BREAKING: Tut'Zanni presents a theatre-from-home experience in May!
Tut’Zanni Theatre Company presents
[DIGITAL] Top Rung
a masked theatre-from-home experience
in collaboration with Faction of Fools Theatre Company
May 7 – 16, 2021
“Are we still striving for the top of the corporate ladder while we work-from-home?
Or are we just trying to stay alive?”
Tut’Zanni Theatre Company, in collaboration with Faction of Fools, is excited to announce its newest original masked theatre production, and their first foray into the world of online theatre, [DIGITAL] Top Rung. An adaptation of their 2018 immersive production titled Top Rung which took place in an office conference room, this new theatre-from-home experience is all about the trials, tribulations and joys of our homes becoming our offices and our office spaces now existing all online.
[DIGITAL] Top Rung will mark the first collaboration between Tut’Zanni Theatre Company and fellow masked theatre company, Faction of Fools Theatre Company; two of the oldest and largest Commedia dell’Arte inspired theatre companies in the United States. “We have been trying to collaborate for years, and finally we found a way to make it happen!”, said Founder and Artistic Director ALi Landvatter.
Taking place on a video conferencing platform, [DIGITAL] Top Rung follows a new team (the audience) as they attend orientation to their new work-from-home situation with the infamous CorpCarp. As Steven, their human resource manager, is trying to onboard the new team, they are interrupted by CorpCarp’s leaders with a major issue: a case of corporate espionage— I mean, someone is pregnant— I mean, where is their assistant!! — WAIT — someone is doing “backdoor business” with the boss’s daughter!?!
The audience plays along as this online office space turns into a revolving door of incompetent managers, office gossips, missing assistants, and more. But what everyone wants to know is who will end up on top, in [DIGITAL] Top Rung?
[DIGITAL] Top Rung was created by ALi Landvatter and Patrick Berger, two Tut’Zanni company members, with creative consultation from Tut’Zanni full company. It is produced in collaboration with Faction of Fools Theatre Company, the D.C. based Commedia dell’Arte company. [DIGITAL] Top Rung will feature Tut’Zanni Company members Dory Sibley, Liam Mulshine, ALi Landvatter and Patrick Berger; as well as Faction of Fools members Darius Johnson, Colin Conner, Natalie Cutcher and Megan Jones. Faction of Fools’ Eileen Scandiffio will be production stage managing, with Susan Windiarini Rodgers assistant directing.
What:
[DIGITAL] Top Rung
Featuring:
Tut’Zanni Theatre Company & Faction of Fools Theatre Company, two of the countries oldest and largest Commedia dell’Arte inspired theatre companies
Where:
ONLINE via ZOOM.
When:
Friday, May 7th thru Sunday, May 16th
Exact times at tutzanni.com
Tickets & Passes:
$20 General Admission online.
Tickets available at: https://digital-top-rung.eventbrite.com
About Tut’Zanni Theatre Company
Tut’Zanni Theatre Company is a six-member physical theatre ensemble that devises interactive masked performances and strives to engage audiences in playful interrogations of the world around us. The members met in Italy while studying Commedia dell'Arte, traditional Italian masked theatre. Founded in 2011, Tut'Zanni has created and performed six unique masked shows across two continents: Art for Sale, Love Letter Lost, Don’t Save the Princesses!, Beep and Bop, A Sort-of Cinderella Story, and Top Rung.
Tut’Zanni’s work has been featured in festivals in both Europe and the USA including the New York International Fringe (NYC; 2012), CrisisART (Italy; 2012), Capital Fringe (DC; 2014), Gameplay (NYC; 2015), San Francisco International Fringe (CA; 2016) and Three Rivers Arts (PA; 2019). During our tours we have performed at various theatres throughout the USA including TheatreSquared (AR; 2012), Argenta Community Theater (AR; 2012), Filament Theater (Chicago; 2013), Brick Theatre (NYC; 2015), Producer’s Club (NYC; 2015), Exit Theater (San Francisco; 2016) and Cockroach Theater (Las Vegas; 2019). We have taught at such institutions as Boston University, Syracuse University, Ithaca College, Wellesley College, Skidmore College, Muhlenberg College, Vassar, Tufts, Hampshire, Coastal Carolina University, Hunter College, Brooklyn College, George Washington University, University of Arkansas, Mississippi University for Women and for the Mississippi Theatre Teachers Association.
About Faction of Fools
Based in Washington DC, Faction of Fools Theatre Company's mission is to entertain, educate, and elucidate through the practice and performance of Commedia dell'Arte. We use Commedia to create dynamic new work and to bring out the truest sense of what a play is on the page, in order to rediscover classics. We embody the spirit of Commedia, which is traditional yet innovative, international yet familiar, and classical yet accessible. In our performances, actor training, international initiatives, and educational outreach, Commedia dell'Arte is theatre at its best: physical discipline, spontaneous imagination, collaborative energy, and joyous wonder.