The award-winning Reston Community Players are proud to bring Ken Ludwig’s The Fox on the Fairway back to the DC Metro area through May 3rd.. The stuffy atmosphere of a private golf club is the perfect setting for Ludwig’s madcap adventure featuring mistaken identities, slamming doors, and hysterical hi-jinx. The Washington Examiner stated, “Ken Ludwig has a wicked sense of comedic anarchy, giving his characters such zany idiosyncrasies that they soar to dizzying heights!”
In Part THREE of our series, we meet the director and producers of The Fox on the Fairway.
Diane: Please introduce yourself to our readers.
Adam Konowe: I joined RCP in 1991 and have worked for them in a variety of positions, including director, lighting designer, master electrician and stage combat choreographer. By day, I work in advertising and public relations (primarily for aerospace and defense clients). I also serve as an adjunct professor of communication at American University.
Bea and Jerry Morse: We are producing our fourth show for RCP and decorating our 26th RCP set. For our theatre work, we have received 8 WATCH nominations for set decoration and one WATCH Award (set decoration for Present Laughter, another farce directed by Adam Konowe). We have been working with RCP since 1999. We are both retired and moved to Reston in 2012 to be closer to RCP and all the friends we have made working in community theater in the Reston area.
What drew you to The Fox on the Fairway?
Bea and Jerry: We saw the show when it had its world premiere at Signature Theater in Arlington and knew then that when it became available that it would be a perfect show for Reston’s audience.
What do you like most about the characters in The Fox on the Fairway?
Bea and Jerry: Ken Ludwig has made each character unique and gives each actor latitude to put his/her own spin on what the audience gets to see. No one character steals the show. Each character has his/her golden moment.
What is your favorite line or scene in the show and why?
Bea and Jerry: The end of Act II Scene One. Lots of funny bits happening at the same time, with a black out stopping the action in freeze frame (don’t want to give it away).
What makes this production of The Fox on the Fairway special or unique to RCP?
Bea and Jerry: RCP has always done well with farces. Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me A Tenor is RCP’s all-time leader in gross revenues for a play. We hope lightning can strike twice. There are not many, or possibly any, communities where this play has been staged that have two golf courses and as many fanatic golfers.
Are there special challenges involved in staging this production? If so, what are they and how have you overcome them?
Director Adam Konowe: As with all farces, the biggest challenge is getting the physical and verbal timing just right. A farce can succeed or fail on this basis alone.
Bea and Jerry: As always with farces, pinpoint timing is crucial to squeeze out all of the humor in the script. In our opinion, great direction and a terrific cast get it done in this production.
What do you hope audiences take away from seeing The Fox on the Fairway?
Adam: Honestly, The Fox on the Fairway is just pure entertainment. I’ve directed lots of shows that try to convey a particular message; this isn’t one of them.
Bea and Jerry: A truly enjoyable evening to help usher in a wonderful spring after the brutal winter we all endured.
The Fox on the Fairway plays through May 9, 2015 at Reston Community Players performing at CenterStage at the Reston Community Center – 2310 Colts Neck Road, in Reston, VA. CenterStage is handicap accessible and offers listening devices for the hearing impaired. For tickets, call the box office at (703) 476-4500 x 3, or purchase them online.
Performances are on April 25 and May 1, 2, 8, and 9, 2015 at 8:00 p.m., with a 2:00 p.m. matinees on May 3, 2015. The performance on May 1, 2015 will be a sign language interpreted performance.
LINKS:
Meet the Cast of Reston Community Players’ ‘The Fox on the Fairway’: Part 1: Stephanie Walsh, Kelly Thompson, & Bradley Dresser.
Meet the Cast of Reston Community Players’ ‘The Fox on the Fairway’: Part 2: Dina Soltan, David Segal, and Zell Murphy.
