Richard Maxwell
Paradiso
January 12–February 10, 2018
Ground Floor
Paradiso is a new play written and directed by Richard Maxwell that takes place in the not-too-distant future, describing three great loves: family, country, and god. Paradiso is the final installment of Maxwell’s response to Dante’s The Divine Comedy.
Paradiso is produced by Greene Naftali and New York City Players. Featuring Elaine Davis, Jessica Gallucci, Carina Goebelbecker and Charles Reina; Produced by Regina Vorria; Production Design by Sascha van Riel; Costumes by Kaye Voyce; Technical Development by Zack Davis and Scott Ponik.
Richard Maxwell lives and works in New York. Maxwell is a playwright, director, and the artistic director of New York City Players. In 2017, he reprised his play Good Samaritans and his play Samara was produced by Soho Rep. His latest book is the first monograph on his plays, The Theater Years, published by Greene Naftali and Westreich Wagner (2017). In 2018, Maxwell will present a new work at ICA in London and participate in the Chinati Foundation’s artist in residency program in Marfa, Texas, where his work Ads will be presented later in the fall.
Zack Davis is an artist and programmer living in New York.
Scott Ponik is a typographer and designer living in Portland, OR.
Sascha van Riel met Richard Maxwell while working as Stephanie Nelson’s assistant on Toneelgroep Amsterdam’s production of Good Samaritans. She designed the set and lights for Richard’s plays The Frame, Das Maedchen, Ode to the Man Who Kneels, Neutral Hero, Open Rehearsal for the Whitney Biennial, Isolde and The Evening. She works as a freelance set designer for Dutch and Belgian companies.
Regina Vorria is the producer of New York City Players. Originally from Athens, Greece, she has been living and producing theater in New York since 2008.
Kaye Voyce Costume Design with Richard Maxwell/NYCP: Henry IV, Part One, The End of Reality, The Frame, Neutral Hero, Isolde (with Romy Springsuth), Open Rehearsal for the Whitney Biennial, and The Evening. Other recent work includes Hamlet, directed by Sam Gold, Annie Baker’s The Antipodes, directed by Lila Neugebauer, Measure for Measure with Elevator Repair Service and Trisha Brown’s final two dances.
Elaine Davis last appeared in New York City Players’ Really by Jackie Sibblies Drury, directed by Richard Maxwell. She is an active member of the Wednesday Repertory Company, with multiple acting and writing credits in their productions.
Jessica Gallucci is originally from Arlington, Virginia. She has lived and worked in New York City since 2004. Paradiso is her first play.
Carina Goebelbecker is currently a Senior at Barnard College of Columbia University majoring in Theater where she has choreographed and performed in many college productions. She has previously studied at the British American Drama Academy in London.
Charles Reina Born in Staten Island, spent his youth running around the woods, when there were woods. Moved to Florida to escape a mischievous adolescence but it followed him up the Mississippi on a steamboat, then on foot across the country. He eventually made Staten Island home, where he married and raised his family. He woke up many mornings on a tugboat motoring around NY harbor shifting barges and docking ships. Then worked his way from deckhand to 1st officer on the Staten Island Ferry until his retirement in 2007.
New York City Players (inc. 1999) is a theater company creating plays about people, relationships, and above all, feeling. Our works define particularly American themes and new ways to be together. New York City Players is supported by the Howard Gilman Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation New York Theater Program. This presentation is made possible with the support of Greene Naftali, the Alliance of Resident Theaters’ New York/Creative Space Grant and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. New York City Players is a member of A.R.T./New York. An earlier workshop production of Paradiso was co-commissioned and presented at Museo de Arte Moderno in Buenos Aires (MAMBA) in 2015. www.nycplayers.org
