The June and Steve Wolfson Family Foundation Series
This Is The Week That Is
Written by the This Is The Week That Is Ensemble featuring: Scott Greer, Dave Jadico, Susan Riley Stevens, Jennifer Childs, Don Montrey, Aimé Kelly, Reuben Mitchell, Greg Nix, Thomas E. Shotkin, and Musical Director, Tabitha Allen
Directed by: Jennifer Childs
Assistant Director: Greg Nix
November 25—December 31, 2011 (EXTENDED RUN)

Philadelphia, PA  - 1812 Productions is pleased to occupy Center City with the sixth annual production of its celebrated political comedy, This Is The Week That Is. This Is The Week That Is will run from November 25th through December 31st at Plays and Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Street. Opening Night will be Wednesday, November 30th at 7pm. Tickets range from $20-$36 and can be purchased at 215-592-9560 or at www.1812productions.org.

A trademark 1812 production, This Is The Week That Is will present all the news that’s fit to skewer, featuring cast members new and returning (as well as a few surprise guests). The infamous Patsy, played by Jennifer Childs, is back with more advice for the Washington-weary. Don Montrey, the show’s head writer for the past four seasons, takes the stage behind the news desk, joined by Scott Greer and Susan Riley Stevens. Aimé Kelly brings us up-to-the-minute entertainment news while roving reporter Dave Jadico broadcasts the latest news from the lobby, with special reports and late breaking news from 1812 newcomer Reuben Mitchell.

In past seasons, This Is The Week That Is has mined comedy from the many ways Americans deal with war, recession, party politics, and the views from a South Philly stoop. This year, This Is The Week That Is takes its cues from everyone from Rogers and Hammerstein to Dr. Seuss to Gilbert and Sullivan to DC Comics and The Harlem Globetrotters to give us the wisdom and the laughs we need to get out from under the heft of the political machine. But serious questions remain: who wins in a Michele versus Michelle smack down, is race still an issue with an orange-skinned Speaker of the House, and who would get voted off the island first on GOP Survivor?

This Is The Week That Is’ creator, Jennifer Childs, says of this newest production, “The intensity of the current political climate is shocking, overwhelming, and inspirational all at the same time. We’re seeing political theatre of all kinds, all around us, happening in the streets. Our challenge is to take this global action and find how it lives on the stage. Just look at the last few weeks and you see a dramatic shift in the ways people are expressing how they feel about our current political situation. This Is The Week That Is is another response to that. And we will be occupying Center City Philadelphia for the entire month of December to help our fellow Philadelphians make some sense of the chaos. If you want to survive, you’ve got to laugh at the powers that be.”


Company History

1812 Productions was founded in 1997 and is the only professional theater company in the country dedicated to comedy. Their education program, 1812 Outreach, has received multiple nominations and been awarded the Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service. On April 20, 2005, 1812 Productions received an honorary citation from the City of Philadelphia for outstanding work and commitment to the Philadelphia arts community. In 2010, they were honored as one of only 10 theaters in the country to receive a National Theatre Company grant from the American Theatre Wing, founder of the Tony Awards. 1812 Productions, while continually on the search for a permanent home, continues to perform at various locations in Philadelphia.

'Singular Sensation'

By Mark Cofta
For City Paper


The fictional solo show — one that doesn't document a historical figure's life — is a rare and wonderful creature. Like Becky Mode's Fully Committed, Craig Wright's Mistakes Were Made traps its main character in a flurry of calls from a 10-line phone, ratcheting up the tension— and laughs — with each ring.

Scott Greer (pictured) makes a mercurial yet endearing Felix Artifex for 1812 Productions, a schlock theater producer desperate to stage a new play instead of his usual "old recycled crap." Artifex sees himself as "imaginative, hopeful and driven," but as he juggles calls from a demanding movie star, an idealistic playwright, his hateful agent, and some Italians trucking sheep through hostile territory (it all adds up eventually), "desperate" is more accurate. continue reading

'Fatally flawed but pure of heart'

By Toby Zinman
For The Inquirer

This week, 1812 Productions' season opens with Mistakes Were Made, a comic play by Craig Wright that was named "Best of the Year" by both New York and Time magazines in 2010. The producer, almost its only character, speaks the play's first line: "Look, here's the deal." And who should know the deal better than Wright, himself a successful producer as well as a successful playwright?

This producer, one Felix Artifex, is not like most producers - at least as they appear in plays about show business, where they're likely to be greedy, coked-up, fast-talking, backstabbing cynics.

Well, he's not entirely like that. Scott Greer, who plays him, described the character in a phone interview as "fatally flawed but pure of heart. I think a lot of us can relate to that. Mistakes are made." continue reading

The Phoebe and Otto Premiere Series
Mistakes Were Made
Written by Craig Wright
Directed by Matt Pfeiffer
Starring Scott Greer
October 6—October 30, 2011

Philadelphia, PA- 1812 Productions is proud to begin its 15th season with the Philadelphia premiere of Craig Wright’s latest comedy, Mistakes Were Made. Mistakes Were Made will run from October 6th thru October 30th at Plays & Players Theatre, located at 1714 Delancey Street in Center City. Opening night will be Wednesday, October 12th at 7:00pm. Tickets range from $20-$36 and can be purchased online at www.1812productions.org or at 215- 592-9560.
Featuring Barrymore Award winner Scott Greer in the lead role, Mistakes Were Made is a fantastic comedy romp through language and logistics. Felix Artifex is a Broadway producer with one last shot at making his mark in the world of theatre. After years of selling mediocre, big money projects, Felix makes the dangerous move of backing a new, original work and takes on the challenge of abandoning schlock for art—in a single afternoon. With his phone, his secretary, and his over-fed coy fish companion, Felix does what he does best: pushing, cajoling, sweet talking, and threatening everyone brave enough to take his calls. Changing his demeanor, or his story, depending on who is on the other end of the line, Felix moves at break-neck speed to make the art that will, in turn, make his career. On taking on the role of Felix Artifex, Scott Greer says, “It is a rare treat to work on a play in which the ideas and characters are as sharp as the dialogue. Craig Wright's stuff just crackles. Felix in Mistakes Were Made is desperate, funny, loathsome, and a weird kind of mensch, all at the same time. It'll be a ride, for sure."

During its Off-Broadway run in 2010, Mistakes Were Made played to sold-out houses, garnering BEST OF THE YEAR citations from Time Magazine and New York Magazine. The show is 1812 Productions’ second venture into Craig Wright’s work, following its production of the heart-rending comedy Recent Tragic Events in 2005. It is Mr. Wright’s pointed access to immense possibilities held by everyday people and everyday situations, and to the unique comedy of individual experience that draws 1812 Productions’ Artistic Director, Jennifer Childs, to his work. "I have always been a fan of Craig's work,” she says. “I am inspired by his ability to capture human ugliness and beauty and to make an audience laugh at both at the same time. Mistakes Were Made provokes this kind of laughter and more—laughter of amazement, of horror, of slapstick simplicity, but mostly laughter of recognition. Whether funny, comforting, or a little frightening, Felix is one of us.”

An Emmy and Drama Desk Award nominated writer, Craig Wright has a long history of premiering work in Philadelphia, with 1812 Productions being the first east coast company to mount a regional premiere of Mistakes Were Made. With writing for the television series "Lost”, “Six Feet Under”, “United States of Tara”, and “Dirty Sexy Money” among others, Mr. Wright is quick to regard Philadelphia as a personal starting point. He says, “Having launched my professional career as a playwright in Philadelphia with The Big Numbers at Philadelphia Festival Theater and Molly’s Delicious at the Arden, it’s great to come full circle and bring Mistakes Were Made straight from Off-Broadway to my longtime collaborators at 1812. Their production of Recent Tragic Events was amazing, and both Scott and Jen are great actors with whom I’ve worked in the past. I can’t wait to see it.”

Creative Team
Craig Wright (Playwright): Craig Wright’s plays include The Pavilion (Rattlestick Theater— 2005-2006 Drama Desk Nominee for Outstanding Play, City Theatre, Florida Stage, Stages Rep), Orange Flower Water (The Edge Theatre, CATF, the Jungle, Steppenwolf), Recent Tragic Events (Playwrights Horizons, Woolly Mammoth), Molly’s Delicious (Arden Theatre, Arizona Theater Company), Melissa Arctic (Folger Theatre—Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play, Two Rivers Theater Company), Grace (Woolly Mammoth—Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding New Play, Northlight Theatre, Furious Theater—LA Drama Critics Award for Best Play), Lady (Northlight—2007 Jeff Award nomination for Best New Play, Stages Rep, Asolo Theater and the Road Theater in LA, where it was nominated for a 2008 Ovation Award), The Unseen (Actors Theatre of Louisville, Stages Rep, American Actors Company). His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts Inc., Dramatic Publishing, Samuel French and Smith & Kraus. He holds a M.Div. degree from United Theological Seminary. He has written for numerous television shows including “Six Feet Under” (Emmy nomination), “Lost”, “Brothers and Sisters”, “United States of Tara” and was the creator of the ABC series “Dirty Sexy Money.”

Matt Pfeiffer (Director): Matt is a Philly born actor and director who serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Theatre Exile. For Exile he has directed such productions as Bug, Glengarry Glen Ross, and The Lieutenant of Inishmore. This marks his 4th collaboration with 1812. Other directing credits include Arden Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Two River Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Brat Productions, Lantern Theater, and 15 seasons with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Matt is a five-time Barrymore Award nominee and recipient of the F. Otto Haas Award.

Scott Greer (Felix Artifex): Scott has been seen on the stages of Walnut Street Theatre, Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre, InterAct, Theatre Exile, 1812 Productions and others. Regional: Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Round House, Cape May Stage, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. He has appeared as a solo vocalist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Scott has won four Barrymore Awards including the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theatre Artist. In 2003 his co-adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men was produced by 1812 Productions for the Live Arts Festival and was nominated for the Barrymore Award for Best New Play.

September 14, 2011

As we enter our 15th season, we at 1812 decided it was a good idea to take a look at our past work—who we’ve been, who we are, and who we are becoming. Some may call this strategic planning. I call it summertime fun. And after months of reflecting and strategizing and questioning and theorizing we emerged with a new three-year plan, a new website and a new mission statement:

1812 Productions is dedicated to creating theatrical works of comedy and comedic works of theater
that explore and celebrate our sense of community, our history and our humanity.

And this season—from our mainstage offerings to our educational outreach program to our special events to the projects we have in development—is a joyous embodiment of that mission.

In addition to Craig Wright’s Mistakes Were Made, we are also presenting David Mamet’s biting comedy Boston Marriage later this season. Two comedic works of theater by two of America’s leading playwrights. We match these with two of our own theatrical works of comedy that are signature 1812, our annual political humor show, This Is the Week That Is (although I can’t imagine what we’ll write about this year – there is just nothing in the news…), and Let’s Pretend We’re Famous featuring myself and Tony Braithwaite.

In the studio we are hard at work on new comedies for future seasons including The Women and Comedy Project – a two year process to make a piece that looks at how women use comedy in everyday life and how they use it differently at different ages. This first year of research and development will include workshops and interviews with performers and the community (if you are interested in being involved, please send me an email at jen@1812productions.org).

In addition to our mainstage shows and special projects, you can peruse this continually evolving site to check out everything we have going on:
One-night only events are unique opportunities for you to hear some of the finest and funniest contemporary humor writing read by Philadelphia’s finest and funniest actors. First up this season is our collaboration with the Gershman Y on Shouts and Murmurs: An Evening of Humor from The New Yorker on Monday October 17th.
Comedy Bootcamps that give you the opportunity to study improvisation and comedic acting with members of 1812’s ensemble.
Supporting 1812 – become a donor or a member of our Vaudevillian Society and attend special functions and rehearsals.
And so much more…

But I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, enjoy Mistakes Were Made. I am proud to be kicking our season off with this very funny play and hope to see you at the theatre.

Enjoy!

Jen