Three Wishes by arttattack Theatre

artattack theater ensemble

feature story

"I recommend you go and laugh your bloomin' head off" wrote Revel's reviewer Robert H. Miller, referring to artattack's American premiere production of Ben Moor's 3 Wishes last December. For those who missed 3 Wishes the first time around, artattack theater will be re-mounting the off-beat romantic comedy for a limited run May 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31 at their new theater venue at 310 Oak St. in Ashland, three blocks from the plaza.

The story follows London professionals George and Flip, a recently engaged couple who face a challenge to their fairy-tale romance when an unexplained phenomenon causes everyone in the world to have three wishes granted. Often speaking directly to the audience, the young man and women tell the story of how these 6 wishes between them knocked fate off-course by forcing them to ask themselves what they really want from life, and from each other.

George, played by co-artistic director Lockwood, is a dot-com geek, hopeless pessimist and awkward romantic. Flip, played by ensemble member Elisabeth Cara works for a publishing company, coming up with self-help book titles such as Shut up and Cope. She¹s notoriously late and has a habit of singing when she¹s nervous and she¹s nervous a lot. Together they make the quintessential off-beat couple.

We follow George and Flip from their meeting, to their first date at Changsky¹s, Polish/Chinese fusion restaurant, and through the normal stages of a relationship: the "Taste this it¹s disgusting Stage," the "What are you thinking? Stage" and the "Hour of looking into each other¹s eyes Stage (abridged).".  Soon after the couple¹s engagement, bizarre events start to happen everywhere: people fly through the air, football matches score into the thousands, and the state of Israel flashes out of and back into existence every few minutes. As everyone in the world¹s wishes are coming true it becomes immediately clear that one has to be careful what they wish for.

Ben Moor is the author of several well-reviewed plays and one-man-shows with titles like: It Takes Forever if you go by Inertia (1993), and A Supercollider for the Family (1997), which have played throughout the U.K. and are beginning to gain international interest. He has also had many TV appearances and written for British radio.

3 Wishes is Moor¹s most acclaimed play, earning him two LWT nominations for Best Comedy Writer. It is currently being adapted for a feature film with Mission Pictures. The critics called 3 Wishes, "a harmoniously proportioned Rubick¹s Cube of the most delightful ideas" (Evening News) "Wistful, intelligent, fantastical, charming. A magic realists delight in the bizarre, entices and enthralls the audience," (The Independent)  and "Lyrical storytelling as funny as it is beautiful." (The Times).

In 2001 Moor received a grant from BBC to bring the show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. This is where artattack co-artistic directors Nicole Isaacson-Hill and Justin C. Lockwood saw the play and decided to include it in their season. After the production, Isaacson-Hill and Lockwood joined Moor and co-star Janice Phayre at a pub to discuss a possible American premiere. Moor was delighted at the prospect and gave artattack permission to produce and make changes to the script asking only for a video tape of the final production in return. 

The artattack script is the result of a three week workshop process in which the actors improvised on the themes of the play and rewrites were made from to the discoveries in the rehearsal process. "I¹d say, I¹m not sure about this line, what if I said this instead, and we¹d try it, and if it worked we¹d write it into the script," said Cara, "the freedom is incredible." The result is a playful, exceedingly charming, and thought-provoking romantic comedy suitable for young and old.

Back by popular demand, 3 Wishes by Ben Moor and directed by Justin C. Lockwood runs May 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31 at 8 PM at the artattack theater 310 Oak St. in Ashland. The box office opens two hours prior to each performance. Tickets can also be purchased in advance online at  http://www.artattacktheater.com/ . Group rates are available for parties of 10 or more. For more information call  (541) 482-6505 or visit http://www.artattacktheater.com/.

3 Wishes by Ben Moor
Directed by Justin C. Lockwood
Dates:  May 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31
Times:  All shows begin at 8:00 p.m
Location:  Artattack Theater 310 Oak St. Ashland, OR 97520
Tickets: are availible at the door 2 hours prior to performance and online at http://www.artattacktheater.com/
For more  information, call (541) 482-6505 or visit  http://www.artattacktheater.com/