The Children Tackles Responsibility and Environmental Legacy on Stage at the Kitchen Theatre Company Sep 8 - 29, 2019

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 26, 2019 CONTACT: Lesley Greene, [email protected] / (607) 272-0403 PHOTOS AND OTHER MEDIA: kitchentheatre.org/the-children#media

OPENING: Thursday, September 12, 7:30pm. RSVP to [email protected]

TONY-NOMINATED PLAY THE CHILDREN TACKLES RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY ON STAGE AT THE KITCHEN THEATRE COMPANY SEP 8 - 29, 2019

“A richly suggestive and beautifully written piece of work, provoking questions that will continue to nag and expand in your mind…The Children consolidates my view that Kirkwood is the most rewarding dramatist of her generation.” ― The Independent

(ITHACA) - The Kitchen Theatre Company is set to begin its 2019-2020 season with The Children by Lucy Kirkwood, a thought-provoking play that tackles the themes of mortality, consequence, and environmental legacy. Performances of The Children begin at the Kitchen Theatre Company in the Percy Browning Performance Space on September 8 and will run

through September 29. And thanks to the support of an anonymous donor, all three preview performances (9/8, 9/10, and 9/11) will offer patrons the opportunity to “Pay What You Want.”

The Children centers around Hazel and Robin, two retired nuclear scientists who have retreated to a peaceful and secluded life of daily yoga exercises and ritual farming on the British Coast following a nuclear disaster. The unexpected arrival of a former colleague disrupts their isolation and forces them to reexamine the decisions of their past and the direction of their future. The Children is an astonishing and thrilling new play about the messes we make of our lives and our planet, and how we try to clean them up.

Director Margarett Perry says, “I am absolutely thrilled to be returning to KTC this season! When Bevin sent me The Children by Lucy Kirkwood, I couldn’t say ‘Yes!’ fast enough. I can’t imagine a better play for the Kitchen Theatre audience. It’s a cautionary tale about our responsibility to our planet and explores the themes of ethics and self-sacrifice in the wake of a nuclear disaster.” Perry has directed more than 25 productions at the Kitchen Theatre since 2006, including Private Lives (the first production in the new theatre!), The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Sunset Baby, Cock, Old Times, A Marriage Minuet and world premieres by Brian Parks (The House), Rob Ackerman (Call Me Waldo), Rachel Axler (Archaeology) and six by Brian Dykstra (The Two of You, Strangerhorse, The Jesus Factor, Selling Out, Ho!, A Play on Words).

Local actor Susannah Berryman, who has performed and directed multiple KTC performances, returns to the Kitchen to play the role of Rose. Berryman says, “I love so many things about The Children—the writing is smart and beautiful. I think one of the aspects I find particularly wonderful is the play’s exploration of the intersection where our higher-minded ideals meet our real-life personalities and experiences. That intersection can be a messy place!” Berryman was last seen in last season’s The Roommate by Jen Silverman.

Also returning to the KTC stage is Dean Robinson, who will play Robin. Robinson was recently seen in last season’s Tribes by Nina Raine and in the Lip Sink Fundraiser. Hazel will be portrayed by Jen Johansen, a Kitchen Theatre newcomer, who originally hails from Indianapolis. Scenic Design is by Daniel Zimmerman, Lighting Design is by Annie Wiegand, Costume Design is by Lisa Boquist, and Sound Design is by Chris Lane. Celia Madeoy will serve as dialect coach.

Special events for The Children include Pay What You Want Nights featuring post-show discussions with the cast on September 8, 10, and 11, and an Actors’ Forum on the 20th and 27th. Opening Night of The Children is on September 12 and includes a post-show reception with delicious food and drinks. For more events and information, visit kitchentheatre.org.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

SUSANNAH BERRYMAN* (Rose) is a long-standing member of Ithaca’s theatre community. She teaches in the BFA performance program at Ithaca College and acts and directs regionally, most recently appearing in A Doll's House Part Two at the Hangar and Nothing to Do with Love with Cherry Arts. Susannah is delighted to return to KTC, where she has appeared in nineteen productions. Other venues include the Homecoming Players, the Signature Theatre, Syracuse's Redhouse Theatre, the Tampa Playmakers, and the American Stage Company. Directing venues include Ithaca College (Floyd Collins, The Cradle Will Rock, etc.), Opera Ithaca (Thumbprint), KTC (Bed and Sofa), the Cider Mill Playhouse, the University of Illinois, and the Greenbrier Theatre. She enjoyed learning about the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop this summer playing an iteration of Bishop in a biopic directed by Ithaca College’s John Scott. Susannah would like to congratulate Ithaca theatres Running to Places and Civic Ensemble for their expanded missions this year, and Ithacans at large for supporting such a vibrant theatre community.

DEAN ROBINSON* (Robin) is delighted to return to the Kitchen, where he has appeared in several plays, including The Cripple of Inishmaan, Swimming in the Shallows, The Chairs, Circle Mirror Transformation, Nora, and Tribes. Other area performances include Sirens, Perfect Crime, and Dancing at Lughnasa (Cider Mill Playhouse), Bee-Luther Hatchee (Cornell), and White Rabbit Red Rabbit and George Kaplan (the Cherry Arts). Regionally, Dean has performed at A.C.T. (San Francisco), Trinity Repertory Theatre, American Southwest Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, and New York’s Public Theatre as well as performed in the international tour of Robert Wilson’s The Black Rider. He is a founding member of the critically acclaimed The Actors’ Gang where he has directed and acted in multiple plays including Peer Gynt, Woyzeck, Titus Andronicus, Carnage - A Comedy, The Lower Depths, and The Imaginary Invalid (directed by Beth Milles). Dean is a graduate from the Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University; he is currently an assistant professor of theatre at Ithaca College, where he teaches voice, movement, and acting.

JEN JOHANSEN* (Hazel) is thrilled to be making her debut at The Kitchen with this stirring play and is grateful to be working again with Margarett Perry who directed her in God of Carnage and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike both at the Human Race Theatre in Dayton, Ohio. Jen will return to The Race in the new year to portray Gloria Steinem in Gloria: A Life. Jen makes her life with husband and fellow actor Rob and their pup, Olive, and cat, Mr. Tibbs in Indianapolis. Some favorite Indy productions include: Hamlet and Coriolanus with the Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, The Game’s Afoot, The Syringa Tree, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar and many years of A Christmas Carol at the Indiana Repertory Theatre, and The Christians, The Pill, On Clover Road, Hir, and Mr. Burns: a post-electric play at the Phoenix Theatre. Jen has also performed at the Geva Theatre Center, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. TV: Chicago Fire. Gratitude and love to my family. Thank you for supporting live theatre!

MARGARETT PERRY (Director) is the Resident Director of Kitchen Theatre Company where she has directed over 25 productions since coming here in 2006 with Clean Alternatives. Some of her favorites include Private Lives (the first production in the new theatre!), Motherfucker with the Hat, Paloma, Sunset Baby, Seminar, Cock, Old Times, A Marriage Minuet and world premieres by Brian Parks (The House), Rob Ackerman (Call Me Waldo), Rachel Axler (Archeology) and 7 productions of plays by Brian Dykstra (The Two of You, Strangerhorse, The Jesus Factor, Selling Out, Ho!, A Play on Words & Clean Alternatives). Perry is an award-winning director of new plays and has directed and developed new work Off-Broadway and in regional theatres across the country as well as in Scotland and London. Most recently, she directed SHREK The Musical at Connecticut Rep and the critically acclaimed world premiere of Seared by Theresa Rebeck at San Francisco Playhouse written for and starring Brian Dykstra. Perry is a regular at the Human Race Theatre in Dayton where she has directed numerous productions including Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Other Desert Cities, God of Carnage, One Slight Hitch and the world premiere of Michael Slade’s Under a Red Moon. Perry is an Artistic Fellow at The Lark Play Development Center where she has worked with a variety of writers developing new plays. She is currently in development with Hi-Arts (Hip-Hop Theater Festival) on Brian Dykstra’s hip-hop play, Used to

Was (Maybe Did) and John Pielmeier on his new musical, Jass. Upcoming projects include The House by Brian Parks at the Human Race (originally produced at KTC) and Education by Brian Dykstra at 59E59 Theaters in NYC. She is forever grateful to Rachel Lampert for providing her a creative home to explore, create and grow. For Gary Smoot. www.margarettperry.com

ANNIE WIEGAND (Lighting Design) is a professional Lighting Designer who happens to be Deaf. She returns to the Kitchen Theatre Company having previously designed Tribes, Matt and Ben (SALT Nominee for Best Lighting Design) and Brahman/I. Off-Broadway: I Was Most Alive With You (Playwrights Horizons). Select Regional: Under the Breeches, Steel Magnolias (Alabama Shakespeare Festival); Steel Magnolias (Dallas Theater Center); Follies (Astoria Performing Arts Center); Small Mouth Sounds, The Bridges of Madison County, and Tribes (Speakeasy Stage Company); The Who and The What (Huntington Theatre Company); Fast Company (Lyric Stage of Boston). Assistant Professor, Theatre Arts Program, Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. anniewiegand.com

DANIEL ZIMMERMAN (Scenic Design): Kitchen Theatre: Girlfriend, Boom. Select Off-Broadway: Fashions for Men (Drama Desk nomination; The Mint); After the Blast and Kill Floor(Lincoln Center); Friend Art (Second Stage); Suicide, Incorporated (Roundabout); You Got Older (Page 73 Productions); Be a Good Little Widow (Ars Nova); NYC: The Play Company, Clubbed Thumb, Cherry Lane, Colt Coeur, Lesser America,The Pearl. Regional: Arena Stage, Dallas Theatre Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Humana Festival of New American Plays, NYS&F, Cincinnati Playhouse, Center Stage, Playmakers Rep, Trinity Repertory Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Theatreworks Palo Alto, Portland Stage Company, People’s Light, Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference. Daniel teaches set design at Ithaca College.

CHRIS LANE (Sound Designer) is honored to be returning to the Kitchen Theatre Company. Credits include: The Royale (Kitchen Theatre Company/Geva Theatre Center), Skeleton Crew (Westport Country Playhouse); Too Heavy for Your Pocket (George Street Playhouse); Four Little Girls (Alabama Shakespeare Festival) and Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival. Lane resides in Atlanta with credits including: Sweet Water Taste, Pipeline (Horizon Theatre); Four Women,

Skeleton Crew (True Colors Theatre Company); An Octoroon, Jump (Actor’s Express); Hands of Color (Synchronicity Theatre); Footloose (Theatre Buford) and The America Play (GSU-Theatre Arts Guild). Check his rhythms and compositions at www.lanedesign.org

LISA BOQUIST (Costume Design) has designed and coordinated costumes for a number of previous productions at Kitchen Theatre Company, including: Bright Half Life, Precious Nonsense, Thin Walls, A Body of Water, Lungs, Black Pearl Sings!, Heroes, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, The Whipping Man, Circle Mirror Transformation, Irma Vep, Red Light Winter, Broke-ology and Waiting For Spring. Other favorite designs at the Kitchen include Mary's Wedding, Bed and Sofa, Last Train To Nibroc, I Become A Guitar, and Nine Parts Of Desire. She runs her own studio, where she designs and constructs prototypes, mascots and custom clothing for film and public appearances. She has been the Textiles Coordinator and Design Associate for MacKenzie-Childs, Ltd., and presently runs the costume shop at Cornell University. There she is responsible for training students in all aspects of costume construction, and has designed costumes for: Picasso At The Lapin Agile, Beat Box Bard, Bedroom Farce, and Drama, Dance And The Disco Of Desire, among others.

*member, Actors’ Equity Association