CURRENT SEASON:
THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS PRESENTS "A STAGE FOR DIONYSOS" 

Multimedia exhibition of classical Greek theatre 
complements world premiere of TANTALUS

DENVER, CO - The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is pleased to present a comprehensive multimedia exhibition - "A Stage for Dionysos: Theatrical Space and Ancient Drama." Tracing the development of theatre from antiquity to the current day, this exhibit highlights the story of Greek classical theatre, the plays, their audiences and the spaces in which the plays were performed.
Modern theatre can trace its roots to Athens where plays were performed in honor of Dionysos, god of wine and fertility. "A Stage for Dionysos" highlights the brilliance of ancient theatrical design, engineering and craftsmanship that characterize Greco-Roman theatres. It also explores the development of classical tragedy and comedy through costumes, photographs and explanatory texts.
The display features many historic costumes including that of Melina Mercouri as Medea, wooden hobby horses worn by the chorus in Aristophanes' comedy The Knights, as well as stunning masks from the first modern revival of Prometheus Bound at Delphi and from Peter Hall's National Theatre production of The Oresteia.
Photographs, set models, musical instruments, pottery and illustrations that merge ancient theatre and drama with hi-tech multi-media presentations are also featured.

In addition to video footage from 30 well-known performances of ancient plays in various venues and countries, "A Stage for Dionysos" showcases the first comprehensive map of all 730 ancient theatres, dividing them into Greek, Roman and others of unknown time periods. Three-dimensional recreations of approximately 100 ancient theatres, including performances, ancient scenography and theatrical mechanisms, are also featured.
One such Greek theatre replica will be on display in The Space Theatre, which has been reconfigured to accommodate "A Stage for Dionysos." The floor of the theatre will be replaced by transparent plexiglass, through which an ancient theatre replica may be observed. 
"A Stage for Dionysos" has been seen in London, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria and New York. Its Denver engagement will be open to the public September 13 - December 2 in The Space Theatre and the Crescent Lobby of the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex. The exhibit is designed to coincide with, and complement, the Denver Center Theatre Company's world premiere of TANTALUS, an epic cycle of new plays based on the Greek myths surrounding The Trojan War. 
Student groups and the community at large are invited to attend the exhibit free of charge on the following dates and times:

Community:      Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, 9am - 3pm (closed 11/21 & 11/23); Saturday, 10am - 12pm 
Students:       Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, 9am - 3pm (closed 11/21 & 11/23); Wednesday, 9-11am 

Student groups are asked to call Todd Gray at 303/389-4688 to reserve a date and time. All other members of the community are welcome to attend; no reservations are necessary.

"A Stage for Dionysos" is organized by the Melina Mercouri Foundation and the Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive. The general concept, production and coordination is provided by Spyros Mercouris. Mary Koumantaropoulou provided the design and artistic supervision; Michalis Pitenis and Konstantinos Boletis provided the research and scientific supervision. 
"A Stage for Dionysos" is made possible by generous contributions from Mr. and Mrs. M Allan Frank and Bob and Judi Newman.
For more information, please call Todd Gray at 303/389-4688 or go to www.denvercenter.org. 
                                   
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 FLASH ANNOUNCEMENT INSERT

Denver Center Theatre Company
Donovan Marley, Artistic Director
SPECIAL RELEASE

Denver Center Theatre Company to Produce World Premiere of TANTALUS


DENVER - TANTALUS, an unparalleled 15-hour theatrical epic recalling the
ancient Greek festivals of 2,500 years ago, will be produced by the Denver
Center Theatre Company (DCTC) in the autumn of 2000.
      A massive chronicle of the Trojan War, TANTALUS, with its panoply of
contemporary echoes, will be staged by the eminent director of theatre,
opera, film and television, Sir Peter Hall.  Sir Peter created the Royal
Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1960 and ran it for ten years.  He was director
of Britain's National Theatre for 15 years and opened the new theatres on
the South Bank.
      TANTALUS is drawn from the rich legacy of ancient texts and written by
John Barton, director, playwright and theatre scholar, who is an advisory
director of the RSC, which commissioned the work and nurtured its
development for 15 years.
      Donovan Marley, Artistic Director of the Denver Center Theatre
Company, is working to obtain an international cast, including artistic
associates of the RSC and members of the DCTC.  The world premiere will be
produced in association with the RSC, whose current Artistic Director is
Adrian Noble.
      In making this announcement, Donald R. Seawell, Founder and Chairman
of The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA), added that the
production, which rehearses for six months in Denver, is scheduled to go to
England after its Denver run.  It then embarks on a European tour that will
include performances in Greece, the cradle of both the legends and the
theatre.  Michael Kustow, first head of arts and music programs for
Britain's Channel Four Television, who began his theatre career in Peter
Hall's Royal Shakespeare Company will be Executive Producer, Europe.
    Barton's monumental ten-play cycle, designed to play in three late
afternoon/evenings or in a two-day weekend, seemed to have little chance of
being produced until a longtime friendship intervened.  The DCPA's Donald R.
Seawell, who is a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company and an early
associate of both Hall and Barton, offered the facility, production and
funding resources of the Denver Center

Theatre Company, 1998 recipient of the TONY AWARD® for Outstanding Regional
Theatre.
      As a result, the enduring legends of TANTALUS, with their uncanny
relevance for a world poised on the threshold of the new millennium, will be
experienced by audiences around the world.  John Barton writes, "The city of
Troy - trapped in the horrors of war - is a metaphor for the ambiguity,
horrors and ironies of all wars down the ages.  But much of it is comedic
and human and I do not see it as a solemn event."
      "The potency of Greek myths keeps them at the center of our lives,"
adds director Sir Peter Hall.  "They are still the best stories about how to
survive this bewildering world, because they accept, even celebrate the
contradictions and ambiguities of living."
      Details of the production and the tour will be finalized in the coming
months.

                                   # # #

                            TANTALUS  FACTS

Commissioned by     Royal Shakespeare Company

Playwright  John Barton


Director    Sir Peter Hall


Producer         The Denver Center for the Performing Arts
     Donald R. Seawell, Founder and Chairman


Produced by Denver Center Theatre Company
       Donovan Marley, Artistic Director
       in association with
       Royal Shakespeare Company
       Adrian Noble, Artistic Director


Executive Producer,     Michael Kustow, Europe


Previews   Friday, September 15 to Friday, October 13, 2000
          The Stage Theatre, Helen Bonfils Theatre
Complex
          Denver, Colorado USA


Denver Opening   Saturday and Sunday, October 14 and 15, 2000


          The Stage Theatre, Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex
          Denver, Colorado USA


Denver Closing   Saturday and Sunday, December 16 and 17, 2000
          The Stage Theatre, Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex
          Denver, Colorado USA

              
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                   1998 TONY AWARD -  for Outstanding Regional Theatre
                          Donovan Marley, Artistic Director
         For Tickets  $23 - $36 and information call the Center Box Office

   The Denver Center Theatre Company was awarded the 1998 TONY AWARD for
Outstanding Regional Theatre.
   The award heightens recent national and international attention the Company
has received for its commitment to excellence, to new play development, and the
nurturing of tomorrow's talent and audiences.
   The Company's resources support a resident company in a setting where artists
have time to learn each other’s gifts, ideas, language, processes and passion
for theatre. "We could not sustain our level of excellence if we did not share a
body of work that the ensemble developed over a period of years," says Artistic
Director Donovan Marley. “It is a traditional type of ensemble company that is
becoming lost in America. But it is important, encouraged and strong here.”
   The 20th season features two U S WEST world premieres and the regional
premieres of seven other plays, including two recent TONY AWARD winners for best
play. The world premieres add to a list of 36 plays that have drawn national and
international attention by following their Denver premieres with other
productions in this country, Europe and Asia. They include: Quilters, recipient
of six Tony nominations for its Broadway production; The Immigrant, which is
repeatedly produced throughout America; Black Elk Speaks, presented in Denver
(twice), Hong Kong and Los Angeles; It Ain’t Nothin But the Blues, presented
in six cities by the end of this season; The Quick-Change Room, presented coast
to coast; Circe and Bravo, which traveled from Denver to London’s West End,
where it was directed by Harold Pinter, followed by Veterans Day which featured
Jack Lemmon and Michael Gambon; Lost Highway: The Music and Legend
of Hank Williams, presented in San Diego, Los Angeles and which just completed a
two-year run at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium; Love, Janis, which played Austin,
Texas, last year and goes to Cleveland this year; and Appalachian Strings, which
so far has had three productions outside Denver.
   Last season's Taking Leave has been nominated by The American Theatre Critics
Association for its New Play Award. And the Denver Center’s four-year alliance
with the New York-based Directors Company and its Harold Prince Musical Theatre
Program culminated in a Denver production of the new musical Eliot Ness…In
Cleveland. This season's The Elevation of Thieves by Nagle Jackson was a top
award-winner in the international competition of the Alexander S. Onassis
Foundation in Athens, Greece and Kingdom by Richard Hellesen won the Barrie and
Bernice Stavis Playwriting Award from the National Theatre Conference.

    The DCTC's strong outreach programs include 16 years of touring schools
throughout the state. Under the company's umbrella, the National Theatre
Conservatory, an accredited Master of Fine Arts degree program, prepares young
actors for careers in theatre. Conservatory graduates work in regional theatres
across the nation, on Broadway, in film and in television.
   A critic who attended the American Theatre Critics Association’s May 1998
conference in Denver put the Company's recognition in perspective by writing,
“With its Tony Award the first presented to a troupe between the West Coast and
the Midwest - the Denver Center Theatre Company is crossing the rocky divide
between regional excellence and national prominence.