has stepped down at the end of the River Stage 15th anniversary season, after 16 years of his vision guiding the theatre. Below is his program note from Eurydice:

I will step down as Artistic Director of River Stage at the end of this,
our 15th Anniversary Season.

Eurydice will be the final production I will direct for the theatre,
but we will still close out the season with our final Playwright’s Festival of
New Works this summer 2010, which I will also be involved with.

Over the last 16 years I have thoroughly enjoyed directing many plays of all kinds—and having them received by an intelligent and open-minded audience.

Eurydice is different from anything I have ever directed. I feel, as I have throughout my tenure with River Stage, that I am taking an artistic risk. I would not have it any other way. Eurydice, based on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, but from the point of view of Eurydice, is wonderfully stylized and playful; it oozes sadness and a great sense of loss.
I feel it is appropriate for my final play for you.

My future directorial plans involve going back to the primal origins of theatre: personal stories. Theatre started with people relating their inner demons and joys in front of an audience.
I want to create an intensive laboratory in which to explore the basic nature of playwriting, acting, and directing. Sarah Ruhl, who wrote Eurydice, said,
“Everyone has a great, horrible opera inside him.”

I don’t want to give the idea I am going into the direction of Reality TV and pandering to audiences. Rather, I want to plumb the depths of peoples’ nightmares, dreams, and powerful experiences, and share them with audiences as plays.

I am not certain where this will take me, and that’s part of the excitement. I will be moving forward, influenced by the past—certainly from the experience here at River Stage.

Thank you for helping make the last 16 years a truly wonderful ride."

Frank Condon

15th Anniversary Photo taken on the Steps of River Stage