The Schoolhouse Theater to Stage Premiere U.S. Production of Lars Noren Play, "And Give Us the Shadows"

The Schoolhouse Theater is thrilled to open the 2013-14 season with the U.S. premier of And Give Us The Shadows, written by Sweden's most celebrated contemporary playwright, Lars Noren. It will run from October 17 through November 10.

And Give Us The Shadows takes place on Eugene O'Neill's 60th birthday in 1948, as he and his third wife, Carlotta, await the arrival of O'Neill's sons from previous marriages. Entirely fictitious, the play presents a dramatic and plausible account of what might have happened on that day. O'Neill had strained relationships with his sons, each of whom wrestled with bouts of alcoholism and heroin addiction before eventually committing suicide. This is the first full production of the play in the United States. In 1991, the Royal Dramatic Theater of Stockholm performed a staged reading at the National Playwrights Conference held annually at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT.

The Schoolhouse was granted permission to produce this extraordinary play by the reclusive author through a great bit of karma: the work had been translated into English by Marita Lindholm Gochman, a Swedish native and wife of Schoolhouse board member and Carmel resident Len Gochman. Since 1985, Mrs. Gochman has translated 25 Noren plays, making her the playwright's foremost English language translator.

The Schoolhouse has received a generous show of support to bring the production to Croton Falls by way of grants they have received from The American-Scandinavian Foundation and the Barbro Osher Foundation. "We are thrilled to receive such wonderful support, for this exciting and worthy project," said Schoolhouse Artistic Director, Pamela Moller Kareman.

The production will be directed by Moni Yakim, a world-renowned director and master teacher of physical acting who is one of the original faculty members of The Juilliard Drama School. Stella Adler first noticed Yakim while he was directing at the Cite Internationale Universitaire in Paris and urged him to come New York to study with her and to teach physical acting at her conservatory.

Yakim has directed numerous productions on and Off-Broadway. He has also directed a number of operas including Don Pasquale, La Boheme and Rigoletto. He received the Association of Theater Movement Educators (ATME) Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to theater movement and is the author of Creating the Character: A Physical Approach to Acting. Moni has helped many stage, film and television actors prepare for their roles, among them Ryan Gosling, Harvey Keitel, Brittany Murphy, Michael Night and Peter Weller.

Two additional productions will round out the 2013-2014 season. < b>The Seafarer by Connor McPherson will run from March 13 to April 6, 2014; and Luv by Murray Schisgal will run from May 29 to June 22, 2014.

Over the years, The Schoolhouse Theater has become the go-to theater in Westchester, where people can see productions they thought they could only see in New York. The Schoolhouse is a regional Equity theater, dedicated to presenting professional theatrical performances by award-winning playwrights and to support and promote other art forms.