588 Sutter Street #318 San Francisco, CA 94102 415.677.9596 fax 415.677.9597 www.sfplayhouse.org PRESS RELEASE VENUE: 533 Sutter Street, @ Powell For immediate release Contact: Susi Damilano December, 2011 [email protected] Regional Premiere of BECKY SHAW By Gina Gionfreddo Directed by Amy Glazer January 24 th to March 10th PRESS OPENING: January 28th San Francisco, CA (December, 2011) – Gina Gionfreddo’s 2009 Pulitzer finalist, Becky Shaw will receive its regional premiere at the SF Playhouse (Bill English, Artistic Director; Susi Damilano, Producing Director) opening January 28 th (after previews that begin January 24 th ) through March 10 th . Artistic Director, Bill English says he was drawn to Becky Shaw “because it seemed like a wonderful 21st century twist on the drawing room comedy genre. If Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward, or Frank Capra were writing today, aware of our much more complex and knotted relationships, they might have fashioned something like "Becky." The character Becky Shaw, like a time bomb with a slow fuse, is the nitro, thrown into the glycerin of a deeply co- dependent family. And the witty dialogue with zingers abounding is worthy of comparison to a Philadelphia Story or Private Lives .” Like the Victorian upstart Becky Sharp, this modern Becky is unsure, overdressed and socially ambitious. But watch out. She’s no shrinking violet, as the silkily cynical Max soon learns. From their first blind date, which includes an unscheduled visit to the police station, these 30-somethings, along with the newlyweds who set them up, surprise us—and themselves—in a comedy thriller The New York Times called “as engrossing as it is ferociously funny, like a big box of fireworks fizzing and crackling across the stage!” This play asks what we owe the people we love the most and the strangers who land on our doorstep. THE SF PLAYHOUSE Becky Shaw Continued: Lauren English*, will play the title role alongside a steaming cast that includes Arwen Anderson*, Brian Robert Burns*, Lee Dolson, Lorri Holt* and Liz Sklar*. Amy Glazer , Associate Artistic Director of the SF Playhouse will direct. Gina Gionfriddo was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Becky Shaw , which had its world premiere at the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2008 and its New York, sold out, premiere Off Broadway at Second Stage in 2009. Her other plays include After Ashley (Humana Festival; Off Broadway at The Vineyard Theatre; regional theatres throughout the country; and abroad in Poland); U.S. Drag (Off-Broadway by the stageFARM and regional productions); Guinevere (O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference); and the one-acts Squalor and America’s Got Tragedy (commissioned and presented by the stageFARM). Ms. Gionfriddo has received an Obie Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, an Outer Critics Circle Award, The Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, and an American Theatre Critics Association/Steinberg citation. Currently a Supervising Producer for HBO’s "Boardwalk Empire," she has written for the television dramas "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Cold Case" and "The Borgias." She has contributed essays on rock music to the literary journal, The Believer, and short fiction to Canteen. Gina attended the MFA Playwriting Program at Brown. She has taught writing at Brown, Providence College, and Rhode Island College. Currently she is working on new play commissions from Playwrights Horizons and Center Theatre Group. Amy Glazer (Director and SF Playhouse Associate Artistic Director) has directed numerous world, American and West Coast premieres, most recently, Tigers Be Still , Animals Out of Paper , Shining City and The Scene (SF Playhouse), The Model Apartment (TJT). For Magic Theatre, where Glazer was an associate artist for many years, her work included The God Of Hell, The Crowd You're In With, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, Blue Surge and The American in Me, Drifting Elegant, Tape, and Wyoming . She has also directed at Marin Theater Company, Eureka Theatre, TheatreWorks, Glazer’s short film, Ball Lightning , premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, and her feature film, Drifting Elegant , premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Her latest feature film, Seducing Charlie Barker , adapted from Theresa Rebeck’s Page 2 of 4 THE SF PLAYHOUSE Becky Shaw Continued: The Scene is now showing in theatres throughout the country. Amy Glazer is a theatre and film professor at San Jose State University. Founded by Bill English and Susi Damilano in 2003, The SF Playhouse is San Francisco’s fastest growing and most awarded Theater Company and hailed as a “small delicacy” by SF Weekly , “eclectic” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and “local theater’s best kept secret” by San Francisco Magazine . Located in Union Square, The SF Playhouse offers intimate, professional theatre with top notch actors and world class design. It has received multiple awards for overall productions, acting and design including the SF Weekly Best Theatre Award, Bay Guardian’s Best Off-Broadway Theatre Award. The San Francisco Chronicle raved, “One of the most meteoric rises [of the decade] has been that of SF Playhouse, Bill English and Susi Damilano's 7-year-old-start-up that has been attracting more top-notch actors, directors, and scripts every year.” The SF Playhouse has become the intimate theatre alternative to the traditional Union Square theatre fare, providing a creative home and inspiring environment where actors, directors, writers, designers, and theatre lovers converge to create works that celebrate the human spirit. Page 3 of 4 THE SF PLAYHOUSE Becky Shaw Continued: FOR CALENDAR EDITORS: WHAT: When an evening calculated to bring happiness takes a dark turn, crisis and comedy ensue. Gina Gionfriddo’s comedy of bad manners, a tangled tale of love, sex and ethics among a quartet of men and women in their 30s, is as engrossing as it is ferociously funny, like a big box of fireworks fizzing and crackling across the stage from its first moments to its last. SHOWS: Tues/Wed/Thurs. 7 p.m., Friday & Saturday 8 p.m., plus Saturdays 3 p.m. WHERE: The SF Playhouse 533 Sutter Street (one block off Union Square, b/n Powell & Mason) TICKETS: For tickets ($20-$70) or more information, the public may contact The SF Playhouse box office at 415-677-9596 , or www.sfplayhouse.org . EVENTS: The SF Playhouse also now offers exclusive events in conjunction with our shows. Talk backs: The public is invited to join us for a special talk-back featuring members of our artistic team directly following the performances on January st 31 , February 2, 7, 8 and 9. Thirsty Thursday -2/23 Join young professionals and socialize pre-show while enjoying $1 beer, soda and pizza, great music, and a specially-discounted ticket. Page 4 of 4 .