http://www.panndoraproductions.com/cms/productions.html Latest news and updates about Panndora Productions Panndora Productions CGFeedMaker 1.0.17 on CMS Made Simple sonjaseaver@att.net edmartgt@yahoo.com (Eduardo Martinez) Panndorans Sonja Berggren, Pete and Rebecca Taylor are travelling to Woodstock, NY to be part of a staged reading of the landmark marriage equality play, "8" by Dustin Lance Black, in the Byrdcliffe Arts Festival on June 15 and 16.  Sonja is directing the cast of 20+ drawn from Yale Drama School, Panndora, local actors and community leaders and professors from U.Mass, Amherst, including Lee Badgett, who testified as an expert in the original trial.   Mon, 10 Jun 2013 00:09:00 -0700 On May 1, 2013, we open for submissions of new, unproduced plays to Panndora's Box. This will be our seventh year of running this Festival; each year our playwrights rave about their experiences. And who knows, you might even get a full production ~ right, Adam Seidel and Alexandra Petri? We look forward to hearing from all you playwrights out there. Start sending in scripts for our Annual New Works Festival! Our literary team is ready to read! Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:35:00 -0700 This dark, quirky, oddly funny tale of romance gone wrong, or maybe right, captured our hearts.  In Adam Seidel the reviewers recognized a new voice to watch, an up and coming playwright who is going places. You saw it here first.  It was a wonderful run at Long Beach Playhouse in the Studio Theatre and we thank all the incredibly supportive LBPH folks who helped make this possible. Til next time! Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:27:00 -0800 CATCHING THE BUTCHER IS A STRIKING PIECE OF WORK      At Long Beach Playhouse, Adam Seidel's striking black comedy "Catching the Butcher," about the inner life of a serial killer, is brilliant and funny but not frivolous.    "Catching the Butcher" is a striking piece of work, marking Seidel as an up-and-coming playwright to watch. Backstage.com/review by Eric Marchese Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:48:00 -0800 Playwright Adam Seidel will be joining us for opening weekend of the premiere of "Catching the Butcher." We are delighted to have him here from Chicago. Saturday night after the performance at the Long Beach Playhouse Studio Theatre, there will be a talk back with Adam, along with director, Chrisanne Blankenship-Billings and the cast of the show, Derek Long, Karen Wray and Rebecca Taylor. Moderated by the fabulous Alexandra Billings! Come on down! Fri, 08 Feb 2013 01:44:00 -0800 On February 8, 2013, Panndora opens our season with a winning play from Panndora's Box New Works Festival 2012. Don't miss the  world premiere of  CATCHING THE BUTCHER  by Adam Seidel.  Nancy finds herself tied up in the Butcher's basement -- and she likes it. What could possibly go wrong? mature content, brief nudity, dark comedy Shows are Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $20 general admission. Call 562-494-1014 or click the button below. Buy Tickets Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:11:00 -0800 Panndora's co-founder, Sonja Berggren, is expanding her horizons spending a semester at Yale School of Drama as a special research fellow in directing. This means you will see less of her this fall, but she will have many stories to tell when she is back! (It was wonderful being in CA for Panndora's Box! What a terrific batch of plays this year!) Tue, 21 Aug 2012 22:51:00 -0700 Orange County Register Eric Marchese reports: "If a play's basic premise is everything, then 'Hook-Ups' has it all, because playwright Alexandra Petri starts with an irresistible premise, then builds upon it, crafting sparkling characters and witty dialogue with apparent ease. . . . . Her visions are amply realized by director Sonja Berggren and her well-chosen cast."   Congratulations kids! Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:40:07 -0800 We just learned that Sonja Berggren got a "Best Supporting Actress" nod for her work in "WELL" by Lisa Kron, starring Karen Wray and directed by MaryAnne Mosher. Congratulations Panndora and the whole ensemble cast! Best of OC Theatre 2011 www.examiner.com Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:01:41 -0800 It's decided! Our next full production will be "HOOK-UPS" by Alexandra Petri, a timely, intelligent, witty and very funny comedy about - well - what people talk about after they "hook up." All kinds of people - princesses, aliens, Plato, vampires, cougars and boy toys, and regular couples kind of like, well, you and me. Don't miss this one! Coming to the Empire Theatre in Santa Ana, during the month of March 2012. Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:09:09 -0800 Labor Day has come and gone and Panndora's Box has closed for 2011. It was a tremendous success and we are already looking forward to diving into next year's submissions! Next year's Festival, our 6th, will be held September 28, 29, 30, 2012 at the Empire Theatre, Santa Ana. We open for submissions on May 1. Stay tuned! Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:24:55 -0700 This year's Panndora's Box Festival is another basket of wonderful theatrical treats. Stop by the Empire Theatre over Labor Day weekend and check out these offerings. The Empire Theatre (home of Theatre Out) is located at 202 N. Broadway in Santa Ana (corner of 2nd and Bway, next door to American Apparel). Suggested donation: $10 per reading, $20 for the entire Festival. Cash only, no reservations. Sun, 28 Aug 2011 21:09:35 -0700 We are enjoying the practice of casting and preparing for the readings of this year's magnificent works selected for Panndora's Box. Stay tuned as we post more information about the plays selected and the upcoming Festival. September 2-4, 2011, Labor Day weekend at the Empire Theatre, Santa Ana! Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:13:25 -0700 It's been  a great year for plays submitted to Panndora's Box 5th Annual Festival of New Works. We have been reading for months now and we are very close to announcing the winners of this year's Festival. Stay tuned! Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:34:23 -0700 Our playwrights have asked for more time to submit works to this year's Panndora's Box Festival of New Works and we are giving it. The deadline for submissions has been extended to JULY 10, 2011. Don't miss this opportunity to have your untested gem read in a professional setting. Writers are in good hands with this Festival. "I had such a wonderful, uplifting experience. My play was beautifully done from start to finish by experienced actors who were expertly directed. The critical comments I received helped me enormously. Panndora is a wonderful, supportive place to test out a new play." Lucile Lichtblau, author of "The English Bride,"  2010 Panndora's Box, and 1st prize winner in the Actors' Theatre of Santa Cruz Festival 2011 "I had a terrific experience with Panndora's Box. The actors who performed in the reading of 'Whites in Hot Water" were outstanding. The direction was phenomenal. It was exciting to see my play on its feet, and I learned a lot about the play's strengths and weaknesses." Garrett Socol, 2010 Panndora's Box winner   Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:50:50 -0700   Mon, 16 May 2011 14:17:33 -0700 Well, on Sunday May 15, we had our last show of WELL. We will miss this play! Thanks to our fantastic cast - Karen Wray, Sonja Berggren, J.J. Boone, Philip Bushell, Richard DeVicariis, Pam Paulson -  our fabulous crew - Kara Kessener and David Carnevale - and our wonderful director, MaryAnne Mosher. And a special thanks to our audience, especially those of you who kept coming back to see this show again! You are terrific! Sun, 15 May 2011 14:39:28 -0700 Panndora and Long Beach Opera directed by Andreas Mitisek May 1, 2011, 2-4:30pm at the Art Theatre, Long Beach, CA On May 1, Panndora joined forces with Long Beach Opera to present a "Coincidence" for the opera "Moscow, Cherry Town" by Dmitri Shostokovich. Do you qualify to get an apartment in Cherry Town? Or will you end up in "communal housing," living in one room with the kitchen, hallway, lavatory, and bathroom as highly contested public spaces? A humorous trip through the labyrinth of Russian housing with actors from Panndora Productions and singers from LBO's cast of "Moscow, Cherry Town." More Sun, 01 May 2011 21:51:49 -0700 Yes I did. I met Kathleen Chalfant for coffee in New York on Friday, February 5. She played the role of Vivian Bearing in "Wit" for over three years on Broadway, garnering a host of awards for her brilliant performance. In person, she is delightful, generous, warm, earthy, funny and beautiful. She shared stories of how it felt to walk around town with no hair, to the beauty of this play and the "translucent transcendence" of its message. It was a magical afternoon, leaving me even more inspired to become Vivian for a month in Santa Ana, CA.   Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:16:43 -0800 We are happy to welcome Darcy Porter and Nick Wopershall to our "Wit" cast. They will each be playing four different roles - technician, medical fellow, college student and member of the code team. They are fantastic additions to this show. Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:06:20 -0800 I (Sonja) have begun the process of shortening my hair bit by bit to prepare for shaving my head to become Vivian Bearing. Here are some photos of my latest bob.[coming] I will probably go through one more cut before the shave - which will be shared on this site. Thanks for your interest! Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:09:35 -0800 We are in full rehearsals now for "Wit" under Pete Taylor's direction. This is such a beautiful play. You won't want to miss it. Details for tickets will be out soon. We are playing every weekend in March at the Empire Theatre in Santa Ana. Here's the cast: Sonja Berggren as Vivian Bearing, Brandon Crisler as Dr. Jason Posner, Carmen Guo as Professor E.M. Ashford, Pete Taylor as Dr. Kelekian/Mr. Bearing, and Karen Wray as Susie Monahan, R.N. We are in the process of casting 3 more actors to cover the roles of lab technicians, clinical fellows, students and the code team. Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:04:19 -0800 "In these great times of war . . ." 1 performance only! Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:25:38 -0800 "Wit" to be produced by Panndora in March 2010 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:57:51 -0800 We had a fabulous opening night for Panndora's Box Friday with the reading of "Star Turn" by Linda Whitmore, our own New Voices playwright. The audience loved it, as did we. Join us for the rest of the Festival!  Saturday at 4pm, "Sunday's Child" by Jennifer S. Jones, directed by Karen Wray, with Pete and Rebecca Taylor, Erin Henriques and Robert Dean Nunez. Saturday at 7pm, "Denouement" by Jack Raymond, directed by Pete Taylor, with David Gold, Karen Wray, Rebecca Taylor and Pete himself. Sunday at 1pm, "The Wall" by Jonathan Chapman, directed by Andreas Mitisek, with Kevin Brunner, Sonja Berggren, Leandro Cano, Brandon Crisler and Sky Siegel. Sunday at 4pm, "The Morning After the Night Before" by William S.E. Coleman, directed by Sonja Berggren, with Karen Wray and John Wray.     Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:27:37 -0700