If Bill Raymond reminds of you of someone, it's not an accident. The actor and director has been a working television, film and theatre actor, and artist for several decades. Raymond will be an artist-in-residence at the nexStage Theatre to perform "A Little Night Laughter," June 1-5, at the nexStage Theatre in Ketchum.
This project, a part of nexStage's 2011 season of plays, will feature four one-act comedies written by America's premier playwrights. The evening will feature Wood River Valley actors Scott Creighton and Steve d'Smith. This will be Raymond's fourth trip to the valley to collaborate with the nexStage. He will arrive in early May to begin working with the cast and crew on the project, which will be produced by Jonathan Kane for the nexStage.
Raymond has received three Obie Awards, American theater's highest honor. Two for performances and one for a lifetime achievement award as co-artistic director of the New York-based theater group Mabou Mines.
The New York Times wrote, "Across nearly thirty years in the cash-poor trenches of the modern theater, the members of Mabou Mines have created one enduring stage image after another— frequently on their own, but often enough in collaboration to have ranked them indisputably among the most influential experimental ensembles of our time."
In addition, Raymond toured the world to critical acclaim with "Cold Harbor," in which he portrayed Ulysses S. Grant and also directed.
Raymond worked on a season of HBO's "The Wire" as "The Greek," was a scientist in "12 Monkeys," and acted in several John Sayles' films, "Baby Its You," "City of Hope" and "Eight Men Out." In addition, he worked on Broadway with Patti LuPone in "Gypsy." Raymond has also spent many years playing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge at the Hartford Stage in Connecticut.
"I have played a lot of bad guys in movies," he said. "But, I'm coming to Ketchum to do more seminal work. We will do 'Who's On First' as a radio play. It's a proper homage and deserves to be seen in a new light."
Raymond said he will host workshops and projects as the artist-in-residence at the nexStage and looks forward to getting out of Manhattan and into the wilds of Idaho.
Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com
On left, Danielle Kennedy joins Bill Raymond as Howard Hughes and Pamela Sue Martin in Sam Shepard's “Seduced.” Photo by Kirsten Shultz
