Avant Bard restarts ‘Ada and the Engine’
Arlington’s Avant Bard Theatre is staging Lauren Gunderson’s Ada and the Engine as the company’s second mainstage display of its 32nd time. At the helm is Megan Behm, who directed Avant Bard’s uproarious strike A Misanthrope and the authentic production of Ada and the Motor, which was set to open up two several years ago just as the earth closed down because of to the pandemic.
Ada and the Motor follows Ada Lovelace (Dina Soltan), the only legitimate boy or girl of the amorous poet Lord Byron, who had a really like of her personal: mathematics. Perfectly, that … in addition a selected polymath-inventor, Charles Babbage (Matthew Pauli), famous as “the father of the laptop or computer.” Even though it’s legitimate that Babbage invented the components — the Analytic Motor — the language, the music, the soul of the issue, the programming, was all Ada.
From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson (author of the inspirational Emilie, which Avant Bard produced to great acclaim in 2017), Ada and the Motor is a whimsical scientific heritage that once again proves the future is, and has always been, feminine.
Megan Behm (she/her/hers) is a director and arts administrator with around 10 many years of experience doing work in the DC location. Right before turning out to be a Developing Associate at Avant Bard, she held positions as the Deputy Controlling Director at NextStop Theatre and as the Director of Advertising and marketing and Communications at Mosaic Theater Company. At Avant Bard, she directed Ada and the Motor and the Helen Hayes-nominated A Misanthrope. Other modern directing credits include things like Satisfaction and Prejudice and the Helen Hayes Award-winning 45 Plays for 45 Presidents at NextStop Theatre, Switch and the Helen Hayes nominated To Convey to My Story with The Welders, and Cymbeline with the Virginia Shakespeare Pageant.
Ada and the Engine will operate March 5 through 26, 2022, introduced by Avant Bard Theatre accomplishing at Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang Road, Arlington, VA, in which there is sufficient no cost parking. Tickets ($40) are out there on-line or by calling 703-418-4808. Pay back-What-You-Can (PWYC) tickets are also available online in progress for previews and Saturday matinees at 2 p.m.
COVID Safety: Proof of vaccination is mandatory for entry into the theater. A unfavorable COVID-19 test administered inside of 72 hours is approved from patrons with a religious or health care exemption. Facial area coverings ought to be worn at all situations when inside of the venue, including even though observing the functionality and when using the restrooms. Avant Bard follows the VDH/CDC suggestions for preserving public health and fitness.
Coming Up coming: The year proceeds in May well, with Quickly Previous Summer season by Tennessee Williams, directed by Avant Bard Creative Director Emeritus Christopher Henley and that includes veteran Avant Bard actors Sara Barker and Cam Magee. Suddenly Last Summer time was at first scheduled to operate in repertory with Ada and the Motor when the pandemic canceled all theater in March 2020. We are so grateful for the opportunity to bring these displays back for their whole runs.
