TERMINUS

written by: Mark O'Rowe

directed by: Michael Stebbins

performed by:

Isabelle Kralj

Tori Watson

Nathan Danzer

Theatre Gigante brings TERMINUS, Mark O’Rowe’s international sensation and tour de force of poetry and drama, to the Gigante stage.

Not for the faint of heart, Terminus is about three characters - a woman looking for atonement, her daughter looking for love, and a man who has sold his soul to the devil -and is written entirely in verse. It is spoken word poetry from contemporary Ireland – dense, muscular, and beautifully musical.

Performing February 27th, and March 3rd through 9th in UW Milwaukee's Kenilworth 508 Theatre. Discount rates for students and seniors available. Pay-what-you-can ticket rates available for the March 1st show.

We hope you'll join us for post-show discussions on Sunday, March 2nd, and Saturday, March 8th.

Promotional text on TERMINUS, Mark O'Rowe, and Theatre Gigante's past production of TERMINUS written by Selena Milewski.

About TERMINUS:

Premiered at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in 2007, Mark O’Rowe’s TERMINUS is a play made up entirely of monologues delivered by three characters identified only by the letters A, B, and C. The epitome of a “language play,” the piece is written entirely in rhyme. Character A is a former teacher, estranged mother, and crisis hotline operator, seeking redemption; B, a young woman painfully disillusioned by love but nonetheless longing for it; and C, a shy, unassuming man with a breathtakingly dark secret.

TERMINUS’ plot emerges from the interlocking narrative revealed between the three characters’ lives as they play out within a single night. With themes reminiscent of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, O’Rowe’s piece is deeply steeped in Irish storytelling as well as modern spoken-word poetry. Supernatural, violent, and reflective on the powers of love, death, and Faustian contracts, TERMINUS leaves audiences gasping for air and longing for more.

In this spring’s Theatre Gigante production, viewers can look forward to performances by company co-Artistic Director Isabelle Kralj in the role of A, Tori Watson in the role of B, and Nathan Danzer in the role of C. TERMINUS is directed by Gigante Board Chair and longtime artistic collaborator Michael Stebbins.

About Playwright Mark O’Rowe:

Irish playwright, screenwriter, and director Mark O’Rowe (b. 1970) hails from a working-class family and grew up in Tallaght, an industrial suburb of Dublin. As a child and adolescent, he enjoyed Kung Fu and horror movies far more than works of theatre. His early life influences continue to bear out in his work through the incorporation of dark comedy and violent crime.

As a young man, however, O’Rowe was also struck by the immediacy of David Mamet’s film HOUSE OF GAMES. This, in turn, led him to Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett, both of whose influence can likewise be seen in his work. O’Rowe’s breakout success came in 1999 with the play, HOWIE THE ROOKIE, which pays homage to the structure of Beckett’s novel MALLOY, and which won the George Devine Award. Following HOWIE came TERMINUS in 2007, as well as successful film adaptations of Jonathan Triggel’s novel BOY A in 2008 and Daniel Clay’s novel BROKEN in 2012 (starring Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy).

O’Rowe’s 2003 film INTERMISSION (also featuring Cillian Murphy along with Kelly Macdonald and Colin Farrell) bears similarities to TERMINUS in its treatment of Dublin misfits with intersecting stories marked by love and violence. O’Rowe is likewise the creator of the television series TEMPLE (2019-2021), featuring Mark Strong. His latest play, REUNION, premiered in 2024 and deals with family dynamics

MICHAEL STEBBINS (Director) is President of Theatre Gigante’s Board of Directors and a longtime Gigante collaborator, friend, and performer. He has been seen in many past productions, including: I AM MY OWN WIFE, WOYZECK, MY DEAR OTHELLO, QUORUM, BEAUTIFUL AND POINTLESS and TITLE AND DEED. He’s also appeared on stages across the country, from NYC’s The Public Theatre/NYSF to California’s Berkeley Repertory Theatre. In Wisconsin, performing credits include Door Shakespeare, Milwaukee Chamber, Optimist, Skylight, and Peninsula Players. Michael is an established director and most recently directed for Door Shakespeare, Third Avenue PlayWorks, and Optimist. Michael will make his Gigante directorial debut this spring with TERMINUS. He is the former Artistic Director of Door Shakespeare and received his BFA/MFA from UWM’s Professional Theatre Training Program. He received a Helen Hayes Tribute Award and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.

ISABELLE KRALJ (“A”) founded Theatre Gigante in 1987, and has served as its Artistic Director ever since. In 1999, she combined forces with Mark Anderson, who joined Gigante as Artistic Co-Director. Together and solo, Kralj & Anderson have created over 70 theatre works. She has directed many Gigante productions, as well as productions for Theatre X, First Stage, and Kohler Arts Center. She has an extensive career as an auteur of hybrid work, director, choreographer, performer, teacher, and actor. Isabelle has danced and/or choreographed with companies including the Slovenian National Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Symphony, Milwaukee Rep, and Door Shakespeare. An MFA, she has received a New Choreography Award from the Wisconsin Arts Board, the Lifetime Award for High Artistic Achievement from UWM’s Slovenian Arts Council, and a commendation from the Consulate General of the Republic of Slovenia.

Meet Tori Watson:

TORI WATSON (B) is thrilled to be back with the wildly imaginative Theatre Gigante, after making her debut last year with THREE OTHER SISTERS. After building her artistic career for over a decade in NYC, she is delighted to be back in her hometown of Milwaukee, where she was recently seen in PETE THE CAT at First Stage Milwaukee. NYC credits include The Shell Theatre, Theatre for a New City, TheatreWorks/USA, and Dalliance Theatre. She also lends her skills as a choreographer to the Milwaukee theatre community. Favorite projects include JULIET AND ROMEO, SCHOOL OF ROCK (Skylight Music Theatre, FIREBRINGER (Hi-Five Arts) YIPPY! THE MUSICAL (Beggar’s Group, NYC), CYMBELINE (Optimist Theatre), FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (University School of Milwaukee) SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, ROCK OF AGES, BRIGHT STAR, SHREK, and the upcoming THE LIGHTNING THIEF (Wauwatosa East High School). Proud graduate of the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. For Emily.

Meet Nathan Danzer:

NATHAN DANZER (“C”) could not be more excited to be working with Theatre Gigante again on such a captivating piece! Recent credits include WAITRESS, SCHOOL OF ROCK, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, THE FULL MONTY, and SONGBOOK (Skylight Theatre); PETER & THE WOLF & THE ONE MAN BAND (Theatre Gigante); TONY N TINA’S WEDDING; THE GLANCE and CAMINO REAL (Off the Wall), LOBOTOMY THE MUSICAL (The Alchemist); THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Summerstage); and DOG SEES GOD (Splinter Group). When he’s not performing on stage Nathan enjoys working on short film projects and cooking with artichokes. Special thanks to his pup – Mr. Matt Hensley.

About Theatre Gigante’s Past Production of TERMINUS:

Mark O’Rowe’s riveting, unstoppable avalanche of language, TERMINUS, has swept across the Theatre Gigante stage once before! A decade ago, in March 2015, the company performed the piece with Isabelle Kralj in the role of A, Megan Kaminsky in the role of B, and Tom Reed in the role of C. At that time, celebrated monologist and Gigante co-Artistic Director, Mark Anderson directed. This time around, another company mainstay, Michael Stebbins, will take the directorial helm.

Newer company collaborators, Tori Watson and Nathan Danzer take over the roles of B and C, respectively, while Kralj reprises her role as A. If critics’ rave reviews a decade ago tell us anything, it’s that this spring’s production is not to be missed! In 2015, Russ Bickerstaff praised the work in The Shepherd Express as a “strikingly vivid supernatural horror drama breathed into the darkness by Isabelle Kralj, Megan Kaminsky and Tom Reed. No sparkly vampires or special effects here. It's all darkness, shadow and language. And it's beautiful.”

Milwaukee Magazine’s Paul Kosidowski mused that, while the play breaks a cardinal rule of composition (“It’s all told, not shown.”), the “actors…capture the wonderful music in O’Rowe’s muscular language.” He aptly termed O’Rowe a “brother-in-aesthetic-arms” to the company for his parallel “vision of life, death, good and evil that keeps you hanging on every melodious phrase.”

Host or Publisher Theatre Gigante