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Café at the End of Time

Maxie's Productions

February 3rd through 19th

Dougherty Arts Center Theatre

On the heels of 30 successful years in Los Angeles - where she opened and grew the Ivy Theatre - director Marian Jones returns to Austin with the Texas debut of the play Café at the End of Time. The ensemble cast piece - telling the story of a 1970s and 80s-era gay bar, and the characters that called it home - runs February 3rd through 19th at the Dougherty Arts Center Theatre.

Written by Sue Caroll Moore and featuring Martha Prentice, Café at the End of Time recalls a period when, for many, LGBT gathering places were the only family they had. The play speaks to an audience whose story is rarely seen on the stage: the aging, gay community.

"In this piece, I reflect my experience as an 'out' lesbian before Christopher Street and the Gay Liberation Movement took us from the closet into mainstream life," said playwright Moore. "It is a tribute to our intrepid gay forbearers who survived in the margins, with a nod to my literary influences as well."

The play was first performed at the Green Door Theater in Asheville, NC, in 1997 under the direction of Ellen Pfirrman. A staged reading was presented in Los Angeles at the Lexington Theater in 1998, and full-stage version premiered in Ventura, CA, in 2000 with underscore by composer Ross Care.

Pioneering director Jones gained notoriety in the late 1990s for founding the groundbreaking Ivy Theatre in Los Angeles, which was devoted exclusively to lesbian playwrights. The Ivy Theatre went on to produce critically-acclaimed productions and received hundreds of submissions for new works by lesbian playwrights from around the world.

The Ivy Theatre is no longer operating, but its mission and reputation remain. Now 15 years later, Jones returns to Austin with the Texas premiere of the memory play as seen through the eyes of Randolph, a stalwart patron and irrepressible personality.

"Tony, a mafia butch and her lover, Alix - a refugee from New York's upper crust - run Maxie's Last Ditch Cafe on an unnamed Florida Key," Jones said. "The bar is a haven for a motley crew of outcasts, as well as serving as the local dyke hangout."

"Maxie's has been doing a brisk business for years, but lately has fallen on hard times," she said. "An increasingly vicious hurricane season, political drivers and the wind of social change threaten a previously timeless and idyllic life."

The Austin cast features Martha Prentice, Kathy Rose Center, Peg Patrone, Anna Maria Garcia, Renee Brown, Adriane Deveney, Richard Dodwell, Jet Baker, Javier Medellin, Robert Tarry and Benjamin Meyers. Performances will run Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $20 for general admission.

The Dougherty Arts Center Theatre is located at 1110 Barton Springs Road. For reservations and more information, call (512) 247-2531 or visit www.OdieLouiseFoundation.org.

(Photos by Chris Bo Walker)




Café at the End of Time Maxie's Productions February 3rd through 19th Dougherty Arts Center Theatre On the heels of 30 successful years in Los Angeles - where she opened and grew the Ivy Theatre - director Marian Jones returns to Austin with the Texas debut of the play Café at the End of Time. The ensemble cast piece - telling the story of a 1970s and 80s-era gay bar, and the characters that called it home - runs February 3rd through 19th at the Dougherty Arts Center Theatre. Written by Sue Caroll Moore and featuring Martha Prentice, Café at the End of Time recalls a period when, for many, LGBT gathering places were the only family they had. The play speaks to an audience whose story is rarely seen on the stage: the aging, gay community. "In this piece, I reflect my experience as an 'out' lesbian before Christopher Street and the Gay Liberation Movement took us from the closet into mainstream life," said playwright Moore. "It is a tribute to our intrepid gay forbearers who survived in the margins, with a nod to my literary influences as well." The play was first performed at the Green Door Theater in Asheville, NC, in 1997 under the direction of Ellen Pfirrman. A staged reading was presented in Los Angeles at the Lexington Theater in 1998, and full-stage version premiered in Ventura, CA, in 2000 with underscore by composer Ross Care. Pioneering director Jones gained notoriety in the late 1990s for founding the groundbreaking Ivy Theatre in Los Angeles, which was devoted exclusively to lesbian playwrights. The Ivy Theatre went on to produce critically-acclaimed productions and received hundreds of submissions for new works by lesbian playwrights from around the world. The Ivy Theatre is no longer operating, but its mission and reputation remain. Now 15 years later, Jones returns to Austin with the Texas premiere of the memory play as seen through the eyes of Randolph, a stalwart patron and irrepressible personality. "Tony, a mafia butch and her lover, Alix - a refugee from New York's upper crust - run Maxie's Last Ditch Cafe on an unnamed Florida Key," Jones said. "The bar is a haven for a motley crew of outcasts, as well as serving as the local dyke hangout." "Maxie's has been doing a brisk business for years, but lately has fallen on hard times," she said. "An increasingly vicious hurricane season, political drivers and the wind of social change threaten a previously timeless and idyllic life." The Austin cast features Martha Prentice, Kathy Rose Center, Peg Patrone, Anna Maria Garcia, Renee Brown, Adriane Deveney, Richard Dodwell, Jet Baker, Javier Medellin, Robert Tarry and Benjamin Meyers. Performances will run Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $20 for general admission. The Dougherty Arts Center Theatre is located at 1110 Barton Springs Road. For reservations and more information, call (512) 247-2531 or visit www.OdieLouiseFoundation.org. (Photos by Chris Bo Walker)





		(Photos by Chris Bo Walker)

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