ARTÉMAKAR PRODUCTIONS presents The O'Leary Theory

NEW YORK, NY—Please join ARTÉMAKAR PRODUCTIONS starting October 2nd for the exciting world premiere launch of The O’Leary Theory. Directed by rising theater star Arthur Makaryan, The O’Leary Theory takes audiences on a remarkable trip through a real time, interactive, improvised performance. The production fuses unique approaches to acting, directing and design and lets you—the audience—decide the show’s outcome!

Led by family patriarch Jerry, the ill-fated O’Leary family once had it all – fame, fortune and a hit reality TV show The O’Leary Theory. After the show was cancelled years ago, Jerry became estranged from his three children Gary, Rhea and Condon, and from a wife who has mysteriously disappeared. Jerry’s life is in shambles…until now that is, when a producer decides to revive the show. Now Jerry must convince his children to return and shoot a test episode—when startling revelations turn his plan upside down.

Can Jerry and his family pull off a successful test episode without falling apart emotionally? And who exactly is responsible for their traumatic past? Makaryan casts the audience as the producer to judge whether or not The O’Leary Theory deserves a second chance. Their job is to prompt family members, stir the pot and deliver a dramatic family reunion. As the audience decides the content of the show, the question becomes: do they fully realize the consequences of the choices they make?

Each show is performed interactively and in real-time, which creates an immediate connection and an exciting sense of community between the audience and performers.

Who’s Who In the Cast

James Beaman stars as Jerry O’Leary. Credits include Albin in La Cage Aux Folles (Riverside Theatre), Max in The Sound of Music (Northern Stage), and Miss Tracy in The Legend of Georgia McBride (TheatreSquared). The role of Jerry’s wife Eva is played by Nicole Ansari who has appeared on Broadway in Tom Stoppard’s Rock n’ Roll and in films and plays directed by Steven Soderbergh, Irina Brook and Ariane Mnouchkine. The three children are played by Alex Marz (Gary), whose credits include Othello (the Remix NYC), Conway (Theaterlab), Black Garden (The Tank) and Orientalism (Manhattan Rep); Tamara Sevunts (Rhea) has performed in Molière in the Park’s The Misanthrope, Alice at BAM, Black Garden in Paris (the Théâtre de l’Opprimé); and Oliver Prose as Cordon whose credits include Master Harold and the Boys (Hally), The Seagull (Konstantin), The Civilian’s Times Square (Johnny).

ARTÉMAKAR PRODUCTIONS was founded with a mission to activate the imagination by reinventing storytelling through emerging mediums of art. The company explores complex topics and embraces all forms of technology. Arthur Makaryan and Associate Artistic Director Tamara Sevunts have been collaborating since they first met in 2016: ”We like to experiment and transcend the traditional limitations of performing arts,” Makaryan explains. September 2020 was meant to mark the company’s official launch. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Zoom became a way of life. But this didn’t faze the young creators: “True to our nature,” explains Sevunts, “we embraced the change and simply pivoted our launch online.”

Company Bios

Arthur Makaryan (Director, Producer, Artistic Director) Director and producer Arthur Makaryan is a rising star in the theatre and opera worlds and the Artistic Director of ArtéMakar Productions. Makaryan holds masters degrees in directing from Columbia University, the Sorbonne and Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and was most recently the recipient of the 2017-18 Opera Directing Fellowship at the Juilliard School. He has assisted Ivo van Hove at Toneelgroep Amsterdam; Stephen Wadsworth at the Metropolitan Opera and Darren Katz, resident director for The Lion King musical on Broadway. Recent credits include directing the pilot of Oedipus in the District at the Armenian National Opera, Broken April at LenFest Center for Arts, Simulacrum at 3LD Art and Tech Center and Hamlet Machine, which has been touring the world.

Tamara Sevunts (Actor, Associate Artistic Director) Originally from Montreal, Tamara is a multilingual actress currently based in NYC. Recent roles include playing Clitandre in the inaugural reading of Molière in the Park’s The Misanthrope, premiering Black Garden in Paris, at the Théâtre de l’Opprimé, and appearing in Your Alice as the piano-playing Cheshire Cat at the International Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Off-Broadway credits include: Daybreak (Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row), Your Alice (BAM), The Good Girl (59E59 Theatres), and Loose Canon (Soho Playhouse). Tamara also appears as the lead in Darya Zhuk’s Crystal Swan, The Real American and Ovsanna Gevorgyan’s You Can’t Go Home Again.

Hayk Mikayelyan (Director of Tech and Innovation) New York-based technology evangelist Hayk Mikaleyan studied computer science and new media arts at NYU and also works as a professional magician. This versatile Renaissance man and cyber-illusionist explores the intersection between technology and magic, illusion and perception. Hayk creates “thinking machines” in order to give people an idea of what may lie beyond our current technological capabilities. He is passionate about using technology to push the boundaries of storytelling and make a positive and lasting impact on his audiences.

TICKET INFORMATION

Upcoming show dates and times are:

Friday, October 2 at 8:00pm EDT
Saturday, October 3 at 2:00pm EDT
Sunday, October 4 at 3:00pm EDT
Friday, October 9 at 8:00pm EDT
Saturday, October 10 at 2:00pm EDT
Sunday, October 11 at 3:00pm EDT

This article is a press release submitted to the Armenian Weekly. If your organization has news that it would like to share, please email editor@armenianweekly.com for consideration.