Foxfinder
This production was held on November 13 – 23, 2014
Art Square Theatre, Downtown Las Vegas
At the heart of this gripping, futuristic parable beats an incendiary plot that pulses with menace and suspicion. In rural England, a blight of bad luck has befallen the countryside and an infestation may be to blame. The totalitarian government sends an agent, a Foxfinder, into the home of Judith and Samuel Covey and the invasive inspection whirls simple lives into a frenzy of finger-pointing and distrust. As the bizarre scrutiny intensifies, guilt, fear and distorted realities fuel a feverish hunt to explain the unknown.
This production featured Timothy Cummings as Samuel, Shelly Lynn as Judith, Christopher Brown as William, and Ginger Lanier as Sarah.
Media Coverage
Vegas Valley Awards (Review Journal)
Restless New Theater Company A Public Fit Prepares Its First Full Show
Director’s Note (from the program)
Let’s talk about evolution. About a year and a half ago in the month of July, Joe and I gathered a group of 10 friends together in order to read a script that we enjoyed but had a difficult time visualizing and needed to hear out loud. We heard the play, read a couple of scenes again for good measure, and followed up with a very engaging discussion and some vigorous debate. By the end of the evening, we all felt we had a much better understanding of the script, that we had done something important, and best of all, that we had had a great time.
We did it again in August. And again, the reading was a success – our small group of 10 friends had become 15. In September, there were 24, in October 36. As the months passed the numbers grew, and the discussions became more dynamic, boisterous, and diverse. After about a year, the Kucan household was filled to capacity monthly.
The APF family began to question whether the monthly readings could be something enjoyed by the Las Vegas community. With the inclusion and help of Kate St-Pierre, we moved our readings downtown to The Window and A Public Fit Theatre Company threw its first truly public fit with 93 folk attending our (now staged) reading of Amy Herzog’s Belleville. Each month, the readings attracted new audiences hungering to hear over-looked plays and to be part of our post-reading discussions – a lively affair that we took to calling “the Buzzz.”
Just like that, Joe and I became a theatre company. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, we grew our ambitions and our staff; it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge and thank Daniel Kucan, Ken Kucan, Ryan Rich, Tina Rice, Brooke Wahlquist, Kirk Stowers, Brandi Blackman, Shawn Donley, Joe Bunin, Melanie Jupp, and Dr. Ian Pugh for attaching themselves so early and for offering such sage advice. Through endless conversation, serendipitous meetings, dashed expectations, and generous gifts, you are now sitting in the house reading our first program. We had evolved into A Public Fit.
Which brings us to tonight’s production of Foxfinder, a play with level upon level upon level of evolution – in theme, in character, in outlook. All well-written characters experience dramatic evolution – a clear and dynamic arc that makes up the drive of the story. Characters shift as they encounter new faces, obstacles, or tragedies; a character’s desires may propel him down a path they’d never even thought possible. As an audience, it’s our attachment to and empathetic connection with these arcs that make the most compelling theatre; we evolve right along with them, challenging our own attachments to the status quo, to the dependability of our relationships, to our adherence to dogma. And sometimes, like William Bloor, when it’s all over, we find ourselves saying, “I thought I was a lot of things.”
– AMP Nov 2014