The Curse of Batvia

Book & Lyrics by Katherine Burger; Music by Roland Tec

THE CURSE OF BATVIA i s a witty and fast-paced musical comedy – think P.G. Wodehouse on speed – with wer-beasts.

A lonely English manor house upon the moors; a woman consumed with finding a particular book of spells in its library; a crotchety, hunt-obsessed lord who seems to regret his marriage to his beautiful, restive, bibliophilic young wife; a mysterious, oddly-accented manservant; and a Scottish Chief Inspector bent on finding his man – or whatever creature has committed two hideous, unnatural murders. This is the set-up and cast for THE CURSE OF BATVIA, an original chamber musical, a Gothic romp about an ancient wer-beast curse and those who are caught in its jaws. It involves much convoluted wordplay, silly songs and sillier folkloric dancing, with no agenda except entertainment.

Productions of Katherine Burger’s play MORPHIC RESONANCE include:  The Donmar Warehouse Theater in London; Theatre de l’Atelier in Paris, where it won several Moliere awards; The Eclectic Theater in L.A.; The Westport Country Playhouse;  Rover Drama Werks in Texas; The Kleines Theatre in Berlin; and over Radio BBC.  Her one-act play WAY DEEP, winner of the Samuel French short play festival and published  by them, has been produced throughout the United States. Productions of other plays includeThe Barrington Stage Radius Festival, Fire Rose Productions, The Double Image  Theatre.  DOWN THE RUSHY GLEN has had staged readings at The Unison Arts Center and  Medicine Show Theatre.

Katherine has written two plays on commission for South Coast Repertory Theater, as well  as two commissioned screenplays, one of which had a staged reading at The Nuyorican  Poets’ Café Fifth Night screenplay reading series.

Katherine is a member of The Dramatists Guild, Howl Playwrights, and the BMI Lehman  Engel Musical Theater Workshop, where she was awarded the Harrington Award for best  libretto for THE CURSE OF BATVIA. A singer and actor, Katherine has performed in the  United States and Europe.  She is also a visual artist: bobcatbooksandcards.com

Roland Tec is a producer, director, filmmaker and composer. He has taught in the Music Departments of Harvard and Brandeis, in the MFA Playwriting Program at Hollins University and is on the faculty of the Dramatists Guild Institute. Tec served as Artistic Director of the innovative New Opera Theatre Ensemble which mounted new work in such unlikely venues as the Danco Furniture Showroom, The Boston Public Library and the Charles Hayden Planetarium. During his tenure N.O.T.E. toured throughout New England, to music festivals and the 92nd Street Y under the auspices of the Center for Contemporary Opera. His work has been commissioned by the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation, the Heida Hermanns Foundation, The Bar Harbour Music Festival, The René B. Fischer Piano Competition, Performers of Connecticut and the Concorde Ensemble, for which he composed Ever After, a song cycle based on quotes from Hollywood starlets on the subject of love.