Panndora Productions

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

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.

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!

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.

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!

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!

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 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

 

Well, our production of "Well" went well. Every time we did this show, we found more to love. And our audience and reviewers agreed: "WELL" made me want to shout from the rooftops that I am alive. Panndora’s production filled me with more than a love for life; it made me grateful for the 90 minutes I was in that theater. Because it was nourishing and fulfilling and important – and GOOD! http://twolivesonepath.blogspot.com/2011/04/well-is-theater-in-excellent-shape.html.

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!

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

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.

 

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.

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!

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.

This Sunday, January 10, at 4pm, Panndora joins forces with Long Beach Opera for a special event to precede the opening of "The Good Soldier Schweik", the season opener for LBO's 2010 season. Come join us at 4pm at the Long Beach Playhouse, 4021 E. Anaheim St, Long Beach.

Tickets are $25 or $20 for LBO subscribers. You can get tickets here or call Long Beach Opera at 562 432 5934.

Our long-awaited production of "Wit" has found a home! Theatre Out, the company now presenting in the old Rude Guerrilla space (the Empire Theatre) in Santa Ana, has welcomed Panndora Productions into their fold. Our agreement gives us the space for 3 performances each weekend in March 2010. We've confirmed the rights and we are already working on this extraordinary play. Directed by Pete Taylor, "Wit" features Sonja Berggren, Brandon Crisler, Carmen Guo, Pete Taylor and Karen Wray.

"A brutally human and beautifully layered new play. . .You will feel both enlightened and, in a strange way, enormously comforted." THE NEW YORK TIMES

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.

 

 

The response to this year's Panndora's Box Festival of New Works has been overwhelming! After receiving over 150 plays from all over the world, we feel compelled to add another night and another play to the Festival. We will select 5 plays from those submitted to be read at the Festival which will now begin on Friday night, June 26, at 8:00pm at Breath of Fire Theatre in Santa Ana. Two more plays will be read on Saturday and two on Sunday.

We have the pleasure of adding Sky Siegel and Brandon Crisler to our 3rd Annual Panndora's Box Festival of New Works Literary Committee. Along with Jessica Vorsgerchian, they are providing valuable perspectives on our submissions. Thank you so much! Now the real fun begins!

Jessica Vorsgerchian joins us this summer straight from the Michigan Daily at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. An award winning writer, Jessica is an English major and will be our Literary Assistant for Panndora's Box 3rd Festival of New Works. We can't wait for her to get here!

Co-founder Sonja Berggren has been selected to perform her one-woman piece, "There is a Place I Go. . ." this summer at "Expressing Motherhood" at the Electric Lodge in Venice, CA. August 1-2 and 8-9, 2009. Check out expressingmotherhood.com