Washington Stage Guild Season Opens with Area Premiere of FAITHLESS by Jon Klein in September

The Washington Stage Guild's 2024-2025 Season of Determination opens with the area premiere of a provocative and funny play looking at faith from all angles through the lens of one family –Faithless by Jon Klein. Directed by WSG Associate Artistic Director Steven Carpenter (An Unbuilt Life, Major Barbara, Sam & Dede), the cast includes first-timers with WSG, Ben Blackman, Patricia Hurley, Ron Litman, and Hannah Taylor. Performances run September 26 to October 20, 2024, with four Pay-What-You-Can previews September 26-28 at the Washington Stage Guild's home, The Undercroft Theatre in the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Opening/Press performance is Sunday, September 29 at 2:30 PM.

Talkbacks with playwright Jon Klein will follow the Thursday, October 17 7:30pm performance and the Friday, October 18 8pm performance at 2:30pm.

ABOUT THE PLAY

Family differences become amplified when faiTalkbacks with playwright Jon Klein will follow the Thursday, October 18 7:30pm performance and the Friday, October 19 8pm performance.th is the main point of conversation AND contention in Jon Klein's latest comic drama. Aging atheist Gus and his two adult stepchildren – a minister suffering from a crisis of faith, and his hardened, non-believer sister who's had a glimpse of the afterlife following a head injury – come together when Gus' teenage, adopted daughter stuns them with her decision that she'd like to become a nun. From the author and director of Stage Guild's 2019 hit Resolving Hedda. Area Premiere.

FROM DIRECTOR Steven Carpenter

Much like our signature playwright G.B. Shaw, Jon Klein in Faithless investigates his characters' beliefs on a very personal subject without advocating any one point of view, leaving the viewers to grapple with the topic themselves after the curtain falls. I am inspired by Jon's creation of a thorny, heated and often comic family story where each person's perspective is (re-)awakened, questioned, strengthened and, ultimately, accepted. Jon is an insightful and giving artist, both personally and professionally, and I am thrilled to bring his important and relevant work to our audiences.

?ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Jon Klein is the author of over thirty produced plays, including T Bone N Weasel, Bunnicula, Betty the Yeti, Dimly Perceived Threats to The System, Resolving Hedda, and Faithless. His plays have been produced Off-Broadway and at many prestigious regional theatres, including the Humana Festival, Arena Stage, Arden Theatre in Philadelphia, Baltimore CenterStage, South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Alley Theatre in Houston, A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, Seattle Children's Theatre, and many others. His play, Resolving Hedda, premiered at the Victory Theatre Center in Los Angeles and was then produced at Washington Stage Guild, and his most recent play, Faithless, premiered earlier in 2024 at the Victory Theatre Center. Other DMV productions of his plays include Dimly Perceived Threats to The System at Arena Stage, Young Robin Hood and T Bone N Weasel at Round House, Bunnicula at Imagination Stage, Octopus and Betty the Yeti at Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and The Einstein Project at Theatre of the First Amendment. His plays have been developed and workshopped at the Sundance Theatre Institute, New York Stage & Film, the Kennedy Center, and the Playwrights' Center. Jon was a Playwright-in-Residence at The American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, and at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. He has taught playwriting and screenwriting at UCLA, the University of Texas in Austin, the University of Washington, Ohio University, and Hollins University. He recently retired as the head of the MFA Playwriting Program at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He is also the author of Life as a Playwright: A Survival Guide (Bloomsbury). More may be found here: www.jon-klein.com.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The cast of Faithless includes Ben Blackman, Patricia Hurley, Ron Litman, and Hannah Taylor, all making their WSG debuts.

Ben Blackman (Calvin) is an actor/voice actor new to DC. His recent credits include Gravid Water (The Kennedy Center) and “The Story Pirates” Podcast, as well as providing audio description for Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (Broadway), and The Phantom Of The Opera (London's West End). Ben's voice can be heard in animation, podcasts, commercials, and video games. He is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan where he studied acting. 

Patricia Hurley (Claire) has performed in numerous productions with Olney Theatre Center, including Mary Poppins, A Comedy of Tenors, Misalliance, Camelot, Triumph of Love, Doubt, Elf, Annie, Sweeney Todd, Peter Pan, and The Heiress. At Studio Theatre, she was part of the cast of Love, Love, Love, and at 1st Stage, the cast of Quilters (2024 Helen Hayes Award-nominated ensemble). Her other area credits include Nate the Great, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Seussical: The Musical, One Hundred Dresses (Imagination Stage), Merrily We Roll Along (Signature Theatre), and Lady Windermere's Fan (Shakespeare Theatre Company). She has a BM in Musical Theatre from The Catholic University's Benjamin T. Rome School of Music. 

Ron Litman (Gus Stanton) was a member of Arena Stage's Living Stage years ago, but then left for theater adventures in New York for 15 years, the highlight of which was performing globally with the Obie Award winning New York Street Theater Caravan. He spent 13 years in L.A. with roles on TV (“The Marshall,” “Married with Children”) and film (“Wayne's World II,” “Maximum Breakout”). Since 1986, he has created several solo shows with performances in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and throughout Europe, as well as DC's Capital Fringe Festival, where he performed his critically acclaimed DC Trash, as well as at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage in 2019. Ron has also been a featured performer with SCENA Theater for the past 12 years including Julius Caesar, Shining City, and The Night Alive, to name a few. 

Hannah Taylor (Rosie) is a DMV- based actress who has entered into her senior year at Catholic University with a Major in Musical Theatre and a Minor in Dance. Her recent credits include Zoe in The Niceties (Perisphere Theater), Gretchen in Freaky Friday (The Little Theater of Alexandria), Juror 8 in 12 Angry Jurors (Catholic University) and Hildegard von Bingen (Catholic University).

Faithless is directed by Steven Carpenter, the Associate Artistic Director of the Washington Stage Guild, where his directing credits include last season's final production, An Unbuilt Life, as well as Major Barbara, Sam & Dede, Resolving Hedda, Red Herring, Opus, and The Underpants, among others. Other area productions. include God of Carnage at Compass Rose, The Cripple of Inishmaan at 1st Stage, The Price, and ART at Bay Theatre, Barrymore, Hysteria, and Trumbo for Rep Stage, and The Chosen at Theater J. He received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for his production of Thief River at Theatre Alliance and was a recipient of the Mary Goldwater Award for Directing. Steven appeared on stage at WSG last season as the men in The Victorian Ladies' Detective Collective and was also seen here in Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, Bloomsday, Hard Times, Pygmalion, and The Philanderer (Helen Hayes nomination) along with numerous others. A third Helen Hayes nomination came for providing the onstage sound effects for the Guild's It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.

The Production Team includes Gisela Estrada (Scenic Design), Marianne Meadows (Resident Lighting Design), Marcus Darnley (Sound Designer), and Shannon Lewis (Production Stage Manager).

DATES & TICKETS

Faithless by Jon Klein runs September 26 to October 20, 2024, with performances Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2:30pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 2:30pm. The run begins with four Pay-What-You-Can performances Thursday, Sept. 26 at 7:30pm, Friday, Sept. 27 at 8pm, and Saturday, Sept. 28 at 2:30pm & 8pm (Pay What You Can tickets can be purchased for any cash price at the door beginning one hour prior to curtain). Opening/Press performance is Sunday, Sept. 29 at 2:30pm.

All tickets are General Admission and are $50 Thursday & Saturday/Sunday matinees, $60 Friday & Saturday evenings. Student Admission is half-price with a valid Student ID. Senior Citizens 65 years and up get $10 OFF General Admission Prices. Groups of 10 or more get half-price tickets. Purchase at www.stageguild.org/buy-tickets.

ABOUT THE THEATRE

Founded in 1986 by a professional company of theatre artists dedicated to producing literate, challenging works in a collegial and supportive atmosphere, The Washington Stage Guild quickly established itself as an indispensable component of the D.C. area theatre scene; recognized as early as the end of the first season (1987) by The Washington Post. The ensemble theatre company's acclaimed repertoire of neglected classics, unfamiliar works by familiar playwrights, and stimulating new plays from around the world is presented in a style that is the Guild's own—direct and clear, with a strong commitment to adhering to the author's intent. Unfamiliar works by familiar playwrights, and stimulating new plays from around the world is presented in a style that is the Guild's own – direct and clear, with a strong commitment to adhering to the author's intent.

 

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