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Voyeurs de Venus

Voyeurs de Venus

Written by Lydia R. Diamond
Directed by Summer L. Williams
October 31 – November 22, 2008
The Plaza Theatre @ The Boston Center for the Arts

Company One is proud to present the Boston premiere of Lydia Diamond's dazzling new play VOYEURS DE VENUS. Sara is an African-American scholar of pop culture trying to write a book about Saartjie Baartman, better known as the 19th-century sideshow sensation The Hottentot Venus. As the two women's worlds collide, Sara faces a struggle: can she reveal the truth about Saartjie and still write a bestseller? While Sara navigates a treacherous course involving her white husband and her black lover — who is also her publisher, she is forced to confront her own racial identity. Sexy, bold and dangerous, VOYEURS DE VENUS is sure to be one of the season's most piercing dramas.

Lydia Diamond is a Huntington Theatre playwriting fellow and adapted last season's hit show THE BLUEST EYE.

It is a tough, challenging, complicated piece of work. It is also an essential one. And in Company One's production . . . directed with acuity and grace by Summer L. Williams, it is receiving the staging it deserves. At times frightening, at times moving, and at times startlingly funny, this "Voyeurs de Venus" is never less than riveting to watch.
- The Boston Globe

Awards

Elliot Norton Award Winner - Outstanding Director, Small/Fringe Company


BOSTON CENTER
FOR THE ARTS

Plaza Theatre
539 Tremont Street
South End, Boston, MA

Get Directions

Web:
www.BostonTheatreScene.com

Box Office:
Phone: 617.933.8600

Walk-up:
Calderwood Pavilion at the
Boston Center for the Arts
527 Tremont St.
OR
Boston University Theatre
Box Office
264 Huntington Ave.


Cast




PLAYWRIGHT & PRODUCTION STAFF

  • Lydia R. Diamond
    Playwright
  • Summer L. Williams
    Director
  • Jarrod Bray
    Set Designer
  • Chris Fournier
    Lighting Designer
  • Jennifer Varekamp
    Costume Designer
  • Arshan Gailus
    Sound Designer
  • Basia Goszczynska
    Props Designer
  • Cedric Crowe
    Choreographer
  • Gabi Logan
    Stage Manager
  • Lauren Arnold
    Assistant Stage Manager
  • Vawnya Nichols
    Assistant Stage Manager
  • Ilana M. Brownstein
    Dramaturg
  • Cheryl Turski
    Dialect Coach
  • Sarah Cohan
    Production Manager
  • Mark Abby VanDerzee
    Technical Director

  • Kortney Adams*
    *Member of Actor's Equity Association

  • Douglas Cochrane

  • Michael Steven Costello

  • Quentin James

  • Becca A. Lewis

  • Marvelyn McFarlane

  • Bob Schwalbach

  • Nathaniel Taylor

  • Jenn Bates

  • Endira Ellis

  • Elise Sharra Hamilton

  • Nicole Mayne

  • Yolanda Roberson

  • Lydia R. Diamond
    Lydia R. Diamond's plays include: Stick Fly (produced by Alicia Keys under the direction of Kenny Leon, will open on Broadway at the Cort theatre on November 18, 2011; '10 Irne Award - Best Play, '10 LA Critics Circle Awards, '10 LA Garland Award - Playwriting, '08 Susan S. Blackburn Finalist, '06 Black Theatre Alliance Award - Best Play), Voyeurs de Venus ('06 Joseph Jefferson Award - Best New Work, '06 BTAA - Best Writing), The Bluest Eye ('06 Black Arts Alliance Image Award - Best New Play, '08 American Alliance for Theatre and Education Distinguished Play Award), The Gift Horse ('05 Theadore Ward Prize, Kesselring Prize 2nd Place), Harriet Jacobs, Stage Black, and Lizzie Stranton (2008 Boston University Playwriting Initiative Commision). Theatres include: Arena Stage, Chicago Dramatists, Company One, Congo Square, Everyman Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre Co., Jubilee Theatre, Kansas City Rep, L.A. Theatre Works, Long Wharf, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, McCarter Theatre Co., Mo'Olelo Theatre Co., MPAACT, New Vic, Playmakers Rep, Plowshares Theatre Co., Providence Black Rep, Steppenwolf, TrueColors, The Matrix, Underground Railway Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and The Contemporary American Theatre Festival. Lydia's plays have been produced at Universities around the country including: Duke University, Howard University, Emerson College, Boston University, Northwestern University, University of Wisconsin, Columbia College Chicago, Spelman College, University of California - San Marcos, and University of Maryland. Lydia has been commissioned by: Steppenwolf, McCarter, Huntington, Actor's Theatre of Louisville/Victory Gardens, Humana, Boston University, and The Roundabout. Stick Fly and Harriet Jacobs are published by NU Press, Bluest Eye, Gift Horse, Stage Black - Dramatic Publishing. Lydia was a 2007 TCG/NEA Playwright in Residence at Steppenwolf, an 06/07 Huntington Playwright Fellow, 2009 NEA/Arena Stage New Play Development Grant Finalist, is a TCG Executive Board Member, a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists, an Honorary Doctorate of Arts Recipient from Pine Manor College, and a recent recipient of the Huntington Theatre's 2011 Wimbley Award.

Stay tuned for information on special events!

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Reviews

December 22, 2008
Year in Theater: Staged Right by Carolyn Clay, The Phoenix

November 14, 2008
A VISIONARY 'VOYEUR' by Nick Dussault, The Boston Metro

November 11, 2008
Call of the cash by Carolyn Clay, The Phoenix

November 7, 2008
In a real-life tale, horror and beauty by Louise Kennedy, The Boston Globe

November 3, 2008
VOYEURS' MAKES IT HARD TO TURN AWAY by Jenna Scherer, The Boston Herald

November 3, 2008
Voyeurs de Venus by Killian Melloy, EDGE Boston

November 3, 2008
Lydia Diamond Tells a Provocative Story by Kay Bourne, EDGE Boston

November 2, 2008
Exploring, not exploiting, a shameful history by Megan Tench, The Boston Globe