The Hunger Artists Theatre Company was an alternative theatre company located in a business park in Fullerton, California. They were known for presenting challenging, thought-provoking plays, musicals, world premiere pieces, and re-imaginings of classic plays. The company, named after a short story by Franz Kafka, was founded in 1996 by a group of longtime friends and is the first Orange County-based alternative theater to grow out of Orange Coast College's Repertory Theater.[1] During its sixteen-year existence, the company had a number of homes including Costa Mesa, downtown Santa Ana, and finally on South State College Boulevard in the former home of the Vanguard Theatre Ensemble.[2] Hunger is credited with helping launch Theatre Out, an LGBTQ+ theatre company that had productions at Hunger before expanding to their own space in 2009.[3] The company closed in December, 2012 following a production of Rag and Bone by Noah Haidle.[2][4] Affected by the Great Recession, the company became the third Fullerton theater in two years to shut its doors due to financial pressures.[5]
Notable productions
editHunger produced more than 150 shows during its existence.[6] The Hunger Artists received numerous acclaim and awards for contemporary plays such as "Bash: Latter-Day Plays", "4.48 Psychosis" and "The Gog/Magog Project", world premieres such as "The Land Southward", "The Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pageant" and "The Pledge Drive: Ruminations On The Hunger Artist", world premiere adaptations of literary works such as "The Metamorphosis", "Little Women" and "Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book", reworkings of classic plays such as "White Trash Private Lives", "Re: Woyzeck" and an all-male "The Importance of Being Earnest", musicals such as "Sweeney Todd", "Assassins" and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch", one-act festivals such as Beyond Convention, 24 Hour Theater and Last Chance Fest, and original late-night entertainment such as the Orange County Underground Burlesque Society and Muddville.[7]
Their Halloween show, Madame Guignol's Macabre Theatre, became a Halloween tradition and was presented each Halloween for ten years before retiring in 2005.[8] Other productions that received particular acclaim included Sans Merci (2010),[9] Turn of the Screw (2011),[10] Almost Maine (2011),[11]
Notable people
editBritish-born playwright Jeremy Gable served as Artistic Director of the company from December 2006 to April 2009, where he directed the Orange County premieres of Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis[12] and Bryony Lavery's Frozen[13], as well as writing the Flying Spaghetti Monster plays, which were covered by the official Flying Spaghetti Monster website.[14][15] Gable was named "one of Orange County's most genuinely innovative theatrical minds" by OC Weekly and called "one of O.C.'s more fertile theatrical minds" by the Orange County Register.[16][17]
On May 21, 2010, Daniel Wozniak performed in Hunger's production of Nine hours after killing his neighbor, PFC Samuel Herr, and college student Juri Kibuishi. Wozniak was later convicted and sentenced to death for the murders.[18]
References
edit- ^ "Hunger Artists Theater Company's History Page". Archived from the original on 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
- ^ a b "Hunger Artists Theatre to close its doors". 2012-11-18. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
- ^ "Theatre Out, Orange County's LGBT theater, will close April 1". 2017-03-24. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
- ^ Joel Beers (November 16, 2012). "Hunger Artists Theater Closing its Doors :-(". OC Weekly. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
- ^ Eric Marchese (November 20, 2012). "Recession doomed Hunger Artists theater". Orange County Register. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
- ^ "Recession doomed Hunger Artists theater". 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
- ^ Hunger Artists Theater Company's Archives Page[permanent dead link]
- ^ [1][permanent dead link] Hunger Artists Theater Company's "Guignol X" page]
- ^ "'Sans Merci' in Fullerton deftly defines the quality of mercy". 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
- ^ "'Turn of the Screw' not as harrowing as its source". 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
- ^ "'Almost, Maine' in Fullerton an engaging series of love stories". 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
- ^ Marchese, Eric (28 April 2006). "4.48 Psychosis". Backstage. Backstage. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
- ^ Marchese, Eric (17 May 2007). "Frozen". Backstage. Backstage. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
- ^ "The Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pageant". Bobby Henderson. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
- ^ "Flying Spaghetti Monster: The Holy Mug Of Grog". Bobby Henderson. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
- ^ Hodgkins, Paul (14 June 2009). "Arts & Entertainment: Play unfolding on Twitter over 60 days". Orange County Register. Orange County Register Communications. Archived from the original on 2011-08-13. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
- ^ Beers, Joel (28 June 2007). "Orange County Arts - Not Quite By the Buchner". OC Weekly. Village Voice Media. Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
- ^ Pelisek, Christine (2018-08-28). "After Local Theater Star Commits Grisly Double Murder for Cash, a Two-Year Quest for the Truth". Retrieved 2021-12-10.