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[L&J]

Would like to recommend the production of "The Dodo Bird" that is being staged by

the recently formed Gate Theater Group. The cast did a first class job and the

stage presentation in the AUA Language School Aduitorium was quite good

considering the natural limitations.

They have two additional performances:

Sat. Oct. 20th and Sat. 27th at 19:30.

They deserve your support for launching such an effort and pulling it

off so well. Hopefully this will be the first of many productions.

[SwaziBird]

Would like to recommend the production of "The Dodo Bird" that is being staged by

the recently formed Gate Theater Group. The cast did a first class job and the

stage presentation in the AUA Language School Aduitorium was quite good

considering the natural limitations.

They have two additional performances:

Sat. Oct. 20th and Sat. 27th at 19:30.

They deserve your support for launching such an effort and pulling it

off so well. Hopefully this will be the first of many productions.

Got to agree with you Lo & Jo,

this was a really dynamic & emotionally charged play with some marvellously crafted acting.

I was astonished to find a house of only about 20 patrons this evening ( Saturday 20th ).

There's Saturday the 27th October's performance remaining.

Anyone reading this posting - don't miss it. It will eat into your heart . A strong performance.

Congratulations to all involved . Bravo !

[chicagogato]

New York, Chicago, Chiang Mai, “The DODO BIRD”

A Thrilling, Heartfelt Stage Drama, By American Playwright Emanuel Fried, Comes To Chiang Mai.

American actor, theater director turned English teacher, transports timely, important stage play from the stages of New York and Chicago to the auditorium of AUA’s language school, Chiang Mai.

“Chiang Mai, Thailand - October 19, 2007”

Stephan Benet Turner, from Chicago, Illinois is an English teacher at a very

well known and well respected Academy in Chiang Mai. He is also a theater

artist, who has taken up the challenge of bringing English language drama to

a city where there was none. Mr. Turner, the Artistic Director of Stage Actor’s

Ensemble of Chicago and Founder of The Performance Loft Theater, also in

Chicago, says that, “After two years of living in such a wonderful place, it

became apparent to me that the only thing missing from this great old city

was an outlet for live stage drama.” “I left the U.S. in search of a quieter

lifestyle, to get away from the cliquish rat race of the theater industry in New

York and Chicago and to settle down in a more peaceful environment.”

“Chiang Mai has everything I was looking for, except a place to practice my

craft.” With this thought in mind, Stephan, with the help of four other teachers,

has started a theater group within the old portion of the city called “The Gate

Theater Group.” Stephan says that, “Finding a suitable venue was the most

difficult problem we faced starting out.” But when I got the opportunity to meet

Mr. John Gunther, Director of the AUA Language Center, things just fell into

place.” John is very interested in the arts and even has experience as a

theater technician, so he was very sympathetic to our cause and agreed to let

us rent the AUA auditorium for our first production.”

That first production, “The Dodo Bird,” is an intense one act drama which

explores what it means to live on the fringe of society, to be a man who failed

to achieve the universal dream of being able to sustain himself and his family

and ceased to live by the culture’s standards. The Dodo Bird represents those

we often choose not to see: the guy with glazed eyes walking down the street

talking to himself, carrying a bottle in a brown paper bag, maybe asking for

change. All these Dodo Birds came from someplace, had parents once,

maybe their own family, maybe a job.

In this play, set in a nondescript western industrial town, the Dodo Bird is

fortunate to work as a millwright’s helper, due to the kindness of millwright

Russ Nowark, who keeps him on despite frequent hospital visits for the d.t.’s;

the job is just enough to get by on.

The story of how this particular human being reached this point of desperation

and isolation is revealed in one evening in a bar across the street from the

foundry, where the Dodo Bird is sober, washed, and waiting for a visit from his

estranged daughter.

The author, Emanuel Fried, has been a teacher of creative writing at State

University College at Buffalo, New York and served as a consultant to the

officers of the area’s AFL-CIO Council in carrying out an arts program for

labor. He has been a factory worker, a union organizer, a candidate for the

U.S. Congress, a writer of fiction and non-fiction in addition to his playwriting,

an insurance broker and an actor on Broadway. He wrote his first play long

ago in high school, about his experiences working as a bellhop. For years

while he was a union organizer, he wrote a short story a week for a labor

newspaper. His first play “Mark of Success” written in 1939, was not staged

until more than 20 years later at Catawba College in Salisbury, North

Carolina, as that year’s winner of their New American playwrights Contest.

“The Dodo Bird” first appeared in the winter of 1972-73, issue of Drama and

Theater, magazine published by State University College, Fredonia, New

York. It was last staged at The Performance Loft in Chicago seven years ago

in a production featuring Stephan Turner in the title role.

“Emanuel Fried’s The Dodo Bird is a surprisingly interesting piece of a kind

Of brutal, gutsy realism we seldom see today.”

-The Virginia Pilot

“There is tension here and a highly amusing bit when nice guy outwits brutal guy. There is also some very true language.”

-New York Post

“The Dodo Bird tells a highly suspenseful story and makes some highly relevant points. Mr. Fried is showing us how important job security is to maintenance of personal dignity. He is noting the predicament that faces every worker when he becomes obsolescent along with his job.”

-Nathan Cohen, Toronto Daily Star

“A powerful play. Incredible it has taken so long for Mr. Fried’s talent to be recognized.”

-Arnold Wesker, Author of The Wesker Trilogy

The play opens at AUA language school auditorium, 25 Rajadamoen Rd. in Chiang Mai on October 19th with additional performances on the 20th and 27th. Shows start at 7:30 pm each night. Donation, 250 Bt. For more information or reservations write to [email protected] or call 08-71-772195 No advance ticket sales.