SUNY Fredonia Theatre Professor James Ivey is reading the role of Nuremberg Chief Judge Francis Beverley Biddle during a performance of the play, “Trying,” occurring Saturday, March 1, at 7 p.m. at the Robert H. Jackson Center, 305 East Fourth Street in Jamestown. Junior musical theatre major Chelsea Claiser will complete the duo in this two-person, dramatic reading. The Fredonia Alumni Association is hosting a reception afterward for the campus community and Fredonia alumni.
Both events are free. However, reservations are required to attend the reception, and must be made by Feb. 27 through the Alumni Office by emailing alumni@fredonia.edu or calling 716-673-3553.
Director Ted Sharon, associate chairperson of theatre and dance at Fredonia, refers to the upcoming production as a "glorified staged reading," due to extra touches that are planned. "Usually a staged reading just involves a chair or two, maybe a musical stand, and the actors with script in hand. But this team has decided to go one step beyond that and involve blocking and action, along with a rudimentary set."
This is the third time that the SUNY Fredonia theatre department has teamed up with the Jackson Center to perform in its Carl Cappa Theatre, thanks largely to a great working relationship that has formed between the two groups. "We really enjoy working with them. They've been great partners," Professor Sharon said.
“Trying” is a play about Biddle that was inspired by playwright Joanna McClelland Glass’s experiences as his personal secretary. It premiered in New York in 2004, and has played in Chicago, Ottawa and Toronto. Set in 1967, it is based on Glass’s working relationship as a young Canadian--fresh from the prairies--with Francis Biddle, Attorney General under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a judge during the Nuremberg trials. The play is set during the last year of his life, when he is coming to terms with his death and his legacy, but the focus is on his secretary’s growing resolution to become a writer and transcend the limitations of her heredity and environment. The intersection of American and Canadian perspectives, and of youth and age informs many of Glass’s plays. Glass received the Jefferson Award for New Work in 2004. Read more about Glass>>
Dr. Ivey teaches theatre history, script analysis and directing in the Department of Theatre and Dance at SUNY Fredonia, in addition to directing its Mainstage productions. He has directed over 20 major productions, performed in over 60 productions, and written and directed his own play, A World of Their Own. A member of Actor's Equity and the Screen Actor's Guild, he has performed leading roles in major productions in Chicago and Dallas.
Ms. Claiser was seen in last season's Mainstage farce, "Tartuffe."
The Jackson Center (visit its website) was founded in 2001 to preserve the life and legacy of Robert H. Jackson, a Jamestown, N.Y., native who was Chief of Counsel for the United States at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. He and Francis Biddle were contemporaries and personal friends.
