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ROUND HOUSE THEATRE CONTINUES SEASON WITH PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING DRAMA

COST OF LIVING

April 1 – 19 at Round House Theatre

Bethesda, Md. (February 20, 2020) – Round House Theatre continues its 2019-2020 Homecoming Season with the regional premiere of Cost of Living by award-winning playwright Martyna Majok. Directed by Round House Artistic Director Ryan Rilette, Cost of Living runs April 1 – 19, 2020 in the newly renovated Round House Theatre. Please see below for complete program details and ticket information.

Praised by the New York Times as “immensely haunting,” Cost of Living explores the forces that bring people together and the realities of facing the world with intersecting narratives about four very different lives. Overworked and nearly homeless, Jess is a recent college graduate who must take on another job to make ends meet—this time as the personal caregiver for John, a brilliant and wealthy PhD student with cerebral palsy. Across town, unemployed truck driver Eddie sits alone at a bar, recalling his struggle to support his estranged wife Ani after a car accident left her quadriplegic.

In addition to being the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Cost of Living received the Edgerton New Play Prize, the the Kennedy Center’s Jean Kennedy Smith Prize, the Women’s Invitational Prize at Ashland New Play Festival, and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding New Play. Martyna Majok’s first play, Ironbound, had its world premiere at Round House in 2015 and took home the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play at the 2016 Helen Hayes Awards.

“I am thrilled and honored to be bringing Martyna Majok’s work back to the Round House stage,” says director Ryan Rilette. “Since our production of Ironbound during the first Women’s Voices Theater Festival, she has been produced worldwide and garnered a number of well-deserved awards. In Cost of Living, she uses that success to amplify and spotlight other amazing artists. Performers in our cast like Gregg Mozgala and Regan

1 Linton are world-class talents, but they’re also accomplished advocates who are changing the way that American theatre treats issues of physical disability.”

Rilette goes on to praise the multifaceted nature of Majok’s work. “Cost of Living is a truly intersectional play, one that acknowledges the many different issues that affect our everyday lives. Alongside the topic of physical disability, the story also explores the failures of our healthcare system, the tensions created by class divisions, and the difficulties of being a first-generation American—all without sacrificing character development. At its heart, this is a work about relationships, but the relationships all exist within a broader social context. Martyna’s ability to incorporate the personal with the political feels especially relevant to DC-area audiences during an election year, and I look forward to this production acting as a catalyst for many vital discussions.”

The cast includes Alina Collins Maldonaldo (Everybody at Shakespeare Theatre Company, BLKS at Woolly Mammoth), Regan Linton (Much Ado About Nothing at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Artistic Director of Phamaly Theatre Company), Gregg Mozgala (originated role of John in Cost of Living, Artistic Director of The Apothetae), and Round House Theatre Resident Artist Craig Wallace (previously in A Doll’s House, Part 2).

The cast is joined by a creative team that includes scenic designer Tony Cisek, lighting designer Harold F. Burgess II, costume designer and Round House Theatre Resident Artist Ivania Stack, sound designer Matthew Nielson, intimacy consultant Lorraine Ressegger- Slone, and disability consultant Roger Ideishi.

Tickets may be purchased by calling 240.644.1100, ordering online at RoundHouseTheatre.org, or in person at the box office. Round House Theatre is located at 4545 East-West Highway, one block from Wisconsin Avenue and the Bethesda station on Metro’s Red Line.

ARTIST INFORMATION Martyna Majok (Playwright) was born in Bytom, Poland and aged in Jersey and Chicago. Martyna was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Cost of Living (Williamstown, MTC, Hampstead). Other plays include Queens (LCT3, La Jolla) and Ironbound (Steppenwolf, Round House, WP/Rattlestick, Geffen, National Theatre of Poland). Awards include a Lortel Award, ATCA Francesca Primus Prize, Lanford Wilson Award, Stacey Mindich Prize, Greenfield Prize, Champions of Change Award, Helen Merrill Emerging Playwright Award, Charles MacArthur Award, Ashland New Plays Festival Women’s Invitational Prize, Jean Kennedy Smith Award, David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize, Global Age Project Prize, Smith Prize for Political Playwriting, two Jane Chambers Feminist

2 Playwriting Prizes, and Merage Foundation Fellowship for the American Dream. Commissions from The Public, Lincoln Center, The Bush, Almeida, Geffen, La Jolla, South Coast Rep, and MTC. Residencies at Sundance, The O’Neill, Vineyard Arts Project with The Public, Ground Floor, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Fuller Road, Marble House Project, and Ragdale. BA: University of Chicago; MFA: Yale School of Drama, The Juilliard School. Alumna of Youngblood, WP Lab and NYTW’s 2050 Fellowship. Martyna is a Core Writer at Playwrights Center and a member of The Dramatists Guild, The Writers Guild of America East, and an NYTW Usual Suspect. Martyna was a 2012-13 NNPN playwright-in-residence and the 2015-16 PoNY Fellow at the Lark. She is a 2018-19 Hodder Fellow at Princeton.

Ryan Rilette (Director) is in his eighth season as Artistic Director of Round House Theatre. During his tenure, he has produced four of the best-selling and highest-attended seasons in the theatre’s history. His productions have received 57 Helen Hayes Awards nominations and 13 Helen Hayes Awards, including Outstanding Original New Play or Musical, Outstanding Ensemble, and Outstanding Resident Musical. Ryan created the theatre’s Equal Play Commissioning program, Resident Artist program, Fair Play pay scale for artists, and Free Play ticketing program. For Round House, he has directed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Oslo, Small Mouth Sounds, “Master Harold”…and the Boys, The Book of Will, Angels in America: Perestroika, The Night Alive, Fool for Love, This, and How to Write a New Book for the Bible. Prior to joining Round House, Ryan served as Producing Director of Marin Theatre Company, Producing Artistic Director of Southern Rep Theatre, and co-founder and Artistic Director of Rude Mechanicals Theatre Company. He is the former Board President of the National New Play Network, and currently serves on the boards of theatreWashington and Maryland Citizens for the Arts. Ryan is a member of SDC, AEA, and SAG-AFTRA.

CAST INFORMATION (ALPHABETICAL) Alina Collins Maldonaldo (Jess) makes her Round House debut. New York credits include Where Words Once Were at the Lincoln Center. DC area credits include Everybody and Much Ado About Nothing – Free for All at Shakespeare Theatre Company; BLKS at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; King John at Folger Theatre; Digging Up Dessa and Where Words Once Were (world premieres) at the Kennedy Center TYA; El Paso Blue, Mariela en el desierto, and Los empeños de una casa at GALA Hispanic Theatre; How We Got On and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at Forum Theatre; for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf at Theater Alliance; The Heidi Chronicles and Hunting and Gathering at REP Stage; The Good Counselor at 1st Stage; and The Smartest Girl in The World, Robin Hood, and Óyeme, the beautiful at Imagination Stage. Alina has a BA in Theater Performance and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University.

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Regan Linton (Ani) is making her Round House debut. Regional credits include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Safe at Home at Mixed Blood Theatre (Minnesota); Much Ado About Nothing and Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Marginalia at Center for the Performing Arts; Blood and Gifts at La Jolla Playhouse; , , Side Show, , and at Phamaly Theatre Company (); An Accident at Pasadena Playhouse; Spirits of Another Sort at The Apothetae; and A Madrigal Opera at Boston Court (California). Awards include the Colorado Theatre Guild Henry Award and the Denver Post Ovation Award. Regan received an MFA in Acting from UC San Diego and a Master of Social Work from University of Denver. Regan lives with a T-4 complete spinal cord injury. www.reganlinton.com

Gregg Mozgala (John) is making his Round House debut. Recent credits include Teenage Dick at The Public Theater (Drama League Award nomination for Distinguished Performance) and New York Theatre Workshop's revival of Light Shining in Buckinghamshire. He received a Lucille Lortel Award (Best Featured Actor) for his work in Martyna Majok's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Cost of Living at Manhattan Theatre Club. Gregg is the subject and executive producer of the documentary Enter the Faun, which aired on the award-winning PBS series, America Reframed. He is an advisory company member of the National Disability Theatre, the Director of Inclusion at Queens Theatre, and the Founding Artistic Director of The Apothetae, a theatre company dedicated to producing works that explore and illuminate the "Disabled Experience.”

Craig Wallace (Eddie) is excited to return to Round House Theatre, where he is a Resident Artist, for this production. Craig’s past performances at Round House include A Doll’s House, Part 2; How I Learned to Drive; “Master Harold” …and the Boys; Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3); Stage Kiss; Permanent Collection; and The Little Prince. Local credits include performances at Ford’s Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, and others. Regionally, Craig has been on stages all over the country including Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION Cost of Living By Martyna Majok Directed by Ryan Rilette

4 Gregg Mozgala as John* Regan Linton as Ani* Alina Collins Maldonaldo as Jess* Craig Wallace as Eddie * - Round House Theatre debut

For more production information, including full creative team bios, please visit RoundHouseTheatre.org/Cost-of-Living

WHERE: Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway in Bethesda (one block from Wisconsin Ave. and Metro’s Bethesda station). For directions, parking, and public transportation info, visit RoundHouseTheatre.org/Your-Visit

ABOUT THE PLAY: After thrilling Round House audiences with the premiere of her Helen Hayes Award- winning Ironbound in 2015, Martyna Majok returns with another prize in tow—the Pulitzer! Two parallel narratives intersect as a wealthy graduate student with cerebral palsy and his newest caretaker build an uneasy trust, while a truck driver struggles to reconnect with his estranged wife, recently left paralyzed by a car crash. Though each is wounded, the four continue to fight for the tantalizing possibility of human connection, even in the face of physical, mental, and emotional defeat. Both humorous and heartbreaking, Cost of Living illustrates the redemptive possibilities of reaching out to others despite the sometimes- devastating costs.

DATES AND TIMES: Cost of Living runs from April 1 to April 19, 2020. Performances are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 pm, Friday and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm.

TICKETS: Tickets can be purchased by calling 240.644.1100, ordering online at RoundHouseTheatre.org, or visiting the box office. Available ticket discounts include: • Free Play – free tickets for all High School students throughout the DC Metro area: Round House wants to make attending our shows an integral part of a Montgomery County education. With Free Play, all High School students throughout the DC- Metro area can reserve a free ticket to the performance of their choice during the 2019-2020 Season. For details and information, visit RoundHouseTheatre.org/Free- Play or call 240.644.1100.

5 • On the House – new community ticket access program: Round House’s next step to remove barriers that can make it difficult for some members of our community to experience our work is On the House, which provides complimentary group tickets to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and community-serving organizations with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. General applications for tickets to Cost of Living open on February 19, 2020. For more information, visit RoundHouseTheatre.org/On-The- House or email [email protected]. • Pay-What-You-Can performances: Wednesday, April 1 at 7:30 pm, and Saturday, April 4 at 2:00 pm. PWYC tickets go on sale in person at the box office one hour prior to curtain. Cash and exact change only. Limit of 2 tickets per order. PWYC tickets are subject to availability. A limited amount of digital PWYC tickets will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis on TodayTix. • Age 35 & Under, Military, and Veterans: Patrons under 35, active duty military personnel, and veterans qualify for a $10 discount off the single ticket price. Single Ticket fees do not apply for 35 & Under. Discounts can be redeemed in person at the box office, or by calling 240.644.1100. • 2-For-1 Tuesday: For our Tuesday, April 14 performance, all seats are buy one, get one free. Tickets can be purchased in person at the box office, online, or by calling 240.644.1100, while supplies last. • Group Sales: Groups of 10 or more can save up to 50% off the single ticket price and are exempt from single ticket fees. These tickets must be reserved and purchased in advance by calling 240.644.1100 or emailing [email protected].

ABOUT ROUND HOUSE THEATRE Round House Theatre is one of the leading professional theatres in the Washington, D.C. area, producing a season of new plays, modern classics, and musicals for more than 40,000 patrons each year at our theatre in Bethesda. Round House has been nominated for 197 Helen Hayes Awards and has won 37, including four Outstanding Resident Play Awards and the Charles MacArthur Award for Original New Play in 2016. Round House’s lifelong learning and education programs serve more than 5,000 students each year at its Education Center in Silver Spring, in schools throughout Montgomery County, and at our Bethesda theatre. Cornerstone programs include Free Play, which provides free tickets for students age 13-college, the Teen Performance Company, which culminates in the student- produced Sarah Metzger Memorial Play, Summer Camp for students in grades K-12, and a full slate of classes for Adults & Youth.

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