The Beast of Hyperborea at the 2024 Ft. Worth Fringe

 

I am getting back in the saddle.

I originated a solo show called The Beast of Hyperborea back in 2019, back when the FIT (Festival of independent Theatres) was at Dallas' Bath House Cultural Center. Since then, my friend Jeff Swearingen has stepped in to perform it at fringe fests all over the country. Next month, I'm stepping back in to perform the show at the Fort Worth Fringe Festival (he and I will alternate performing it depending on availability).

The Beast of Hyperborea is a mystifying tale told in the tradition of Victorian adventure fiction. The tale concerns an eccentric group of explorers who set off on a daring quest to a remote island in search of a legendary monster.

Named Outstanding Production at TNT's (Theatre Network of Texas') TEXFest 2024, I am pleased to bring this show to Ft. Worth for a li'l fringe run.

Playing:
Friday, September 6 – 9:30 PM
Saturday September 7 – 2:20 PM
Sunday, September 8 – 1:20 PM

At the Ft. Worth Fringe Festival,
​The Sanders Theatre at Fort Worth Community Arts Center
(Arts Fort Worth), 1300 Gendy St., Fort Worth, Texas 76107

(runtime is just under an hour)

Visit: fwfringe.com
for more info/tix/etc.

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At the South West Theatre Conference 2024

Swearingen performing The Beast of Hyperborea at SWTC 2024

After presenting The Beast of Hyperborea at TEXFest 2024 back in February, the production by Audacity Theatre Lab was chosen to advance to the South West Theatre Conference (SWTC) in Little Rock, Arkansas in April.

The SWTC is a theatre service organization working to enhance the theatre experience for theatres in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Theatres from those states gathered to present plays that were adjudicated by theatre professionals. It was held April 4-6 at The Studio Theatre in Little Rock (320 W 7th St, Little Rock, AR 72201).

Swearingen and I loaded up The Beast of Hyperborea stuff and headed out to attend. The "conference" was really just a very small gathering of about five theatres with their cast and crews as well as three adjudicators. Despite the bad luck to be the first show to present for the weekend and a couple of technical glitches by the board ops, both lights and sound (again, went first, so we were the show that was used to work out the bugs), The Beast of Hyperborea made a decent showing.

Swearingen was slightly better rehearsed this time around and we took some notes from Victoria (new costume and repainted set pieces), but the show was not quite as dynamic as the performance had been back in February. 

Although we did not "win" in Little Rock as we did in Victoria back in February, Swearingen still garnered an "Outstanding Actor" Award and we received some overwhelmingly positive feedback from the adjudicators. Again, the observations were subjective, but again, there were a few nuggets of wisdom.

Unfortunately, Circle Arts Theatre from New Braunfels, TX was unable to bring their production of Feeding the Moonfish, so Baytown Little Theatre was thrown in. They brought their production of The Guys as the other representative company from Texas. They ended up being named "Outstanding Production." It was nice to see actor Lyle Tate again, who again was awarded an acting award alongside Swearingen.

Little Rock had the vibe of an MC Escher artwork (very confusing with lots of road construction). The hotel, out by the airport, charged for their breakfast buffet (usually complimentary) and the building seemed to be designed by someone who had dropped out of architecture school. Plus, we were there the weekend before the eclipse. Lots of RVs and people setting up in the parking lot with telescopes. Little Rock was in the path of the upcoming eclipse. On top of that, and there was a kids pageant in the hotel, so anytime I got on the elevator, I was in it with either an elderly eclipse enthusiast or a little girl slathered with too much make-up being openly berated by her overbearing pageant mom. Between the barely-a-conference and the hotel stay it made for a very weird weekend.

On the plus side, Swearingen and I discovered a great place for beers, open late, that had a wonderful patio for cigars (cigarettes for Swearingen) called the Rail Yard. Great burgers, too.

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Success at TEXFest 2024

Jeff Swearingen performing The Beast of Hyperborea at TEXFest 2024

Brought back a bunch of plaques

This was taken at the end of the weekend. My tired eyes tell the tale...

Audacity Theatre Lab returned from TEXFest with a collection of nifty awards. I presented my production of The Beast of Hyperborea as well as took adjudication training, took several workshops and even taught several workshops on my own. 

TEXFest is an biannual theatre conference produced by TNT (Theatre Network of Texas). This year it was held in Victoria, TX from February 21 - 25, 2024 at the Leo J. Welder Center for the Performing Arts in Victoria, TX. The conference featured performances from theatres around Texas, workshops and other events. Two productions from TEXFest 2024 were chosen to advance. The Beast of Hyperborea was one of those productions. It will move on to perform at the Southwest Theatre Conference (SWTC) in Little Rock, Arkansas in April.

Big congrats to the other advancing production Feeding The Moonfish from Circle Arts Theatre in New Braunfels, TX.

And, of course, congratulations to my friend and colleague Jeff Swearingen for bringing The Beast Of Hyperborea to life on stage. I did the directing and rest of the behind-the-scenes stuff and Jeff acted in the piece as he did last summer.

Jeff and I at TEXFest 2024. The Beast of Hyperborea was judged Best Production

Jeff ended up winning an Audience Acclaim Award in Acting, A well-deserved accolade that was voted on by the audiences. He tied for the award with Lyle Tate from the Baytown Little Theatre's production of The Guys. Sidenote: Lyle proved to be a real champ since he let us borrow his black clip-on costume necktie when we discovered - fifteen minutes before curtain - that Jeff had forgotten his own necktie. Much appreciation for Mr. Tate.

ATL also received recognition for being an official participating production in the conference at all. Big thanks to the adjudicators Annette Procunier, David Eck, and Michael Winters for some useful feedback. Truth be told, the feedback was mostly subjective opinions, but did have a gem of value here and there. Specifically, what they had to say about technical things.

Presenting my Crafting to Solo Show workshop, complete with Power Point.

On top of the production, I also taught a workshop on "Crafting a Solo Show" based on my recent book. I taught it twice. One session only had two folks, but the second session had half a dozen. Each morning (not to mention once a week via Zoom for several weeks prior to the conference) I attended extensive adjudication training at TEXFest! 

Swearingen and I had some trouble with the hotel in Victoria and that pulled my attention a bit. We also accidently stumbled into the most pro-Trump BBQ joint on the planet, talked shop and had a chance one evening to catch up with our mutual friend Wes Copeland over rum and cokes.  Needless to say, it was  a busy weekend !

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The Beast of Hyperborea heads to TEXFest 2024

The Beast of Hyperborea

Featuring Jeff Swearingen
Written and Directed by Brad McEntire

The Beast of Hyperborea is an mystifying tale told in the tradition of Victorian adventure fiction. The tale concerns an eccentric group of explorers who set off for on a daring quest to a remote island in search of a legendary monster.

I am pleased that the show has been selected to play at TEXFest 2024

TEXFest is an biannual theatre conference produced by TNT (Theatre Network of Texas). 

TEXFest 2024 will be held in Victoria, TX from February 21 - 25, 2024 at the Leo J. Welder Center for the Performing Arts in Victoria, TX. The conference features performances from theatres around Texas, workshops and other events. 2 productions from TEXFest 2024 will move on to perform at Southwest Theatre Conference (SWTC).

Friday, February 23 at 4:30 pm

Leo J. Welder Center for the Performing Arts at Victoria College, located at 214 N Main St, Victoria, TX 77901

I will also be teaching a workshop at TEXFest. Details coming soon.

More info... HERE

Beast of Hyperborea pics from the 2023 Omaha Fringe

Nick Jansen and Naomi Bates took a few nice shots of my play The Beast of Hyperborea in performance at the 2023 Omaha Fringe Festival.

Featuring my friend Jeff Swearingen and written/directed by me, the one-man show follows Edward Joseph Reade, a good-natured, but anxious accountant who gets whirled into a globe-trotting adventure with an eccentric group of explorers.

Big thanks to Nick and Naomi and the rest of the gang at the Omaha Fringe. It was swell.

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The Beast of Hyperborea at the 2023 Elgin Fringe Festival

 

The Beast of Hyperborea
Featuring Jeff Swearingen
Written and Directed by Brad McEntire

The Beast of Hyperborea is an astonishing tale of daring told in the tradition of Victorian adventure fiction. The tale concerns an eccentric group of explorers who set off for a remote island in search of a legendary monster.

Developed by Audacity Theatre Lab, The Beast of Hyperborea premiered in the summer of 2019  originally performed by the playwright, Brad McEntire. The play has now been remounted, this time with Jeff Swearingen stepping into the role of the reluctant accountant/narrator and McEntire easing into the director/producer's chair.

Playing this summer at one of our favorite festivals... the 2023 Elgin Fringe Festival
​Elgin is about 35 miles northwest of Chicago. Great place to perform.

Tickets for this festival are $12

Thursday, September 7 at 7:30 pm
Friday, September 8 at 6:00 pm
Saturday, September 9 at 9:30 pm
Sunday, September 10 at 2:30 pm

Side Street Studio Arts, located at 15 1/2 Ziegler Ct, Elgin, IL 60120

Tickets... HERE. Fringe info... HERE

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The Beast of Hyperborea at the 2023 Omaha Fringe Festival

Jeff Swearingen takes the stage in The Beast of Hyperborea [credit: Audacity Theatre Lab]

The Beast of Hyperborea
Featuring Jeff Swearingen
Written and Directed by Brad McEntire

The Beast of Hyperborea is an astonishing tale of daring told in the tradition of Victorian adventure fiction. The tale concerns an eccentric group of explorers who set off for a remote island in search of a legendary monster.

Developed by Audacity Theatre Lab, The Beast of Hyperborea premiered in the summer of 2019  originally performed by the playwright, Brad McEntire. The play has now been remounted, this time with Jeff Swearingen stepping into the role of the reluctant accountant/narrator and McEntire easing into the director's chair.

Playing this summer at the 2023 Omaha Fringe Festival

Tickets for this festival are $10

Details:
Benson Theatre,
6054 Maple St, Omaha, NE 68104   [map]

Thursday August 10 at 8:30 pm,
Saturday August 12 at 6:30 pm,
Sunday August 13 at 8:00 pm
​
For more info (tix, shows, etc.) visit the Omaha Fringe website... HERE

Beast of Hyperborea - Summer 2023 - promo from Audacity Theatre Lab on Vimeo.

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Behind-the-scenes of The Beast of Hyperborea

I created a new one-man show recently called The Beast of Hyperborea. I essentially wrote, designed and rehearsed it in about 5 weeks, which is a highly concentrated time-frame for me. In two recent episodes of my podcast The Cultivated Playwright, I discuss that rather stressful process leading up to the world premiere. In particular, I discuss the resistance I came up against that drained my time, energy, concentration and confidence. I also address seeing the project through, despite teetering on creative burnout.

In the second part, I explain how opening night went and how I deal with creative burn out.

Listen to the first part (episode 17)... HERE. The second part (episode 18) can be heard... HERE.

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Nice Write-up about HYPERBOREA on SharpCritic.com

Nice write-up from Christopher Soden on SharpCritic.com

This summer the annual Festival of Independent Theatres featured short plays addressing the theme of Coming of Age. The six I attended were: Leos Ensemble – small hours (Directed by Nick Leos) Lily & Joan Theatre Company– Marilyn, Pursued by a Bear (Directed by Emily Burgardt) Imprint Theatreworks – Dirty Dirty Night Squirrel (Directed by Taylor Mercado Owens) WingSpan Theatre, Co – Jo & Louisa (Directed by Susan Sargeant ) The Very Good Dance Theatre – The 1st Annual Gay Show (Directed by William Acker; Choreographed By Danielle Georgiou) Audacity Theatre Lab – The Beast of Hyperborea (Created by Brad McEntire). Some evinced better than others, though just as in past summers, each had its particular quirks, its peculiar charms.

. . .

Brad McEntire’s The Beast of Hyperborea features an accountant who is horns-waggled into a trip to a remote island in search of a legendary monster. Like poor Bilbo Baggins, he’s not the least interested in risking physical and/or emotional harm for the sake of mind-bending adventure. Beast is a fairly traditional narrative souped up by McEntire to appeal to contemporary audiences. There’s a strong, able-bodied lady, who smokes cigars, and embraces danger with gusto. There’s a misogynistic, stuffy buffoon, a Baron proficient in the martial arts, and a Captain who’s more about canny nerve than bloviating. McEntire knows how to blend the touching with the fanciful, the astonishing with gravitas. While he sometimes seems to be winking at us, at other times his credulity gives this vivid monologue substance and humanity.

The Bath House Cultural Center presents: The 21st Annual Festival of Independent Theatres: Coming of Age, playing July 12th _ August 3rd, 2019. 521 East Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas 75218. 1-800-617-6904.       www.festivalof independenttheatres.org

See original post... HERE

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Nice write-up in TheaterJones on Beast of Hyperborea

FIT Review: The Beast of Hyperborea

A "ripping yarn" in the grand old tradition, from Brad McEntire of Audacity Theatre Lab.

by Jill Sweeney | TheaterJones.com
published Sunday, July 21, 2019

Warning: Spoilers!

Dallas — The Beast of Hyperborea, presented by Audacity Theatre Lab, takes its inspiration from fantastical works by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle and H. Rider Haggard. Creator and performer Brad McEntire (the driving force behind this cutting-edge “theatre collective”) has put together a truly ripping yarn in classic Victorian style for his one-man entry in the Festival of Independent Theatres.

McEntire plays Edward Joseph Reade, a mild-mannered accountant and sole survivor of a doomed 1895 expedition to the mysterious isle of Hyperborea—fictitiously north of Scotland and south of the Arctic Circle—and home to the titular Beast. Presenting his tale as a sort of lecture to an "unseen" audience, Reade recounts how, after answering a newspaper advertisement seeking a bookkeeper, he was swept up into a series of ever-more dramatic and larger-than-life adventures.

All the characters are portrayed with dazzling nuance by McEntire: famed aeronaut Captain Saltwood; expert mountain climber and martial artist the Baron Frichte; and big-game hunter and all-around adventuress Marie Clemeneau. The daring crew, led by Saltwood, sets out to explore the mysterious and uncharted island where Saltwood’s comrade (and Marie’s father) met his end at the hands of the Beast, leaving behind him a journal detailing his discoveries. The trio of adventurers and the reluctant Reade begin to grow closer as they speed toward their destination, likening themselves to Dumas’ Musketeers. How tragic, then, that Reade alone survives the perilous journey and the violent confrontation with the Beast, and must shoulder the duty of presenting proof of the island’s (and the creature’s) existence.

On a simply lit stage with minimal set and sound design, McEntire commands the space and deftly avoids the common pitfalls of a one-man show. Each character he portrays is distinct without tipping into cartoonish excess. While his Reade is a quiet, self-effacing sort, ill-suited for adventures (as the Hobbits would say, “nasty, dirty, uncomfortable things—make you late for dinner”), Captain Saltwood is a bluff, squinting man’s man. Contrast them with the effete Baron (presented with a competent, if slightly obscure, Germanic accent) and the cool, daring Marie, who dispatches misogynists and monsters with equal élan. The audience was spellbound, reacting with gasps and laughter, and was a hairsbreadth away from outright cheering at an unexpected resurrection. (From the start we know all but one are doomed—but McEntire leaves room for surprise.)

The show’s final, silent moments, accompanied by a cleverly period-accurate slideshow, was unexpectedly poignant. Bravo to McEntire for bringing not only the thrills to his tall tale, but heart as well.

This one’s a “can’t miss” in my book.

» The Beast of Hyperborea is performed:

• 8 p.m. Thursday, July 25
• 8 p.m. Saturday, July 27
• 5 p.m. Sunday, July 28
• 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3
  

» The 21st annual Festival of Independent Theatres runs through Aug. 3, 2019 at The Bath House Cultural Center. For more information, visit www.festivalofindependenttheatres.org or call 1-800-617-6904.

To see a breakdown of the groups and shows, go here.

To see reviews and more coverage of FIT, see our special section here.

NOTE: The spelling of character names have been corrected from the original article.

Original article... HERE

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The Beast of Hyperborea at FIT 2019

I am presenting the festival-premiere of a thrilling and humorous new one-person show. It is called The Beast of Hyperborea. 

This Victorian adventure tale concerns a fabled beast, a mysterious island and the brave team of explorers who set off to discover them both.

Playing as part of the 2019 Festival of Independent Theatres,
At the Bath House Cultural Center,
521 E. Lawther Dr. Dallas, TX 75218

July 13 - August 3, 2019

Performances on:
Saturday, July 20, 2019 @ 8 pm
Sunday, July 21, 2019 @ 5 pm
Thursday, July 25, 2019 @ 8 pm
Saturday, July 27, 2019 @ 8 pm
Sunday, July 28, 2019 @ 2 pm
Saturday, August 3, 2019 @ 2 pm

Tickets available... HERE

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Perhaps you would be interested in adding more excitement and romance, adventure and intrigue to your life. If that's the case, I don't know what to tell you. But I would suggest you subscribe to my newsletter. I mean, who knows? Life is full of surprises. I only send stuff out occassionally, but it is good stuff. Hit the button below...

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