4. Table Manners - Mad Cow Theatre

Table Manners plays Thursdays - Sundays, January 24 - February 23, 2014 in The Harriett Theatre.

Tickets start at $28.25. Curtain time is 7:30pm for all evening performances and 2:30pm for all matinees.

Preview Performances are on January 22 & 23, 2014, at 7:30pm, tickets $10.

All Harriett Theatre shows have discounted Monday Night performances where every seat is just $15.00. These performance dates fill up fast and are perfect for those in the entertainment industry or those of you looking to fit in arts and culture on a budget! Monday Night performances for Table Manners are February 3 and February 17, 7:30 pm.

Table Manners, Alan Ayckbourn’s award winning comedy, follows the intertwining lives of a group of siblings and their significant others during a weekend in the country. This sidesplitting farce explodes with lust, hysterics, and exasperation as three couples share a weekend in search of love, sex, and the meaning of marriage. A comic feast where chairs and food are scarce, but laughs are served aplenty. “…crippling you with laughter that shakes the body and more subversively, fractures the soul.” The New York Times

Top L - Simon Needham, Heather Charles.
Top R - Simon Needham, Heather Charles, Thom Mesrobian.
Bottom L - Simon Needham, Jamie Middleton.

Bottom R - Ame Livingston, Simon Needham.

Photos by Tom Hurst.

Simon Needham as Norman	An English, classically trained, journeyman actor, Simon continues his ambition to never have a proper job and is thrilled to make his Mad Cow debut. Simon graduated from the Birmingham Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in 1995, and embarked on several tours of Europe performing Shakespeare including Tybalt, Macduff and Horatio. Touring Scotland, he directed and starred in Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. West End appearances include Ay Carmella! (Riverside Studios, Hammersmith), Romeo and Juliet, and Lady Windermere’s Fan (Lyric Theatre) and a Tom Lehrer revue (St Martin’s Theatre). During a world tour of Romeo and Juliet with Stratford company Illyria, Simon met and subsequently married Yvonne Suhor, and he works as a director and guest artist with Yvonne's Art’s Sake studio. Mr. Needham has been employed by Disney since 2002 as Merlin, a Jedi Master, Hathaway, Otis at the Adventurers Club and currently resides as a rather grumpy judge at the American Idol Experience. As well as many Fringe appearances he also directed Shakers and Bouncers to much acclaim. TV credits include Dangerfield, Preston Front and Inspector Sheik for the BBC, and, in the US: Sheena, Drop Dead Diva, Burn Notice and a recurring role on Necessary Roughness. Simon can also be seen around town shredding lead guitar for rock outfit Mad as Adam, their debut album What's That Noise available on all digital outlets.

Ame Livingston as Annie	Ame, AEA, is delighted to reunite with Mad Cow! Previous adventures in the pasture include August: Osage County (Karen Weston), Cradle Will Rock (Moll), and Standing on Ceremony. She was a company member of the former Orlando Theatre Project, where she performed in Doubt: A Parable (Sister James), It’s a Wonderful Life: a Radio Play (Mary Bailey), and Almost, Maine. She has been a part of many a play reading at Orlando Shakespeare Theater, including Streetcar Named Desire (Blanche DuBois), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Mae Pollitt), Julius Cesar (Portia), and this year’s Bad Dog. Additionally, she has performed with Winter Park Play House, Central Florida Community Arts, and the Orlando Fringe festival, and has sang for Walt Disney World for over 15 years. www.AmeLivingston.com

Tommy Keesling as Tom	Tommy has appeared in several Mad Cow productions in recent seasons, including Arcadia, Our Town, The Constant Wife, The Seagull, Pericles, I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady From Rwanda, Eurydice, Amadeus, She Stoops to Conquer, The Pitmen Painters, August: Osage County, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Enchanted April and most recently as Howard in Death of a Salesman. He has appeared at several other Central Florida stages in past years, including The Pillowman for Hubris Theatre, Take Me Out at Theatre Downtown, and just last month in another Alan Ayckbourn play, Season’s Greetings in Bay Street Players Second Stage series. He has performed at the Orlando International Fringe Festival and has also appeared in staged readings for Mad Cow, PlayFest and Women Playwrights’ Initiative.

Thom Mesrobian as Reg	Thom grew up in theatre under the tutelage of his father Robert, a veteran of Broadway and Hollywood. Together with his family they founded the Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera in 1975, a company that is still running strong today. Among Thom’s recent roles are John Wilkes Booth in Cornerstone Theatre Company’s Assassins, Dan in Next to Normal with Theatre Winter Haven and Bialystock in The Producers at Lakeland Community Theatre. Thom thanks Mitzi, Dan and the Cows for another great time and his family for their love and support.

Heather Charles as Sarah	Heather is thrilled to be back in the pasture! Previous Mad Cow roles include Emilie du Châtelet in Legacy of Light, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Marta in Company and Martha in The Constant Wife. She is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory and member of Actors’ Equity Association. Most recently she has been seen in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change at The Winter Park Playhouse and various Disney casts including the Main Street Acting Company, Citizens of Hollywood and Perfectly Princess Tea Party. Other favorite roles include Christine in Phantom at The Springer Opera House (GA) and Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Love to my fellas: the Cooper and the kiwi.

Jamie Middleton as Ruth	Jamie graduated summa cum laude from the University of Central Florida. While attending UCF she performed in several productions, most notably The Illusion and Spring Awakening. She has been seen onstage throughout Florida for the past 25 years. Productions at Mad Cow include Assassins, The Heidi Chronicles, Present Laughter, A Delicate Balance, Arcadia, Later Life, Romeo and Juliet, The Butter and Egg Man, The Life of Galileo, Anton in Show Business, and The Chekhov Project's production of Cherry Orchard. Since 1995, she has been employed at Universal Orlando as an actress and was a model for Walt Disney Animation. Jamie sends her love and gratitude to her wonderful husband, Stephen, and two amazing children, Christian and Ariel.

Dan Bright - Director	Since receiving his MFA in acting from FSU/Asolo Conservatory in 1994 Dan Bright has directed and performed around the world, literally, working as a director and actor onboard Crystal Cruise Lines. Land side he has directed a number of productions in Florida including Private Eyes for American Stage, Rumors, The Dumbwaiter and Brilliant Traces for the FSU/Asolo Conservatory, and The Black Spider and The Second Hurricane for the Sarasota Youth Opera, and Noises Off and Greater Tuna at University of Findlay, (Ohio) and most recently The Comedy of Errors for Regent University in Virginia Beach. This production of Table Manners marks Mr. Bright’s Mad Cow Theatre directorial debut. Mr. Bright is a member of Screen Actors Guild and Actors’ Equity.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Dan Bright	Director
Emily Smith	Costume Design
Erin Miner	Light Design
William Elliot	Set Design
Lisa Buck	Props/Set Decor/Painter

REVIEWS

Table Manners is a mix of British courtesy and crass behavior - Caroline Huftalen, Busking at the Seams

Freeline Media Review: Table Manners - Freeline Media Orlando

Theatre Review: Table Manners from Mad Cow Theatre - Matt Palm, The Orlando Sentinel

Archikulture Digest: Table Manners - Carl F. Gauze, Ink19

Mad Cow serves a mixed dish of Table Manners - Cameron Meier, The Orlando Weekly

Mad Cow Theatre

Table Manners

by Alan Ayckbourn
Jan 24 - Feb 23, 2014 in The Harriett Theatre

by Alan Ayckbourn

Mad Cow Theatre

Mad Cow Theatre

Table Manners

by Alan Ayckbourn Jan 24 - Feb 23, 2014 in The Harriett Theatre

by Alan Ayckbourn

Mad Cow Theatre

by Alan Ayckbourn
Jan 24 - Feb 23, 2014 in The Harriett Theatre