GOING BACK NAKED Opens At Plays and Players Studio Theatre

Melissa McBain, former Radnor Township teacher and Eastern University graduate, returns to Philadelphia to tell her mother's story in the Philly Fringe 2011 solo show, GOING BACK NAKED. The drama will open on September 6, 2011 in the historic Plays and Players Studio Theatre, just steps away from her mother's former residence in Rittenhouse Square and minutes away from her mother's winning competitions with Steinway and Juilliard in Center City. The show runs for seven performances - September 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 15, and 16. All performances of the one-hour show begin at 6:30 PM.

Through Depression-Era letters, telegrams, and recordings, McBain portrays Ann Fountain's coming of age as a child star from Moorestown, New Jersey and then as a bold lover with a young seminarian. When McBain revisits the room she shared with her mother the night before her mother's stroke, a slumber party emerges where the playwright resurrects her mother's former glory as she deals with her death.

"When I received the treasure trove of my mother's letters, I knew I had to write a play about them," said McBain. "It's been a very emotional experience learning things about my mother I never knew and admiring her more in the process."

Director Jane Stojak was immediately drawn to the material when McBain sent her the play after a chance meeting at a director/playwright workshop. "I began my theater career in Philadelphia producing one-person shows," Stojak said. "When I read the elegant words about this woman who was an accomplished pianist and then gave it up to sell Bibles alone and door to door in rural Louisiana, I knew I needed to be involved."

McBain left the Philadelphia area to pursue graduate work in theater and raise two sons. After a career as a college professor, actor, and producer of the Quad City Playwrights Festival, McBain now resides in Chestnut Hill as a full-time playwright. Previous plays include ALTAR CALL and YARD SALE. McBain has also distinguished herself as a performer. Her most recent role was that of Sister Aloysius in Shanley's DOUBT: A PARABLE.

GOING BACK NAKED opens on Tuesday, September 6th at 6:30 p.m. for seven performances on September 6, 7, 8, 9. 12, 15, 16. Jane Stojak directs the production. Tickets are $20 and may be obtained through the Fringe box office at 215-413-1318.

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