Modjeska Playhouse, Serving the Story with a Romantic Comedy

Serve the story. This phrase was engrained in my head when I was working as an improvisational theatre actor with Impro L.A. and Los Angeles Theatresports.

It means we, as performing artists, should constantly strive to tell good stories and should do however much or however little necessary to accomplish that goal. No one performance can, or should, outshine what is really important- the story.

When we founded Modjeska Playhouse almost four years ago, the three founding artists believed so strongly in the need to serve the story that we made it a central part of our mission. Since that time, we have tried to make sure that we succeed at this mission in every show we do, from the zany and often improvised antics of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), to our Theatre for Young Audiences production of The Frog Prince where we used puppetry, shadow puppetry and live music along with actors to tell a classic story, to our more straight forward productions of The Odd Couple and Carnality and all of the rest.

This idea of the importance of the story has never been more apparent to Modjeska Playhouse than it is in our upcoming production of First Night, opening March 23 at the Mission Viejo TV studio .

It is the story of Danny Fleming, a 34 year old with big dreams who has been afraid to act on them for the last 20 years.

It is the story of Meredith O’Connor who has been following what she believed to be her calling for the last 20 years.

When she walks into his video store on New Year’s Eve, their hopes, dreams and true callings become clear.

Two actors, one very intimate setting, and only 25 audience members per performance, this is good story telling in its purest form.

The show runs weekends from March 23- April 14. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. On-line presale tickets will be available through the city this week. We highly suggest you get your seats early. Due to the theme of the story and mild language, parental guidance is suggested.

Modjeska Playhouse will soon embark on an exciting journey when we move into a permanent home. We will be leaving the chaotic life of borrowed venues and never knowing when our next show is to the even more chaotic life of being a permanent artistic and creative fixture in the Saddleback Valley.

On the day we first get the keys to the building (wherever that may be) I already have the first decoration that will be mounted to the wall. It is a simple unadorned sign that will hang over the actor’s entrance to the stage. It says: “Serve the Story.”

For more information, please visit our website at modjeskaplayhouse.org.

See you at the show!