Danny and the Deep Blue Sea
In John Patrick Shanley's electrifying 1984 drama, Danny and Roberta are two lost souls who meet in a rundown bar in the Bronx to lick each other's wounds in an unexpected night of guilt, love, and redemption.
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea is presented by Players on the Wall, and directed by Austin Savage. It will be performed at the glasbox studio (210 Poplar St, 79901) on July 14-16, 21-23 (five shows). The preshow event will feature food trucks, and live music from El Paso musicians (Mountain Vibes, Nicholas Duron, Thalia Leilani, and others TBA).
Players on the Wall is a new company in El Paso, Tx, that seeks to create stunning contemporary and classical theatre with the best El Paso talent has to offer. We are utilizing Danny and the Deep Blue Sea as a springboard for our company. The success of our first production will enable us to build the company, and thereby create bigger and better paid opportunities for actors, directors, and designers in El Paso, as well as opportunities for musicians, comedians, and other stage performers as we seek to include a wide range of entertainment in our productions.
Here's where you come in! After paying performance dues for five shows, we are compensating our cast and crew for their work, and we have to cover overhead to use the space. Other expenses include equipment, publicity, printing programs and posters, and miscellaneous production expenses.
About Us:
Players on the Wall is a For-Profit Theatre company whose mission is made up of three crucial components: first, to produce a better quality of theatre in the community by working hand-in-hand with artists and entertainers of various disciplines locally and abroad, second, to provide paid opportunities for students and professionals, and finally, to grow and support the already established theatre and fine arts communities in the El Paso-Las Cruces area, as well as fostering support for new groups interested in enriching those same communities.
Austin Savage (Director, guest artist) is a 2009 graduate of the UTEP Department of Theatre of Dance. He was the recipient of the 2009 Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival Meritorious Achievement Award for Directing. He has twice worked at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, including as an Assistant Director for their MFA Playwriting Workshop in which he helped develop Norway, an original work by Obie Award winning playwright Samuel Hunter. In 2010 he was named an Observership Fellow by the Society of Directors & Choreographers.
In 2010 he founded The Border Theatre, a performance ensemble dedicated to developing and performing original and world premier works as well as educating the El Paso community in the artistry of theatre. Through the Border Theatre he has twice received funding through the El Paso Museum & Cultural Affairs Artist Incubator Program for the development of new work.
In addition to his work at The Border Theatre he has worked as a guest artist in the El Paso area as both an actor and director. He performed in productions at the University of Texas at El Paso, the El Paso Opera, the Frontera Repertory Theatre, and multiple television shows and films. His body of work over the last 5 years as a writer, actor, and director has led to a nomination for the 2015 Texas Medal of Arts Award by the Texas State Legislature.
Brian Craig Ceely ("Danny", company member), one of our company's founding members, is a stage and film actor who studied acting at Texas State University and UTEP. He has performed with The Border Theatre, Shakespeare on the Rocks, The El Paso Playhouse, the UTEP department of theatre, and more. In 2014 he played the title role of "Hamlet," and reprised the role in 2015 in a modern-dress production he helped to design. In 2016, he donned latex age-makeup to play the middle-aged George in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" with The El Paso Playhouse.
His film career has taken him across borders. In 2012 he performed in feature film "Fort Bliss" with Michelle Monaghan. In 2014, he wrote and starred in the short thriller, "El Fuego Detrás," with director Leo Aguirre, which toured festivals in Cannes, Oaxaca, Trinidad Tobago, and India. He has since performed in several short films by Doublescope Films, as well as various El Paso studios. Last November, he travelled to Mexico to work on the million-dollar feature film, "Motel Acqua," with Harem Films, a studio from Mexico City.
Today, as well as being a founding member of the company and producing this play, Ceely is working with UTEP faculty and industry professionals to write and illustrate an encyclopedia for actors.
Stephanie Carrillo ("Roberta", guest artist) is a junior at UTEP pursuing her BFA in performance. She has performed in numerous productions on the Wise Family Theatre and beyond, including "The House on Mango Street" and "Humbug". Recently, she played the title role of "Medea" at The University of Texas at El Paso.
She has previously come on as a guest artist for a production with The Border Theatre, making this her second time performing at Glasbox. A film actor as well, she has worked with Bored Film Studios and other local studios, and is helping to develop the film acting scene here in El Paso.
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