VCU Alumni Kevin Duvall and his company Theatre LuDu present Irvinville, a new play which follows a town terrorized by an escaped circus elephant, and the generational fallout that comes as a result of its execution. Weaving the fantastic seamlessly within a collage of our nation’s greatest blunders, the line between history and legend is blurred.
Using fireside storytelling traditions, Irvinville becomes a modern American myth of ridiculous proportions, daring the audience to question their complicity in their own destruction.
Written and performed by Lucius Robinson and Kevin Duvall, and using no technical elements whatsoever, Irvinville explores how we use performance to reflect upon our shared past, and reveal how we become the stories we tell.
Performance is March 28th at 7:30 PM, with doors opening at 7:00 PM, in the Newdick Theatre in Shafer Street Playhouse (221 N. Shafer St.)
Admission: Free and open to the public.
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About Lucius Robinson, Kevin Duvall, and LUDU:
Lucius Robinson is a Princess Grace award-winning performer, director, writer, and teacher. He received his MFA from the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theater and his MAT from Notre Dame of Maryland University. Favorite performance credits include: The Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Venture Shakespeare); Forgive Us, Gustavito (Otherlands Ensemble); Love and Information (The Delta Boys); The Weir (Burning Coal Theater Company) and The Pillowman (Manbites Dog Theater). Originally from North Carolina, he has enjoyed being able to spend time in California, Minnesota, and Maryland. He proudly teaches for Baltimore City Schools and devises new things as often as he is able.
Kevin Duvall has been making work in the theatre for over 25 years as an actor, writer, director, producer, and teacher. He received his MFA from the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theater and his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has lived and worked in Chicago for over twelve years working with numerous theatre companies including The Neo-Futurists, The Raven Theatre, and The American Blues Theatre, as well as creating over a dozen original shows, and working in commercials and films. Much of his work, however, has been original material created usually in collaboration with a partner or ensemble. In this capacity he has created sketch shows, cabarets, movement based work, devised shows, Shakespeare, clown plays, and numerous other things which are not so easily categorized.
LUDU is a two-person ensemble composed of Kevin Duvall and Lucius Robinson. They believe in weird stories, well-told. They also believe theater should be available and accessible to all persons, not just to attend, but also to create. Irvinville is their first show.
More about the Show:
With nothing more than themselves, Robinson and Duvall share a story spanning several decades and over a dozen characters. At the center is Jaxson Sallow, a decrepit old boy, and the only person left in Irvinville, tasked with maintaining the archaic machinery which powered this once great town; and Mary, the circus elephant responsible for triggering Irvinville’s slow, hard decline.
Together they make flesh the terrible tragedy of the “Evening of the Tusk Moon,” when Mary revolts at the circus, the ensuing “Terrorphant Siege,” where Irvinville faces the constant threat of the elephant in the woods, and Mary’s Trial when she is convicted before the entire town. It is her story that entangles Irvinville into the hearts of a nation, but she brings the town to ruin all the same. Through a sculpted whirlwind of characters, stories, memories, and lies, the truth of this place is gradually revealed: violence is easy; more than easy, it is natural.
Irvinville is the first project by Theatre LuDu; the collaboration of Lucius Robinson and Kevin Duvall. They are creators of award-winning original theatrical works You’re in Danger! and LIVE NUKES! respectively and have, combined, over 4 decades of experience working in theatre as actors, writers, directors, producers, teachers, and collaborators.