[NEohioPAL] Eric Bogosian & SubUrbia at Oberlin College

[Alexander Birnie]

Oberlin College Presents

ERIC BOGOSIAN:  February 4th at 8PM in Finney Chapel

SUBURBIA: A Play by Eric Bogosian, Directed by Paul Moser, January  
30th – February 7th in Hall Auditorium

Following the Oberlin College Theater and Dance Program’s exciting new  
interpretation of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, which opened  
the 2008-2009 season and starred alumnus Avery Brooks ’70, the program  
will continue its rich history of alumni involvement and presentation  
of dynamic new productions this spring with two exciting events. On  
February 4th, acclaimed playwright, actor and 1976 alumnus, Eric  
Bogosian, returns to his alma mater as part of Oberlin’s 2008-2009  
Convocation Series. The visit is presented in conjunction with a  
production of Bogosian’s play SubUrbia in Hall Auditorium, January 30  
through February 7, directed by Associate Professor of Theater, Paul  
Moser. [See entire list of events with Eric Bogosian]

Eric Bogosian, best known for writing and starring in the play and the  
film Talk Radio, has had a wide-ranging career as an author, actor,  
and playwright. For his work on Talk Radio, he was a Pulitzer Prize  
finalist and recipient of the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear Award;  
in 2007, the Broadway revival starring Liev Schreiber was nominated  
for two Tony Awards. For his six solo off-Broadway shows, Bogosian  
received three Obie Awards and a Drama Desk Award. Bogosian has also  
written a number of other full-length plays including SubUrbia, which  
will be performed on campus during his visit. His third novel will be  
published in early 2009 by Simon & Schuster. Bogosian has also  
appeared in many films and television programs and currently stars in  
Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Capt. Danny Ross. An alumnus of  
Oberlin’s theater program, Bogosian brings his infectious energy and  
broad artistic experience back to campus in a talk titled Bitter  
Honey: A Reading, presented in Finney Chapel on February 4th at 8pm.

In SubUrbia, a gritty, uncompromising portrait of suburban life in the  
1990s, one night spent loitering in a convenience store parking lot  
turns into a desperate quest for meaning in a bleak, banal world from  
which there seems to be no escape. The play’s piercingly intelligent  
and boisterously violent dialogue lends voice to the anger and  
disillusionment of a group of young people and stands as a universal  
coming-of-age story that is brutal in its dissection of art, war,  
relationships and pop culture.

SubUrbia will be performed at Oberlin College’s Hall Auditorium Friday  
and Saturday, January 30 & 31, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday,  
February 3, 5, 6 & 7. In addition to his convocation speech, Bogosian  
will also participate in a Q&A with audience members following the  
February 3rd performance of SubUrbia and a public interview on  
February 4th at 4:30pm in Oberlin College’s West Lecture Hall.

Seating in Hall Auditorium is onstage and limited. There is no late  
seating. This production is sponsored by the Oberlin College Theater  
and Dance Program. Tickets to SubUrbia are $8 for the general public,  
$6 for staff, alumni and senior citizens over 55 and $4 for students.  
Tickets are $3 more at the door. Tickets are available at Central  
Ticket Service, Hall Auditorium, open Monday through Friday, noon to 5  
pm, 440-775-8169 or 800-371-0178.

Production Notes

SubUrbia centers around a group of early twenty-somethings who have  
grown up together in a generic Massachusetts suburb. Jeff is a would- 
be intellectual on the cusp of dropping out of community college; his  
close friends are Buff, a laid-back stoner and Tim, a Gulf War vet  
with a chip on his shoulder. Jeff’s girlfriend Sooze is an aspiring  
performance artist and her friend BeeBee is just out of rehab. They  
spend most nights hanging out behind a 7-11 run by Pakistani siblings  
Norman and Pakeesha, but tonight is different as they await the return  
visit of a high school classmate who has become a successful rock  
musician.

“SubUrbia centers on the angst of being stuck in extended adolescence”  
says director Paul Moser, Associate Professor of Theater, “It’s that  
holding pattern or moratorium from personal growth, usually  
characterized by not making any significant life choices toward self- 
actualization.” Moser suggests that this experience is a “uniquely  
American phenomenon,” he continues, “even if we didn’t get stuck there  
ourselves, we can all relate.” A recent interview by the Oberlin  
Alumni Magazine with alumnus and playwright, Eric Bogosian, depicts  
SubUrbia as “the story of [Bogosian’s] life at age 20,” when he  
decided to “leave school and return to his hometown…a suburb with a  
mix of industrial decay and commercial sprawl.” The success of  
SubUrbia, offers Moser, comes from Bogosian’s ability to “dramatize  
the emotional pressures of this life passage – especially that sense  
of being caught between idealism and cynicism, and security and the  
‘unknown’.”

“It’s also wonderful to do a show where everyone in the cast is  
playing characters their own age,” ventures Moser. “Usually in college  
theater, young actors are expected to create roles of people much  
older than themselves – assuming physicality and more importantly life  
experience that’s foreign to them. But with SubUrbia, even a  
professional cast would all be college-aged. And that’s a lot of fun  
for everyone involved.”

Cast
The cast of Oberlin College students features Derrick Bean ’09 (Jeff),  
William “Tip” Scarry ’11 (Buff), Enrico Nassi ’09 (Tim), Nick Parlato  
’12 (Pony), Shahab Raza ’12 (Norman), Shauna Siggelkow ’11 (Sooze),  
Atty Siegel ’12 (BeeBee), EJ Dickson ’11 (Erica), and Sam Boyd ’11  
(Pakeesha).
Production Team
Paul Moser (Director), Sarah Gasser ’10 (Stage Manager), Jeremy  
Benjamin (Lighting Design), Michael Louis Grube (Set Design), Chris  
Flaharty (Costume Design), JoEllen Cuthbertson (Costumer), Joseph P.  
Natt (Technical Director), David Bugher (Assistant Technical  
Director), Andrew Kaletta (Master Electrician), Emma Louise Rodriguez  
’11 (Poster Design), Rebecca Balmer ’09 and Alex Birnie ’10 (Publicity).
Paul Moser (Director)

Paul Moser is an Associate Professor of Theater and Chair of the  
Theater and Dance Program at Oberlin College. He joined the faculty in  
1990 and has directed productions including, The Cherry Orchard,  
Tartuffe, Picnic, All’s Well That Ends Well, The Cradle Will Rock, The  
Wager, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo & Juliet, Major Barbara, and  
Measure for Measure. Professionally he has directed at such regional  
theaters as the Indiana Repertory Theater (where he also served as  
Associate Artistic Director), The Phoenix, Portland Stage Company,  
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The New Harmony Theater Company, and  
Theater Virginia. Last summer Mr. Moser collaborated with the recently- 
formed Oberlin-alumni theater company "4th Meal Productions",  
directing the NYC premiere of Dorm Stories - a project that originated  
in his Acting 1 class. He has written two works for the stage, The  
Problem with Dinosaurs (1992) and Sanctuary (1995) which he developed  
with his ensemble, The Black River Theater Company (BRTC). Other BRTC  
productions include The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You  
Like It, and Twelfth Night. Mr. Moser majored in Theater Arts and  
Dramatic Literature at Brown University and received his MFA in  
Directing from the Yale School of Drama. He is a member of The Society  
of Stage Directors and Choreographers.



Media Contact:


Alexander Birnie
Publicity Office Manager
Oberlin College Theater & Dance Program
440.506.4790 (cell)
440.775.8171 (office)





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