A veteran cast brings its acclaimed performance of the noir classic Double Indemnity to San Jose, in a world premiere co-produced by the San Jose Repertory Theatre and Seattle’s A Contemporary Theatre (ACT). The ensemble of five actors from Seattle and the Bay Area brought the story to stage during a successful run of Double Indemnity in Seattle in October 2011.
Double Indemnity is directed by Kurt Beattie and will run from January 12 through February 5, 2012. Press Opening Night is Wednesday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at the San Jose Rep Box Office at 101 Paseo de San Antonio or can be purchased online at www.SJRep.comor by calling 408.367.7255.
Double Indemnity was written by James M. Cain and adapted for the stage by David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright. The plot involves the beautiful and seductive Phyllis Nirlinger (Carrie Paff) who hatches a cold-blooded scheme to murder her husband, but not before taking out an insurance policy on his life -- one which pays double if he dies in an accident -- in this case, a fall from a moving train.
Smart-talking insurance agent Walter Huff (John Bogar) falls victim to the persuasive femme fatale and caught in a web of greed and lust, the adulterous couple commits the near perfect crime leading to guilt, suspicion, and betrayal. Suffused with suspense and intrigue, Double Indemnity explores the materialistic and sexual cravings of Depression-era America, with Pichette and Wright now giving the story a fresh and electrifying rendering.
Cast
John Bogar (WALTER HUFF) has the great pleasure of working at both San Jose Rep and A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) for the first time. Seattle audiences have seen him in a number of roles with the Seattle Shakespeare Company, including Macheath in The Threepenny Opera, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, and The Man in The Turn of the Screw. Some favorite productions are Macbeth with Wooden O (title role), Persuasion and Night Flight with Book-It Repertory Theatre, and 42nd Street with Village Theatre. Bogar trained at Circle in the Square and Columbia University from which he holds an MFA. He is a producer and ensemble member of The Seagull Project, bringing Chekhov’s The Seagull to Seattle next year with the support of ACT’s Central Heating Lab, an initiative devoted to nurturing and supporting new works, new talent, and local artists, and for which he is a co-producer with his real-life partner in crime, Julie Briskman. www.theseagullproject.org
Jessica Martin (LOLA NIRLINGER/NETTIE/NURSE) is appearing on the San Jose Rep stage for the first time. Martin has appeared at A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) in Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Trip to Bountiful, and in two seasons of A Christmas Carol as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Most recently she appeared as Marianne Dashwood in Book-It Repertory Theatre’s production of Sense and Sensibility. Elsewhere: Hamlet at Indiana Repertory Theatre, the world premiere production of Jane Martin’s Somebody/Nobody at Arizona Theatre Company, 12 Minutes Max at On the Boards, and in readings for the Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, TheFilmSchool, and Short Stories Live at Town Hall. Martin is the voice of Samus Aran in Nintendo’s Metroid: Other M. She is a graduate of the University of Washington with degrees in drama and psychology. www.jessicaerinmartin.com
