Shows: Past Productions

[ Coming Soon ] + Past Productions +

REQUIEM FOR TESLA

January/February 2001

The Off Center

created by Rude Mechs | written by Kirk Lynn | directed by Shawn Sides

"Lynn's script is an impressive, cleverly woven fabric of monologue, dialogue, and sound bites until the final scene; then the writing -- Tesla's deathbed fears about his long-dead brother -- is simply, heartbreakingly gorgeous." – The Austin Chronicle

"Requiem is a dream." - The Daily Texan

"Rude Mechanicals' 'Tesla' flashes with inspiration" - Austin American-Statesman

REQUIEM FOR TESLA - a semi-biographical, sci-fi homage to Nikola Tesla, a genius inventor who loved pigeons, hated spherical objects and was undoubtedly one of the most fascinating and controversial figures of all time. REQUIEM FOR TESLA is an ecstatic and evocative tribute to the man who gave us alternating current and dreamed of spaceships in a time when even electricity was dangerous magic. Tesla’s impassioned efforts to improve the quality of life for humankind left him straddling a line between genius and insanity. Rude Mechs’ high-voltage stage-collage honoring the genius/madman fuses period electronics, frenetic subconscious hallucinations, and a demonic Mark Twain. Death rays, wave generators, and music by The Golden Arm Trio all combust in this sci-fi electromagnetic polyphase dynamo play.

PHOTO GALLERY

REVIEWS / PRESS

Austin American-Statesman Feature

Austin American-Statesman Review

Austin Chronicle Review

Daily Texan Review

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

PRODUCTION TEAM

Playwright - Kirk Lynn

Director - Shawn Sides

Ensemble:

Michael Miller (Tesla), Robert Fisher (Twain/Edison), Lana Lesley (Katherine), Barry Miller (Westinghouse), Michael Kranes (Morgan / Czito), Sarah Richardson (Alien), Graham Reynolds (Musician), Blair Bovbjerg (Musician)

Lighting Design: Zach Murphy

Scenic Design: Stephen Pruitt

Sound Design: Buzz Moran

Costume Design: Leslie Bonnell

Original Music: Graham Reynolds

SHAWN SIDES (Director) has been a performer, director, and producer in Austin and New York for the past 13 years. Shawn holds an M.A. in Theatre from New York University where she studied directing, acting, and writing techniques with artists including Anne Bogart, Richard Schechner, Augusto Boal, and Holly Hughes. At N.Y.U, Shawn assisted Richard Schechner in directing Chekhov's Three Sisters at La Mama. In Austin, Shawn conceived and directed the first Rude Mechanicals performance composition, curst & Shrewd: The Taming of the Shrew Unhinged. She directed Crucks, Part II of Kirk Lynn's acclaimed "Faminly Trilogy," for which she received an Austin Critics' Table Award for Outstanding Movement and a Critics' Table and a B. Iden Payne nomination for Outstanding Director. Shawn also directed the world premiere of Terry Galloway's In the House of the Moles for Rude Mechanicals. Shawn received the Outstanding Director award from both the Austin Critics' Table Awards and The B. Iden Payne Awards for her work on Lipstick Traces.

KIRK LYNN (Playwright) is the playwright-in-residence for Rude Mechs. He is the author of several full-length plays including Pale Idiot which won Outstanding Original Script from Austin’s B. Iden Payne Awards. Kirk’s three plays in "The Faminly Trilogy" (Lust Supper, Crucks, Salivation) were nominated for the Osborn Award by the American Theatre Critics’ Association. Most recently, he wrote and directed a new play, WAR, for which he received nominations for Outstanding Drama, Outstanding Director and Outstanding Original Script from Austin’s B. Iden Payne Awards. For Lipstick Traces, Kirk has been nominated for the American Theater Critics’ Association New Play Award and won the Austin Critics’ Table award for Outstanding Adaptation. Kirk is at work his third novel; his first two remain in a drawer.

MORE INFO ABOUT NIKOLA TESLA

http://www.hightension.org
http://www.parascope.com/en/0996/tesindex.htm
http://www.yurope.com/org/tesla/
http://www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~bogdan/tesla/
http://www.pbs.org/tesla

BOOKS ON NIKOLA TESLA

In Search of Nikola Tesla
By Peat, F. David
List Price $10.95

A pioneer in electricity and rival of Thomas Edison, Tesla invented the modern induction motor and built the Niagara Falls Power Project. Yet he died a recluse, claiming to have discovered an inexhaustible source of energy whose power could be tapped and transmitted around the world without loss.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE! 5% of the purchase price will go to Rude Mechs

Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla
By Seifer, Marc J.
List Price $19.95
Nikola Tesla, credited by many as the inspiration for radios, robots, and even radar, has been called the patron saint of modern electricity. 'Wizard' is the definitive biography of this founding father of modern technology.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE! 5% of the purchase price will go to Rude Mechs

For tickets or information please call 512-476-RUDE or visit our tickets page.
For questions email info@rudemechs.com.