Is He Dead?

".... die laughing....A first class show. The cast is fabulous, particularly of note - Nick Sholley in the role of the 'twin sister' of artist Millet."
Mario Echevarria
S.F. Tribune and member of the S.F. Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle

Rumors of this play were not exaggerated - it received its world premiere on Broadway in 2007 - and it’s a live one! Jean-François Millet, a brilliant but unrecognized painter, can’t sell a landscape to save his life (literally). His wacky bohemian friends convince him that faking his death is just the ticket for raising his stock. So Jean-François disappears from life and re-emerges as his imaginary twin sister, a widow both mad and madcap. Here’s gold dust in your eyes, as extended horseplay involving the stench of Limburger cheese and the deconstruction of a woman of “artificial parts” will make you howl for more.

Single Tickets: Presale $25 General $20 Senior & Student, Door $28/22.

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"...mistaken identities and emotions keep piling up and interweaving into a mountain of fun that will keep you laughing so hard it will bring tears to your eyes."
Read full review here
David Kashimba
Member of S.F. Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle

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Review by Jonah Raskin, Professor and Chair of Communication Studies at Sonoma State University and a freelance writer for the S.F. Chronicle. He writes:
Mark Twain – aka Samuel Clemens - died 100 years ago, on April 21, 1910, but his humor is as alive and vital today as it ever was, and it’s on stage front and center at the Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma. “Is he Dead?” a play that Twain wrote in the 1890s, but that was never produced during his lifetime, shows him in rare form. Mixing satire and slapstick comedy, the author pokes fun at art, money, and fame – themes both timely and timeless. Twain always loved hoaxes and a hoax is at the heart of “Is He Dead?” The play offers a villain that the audience loves to hate. There’s cross-dressing, too, and delightful costumes.

Nick Sholley plays Jean-Francois Millet, the famed French artist who fakes his own death to boost the market value of his work. His three pals - “Chicago,” “Dutchy,” and “Phelim” – are played by Mark Robinson, Anthony Abate, and James Pelican who perform in the style of the Marx Brothers and The Three Stooges, and keep the audience in stitches.

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Press Democrat March 24, 2010 by Michael Shapiro
Written near the end of the 19th century but not performed until the 21st century, the comic play “Is He Dead?” by Mark Twain lay forgotten in a dusty archive.

Though Twain was pleased with the theatrical work, it didn't hit the stage until an unlikely discovery by a Twain researcher at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library led to a Broadway production.

“Is He Dead?” is classic Twain: clever, outrageous, brash and eager to poke fun at convention

Read the full Article here

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Click here for a podcast of KSRO CenterStage interview/performance for IS HE DEAD? Terrific job by cast members Anthony, Nick and Mark. Once on the site, click on the tiny arrow just below the picture - be sure your speakers are turned on.

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Click the arrow in the picture below to play the video