Jesse (Gabe Gloden, left) and Wyatt (Daniel J. Petrie, right)
Photo by Ivona Hedin

Still The River Runs by Barton Bishop

The Midwest premiere of this hit Off Broadway dramatic comedy

May 20 - June 4, 2011

This touchingly comic play tells the tale of two brothers who steal their grandfather’s body from his coffin in order to bury him in a place that holds more meaning.  Beautiful, sweet, poignant, and poetic, while also being laugh-out-loud funny, Still The River Runs was an excellent summation of what made the 10/11 BPP season so dynamic and unique.

“Still the River Runs is the perfect blend of comedy and drama.  I couldn’t think of a better way to round out the season,” says BPP Artistic Director Chad Rabinovitz.

Gabe Gloden and Daniel J. Petrie played brothers Jesse and Wyatt as they conspire to take their grandfather from the funeral home just before burial because they don’t want Paw-Paw (as they call him) to lie at rest in a graveyard surrounded by the suburban sprawl he hated. The plan goes awry, and as it does, the brothers share memories and family revelations that push their relationship to a breaking point.  Still The River Runs was directed by BPP newcomer Dina Epshteyn and featured scenic/light design by Shane Cinal & Lee Burckes.

The play’s debut at the Center Stage Theatre by the Zootopia Theater Company in 2008 raised a lot of eyebrows and garnered acclaim from the likes of Backstage and the New York Times, who commented “Perhaps you’re one of those people who have long lamented, ‘If only Weekend at Bernie’s had been funnier.’  Your wait is over.”  The production was also nominated for six New York Innovative Theatre Awards.

This production was generously sponsored by the Wiles/McGann Family.

Barton Bishop (Playwright) has had his plays produced throughout the United States and internationally.  He received a BA in Theatre from Rollins College in his home state of Florida, and earned his MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.  His work has been published by Playscripts, Inc., Heinemann Press, and Smith & Krauss.  New York productions include The Amphibian Song; The Complex; The Great Who Knows; God’s Daughter; Things Fall (Meanwhile); Still the River Runs; and Eminene.  In 2010, his play Up Up Down Down will premiere with New York Theatre Experiment.  In addition to writing for theatre, Mr. Bishop has written over 300 episodes for several animated television series, including YuGiOh, Dinosaur King, Pokemon, Winx Club, and Shaman King (for which he also worked on the video game series), and he is a staff writer for Gameloft. He is a three-time winner of the Florida Playwrights Process award; has served playwriting residencies with the University of South Florida and with Abingdon Theatre Company; and taught at Randolph College in Virginia.  Dramatist Magazine named Barton Bishop among the “Fifty Playwrights to Watch."

Dina Epshteyn (Director) has directed a variety of readings and productions in New York City, including Visionaries and School Romance (Midtown International Theater Festival); The Boys Own Jedi Handbook, Parts I and II and The Clockmaker (readings, Urban Stages); George the Fourth (Fringe Festival); Ori and Addison (upcoming), Wrong Planet, Cupcakes, and Tumble Jumble (Manhattan Theatre Source); Ghost Light (reading, ABroad Stage); More Than Breakfast (reading, eyeBlink); How Nice of You to Ask and Danica & Jean (Richmond Shepard Theatre); Turtle (reading, Manhattan Shakespeare Project); We Appear to Have Company (EndTimes Productions); No Applause Please (Strawberry Festival); Nimpsey Pink (Spaghetti Sundays); and Cold Feet (Where Eagles Dare). She also recently dramaturged Tongue-in-Cheek’s NY Premiere of Dead White Males. Regionally, she has assistant directed at Capital Rep (The Oxford Roof Climber’s Rebellion), Two River Theater (Heartbreak House), Westport Country Playhouse (Mary’s Wedding and the World Premiere of Sedition), and Baltimore’s CENTERSTAGE (Hearts). Additionally, she did dramaturgy for Ah, Wilderness!, The Three Sisters, Things of Dry Hours, Death and the Maiden, Trouble in Mind, The Boys from Syracuse, and a workshop of These Shining Lives at CENTERSTAGE. Her first play—a short entitled No Blueberries—won the 2009 $7,500 Grand Prize in Manhattan Theater Club’s REALationships National Playwrighting Competition, and was staged at their City Center Off-Broadway space. Ms. Epshteyn graduated with distinction from McGill University.