Codes of Conduct

 November 12-20, 2010
Plaza Black Box Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont Street, Boston

Fort Point Theatre Channel, described in September/2010 in Boston Magazine as "a unique initiative in the performing arts in the city," premiered the one-act plays Trapped Inside a Low-fat Twinkie, by Silvia Graziano, and Sunday with Joy, by James Swindell. Boston Magazine was honoring Graziano, who is FPTC's co-artistic director and resident playwright, as a "New Revolutionary." Both plays were presented at each performance of Codes of Conduct.

Photos by Daniel J. van Ackere

TRAPPED INSIDE A LOW-FAT TWINKIE
By Silvia Graziano
Directed by Dawn Simmons

Trapped Inside a Low-fat Twinkie tells the story of an on-again, off-again relationship between a man and a woman--and an obsession with low-fat Twinkies. The question is, which is healthier, the relationship or the ingredients of a Twinkie?

Silvia Graziano is the co-artistic director and resident playwright of Fort Point Theatre Channel. Her play The Romantic was produced in FPTC's "Gods, Monsters, and the Other" play festival. Other works include the prose poems A Slightly Sick Feeling and Pussy Willow, the short play Mourning the Narcissist, a poem/video script Boys Running: A True Confession, and the script for the short film, The Lumber Yard. Graziano coordinates our Exclamation Point! series of new works readings and performances. She has a BFA in dramatic writing from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

Dawn Simmons, co-artistic director of New Exhibition Room, directed Trapped Inside a Low-fat Twinkie.The Romantic. Simmons previously directed Graziano's one-act play, She is director of programs for StageSource: The Greater Boston Theatre Alliance.

SUNDAY WITH JOY
By James Swindell
Directed by Dani Duggan

Sunday with Joy is a real language romp, a display of consummate word craftsmanship as we follow Joy disregarding the rules of her marriage and trying her hand at driving that relationship. This was the first full production for the stage. Sunday with Joy received a reading by Main Street Theater at the Ovations Night Club, November 2006, in Houston, Texas.

James Swindell worked throughout his life behind the scenes in technical roles at many theaters. He was a lighting designer, sound designer, set designer, stage manager, and house manager at such theaters as Main Street Theater and Stages Theater in Houston, Texas, the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Clarence Brown Theatre at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Besides Sunday with Joy, he wrote poems and full-length plays. He also wrote two opera librettos for composer Mark Warhol, co-founder of Fort Point Theatre Channel and artistic director of Ensemble Warhol.

The director of Sunday With Joy was Dani Duggan, veteran of the Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland. She is artistic director of Devanaughn Theatre, president of the executive council of the Massachusetts Drama Guild, producing director of Shakespeare on the Rock in Plymouth, and has worked with many international companies.

The Cast of Sunday With Joy: Christie Lee Gibson, Frances Idlebrook, Christine Power, Paul Shafer, and Robin Smith

The Cast of Trapped Inside a Low-fat Twinkie: Tim Hoover, Rory Kulz, Greer Rooney, Nick Thorkelson, Ally Tully, and Amy West

Crew: Sylvie Agudelo, Costume Designer; Deirdre Benson, Stage Manager; Sean Cote, Set Designer; Kurt Cole Eidsvig, Tech; Marc S. Miller, Co-producer; Amanda Sheehan, Props Design; PJ Strachman, Lighting Designer; Daniel van Ackere, Tech; Mark Warhol, Co-producer; Heidi Zander, Scene Painter