"Empty Plate at the Cafe du Grand Boeuf"

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS THE WEST COAST PREMIERE OF
AN EMPTY PLATE IN THE CAFÉ DU GRAND BOEUF
MAY 26– JUNE 28, 2009

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – May 7, 2009 – Looking for something to fill your theatrical plate? Whet your appetite with the West Coast Premiere of An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf, running May 26 – June 28 at The Laguna Playhouse. An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf is written by Michael Hollinger and directed by Andrew Barnicle. It stars Adrian Sparks, Jeff Marlowe, Stasha Surdyke, Marc Cardiff, Graham Miller, and Amy Kay Raymond.
Victor, a wealthy American expatriate living in Paris in 1961, owns the fabulous Café du Grand Boeuf, the world's greatest restaurant reserved solely for his private dining pleasure. He arrives one summer evening after a trip to Madrid in a very bleak mood—his idol Ernest Hemingway has just committed suicide, and Victor’s doomed love affair has finally ended. As his fastidious French staff fusses over him, he announces his decision to starve himself to death! The staff attempts to dissuade Victor by seducing him with a lavish seven course menu filled with decadent culinary delights, but they find that the way to a man’s heart may not be through his stomach. This dark comedy that the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin calls “a humorous dish of witty wordplay” celebrates the joys of cooking, sex, bullfighting, and the works of Hemingway in a funny yet bittersweet tale of the absurdities and contradictions inherent in being human.
“Hollinger has a deep respect for the human condition, including its frailties, so regardless of the absurdity of some of the situations his characters are in, they always respond in a distinctly human way,” notes Barnicle, who thinks audiences won’t really know what the play is all about until the end. “That is a very good thing, by the way.Nobody should be sitting around waiting for the ending because they already know what it’s going to be. Hollinger is a master of the unexpected.”
Barnicle says he’s had to overcome a number of obstacles in bring this play to life, including obtaining the services of a professional bullfighting consultant and a tuba teacher, and making sure the numerous French phrases in the script are properly pronounced. But that’s not all.
“The main challenge will be in drawing the audience into a world that is somewhat askew from our reality,” explains Barnicle. “The plot features a wealthy man who owns a restaurant that serves nobody but him. Sounds whacked. But then again, Howard Hughes took up an entire floor of a hotel in Las Vegas for years and never came out. The trick is to make the weirdness plausible within the world of the play.”
“Another challenge is that the play deals with rather deep philosophical issues,” adds Barnicle. “I’m calling it ‘romantic existentialism.’ I have no idea what that means. The staging should be right in our wheelhouse: single location, elegantly appointed. Casting is always the most important element of the production. There is a character who plays the tuba, and that posed a slight problem. But it will be worth it--we all know that a tuba is funny and French horn is not. That’s a basic rule of comedy.”

Performance & Ticket Information:
Ticket Prices:
Preview performances: $25 to $45
Opening Night Gala: $115
Regular performances: $30 to $65

Previews:
May 26 – 29, 2009

Opening Night Gala:
Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

Regular Performances
May 31 – June 28
Tuesday – Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.
Thursday matinees May 28 & June 11 at 2:00 p.m.
Sunday evening June 21 at 7:00 p.m.

FOR INFORMATION & TO PURCHASE TICKETS:
CALL: 949.497.ARTS (2787) - GROUP SALES: 949.497.2787 ext. 229
VISIT: www.LagunaPlayhouse.com