Past Shows
The Train Play
"Crowded Fire's production of this playful derailment
of American dreams and apocalyptic nightmares proves that the company,
anyway, is on track."
— Rob Avila, S.F. Bay Guardian
"Packed with rapid-fire, dense dialogue and
characters whose motivations are anything but immediately obvious,
the show isn't for those whose idea of entertainment nirvana is 'Everybody
Loves Raymond.' But others, who are up for some intellectual food for
thought, will be alternately amused and perplexed by this sometimes
confusing, but always lively, excursion."
— Leslie Katz, The Examiner
The Train Play, or The Reckless Ruthless Brutal Charge
of It
by Liz Duffy Adams
directed by Rob Melrose
played
October – November, 2002 at the EXIT
Theatre, in San Francisco.
What does the end of the world look like? A true modern myth, The Train Play is a comic-poetic journey from dusk to dawn on a train hurtling towards infinity. Eight strangers meet on a train—including a twelve-year-old with the powers of a time-manipulating comic book heroine, a jaded Earth Goddess, an unraveling physicist, an Irishman fleeing predatory angels, an embittered travel writer and three Russian brothers who seem to have escaped from a Chekhov play. When the sun comes up, they have arrived at the end of the world. The story combines the lushness of archetypal myth and the supernatural with a jagged postmodern edge.
Crowded Fire presented The West Coast Premiere production of The Train Play, which was previously produced by Clubbed Thumb at the Ohio Theater, and was a finalist for the Clauder Competition in 1999.
Featuring: Richard Bolster, Elizabeth Bullard, James S. Craft,
Michael Ferris Gibson, Linda Jones, David Koppel*, Robert Martinez,
Gwyneth Richards
Voices: Lasse Christiansen and Paul Gerrior
Scenic Design: Michael Locher
Costume Design: Jocelyn Leiser
Lighting Design: David Sinaiko
Sound Design: Paul Lancour
Stage Manager: Natasha Pesic
Assistant Stage Manager: Tifa Boss
*Member Actors' Equity Association. The Train Play was
an Equity-