Charlie in the House of Rue

April 2, 1999 - May 2, 1999

In this larger-than-life re-envisioning of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp, director Bob McGrath & Co. crank up the classic film with the tools, toys, and trickery of post-modern theater.

Director Bob McGrath & Co. crank up Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp with the tools, toys, and trickery of post-modern theater. Remember the humor, heartbreak, and pratfalls of the flat, flickering original? Now go way beyond the familiar as the beloved silent film character leaps right off the screen into the full-color multi-media world of our own turbulent decade.

 

SYNOPSIS

In the true fashion of a Charlie Chaplin silent film, the Tramp finds himself alone in a posh mansion. As he mischievously explores the various rooms of the house, the Tramp runs into its odd inhabitants, including a nymphomaniac maid, a suicidal young lady, a policeman who fishes in the bathroom, an old man near death in the library, and a melancholy man confined to the kitchen. Soon, the house becomes more like a scene from an Edgar Allan Poe story than a Charlie Chaplin comedy. With the help of multi-media magic, the beloved silent film character is brought to us in full color and taken on a hallucinatory, turbulent ride that will leave everyone guessing what can happen next.

 

Creative Team

directed by

Charlie Thomas Derrah
The Bald Man Remo Airaldi
The Maid Karen MacDonald
The Old Man Alvin Epstein
The Lady Caroline Hall
The Policeman Benjamin Evett
set design by Laurie Olinder and Fred Tietz
costume design by Catherine Zuber
lighting design by John Ambrosone
music selections from the work of Bill Frisell
additional music Christopher Walker
sound design by Christopher Walker
film projection by Bill Morrison
slide projection by Laurie Olinder