Adoration of Dora Gets California Premiere by KOLT Run Creations

KOLT Run Creations announces its fall 2015 production of Adoration of Dora directed by KOLT Associate Artist Kellie Yvonne Raines, with KOLT Co-Founder Kelley Ogden performing, and KOLT Co-Founder Lisa Thew producing. The show will run from October 23-November 14, 2015 at the Sierra II Center at 2791 24th Street in midtown Sacramento. Tickets will be available for purchase online at www.KOLTRunCreations.com, starting in September. For more, including thoughtful and insightful commentary about the play, go to KOLT Run's blog at https://koltrun.wordpress.com.
  

IDIOM Theatre's Dora Gets Rave Reviews

Director Shu-Ling Zhao and her cast rocked the house at their two-week run at Idiom Theatre in Bellingham, Washington. Check out this audience feedback:

I just saw ADORATION OF DORA in Bellingham. I laughed so hard I cried, I cried so hard I laughed. It is the best thing I've seen on stage. They did justice to your play with the directing, the lighting, the choreography and the acting. So gut wrenching, so demanding of everyone involved including the audience. It will be a long time before I see it's equal. Thank you and congratulations. – Wade Marlow

ADORATION OF DORA is one of the top three emotionally charged shows I have ever experienced. Superb writing, visceral performances. I was absolutely moved, and the hairs on my neck literally stood on end during the wailing women scene. Insanely gut wrenching and beautiful. 5 stars! -- Heather Cloke Mahaffie

Refreshing, smart, deep and arresting, ADORATION OF DORA is a provocative and powerful story drawn superbly by playwright, director, whole cast and tech. Brava!! I can't stop thinking about it. I went home and cried – what a release.! -- Erin Moore

If you have ever seen a show at the Idiom Theater, you must see ADORATION OF DORA. It is the most passionate show I have seen in Bellingham. The ladies that have put this show together with all of their heart and soul have taken some of my heart with each performance I have seen. Brava to a job well done! – John Phillip

It was a great show! We sat at the edge of our seats the whole time. -- Ella Barney

An awesome show! Amazing women! Thank you for your courage to create this production! – Joyce Dolan

I’m still thinking about it. It was incredible, and such a brilliant script. I loved it! – Jordan McMakin

The best play I have ever seen! – Julie Brandow

Both of us enjoyed the performance, and we’ve had an ongoing discussion about the play and Picasso. This was our second play at iDiOM and we are very impressed. Thanks for a wonderful evening of intelligent, adult entertainment! – Audience member

One of the best plays I've seen at iDiOM, and I've seen a lot of plays there… I loved it. It was emotionally powerful, had a stunning female cast, was visually impressive, and the subject matter was poignantly existential. – Audience member

Adoration of Dora is an intense, sexy, and disturbing show. The all-female cast is enthralling, and having no male actors is a superb way of telling a woman’s story… The cast re-enactment of the events depicted in Guernica is frightening in its power. – Audience member

Amazing! -- Angela Kiser

Outstanding! – Mitzi McMillan Moore

Best play I've seen all year! - -Tad Beavers

Awesome! -- Emily Lester

If you haven't yet seen this show, you need to go today! I saw it on opening night and can't even accurately describe just how phenomenal it was! The content of the play itself is so moving, you will be left feeling changed and with intense emotions by the time it ends! Go see this performance. – Amy Armstrong

Saw this last night. It's a wowzer… a tour de force. – Ramona Abbott

This play was incredible. I've never experienced anything like this before. We were practically speechless on the way home. Bravo to all involved in this magnificent creation! – Frankie Richards

Wow, we saw an amazing play last night. Totally sucked me in. Great acting and directing and lighting/sound, etc. I highly recommend it. It's called ADORATION OF DORA, and it's at the iDiom Theater in Bellingham. – Dallas Betz

Everyone go see this. It's amazing! – Sean Brandow

It was really wonderful, raw, and treacherously beautiful. – Christopher Cariker

We left the theater in a silent daze. I am far more comfortable and familiar with emotion than [my husband] Wade. From Guernica on, I knew he was lost. I can't and won't speak for him, but from my observations. He seemed "shell shocked", stupefied! We were both stunned with the intensity brought forth by those six actors, by the direction, with the help of many others involved. The choreography flowed beautifully and must have been studied & practiced to exhaustion. And the lighting! I've done lighting and sound, together, on those long boards with many levers, switches & buttons, and I know the close understanding of the lines, the players & the equipment it takes. It was done brilliantly (and softly, focused, colorfully, naturally).I was very aware that Sunday was the international Day of the Woman and had been thinking & reading about it all Sunday. It was the perfect way to top the day. I saw no weak or weakly played part. Dora and her reflection, Maar, were strikingly, visually similar to the actual muse in Picasso's life. To me, their roles were done with visceral perfection. The 'Chorus of Three' were well chosen and played with cultured/animalistic intensity. Their movements were as one - still accentuating the vast difference of each. My inner camera was clicking stills of every lovely/hideous pose. Marie Therese amazed me as Madonna, Bull and Fecund Goddess. Indeed, they were all Goddesses! I felt honored to be there and witness ADORATION OF DORA. Thank you! Brava!" – Tonie Marlow

Thank for the laughter, tears, and more tears. – Ethan Leonard

Gorgeous, exquisite direction; gorgeous, exquisite design; gorgeous, exquisite and immensely talented women! -- Daniel Ruiz

You need to start a "The Adoration of the ADORATION OF DORA" site. It was brilliant. --Jeffrey B. Stiglitz

A massive congratulations to anyone & everyone involved in ADORATION OF DORA. It was a spectacularly powerful production of a fascinatingly complicated play. Huge kudos for even attempting such a feat, much less succeeding so masterfully at it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this with us! – Akilah Williams-Cariker

The play is still haunting me. Well done to everyone involved. It was a powerful play about strong women, and powerful women in the play. I truly enjoyed it, and find it's still lingering in my thoughts. – Kari Quass

David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award

Adoration of Dora won the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award given by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) and the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE). I was honored at the Kennedy Center in April, and in August, ATHE presented a reading of the play at its national meeting in Washington, DC.

Thank You

The show closes today, and I wanted to thank the close to 80 people who worked so hard to make it a successful production. I'd also like to thank the more than 1,000 people who came out to see the show, especially those who were inspired to come back multiple times. I know that Adoration of Dora is not an easy night of theatre. I know that it challenges, unnerves and disturbs the order of things -- this was my intention -- to write a play that makes people think, and even more so, makes them feel. Everyone who was part of Dora -- in the front of the house, in the audience, backstage, on stage -- all of you honor me with your presence. Thank you for a wonderful, fulfilling experience I will always treasure.

Production photos

Click here for production stills shot by Alexiss Turner.

Opening Weekend

Opening weekend has already come and gone. Hard to believe. Today, I participated in a panel discussion of the show with Rob Caisley and art historian Marco Deyassi as part of the Humanities Exploration at UI. The lunchtime audience seemed very interested and enthusiastic. Thanks to sponsor Rodney Frey for inviting us. Dora also was featured on the morning radio show on KRAO-FM, 102.5 in northern Idaho. Thanks, Jerry!

Feedback overall has been good, especially for a show that is very challenging and disturbing to watch. I'm grateful for everyone who has taken the time to at least give it a try, even if they left the theatre a bit confused or uncomfortable. As Dora says, "Art should disturb the order of things," and this play does exactly that! Personally, I'd like to thank Charlotte, Randy and Patrick for traveling all the way to Moscow for Dora. I really appreciate your support of my work.

Cast and crew have a few days off, and then we begin again this Thursday for our second weekend of performances, including a talkback as well as the ACTF response on Thursday night. More friends and family coming this weekend, as well. I'm excited for the rest of the run. A little sad that it will be over so soon. But eager to jump into new projects, as well.

If you haven't seen the show yet, please come this weekend. If you can't make it, both the Humanities panel and the show will be available online. Details to follow as they become available.

Media Preview

Click the link below to read the Inlander preview:

Spokane Inlander previews Adoration of Dora