Theater 86: Accepting Adina
Summary
In the play Accepting Adina, David has placed his wife Rebecca in assisted living. She has Alzheimer’s disease. Their middle-aged son Aaron, himself a grieving widower, wants to bring Rebecca home. David won’t hear of it. In fact, David wants to move in with the love of his youth, before he met Rebecca. The woman’s name is Adina, and she’s Black. How will this affect David’s relationship with his son?
Leslie Dianne is the playwright. Kim Hlavac directs Daamen Krall as David and Barry Papick as Aaron.
Writer: Leslie Dianne
Leslie Dianne is a poet, novelist, screenwriter, playwright and performer whose work has been acclaimed internationally in places such as the Harrogate Fringe Festival in Great Britain, The International Arts Festival in Tuscany, Italy and at La Mama in New York City. Her stage plays have been produced in NYC at The American Theater of Actors, The Raw Space, The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater and The Lamb’s Theater. She holds a BA in French Literature from CUNY and her poems have appeared in The Lake, Ghost City Review, The Literary Yard, About Place Journal and Kairos and are forthcoming in Hawai’i Review. Her poetry was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Director: Kim Hlavac
Kim Hlavac graduated from the prestigious NYC High School Of Performing Arts and received her BFA in theatre arts & film in George Morrison’s company from SUNY/Purchase. Her New York theater credits include Beatrice in “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING” opposite Stanley Tucci as Benedict directed by Theodore Mann. Edna in “WAITING FOR LEFTY’ directed by Howard Da Silva. Gertrude Stein’s “LISTEN TO ME,” directed by Lawrence Kornfeld. She played Lauren Phillips in the daytime drama “ANOTHER WORLD”. Kim is a proud member of Los Angeles VS & Station House. Kim would like to thank Bernadette Armstrong for providing and supporting the platform for new writers & directors to explore different avenues of their creativity. Kim has written, directed & acted in several pieces for Open-door playhouse and has thoroughly enjoyed each experience. She is thrilled to be part of celebrating women in theatre.
Kim Hlavac
Cast: Barry Papick
Barry Papick is an Actor, an Acting Coach, and a Writer. One of the top Acting Coaches in the world, Mr. Papick has been teaching and coaching Actors for 23 years. He has recently worked as the On-set Acting Coach for Dan Pritzker’s soon-to-be-released “Bolden,” where he worked with Anthony Mackie and the icon Dick Gregory among others. He is also known for coaching Universal’s hit “The Express,” where he worked with Director Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls, Runaway Jury, October Road.) Mr. Papick was hired to achieve the deepest, most truthful, and specific performances from both the principals (Dennis Quaid, Charles Dutton, Rob Brown, Darrin Dewitt Henson) and day players. Mr. Papick was also the On-Set coach for Gus VanSant’s “Finding Forrester.” Last year he was the On-set coach for three feature films (one of the most sought-after studio coaches in America). Barry has coached for television shows such as The West Wing, The Wire, Malcolm in the Middle, Body of Proof, Brothers and Sisters, Burn Notice, The Originals, and many, many more. Barry has also been the personal On-set coach for Gus VanSant and Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions. He has worked with many actors, including Sean Connery, Rob Brown, Jamie Foxx, Anna Paquin, Lindsey Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Ione Skye, Sonja Sohn, RZA, and Darrin Dewitt Henson (to name just a few).
Mr. Papick is an accomplished actor, having been in over 20 Feature Films, 20 stage plays, and many episodic television shows, including “Swans Crossing,” where he was a series regular, and recently “Shameless” on Showtime. Barry has been seen in “Labor Pains” with Lindsey Lohan, “Lake Effects” on The Hallmark Channel, and has guest starred on the CBS show “Without A Trace” and Dwyane Johnson’s new show “Lifeline.” He can be seen in Howard Stern’s film “Private Parts” and Andrew Nocool’s film “Simone.” He has wrapped the feature film. “Nation’s Fire” and the Television pilots “The Montecito Motor Club” for Lifetime and “The Mason Twins” for NBC. He is also the voice of GNC’s Advertising campaign “Beat Average.” Mr. Papick has written the comedy pilot “Pearl” and the stage play “Ruby’s Arms.”
Daamen Krall ( Donkey)
Daamen has worked as a professional actor/voice-over artist in films and television for the past 38 years. Some of the recent film credits include THE POST, CARS III, AMERICAN PASTORAL, UNBROKEN 2, and, for television, SLEEPY HOLLOW and MADMEN. One of his favorite projects was starring in the title role of the award-winning remake of THE CABINET OF DOCTOR CALIGARI. He also produced the award-winning short film HIDE. Under the banner of MIDNIGHT SCREAM PRODUCTIONS with partner Robert Shelby, he is currently in post-production for the web series THE LISTENER. Daamen is also the host and sometimes cast member of the return of radio’s theatre of thrills, SUSPENSE, which is ha gained fans around the world and was nominated twice for a Peabody Award.
