Sleepwalkers Theatre Debuts 'Work Eats Home'

Sleepwalkers Theatre opens its second season of presenting progressive new works with Work Eats Home. Your office becomes your living room in this collection of original one-act plays. Tore Ingersoll-Thorp directs David Ackerman's Shred This; Ian Riley directs Tim Bauer's The Magic Word; Katie Cruz helms Ian August's How to Survive in Corporate America; Tore Ingersoll-Thorp directs Noelle Chandler's I Am the Wrecking Ball; and Damian Lanahan-Kalish helms Ryan Beebe's Something Warm. Work Eats Home plays June 19 (press opening June 20) through July 12 at the Phoenix Theatre (414 Mason at Geary) in San Francisco. For tickets ($12) and information, the public may call 415-814-3944 or visit www.sleepwalkerstheatre.com

"A series of original one-acts, Work Eats Home explores where you spend your time away from home. Beckett meets the Marx brothers in David Ackerman's absurdist comedy Shred This; Tim Bauer's The Magic Word lampoons the white collar solipsism of many of our downtown's finest; How to Survive in Corporate America is playwright Ian August's surreal instructional manual for how to survive the daily grind; Noelle Chandler's I Am the Wrecking Ball investigates the fine line between retirement and professional wrestling; and Something Warm by Ryan Beebe explores the imminently imploding relationship of a young professional couple," press notes state.

Playwright David Ackerman studied with Gary Austin, the founder of Los Angeles-based improv group The Groundlings, Mike Nichols, and George Morrison at The New Actors Workshop in New York City. He has collaborated extensively with Sleepwalkers co-founder Tore Ingersol-Thorp on such projects as the theatrical happening Subway Brunch, which was profiled in The New York Times, on the BBC, and Backstage, among others. His play Lost and Found was produced as part of Sleepwalkers' inaugural season.

San Francisco playwright Tim Bauer's work for the stage includes the full-length plays Gyroball (Magic Theatre commission), Exit Wounds (PlayLabs semifinalist) and Beyond Words (Aurora Theater Company Global Age Project finalist), among others. His short play David Mamet's Green Eggs and Ham was a winner for A.C.T.'s David Mamet Writing Contest. His plays have been produced or devleoped by PlayGround, Bay Area Playwright's Festival, Playwright's Center SF and Edward Albee's Great Plains Conference.

Actor, playwright and lyricist Ian August was declared a winner of the 31st Annual Samuel French Inc. Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival with his short play, Le Supermarché or What I Did for Lunch. His full-length plays include Missing Celia Rose, Natural History, and Submitted by C. Randall McCloskey. He is currently working on a multi-media futuristic drama called Ladyfingers, and a musical version of Jack and the Beanstalk.

A recent transplant to California, playwright Noelle Chandler wrote and directed America's Tall Tales for the Conservatory at Playhouse Merced, and is in the process of working on a children's musical called Sing, Sing, Sing! Other works for the stage include I Cannot Pull This Trigger Now, Play Until Something Explodes, and Landlocked in Baltimore. Chandler is currently the Education Director for the Conservatory at Playhouse Merced.

A songwriter and musician, Something Warm is the first and only play Ryan Beebe has ever penned. He composed original music for the Actionworks productions of Un/dying/love (Climate Theatre) and The Agreement (Phoenix Theatre), and is the front man for two popular Bay Area bands, The Gammoran Social Aid & Pleasure Club and The Dead Hensons, one of the most celebrated Muppet cover bands.

Comprised of Tore Ingersoll-Thorp, Damian Lanahan-Kalish, Ian Riley, and Jennifer Heller, Sleepwalkers Theatre seeks to produce new works aimed towards gaining fresh perspectives on the human experience. Possessing what SF Weekly dubbed "a refreshing air of youth and vigor," Sleepwalkers Theatre presents works inspired by people and subjects that are important and relevant to generation now. With an emphasis on creating theatre that is vital and cutting edge, the company fosters new works and seeks out first time playwrights, with the goal of changing the way audiences relate to theatre as a live art form.

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