Reviews:

“What a strange title. What a strange play.” – Barry Pineo, The Austin Chronicle

“In this lovely resurrection, director Shawn Sides and company build a piece that is half kiddie magic show, half garbled morality tale. The play treats us to a pleasure unique to live theater– how a savvy, polished ensemble can make wondrous worlds out of thin air– and then spackles that showmanship with a darker, and very grown-up, sense of foreboding: Mister Beaver and Friends have an Existential Crisis. It is the balancing act of these two energies that make B. Beaver both a challenge and a delight. See it twice.” – Elena Passarello, Austinist

Austin American-Statesman Article by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin: Rude Mechs Re-Create Avant-Garde Masterpiece

Production

Rude premiere: October 27 – November 13, 2011 at The Off Center

History

The B. Beaver Animation was premiered in January 1974 by Mabou Mines, and is the second in a series of Rude Mechs re-enactments of significant, experimental performances from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s that radically influenced the work of contemporary performance artists, dancers, and theatre makers.

B. is a devastated and stuttering beaver —  a beaver who’s forgotten how to construct his dam! Debilitated by the prospect of his family being washed away because of his spontaneous deficiencies, he awaits mail order dam-building manuals and sorts through the damning messages damming his mind!

This seminal work confounded and provoked its 1974 audiences by introducing to the stage a radical style of story telling, an eclectic patchwork of words and action some called a “Performance Poem”. Writer/director Lee Breuer combined such diverse influences as Brecht, Grotowski, Bunraku puppet theater, rock and roll, and the collective input of the Mabou Mines ensemble, to create a deeply personal performance about his struggle with writer’s block. Part monologue, part manifesto, part slapdash circus, B. Beaver muddles the real and the symbolic, relating common themes in uncommon ways.

Rude Mechs used production notes, photographs, video clips, and interviews and conversations with Mr. Breuer and Mabou Mines company members for source materials to provide as accurate and faithful a recreation as possible. The idea is not to reinterpret, rather, to recreate the original production as it was observed by Mabou Mines’ original audiences. By reanimating The B. Beaver Animation, Rude Mechs offered Austin theatre-goers an extraordinary opportunity to relive history.

Adriene Mishler as JoAnne Akalaitis

Elizabeth Doss as Ruth Maleczech

Ellie McBride as Dawn Gray

Aron Taylor as David Warrilow

Caroline Reck as Terry O’Reilly

and

Robert Pierson as Fred Neumann as B. Beaver

Saturday, October 29 – Post-show talkback with Breuer and cast at The Off Center

BIG THANKS TO:

The Rude Mechs’ Co-producing Artistic Directors would like to thank this cast for their daring and enthusiasm building the show.

Our undying gratitude and biggest Rude love to:

Everyone at Mabou Mines without whom this project would not have been possible.