Warp!

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Warp!
A highly, stylized, color poster featuring the science-fiction characters of the play Warp, with name and address of Ambassador Theatre and the blurb quote "Phantasmagorical" from Playboy magazine
Promotional poster for Broadway, art by Neal Adams.
Written byStuart Gordon
Lenny Kleinfeld (as Bury St. Edmund)
CharactersDavid Carson/Lord Cumulus
Prince Chaos
Sargon
Lugulbanda
Symax
Date premieredFebruary 14, 1973 (1973-02-14)
Place premieredAmbassador Theatre, New York City
GenreScience fiction
SettingEarth; Fen-Ra

Warp!, also spelled Warp, was a trilogy of American

Chicago Illinois, in 1971 by co-authors Stuart Gordon and Lenny Kleinfeld, the latter under the pseudonym Bury St. Edmund.[1]
The three parts were My Battlefield My Body, Unleashed! Unchained! and To Die Alive!.

The play of Part I (My Battlefield My Body) moved to

Broadway
under the name Warp! for an unsuccessful short run in February 1973.

In 1979, the Organic Theatre Company mounted productions of all three plays, each part requiring separate admission, and each with its own Playbill program.

These plays were then performed in 1980 at the Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis, MN, where, on closing night all three parts were performed in succession, and props and other items from the play were offered for sale, including a few signed copies of the script.

The plays and their

comic books
and other media.

Synopsis

David Carson, an everyday bank teller, learns that he is Lord Cumulus, "avenger of the universe".[2] Suddenly transported from an annual employee-awards dinner to the mystical realm Fen-Ra, he finds himself battling for the destiny of the universe[3] against antagonist Prince Chaos. In this world, he encounters the sage Lugulbanda, who sends him on his quest aided by the leather-clad Amazon warrior Sargon. They battle Valaria the insect sorceress and Chaos' henchman, the purple ape Symax.[4]

Production history

Original production

Broadway.[5]

The Chicago cast included

lighting designer was David K. H. Elliott.[11]

The Chicago

non-profit organization Videopolis videotaped the original production.[12]

Move to Broadway

The production moved to

Broadway, where part one of the trilogy, My Battlefield, My Body, ran seven previews beginning January 31, 1973, and eight performances from February 14–18, 1973.[13] It marked the Broadway debut of John Heard, who played David Carson/Lord Cumulus.[13] Other cast-members included Tom Towles as Prince Chaos, and Keith Szarabajka
as the young David.

The Broadway production was produced by

sound effects. Frank Marino and Lynne Guerra were stage managers.[13]

Broadway cast

The opening-night cast:[13]

  • André De Shields
    ... Desi Arnez
  • Cordis Fejer ... Penny Smart; Sargon
  • Jane Fire ... Sheila Fantastik
  • Richard Fire ... Mrs. O'Grady; psychiatric director; bank teller; Lugulbanda; Yggthion
  • Carolyn Gordon ... Mary Louise; Valaria
  • John Heard ... David Carson; Lord Cumulus
  • William J. Norris ... Bank president; Dr. Victor Vivian; Symax
  • Keith Szarabajka ... Attendant; young David Carson
  • Tom Towles ... Janitor; Prince Chaos

Critical reception

Clive Barnes of The New York Times said in terms of fidelity comics: "The look of the show is extremely accurate. The costumes — minimal and exotic — the outlandish props and the serviceably suggestive permanent setting are all perfectly in accord. The language is heightened melodrama having the same fleeting relationship to literature that bubble gum has to food". Although he criticized the show having no story but only action, he admired the acting. He allowed that "for comic-book addicts ... Warp might well be a lot of fun. Others are warned that, while it is undeniably cleverly done, it is at heart a one-joke evening".[4]

Awards

Spin-off comic book Warp #1 (March 1983), depicting the play's characters Lord Cumulus (foreground) and Prince Chaos. Cover art by Frank Brunner.

In other media

The

comic-book series Warp, which ran 19 issues cover-dated March 1983 to February 1985.[14]

The premiere issue featured a 20-page Lord Cumulus story by writer

penciler and cover artist Frank Brunner, and inker Bob Smith; and an eight-page story starring Sargon, Mistress of War, by writer John Ostrander, penciler Lenin Delsol, and inker Joe Staton. Brunner would continue as penciler through issue #9, after which he was succeeded by Jerry Bingham except for two issues, #16 (penciled by Bill Willingham) and #19 (penciled and inked by Mike Gustovich, the regular inker for most of the series' run). The backup features rotated among "Sargon, Mistress of War" by Ostrander, Delsol and Staton; "The Faceless Ones", by writer Jack C. Harris and artist Steve Ditko; "Valaria, Insect Sorceress", by writer Gillis, penciler Willingham, and inker Bruce Patterson; and "Outrider", by Gillis and various artists.[14]

First Comics additionally published Warp Special #1-3 (July 1983, January and June 1984), by writer Gillis and pencilers Howard Chaykin, Marc Silvestri, and George Freeman, respectively.[15]

Previous to these, the Organic Theater Company and Mike Gold Media Services published a one-shot, 16-page promotional-giveaway comic book, Weird Organic Tales #1 (1981), that included scenes from several of the theater company's works, including Warp!.[16][17]

Influence

In a 2007 history of Chicago's Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater, the Chicago Reader said the "science-fantasy trilogy Warp! anticipated the Star Wars phenom by several years" (six to be precise).[18]

References

  1. ^ Miner, Michael (February 26, 2009). "Slow Torture in the Age of Speed". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Additional WebCitation archive.
  2. ^ a b c Gordon in Forbis, Wil (August 1, 2002). "An Interview with Stuart Gordon". AcidLogic.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2010.
  3. ^ "New Comics Company Announced", Amazing Heroes #13 (July 1982), p. 17.
  4. ^ a b Barnes, Clive (February 15, 1973). "Theater: The Magic of Comic Strip". The New York Times. Retrieved January 12, 2013. (Abstract; full article requires fee or subscription).
  5. ^ a b "History: 1971". Organic Theater Company (official site). Archived from the original on April 2, 2007.
  6. ^ "John Heard Biography > Milestones". TCM. Archived from the original on November 10, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  7. ISBN 978-1-58115-213-5
    .
  8. ^ Williams, Albert (May 4, 2007). "Jimmy Trivette Goes to Africa". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011.
  9. ^ "Twenty Years of AIDS". (Transcript) National Public Radio (Chicago). June 5, 2001. Archived from the original on August 26, 2011.
  10. ^ "Faculty Biography: Firespark! > Bruce A. Young". Brenau Academy/Brenau University theater program. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010.
  11. ^
    University of California Berkeley Dept. of Theater, Dance & Performance Studies. Archived
    from the original on June 10, 2010.
  12. ^ "Anda Korsts". (excerpt of 1970s biographical article) Southwest Museum of Engineering, Communications and Computation. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010.
  13. ^ a b c d e Warp at the Internet Broadway Database (The Broadway League). Retrieved on December 19, 2017. Archived from the original on December 19, 2017.
  14. ^ a b Warp (1983 series) at the Grand Comics Database
  15. ^ Warp Special at the Grand Comics Database
  16. ^ "Weird Organic Tales; no. 1". Michigan State University Libraries: Special Collections Division: Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection: "Weird" to "Weird Suspense". Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  17. ISBN 978-1605490465
    .
  18. ^ Williams, Albert (2007). "Back to School 2007: Our Favorite Things: Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on April 13, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
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