one hour of mind-bending head-scratching
meta-meta-quasi-romanti-tragi-dramedy

Question the characters.
Question the actors.
Question yourself.

Penny is Penny.
But Richard is William.
And you are just a member of the audience.

Or are you?

Just how impenetrable is the fourth wall?

 By Julien Schwab

 Why does Othello trust Iago, night after night? Why does Blanche move in with Stanley, matinee after matinee? And though we know full well he has never shown up, we all still wait for Godot. The Edinburgh Fringe Premiere of Julien Schwab’s rogerandtom seeks to solve this inherent paradox of the theatre.

Click here to see production photos from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

PHOTOS

VENUE

See rogerandtom at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe August 21-29. Show time is 14:15. Click here for tickets.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world and takes place every August for three weeks in Scotland’s capital city.

Every year thousands of performers take to a multitude of stages all over Edinburgh to present shows for every taste. From big names in the world of entertainment to unknown artists looking to build their careers, the festival caters for everyone and includes theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, musicals, operas, music, exhibitions and events.

CAST
Julien Schwab (Richard/William) – received a BFA in Drama from Syracuse University in 2001 and currently lives in Los Angeles. He was a contributing writer on the short film, Across The Hall (starring Adrian Grenier), the subsequent feature film, Across The Hall (starring Brittany Murphy) and the short film, Bulldog (for which he also operated as executive producer). On stage in Los Angeles, 4th Wall Productions has produced rogerandtom (LA Weekly’s Pick of the Week) and the world premiere of his two-act, Beautiful Morning. On stage in New York City, Personal Space Theatrics has also produced rogerandtom, as well as his two-act, Nicotine, Sketchy Comedy and Myth America, for which he was a contributing writer alongside Israel Horovitz, Teresa Rebek, Arthur Kopit and others. He has also worked as an actor on both American coasts in stage productions of Comedy of Errors, Servant of Two Masters, Taming of the Shrew, Survived By, In the Name of Bob, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and on film in Bulldog, Feature in 48, Triathlon, The Clown Project and Lone Victor. Thanks to the folks for making this Scotland dream, as well as every other, come true.

Bruce Wexler (Roger) – originally from Philadelphia, has been a resident of Los Angeles for nine years. He studied musical theatre at Syracuse University, where he met virtually everyone on this production team, and he even married one! In LA, he has worked on stage and film, appearing in two independent feature films; one of which, “Alien Game“, was written and directed by Britain’s own Alan Denman. For the last year, Bruce performed weekly improv and sketch comedy shows at the world famous Groundlings Theatre, which has turned out such comedy greats as Will Ferrell, Phil Hartman, and Kristen Wiig. He has also appeared in several commercials across the United States and Europe. Having the opportunity to appear in this festival and be a temporary resident of this great city is truly a dream come true. Bruce is a proud member of Clan Johnston, and he looks forward to visiting the Earl of Annandale and Hartfell at some point during his stay here. Ready Aye Ready!!!

Corey Volovar (Penny) – Corey and “Penny” go way back, she has played the role in every Los Angeles production of roger&tom since 2003, and she could not be more excited about bringing this character to an international stage! She received her BFA in acting from Syracuse University and is currently pursuing her Masters in theatre studies from California State University, Northridge. Corey has been living in sunny Los Angeles for about eight years, where she splits her focus between Film/ TV and theatre. A few LA credits include, Lydia in “Spike Heels“, Sonia in “Life X3“, and Rachel in “Perfect Wedding“. Corey is equally passionate about teaching theatre and directing children, which she has been doing for over four years. Not only is she thrilled about being a part of the Edinburgh Fringe festival, she is also ecstatic to be sharing the stage with her husband for the very first time.

PRODUCTION TEAM
Nicholas Cotz (Director) – Since founding Personal Space Theatrics in 2001, Nicholas has helped produce over 15 shows and has directed Random Hookup: An Evening of Sketchy Comedy, a reading of Crackskull Row by New Dramatists’ Honour Kane, the New York premiere of Julien Schwab’s rogerandtom, the World premiere of Mr. Schwab’s Nicotine, the first NYC revival of Arthur Kopit’s BecauseHeCan, and PST’s collage of Americana Myth America (including works by Theresa Rebeck, Israel Horovitz and Arthur Kopit). In the summer of 2004 he went to Los Angeles to once again direct rogerandtom, this time for an extended run at The Tamarind Theatre and in the summer of 2007 he directed the Premiere of Schwab’s newest work, Beautiful Morning. For PST’s 2008/09 Season he directed the first NYC production of Tim Firth’s The Safari Party.

Mel Wadle (Production Director) – After graduating with a BA in Theater Management from Buena Vista University in Iowa, Mel moved to Brooklyn. She has worked on several productions including Manhattan Theater Source’s Estrogenius, KEF Productions’ FestivaL in Williamsburg, Merry !@#$%ing Christmas at Theater Row and Corpus Christi at The Bouwerie Lane Theatre, Barry Primus’s Wonder Comes the 7th Day at American Theatre of Actors, and two productions of Creative Destruction’s Obama Drama at The 45th Street Theater. Although she continues to work with various theater companies, Mel’s passion lies with Personal Space Theatrics. Mel has been with PST since early 2003, starting as the Stage Manager for the New York Premier of Julien Schwab’s rogerandtom and quickly moving up to become Production Manager for the company. She’s been involved with every production since. Some of her favorite shows have been Schwab’s Nicotine, A Christmas Carol, the first NYC revival of Arthur Kopit’s BecauseHeCan, and NYC premier of Tim Firth’s The Safari Party.

4th Wall Productions (Producing Partner) – Founded in 2004 by Jordan Bogdonavage, Oren Bonen, and Jason Spira-Bauer, 4th Wall Productions develops and produces original theater, television, and film projects. Dedicated to giving emerging artists a voice, 4th Wall prides itself on producing innovative projects that challenge conventional thinking. In 2004 4th Wall produced Julien Schwab’s rogerandtom, a one-act meta-drama that received LA Weekly’s Pick of the Week. This was quickly followed in 2005 by Across the Hall, a dramatic short film that was an official selection of over 20 film festivals and the winner of numerous awards. In 2007 4th Wall produced another of Schwab’s original works, Beautiful Morning, a two-act drama that garnered another “must see” selection by LA Weekly. In 2008 the company expanded into documentaries and non-fiction storytelling, producing projects for the Center for Empowered Living and Learning and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. They have most recently completed work for Animal Planet, Apple, and Ovation TV.

In 2003, rogerandtom made its New York City debut when Personal Space Theatrics (PST) chose it to open their first season. After its success in New York, 4th Wall Productions produced rogerandtom in Los Angeles at the famed Tamarind Theater in Hollywood. The show was named as LA Weekly’s Critic Pick of the Week and was extended twice during its run. In early 2010, PST workshopped rogerandtom at The Actors Studio, which led to a private viewing for members of the Studio, followed by members’ feedback. After several more readings in both NYC and LA, the show was finally ready to reopen and was accepted by C Venues for the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Before it left for Edinburgh, the show had one more stop to make: the East to Edinburgh Festival at 59E59 Theaters in New York City, where it played to sold-out houses.

During its short run in Edinburgh rogerandtom received high praise and garnered three Five Star Reviews. ThreeWeeks said of it “profoundly intelligent, hilarious, tragic, captivating from start to finish”.

“” “After the decade-long lull, the play-within-a-play is clearly back in fashion. Often one finds plays framed within other plays for little apparent reason. Alan Bennett was ever-so-slightly guilty of this in his most recent play, Habit of Art. And one must always be wary of anything that bills itself as a metadrama; the structure is occasionally used as a way of disguising a play’s flaws. If a play is poorly performed or if its plot is unconvincing, one can all-too-easily claim that it was meant to be like that.
Happily, this cannot be said of Julien Schwab’s rogerandtom, the latest production of the fittingly named 4th Wall Productions. As talk of “the end of postmodernism” begins to gain currency in the literary pages of the Sunday supplements, Julien Schwab’s latest play takes theatre in new directions that the Michael Billingtons of the world probably didn’t know existed.
It would be a spoiler to reveal who the eponymous Roger and Tom are (though I’ll hint that the unorthodox orthography of “rogerandtom” is not without its significance), and any coherent description of the plot would ruin the fun of piecing it together during the performance. But despite a plot that resembles the infamously mind-boggling film Synecdoche, New York, where a director builds a vast superstructure of stages-within-stages to stage his existence, it all comes together. Lines and actions don’t make sense at the time, but they do soon enough, yielding some of the most satisfying “a-ha” moments since Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing. Nothing’s ever spelled out; that’s part of the fun. One needn’t worry about failing to understand; judging by the unceasing number of garrulous guffaws emanating from the audience, they were all clearly in on it.
In on it in more ways than this review will do justice. In time we end up just as important members of the cast as Corey Volovar’s show-stealingly stupid Penny, Bruce Wexler’s endearing everyman Roger, and Julien Schwab’s competent turn as the knowing Richard/William (the double billing will make sense once you’re there). The audience needn’t do anything; this isn’t “interactive” (God forbid), but our being there is at the play’s core.
One wonders what it all means. Is this the application of Heisenbergian principles to theatre – that a life is only lived when observed? Does fraternal or marital separation – Roger’s from his brother Tom, Richard’s from his wife – drive a person absolutely bonkers? Like Godot, Tom never turns up (or does he? Because he sort of does) – is life about standing by false hopes? Time and again William/Richard tries to prevent the truth from outing: are we happier deluded? All of these questions are gently mooted through a script of superb subtlety.
Not that the play is an intellectual burden. Lots of intelligent sight gags, often relying on a well-designed yet deliberately bare set, call to mind the Marx Brothers and make sure that even a child wouldn’t be left un-entertained, and the self-referential joshing is never an intellectual burden.
I wonder what they are doing at the Fringe though. On the back of a sell-out runs at professional venues in Los Angeles and New York, a London-side production is surely due. Julien Schwab may well be the next Luigi Pirandello, though like Pirandello, I fear he won’t be appreciated for a long time yet.” -Tanjil Rashid, EdFrindge Review

“” “The blurb for rogerandtom poses the questions “Why does Othello trust Iago, night after night? Why does Blanche move in with Stanley, matinee after matinee? And though we know full well he has never shown up, we still wait for Godot?” As a frequent visitor to the theatre, this blurb intrigued and excited me – giving rogerandtom a lot to live up to. When the play began, I started to worry – we seemed to be watching a middle-of-the-road play with an empty script, not communicating a great deal about seemingly unimportant characters. ‘Where is the concept?’ I asked myself. Then it kicked in.
Suddenly the audience was being confronted with two levels of verisimilitude. There is the initial play with Penny (Corey Volovar) and Richard (Julian Schwab), and the observer of this play, Roger (Bruce Wexler), who then becomes involved in the drama. From this point onwards everything about the action of the theatre is placed under scrutiny – the difference between the character and the actor, the creation of set, the predetermination a script gives the action onstage.
rogerandtom is described as “a play about theatre for people who love theatre” – I love theatre and I loved this. It demands audience engagement and encourages them to consider the nature of their action as spectators as well as the nature of theatre and performance. At this first performance the audience were completely prepared to be involved in this exploration of theatre. This is partly down to the audience the play attracts and down to the commitment of the actors to their performances.
I am reluctant to give away too much detail of the action of this play, as each new layer it explores is such a pleasure to discover as an audience member. The actors, lighting, script and direction are all excellent, as is to be expected from professionals, and this really helps the audience trust the piece and move with it. I cannot recommend rogerandtom highly enough for those who are truly interested in the construction, and deconstruction, of theatre.” -Ellen Marsh, EdFrindge Review

“Immensely talented playwright Julien Schwab broke onto the scene in 2000 with this incredible wrap-up of 20th century comedy-drama. If Pirandello wrote entertaining plays and Pinter was a Yankee, they might have collaborated, with a little help from Suzzy Roche, to create this fastpaced wonder. But really, it is all Schwab, a writer with a clear new voice. Sean Mewshaw’s masterful white-on-white melting set suggests deconstructivism, but don’t try to apply post-modern restraints to the best set in Hollywood so far this year. Three shockingly beautiful actors, who are as talented as the writer, perform a west coast take on an east coast phenomenon. Corey Volovar as Penny shows what Stanislavsky meant by his “A-B-C” acting manuals, then surpasses anything you’ll see by even the most sincere method actor. The dashing Adam Gertler behaves like a Chekov character who suddenly finds himself in a Mamet play. Boston Stergis, matinee idol handsome, plays the central character(s)Roger and Tom, with a rugged reality that is nothing short of amazing. One thing is for certain, they play with an ensemble spirit that is engaging to the max. The play is about the theatre in the most superficial levels, at its core it is about so much more: love and death, decay and transcendence.” – Jacob Clark, NoHoLA

“Part Pirandello, part The Twilight Zone, playwright Julian Schwab’s engrossing comic commentary on the futility of one-sided relationships also serves as a tribute to the theater. From the obvious comedy to the wrenching pathos, director Nicholas Cotzplumbs the multiple levels of Schwab’s storytelling. His cast delivers sturdy and committed performances, especially Volovar’s much-put-upon Penny as well as Stergis’ transformation from doubting Thomas to a true believer in the theater’s healing powers. Designer Sean Mewshaw’s set of open walls and tape on the floor representing walls complements Schwab’s fervent insistence to overcome the barriers we all encounter, from the ones imposed on us to those we impose on ourselves.” – Martin Hernandez, LA Weekly

“‘Rogerandtom‘ is an engaging work of metadrama, raising a series of interesting questions about the role of theatre in theatre itself. The play uses a comedic twist to challenge the conventions of theatre. Julien Schwab, the playwright, did an excellent job in writing the roles of Roger and William, whose engaging discussion prods the audience to think of theatrical conventions in a new way. All three of the actors’ performances were well acted. Most notable was Boston Stergis, playing the title role, whose interloping character effectively made the audience laugh while convincingly exploring his own role within the metadrama. The role of William/Richard, acted graciously by Adam Gertler, played the omniscient ringleader, directing and coaxing understanding into the other two characters. For me, the most intriguing and beautiful part of the play was the set, designed by Sean Mewshaw. Using the cozy space of the Tamarind Theatre, Mewshaw created a set that perfectly balances the play and effectively interacts with the players to create an ideal setting. The broken plaster and stark color scheme, almost entirely black and white, are a beautiful symbol of the ideas within the play, that is, the deconstruction of the play itself. Comedic yet thought provoking, “rogerandtom” is an intriguing work of drama which challenges the audience to think inside the black box, rather than attempting to escape it. Its neo-modernist self reflection engages and entertains while deconstructing the boundaries of theatrical production.” – Asya Anderso, LA Splash

Penny is Penny but Richard is William and Roger is Tom and you are just a member of the audience… or are you?

As the lights go up, we see Penny rushing to get dressed in her apartment. She’s on her way to the theatre to see a play written and performed by her brother Tom, a playwright. She anxiously awaits the arrival of her other brother Roger, who has promised to accom-pany her to Tom’s show. Roger and Tom have been estranged for nine years, and not only is this the first time they will see each other, but this will be the first time that the blue-collar, no-nonsense Roger will attend one of Tom’s plays.
While Penny dresses, her soon to be ex-husband Richard packs his final belongings. After an awkward hello, they find a common ground – badmouthing Roger, commenting on his stubborn-ness, his possible alcohol problem, and his limited view of the world. As their comments become more vicious, a member of the audience shifts uncomfortably in his seat, eventually standing up to leave. As he crosses the stage, we realize it is Roger himself.

While Penny is “in the bathroom”, Richard breaks character and introduces himself to Roger as William, an actor cast in the role of Penny’s acerbic husband. He invites Roger to come on stage to tell his side, assuring him that Tom only wrote the piece to rekindle their relationship. Roger, shy and humiliated, finally gives in when he realizes that this is his only chance to see Tom and help bridge the gap between he and his brother.

William explains the rules to Roger: On stage, he must pretend that Penny is his sister (in real life, he has no sister at all), William is Richard, and the minimal stage set, marked off by tape on the floor as walls, is Penny’s apartment. These three rules are important because Penny does not know she is in a show. Unlike Richard/William, she has no alter-ego.

Roger tries to play along, but makes many mistakes, not least of which is walking through Penny’s “walls”. Penny, believing she is experiencing the supernatural, almost has a nervous breakdown.
As the play continues, each character must confront their own demons. Roger realizes that what he experiences as “real” may be more perception than he thought; Penny’s fourth wall is crumbled as the houselights are brought up and she is forced to face the possibility that her life is nothing but a 60 minute scripted loop; and William, our Master of Ceremonies, is left to grapple with the biggest question of all, are they works of art or artists?

A note from author, Julien Schwab

rogerandtom is about theater. A play for people who love plays. Its origins, however, are in places far, far away from theater.

I’ve heard comparisons to Pirandello’s Six Characters In Search of an Author. I’ve also heard Ionessco’s Bald Soprano. These are certainly fair. But I tend to think more of my first true love: science fiction. I think of films like The Sixth Sense and The Truman Show. To be honest, (and I’m only a little ashamed to admit this) rogerandtom’s direct ancestor can be found in B sci-fi television. Specifically, The Big Goodbye, which to this day stands as my father’s single favorite episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (and placed a respectable third in my family’s ‘Best Of Next Gen-athon’, New Year’s Day 1994).

Even intrepid space explorers need to relax. Doing so aboard the USS Enterprise meant either drinking Romulan ale served by Whoopi Goldberg or visiting the Holodeck. The Holodeck was a room roughly the size of two squash courts that produced vividly real, fully interactive holograms. Feeling a little space fever? Raft down the Colorado River in the middle of winter. Stressed out over a pending battle with the Borg? Watch the 2001 World Series live…except this time, you are Derek Jeter. All without fear of injury or need to consider the holograms. After all, they were fully programma-ble, without any awareness of the outside world. All the Holodeck was a stage and the holograms merely characters.

Until, that is, a malfunction trapped Captain Picard inside without the ability to end the program. The safeties were damaged and the holograms, for the first time, became self-aware. They came to see the real world outside the only one they’d ever known. To understand their own hologram-ness.

The captain escaped, as he invariably did. And when he finally turned off the Holodeck, an act he had performed count-less times before without second thought, it was with a twinge of compassion for those left behind; the characters who could do no better than realize their own helplessness.

I initially intended rogerandtom to be not much more than that, a mind-bending episode of sci-fi pulp theater. But over the last eleven years of life and drafts, it’s become so much more.

“Don’t get me wrong, though: corruption of innocence will not be weighing heavy on your mind as you watch Don Juan in Chicago. You will laugh and think about sex just like every-body else. This play is Ives at his best and PST breaths fresh life into it.” -NYTheatre.com

“This is a small company with a future.” -Backstage

“Director-adaptor Michael Weisel-berg’s staging probes at the star-tlingly graphic realities of human suffering, and his cast’s sensitive handling of the play’s intricate lan-guage gives this otherwise bleak work color.” -The Village Voice

“The company derives its name from its dedication to using the full space of the theatre. Accordingly, audience members surround the stage floor, while characters dart in and out, up and down, often ac-companied by lasers and bright flashing light. This all works won-derfully, as director Nicholas Cotz’ cast moves with precision and purpose.” -Backstage

“Only a Scrooge would not be infected with the spirit of Christmas after seeing the delightful musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol that Personal Space Theatrics is present-ing for a fourth season.” -Off Off Online

Click Here to visit PersonalSpaceTheatrics.org

If you would like to discuss the future of rogerandtom you can contact Personal Space Theatrics through:
Nicholas Cotz
Artistic Director
ncotz@personalspacetheatrics.org
646.734.2799

For more information regarding the company or rogerandtom, please visit: www.personalspacetheatrics.org