John Vreeke
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
* COMPANY MEMBER *
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Had to Be Productions
A touring company of
original productions
developed through interviews by Carrie Gibson, Tony Currie and director
John
Vreeke.
Miracle on 34th Street
The Canterville Ghost
The Little Princess
MORE INFO
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1. Directing 2. New Works 3. Theatre for Young Audiences 4. Educational Programs 5. Television 6. References and Education |
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Currently Running in Washington DC |
 Ghost-Writer
by
Michael HollingerDirected by John Vreeke Runs April 25th – June 2nd, 2013   "Full
marks all around for such period flair" - The Washington Post "Under the assured guidance of director John Vreeke, presents one of those achingly subtle romances where a mere touch on the forearm is as burning as a caress..." - DC Theatre Scene "I think I'll see it again myself" - DC Metro Theater Arts |
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Recently in Washington DC
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 RACEby David Mamet Directed by John Vreeke Featuring Leo Erickson, James Whalen, Michael Anthony Williams & Crashonda Edwards February 7 – March
17, 2013
at
Theatre J, Washington DC
 The latest work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Buffalo ruthlessly examines guilt, betrayal, and racial posturing. Two lawyers are called to defend a wealthy, white client charged with the rape of a black woman, but soon find themselves embroiled in a case where prejudice is as disturbing as the evidence.  "Under
Director John Vreeke’s incisive
direction, Mamet’s scorching
intelligence litters the stage with insights, confessions, and truths"
- Maryland Theatre Guide "Vreeke
applies an
appropriately slick
veneer, reinforced in Misha
Kachman’s shiny office set" - The
Washington Post "Under
Vreeke’s smartly torqued-up
direction...the actors leap into
cushy chairs, storm in and out of doors and
wave documents around frantically..." - DC Theatre Scene "The
astute direction of John Vreeke keeps the pace and un- folding
structure
of Race moving while maintaining a heightened sense of tension
throughout" - DC Metro Theatre Arts |
 Interview:Tale of Two Washingtons
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Recently in Washington DC |
 NOMINATED FOR NINE HELEN HAYES AWARDS The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Directed by John Vreeke  The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is a drop-kicking, body-slamming, balls-out theatrical happening about the larger-than-life world of professional wrestling. Extended Run: September 3rd thru October 7th.  "Diaz’s
spirited sports
satire — receives a thoroughly rousing staging by director John Vreeke,
an incredibly well-cast five-guy ensemble and a design team that
transforms Woolly Mammoth Theatre into an infectiously boisterous venue
on the professional circuit"..."an adrenaline rush" -Washington
Post “Surprisingly
philosophical.”...“Technically astonishing!” ..."It’s tough to imagine
something better than the hyperkintetic
spectacle John Vreeke has directed for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company" - The City
Paper"It’s a heart-stopping, action packed, raw and gritty story"..."A culturally explosive knockout" -DC Metro Theatre Arts  “Woolly
is doing some of
the most innovative, interesting, and
audience- grabbing feats with their technology”... “A tale of
identity, race, and consumerism wrapped in sparkly Lycra muscle
grip!”..."There's
a lot of heart, and a lot of fight in this play" -Brightest
Young Things“A scathing satire with dialogue as sharp and hard-hitting as its characters’ toughest punches" -Georgetown Voice  "Pulse-pounding
maneuvers, a
hip-hop soundtrack, and live and
stock wrestling footage projected across the stark set create a
distinctive mood" -Washingtonian“Deity” has - staging that will knock your socks off, accompanied by loud music and noise, videos and punch and spark" -Georgetowner  "Equal parts entertainment, politics, and economics this hand-to-hand struggle amounts almost to folie à deux"..."Director John Vreeke's arch staging gives the play all its comedic brio while his meticulous attention to detail maintains the verisimilitude of a live event" -Drama Urge "Director John Vreeke orchestrates his five actors with skill and balance" -Talkin' Broadway  "Even
if the world of
professional wrestling is not your cup of tea — or
should I say can of beer---you’ll find yourself engaged by this 4th
wall
busting production.”..."This production ohas
everything that a theatre-goer might want" -MD
Theatre Guide |
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Highlighted Recent Productions |
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Nominated For Six Helen Hayes Awards A Bright New Boise Samuel D. Hunter's compelling character drama is a nice foray into the aftermath of ruin and the beginning of redemption Nominated for: Outstanding Resident Play, Outstanding Director John Vreeke, Outstanding Set Design, Lighting Design, Sound Design and Outstanding Lead Actor Michael Russotto  A disgraced
evangelical from rural, northern Idaho takes a minimum-wage job at a
Hobby Lobby craft store to re-unite with his estranged son.
 Prepare
yourself: in the parking lot of a mega craft store in Idaho,
someone is summoning The Rapture. Samuel D. Hunter's heart- breakingly
funny reckoning between a father and son will shatter your
preconceptions about the sacred, the profane, and the secret lives of
big-box retailers. |
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Member  JOHN VREEKE |
 Nominated for SIX Helen Hayes Awards:
Outstanding
Director
Chad Deity A Bright New Boise Boom Chinese Elvis Lady Chatterley's Lover Born Guilty |
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UPCOMING PROJECTS: 2013
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Currently in REHEARSALS:  A Bright New Boise
by Samuel D. Hunter Directed by John Vreeke After directing a successful run of "A Bright New Boise" in Washington DC, John Vreeke heads to Portland's Third Rail Repertory Theatre to stage this compelling drama. WEST COAST
PREMIERE
May 31st – June 16th, 2013  What are the odds of God’s final act taking place in the parking lot of a big-box store? Better than you might think. This shocking and hilarious examination of rural America’s love-hate relationship with religion will rock your preconceived notions as surely as it will break your heart. Third
Rail Repertory Theatre
Portland, Oregon |
 DetroitA
Pulitzer Prize Finalist and one of The New York Times top 10 plays of
2012
directed by john vreeke Sept 9-Oct 6, 2013
 Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit is an explosive dark comedy that brilliantly captures our economic moment. Sept 9th - Oct 6th,
2013
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Washington DC |
 The Lyons
by Nicky Silverdirected by John Vreeke Indomitable matriarch Rita Lyons is at a major crossroads. Her husband is dying, her son is in a dubious relationship, and her daughter is barely holding it together. Tempers flare, words are exchanged, and secrets are revealed. Worst of all, Rita can’t figure out how to redesign her living room. A deliciously dysfunctional family in this scathingly funny Broadway smash that earned Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations. Nov 27th-Dec
22nd, 2013
RoundHouse Theatre Bethesda-Washington DC |
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UPCOMING PROJECTS: 2014 |
 The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen
Adly Guirgis
directed by John Vreeke The return of the production the Washington Post called "preposterously entertaining" and "nearly flawless...an answered prayer"  In purgatory,
Judas is on trial, yet so overwhelmed by guilt that he cannot speak in
his own defense. So lawyers, witnesses, saints, and even the Devil try
the case without him, debating punishment, redemption, and the nature
of free will.
May 22nd-June 14, 2014
Forum Theatre Washington DC |
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OTHER PROJECTS 2012:
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Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a
two
character play telling the story of Jody and
Carl, two gay men who live in an unnamed American city.
 May 10 thru June 17, 2012  |
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OTHER PROJECTS 2011: Seattle Area |
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THE WOMAN IN BLACK March 18th - April 2nd, 2011   "Dark, mysterious: Versatile actors, exciting effects, beautiful direction combine for gripping play" - News Tribune |
 Stone Soup Theatre - Seattle February 4 - 27, 2011 "How I Learned To Drive" "In the deft hands of director John Vreeke, this inherently “hard to watch” topic became a play that was impossible to look away from." - Journal Media Review INFORMATION, REVIEWS, PHOTOS |
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Other Northwest Projects: Rapture of the Deep 14/48 |
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 LonelyPlanet The place a musty map store in an unnamed American city. The story revolves around a withdrawn gay man, his friend, and the aids epidemic. |
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| The Woman In Black A Ghost Story that will have you on the edge of your seat... The Woman In Black is a spine-chiller, gothic horror story. |
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 Gruesome
Playground InjuriesTwo eight year-old's lives collide in the nurses office. From accident-prone kids to self-destructive adults, they are drawn together ever closer. |
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 The
SeagullOn 16th Street This classic provides the stage for a journey back to the Russian countryside in this tale of love and loss, with laughs and heartbreak. |
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 The
Last Days of Judas IscariotStephen Adly Guirgis's play is placed in a courtroom in present-day purgatory, the Bible's most unexplained villain is put on trial. [TWO RUNS] |
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 Chasing
George WashingtonDee Dee, Jose, and Annie accidentally knock George Washington out of his portrait and into real life--turning their tour into an adventure. |
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 Martha,
Josie & The Chinese ElvisA British dominatrix and her unconventional family and friends realize the meaning of the Feast of Epiphany. A relentlessly funny show. |
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 Bal
Masque Three unusual couples survive Truman Capote’s infamous Black and White Ball and are forced to face reality. |
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 A Bright New BoiseA disgraced evangelical from rural, northern Idaho takes a minimum-wage job at a Hobby Lobby craft store to re-unite with his estranged son. |
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 How I Learned To
Drive A funny, yet disturbing story follows the strained relationship between Lil’Bit and her uncle from adolescence thru adulthood. |
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 DyingCity When a young man goes off to war, his death thousands of miles away has rippling effects on those he leaves behind. Is closure an American myth? |
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 HEROESThree soldiers in a Parisian veterans' home pass the time with tales that are at once achingly funny and piercingly sad. |
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 Drunk
Enough To SayI Love You The intriguing dissection of a dysfunctional relationship, while also an incisive look at U.S. foreign policy and the seduction of power. |
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 The K of DAfter a car accident kills her twin brother, young Charlotte becomes a fascination to others when it appears she has received an eerie power. |
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 Opus A world famous String Quartet deals with the loss of a member as they prepare an all important performance for the White House. |
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 Death
& The King's Horseman Part Shakespearean, part Greek Tragedy, a folk tale of ritual suicide in British Colonial Nigeria. |
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 The Real
Inspector HoundTwo theatre critics watch a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery. By chance, they become involved in the action. |
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 Martha,
Josie & The Chinese ElvisA British dominatrix and her unconventional family and friends realize the meaning of the Feast of Epiphany. A relentlessly funny show. |
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 The CaretakerAn emotional roller-coaster depicting the realities of human nature...presenting a not-so pretty picture of times gone by, and our times. |
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 BOOMA wacked-out apocalypse fantasy featuring a racy online ad, a lonely marine biology grad, a journalism major and a crazy lady on a balcony. |
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 This
Perfect World A powerful new play by Chris Stezin, examining the free- floating anxiety that has characterized America since the 9/11 events. |
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 Fiddler
On The RoofThe story about a struggle of a people to survive, to live, and to be at home, and how a belief system creates and also destroys life. |
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 The
MonumentA grieving mother of a daughter raped & murdered by a young soldier convicted of multiple war crimes are brought together. |
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 For
The Pleasure of Seeing
Her AgainThe loving memoir of a gay son’s mother, as they help each other through formative life events. |
 The
Tattooed Girl Joyce Carol Oates’s story of the relationship between an anti-Semitic coke-head street girl and her growing love for an ailing Jewish professor. |
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 Homebody/
Kabul Kushner’s epic drama of Afghanistan as seen through the eyes of a troubled British family in search of a mother who has mysteriously vanished in the country. |
 Death
& The MaidenAriel Dorfman’s statement of world wide oppression seen through the eyes of three people intimately involved in the Chilean dictatorship and the resulting reign of terror.   Medea,
The MusicalA satirical musical fantasy about a gay man mysteriously falling in love with his leading lady in a musical production of Medea. |
 Our Lady
of 121st Street The 15 year reunion of an extraordinary mix of Spanish Harlem school friends as they grieve the death & disappearance of the Sister who raised and taught them. |
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 Lady
Chatterley's LoverDH Lawrence’s most popular story of the privileged Lady Chatterley’s love affair with the Games Keeper and the affect on her marriage to the wheelchair bound Clifford Chatterley. |
 Born Guilty
Second and third generation children of Nazi’s and how they deal with their guilt as seen through the eyes of Jewish author, Peter Sichrovsky, from his novel.  Helen Hayes Awards Show Directed the 19th Annual Helen Hayes Awards show at the Concert Hall in the Kenedy Center for the Performing Arts. |
 One Good Marriage A couple returning from their honeymoon are shocked to find that all of the guests at their wedding are missing. |
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 Red Herring A McCarthy era satire about how three couples, including Joseph McCarthey’s daughter, a young Jewish scientist, a Russian defector and a detective all find each other. |
 Tiny Alice Edward Albee’s epic surreal, mind-bending story of a priest and his descent into the difficult, mysterious and even tantalizing failure of his faith.  Gala
Event:"Jazz In Our Time" Stage Director for “Jazz in Our Time” in the Concert Hall at the Kennedy Center…a gala extravaganza and ceremony to honor 40 of this countrys greatest Jazz Musicians. |
Educational Programs Television Adapted Plays on Audio Books