The Whale
Marin Community Foundation, The Bernard Osher Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
By Samuel D. Hunter
Directed by Jasson Minadakis
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Though Samuel D. Hunter won Village Voice’s 2011 Obie Award for playwriting, the success of The Whale marks a turning point in the young writer’s career. With Hunter receiving so many high profile premieres across the US right now, Playbill has declared 2014 “The Year of the Hunter” - a hyperbolic declaration now made literal with the September announcement that Hunter is a recipient of a 2014 MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" Fellow.
Weighing in at almost 600 pounds, Charlie is a gentle but grieving giant, beached on a couch in Northern Idaho. Following a cardiac episode, he decides to reach out, after years of estrangement, to his troubled teenage daughter. This big-hearted family drama received MTC’s 2011 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize and has gone on to become one of the most critically acclaimed new plays in America since its premiere in 2012.
Featuring Adam Magill, Michelle Maxson*, Cristina Oeschger, Nicholas Pelczar* and Liz Sklar*
Recommended for mature teens and up.
LENGTH OF SHOW – One hour and forty-five minutes, no intermission
Jasson Minadakis
Co-Director, Co-Scenic Designer
Chris Houston
Composer
Kurt Landisman
Lighting Designer
Adam Magill
Thomas O'Brien
Sean McStravick*
stage manager
Liz Sklar*
Lady of the Court
Kirsten Royston
Props Artisan
Michelle Maxson*
Mary
Cristina Oeschger
Ellie
Nicholas Pelczar*
Charlie
Samuel D. Hunter
playwright
Michael Locher
scenic designer
Christine Crook
costume designer
Vicki Shaghoian
breath and physicality coach
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"Strongly recommended: Excellent... frightening, funny, heartfelt and layered with intelligently observed empathy... Hunter’s script is a marvelously woven tapestry of characters confronting fears and identities they’ve spent years trying to keep at bay... Each member of the cast delivers a memorable performance, But it’s Nicholas Pelczar’s compelling performance as Charlie that will likely remain unforgettable for those who see it."
"Brings forth an emotional wallop worthy of its title seagoing creature... a triumphant performance by Nicolas Pelczar... All the pieces of this production have aligned with Hunter's words to bring The Whale to a place of rare theatrical magnitude."
FIVE STARS! "Theatre at its best. This is a do not miss production."
"Theatre at its best! Marin Theatre Company’s New Play Program has become the Bay Area blue-chip showcase for new American plays.... Stunning, riveting and gut wrenching; will keep you transfixed... Nicholas Pelczar gives a prizewinning performance... This is a do not miss production."
"This often darkly comedic drama is emotionally wrenching... It's a powerful and difficult play – But some of Charlie's hopefulness about human nature can't help but rub off on the viewer."
Nothing could prepare me for the powerful performance of Nicholas Pelczar: It’s unquestionably the best acting job of the year"
"Powerful... Nothing could prepare me for the powerful, spot-on performance of Nicholas Pelczar... For me, it’s unquestionably the best acting job of the year... The supporting cast also dazzles... “The Whale” is so potent that the opening night crowd, totally stunned, didn’t applaud for several seconds. A thunderous tumult then rocked the place."
"Nicholas Pelczar gives a stunning demonstration of craft; a virtuoso performance akin to a musician mastering an atonal score written in constantly changing rhythms
FIVE STARS! "The best new play I've seen this year"
"Brilliant: beautifully written, emotionally knotty... the best new play I've seen this year... a remarkable performance by Nicholas Pelczar... One of the many miracles of Hunter's ingenious drama: it allows us to enter the lives of others so deeply we begin to see the world—good, bad or ugly—through their eyes."
"Hunter’s play has much to recommend it – a seething dark humor and plenty of juice – and Marin Theatre’s take on it, deftly orchestrated by director Jasson Minadakis, is irresistible. If you think a lonely fat guy’s end-of-life travails can’t be riveting, think again... I was gripped by The Whale. It’s must-see theater... The remarkable actor Nicholas Pelczar [is] front and center in a role that would try the finest actors [and] you believe completely in him - though what he does goes beyond realism; he transmutes it into wrenching poetry."
TOP RATING! "Effective, genuine, heartfelt"
"Makes a splash... a curiously effective exploration of empathy and search for signs of genuine, heartfelt expression... Under Minadakis’ skilled orchestration, Nicholas Pelczar’s remarkably open, unwieldy, weak but surprisingly strong-willed Charlie and the rest of the cast draw us ever deeper into a world of human error, remorse, aspirations and connection."
"A memorable night: Nicholas Pelczar is brilliant; It is a dazzling tour de force of acting... A moving production."
"Directed with skill and sensitivity that elicits multi-layered performances from each actor... Nicholas Pelczar delivers a tour de force as Charlie – It’s an incredible feat of acting. The other four actors are outstanding, too, creating characters with complex motivations... It holds the audience rapt, thanks to Hunter’s writing and Pelczar’s performance for the ages."
"Uniquely beautiful, intriguing... Actor Nicholas Pelczar is extraordinary: He imbues Charlie’s gargantuan body with such feeling that you immediately root for him, even though the odds are decidedly not in his favor. The wheezing, the strenuous effort to journey from the couch to the walker to the bathroom is arduous and hard to watch, but then there’s Pelczar’s sweet face or Charlie’s even sweeter nature there to remind you of the person underneath all that person."