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Mike Ricci's Production
of The Empire Builders 

Cast

Father	. .. .. .. .	Andre Duclos
Mother	. .. .. .. .	Louisa Guggisberg
Zenobia (their daughter)	. .. .. .. .	Beth Sajevic
Mug (the maid)	. .. .. .. .	Emma Culbert
The Neighbor	. .. .. .. .	Roger Philbrick
The Schmurz	. .. .. .. .	Colin Eustice

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Crew

Stage Manager	. .. .. .. .	Deanna Ziebarth
Assistant Stage Manager	. .. .. .. .	Emma Culbert
Technical Director/Sound Engineer	. .. .. .. .	Dan Dolinar
Asst. Tech. Dir./Sound Designer	. .. .. .. .	Mike Ricci
Set Design/Scenic Painting	. .. .. .. .	Ellie Ricci
Fight Choreography	. .. .. .. .	Michael Anderson/S.A.F.D.
Costumes	. .. .. .. .	Bobbi Sajevic, Mike Ricci, Ellie Ricci
Set Construction	. .. .. .. .	Dan Dolinar, Heather Collum, Jamie Varda, Mike Ricci
Backstage Shift Crew	. .. .. .. .	Tim O'Reilly, John Rian, Jamie Varda, Roger Philbrick
Light and Sound Board Operator	. .. .. .. .	Dan Dolinar
Graphic Design	. .. .. .. .	Ellie Ricci
Box Office	. .. .. .. .	Barb Suech, Dorothy Simkins, Gail Sundheim
Concessions	. .. .. .. .	Cam Perella

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Director Notes

 When asked what they fear the most - people have a wide variety of responses, from fear of failure, to fear of death, to fear of losing loved ones, to fear of heights, spiders, small spaces, etc. The point is - we all are afraid of something, and yet, we do our best to keep this fear hidden,so as not to appear weak, or not in control. It is this point - that everyone fears something, that has been used by some people to take advantage of and control those whose fears make them pawns in this game of power.

"The Empire Builders" is a play that asks us to examine our own fears, in an attempt to understand why we do what we do.  Written by French playwright Boris Vian in the late 1950's during the cold war, the play speaks to the politics of fear,and the way some people succumb to it, while others fight it. Vian wrote this play as an indictment of the Nazi occupation of France during WWII, which he experienced first hand. The play also delves into the broader issue of empire building as well, (which France was actively involved in at the time) and asks us to look at how some countries take over other countries, including them into their empire building plans. The question is raised - at what cost to the occupied country does the empire prosper?

These issues are at the core of this play - however, they may not be immediately obvious, since what we are watching is a very ordinary middle classfamily undergoing a rather extraordinary series of events. As the Father faces the realization of the truth about his life after so many years of lying to himself, perhaps this examination moves him towards redemption, or, just an acknowledgment that life is meaningless and one moves through it with no purpose other than we all live just to die. It is this juxtaposition of events and ideas that may give us pause to consider our own lives, and make our own connections with the world around us.

About the Author
Boris Vian was a man of incredible gifts. He was novelist, poet, playwright, singer, composer of more than three hundred songs, a jazz trumpeter, translator, and engineer. Like his friend Jean Paul Sartre, (the famous existentialist philosopher and writer) Vian hated conventionality, but unlike Sartre, he never took himself seriously. Tragically, he died in 1959 of a heart attack at the age of thirty-eight. The music you hear during the pre-show and intermission is Vian himself, singing his own songs.

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Play Photos

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