STAGE KISS Comes to Circle Theatre

Art imitates Life. Life imitates Art. When two actors with a history are thrown together as romantic leads in a forgotten 1930s melodrama, they quickly lose touch with reality as the story onstage follows them offstage. Stage Kiss captures Sarah Ruhl's singular voice with a funny and charming tale about what happens when lovers share a stage kiss-or when actors share a real one.

Circle's production is directed by Emily Scott Banks. The cast includes Adolfo Becerra as Kevin/Butler/Doctor/Pimp, Patrick Bynane* as He, Charly Dannis as Laura/Millicent, David Fenley as Director, Sarah Rutan* as She, Jeremy Schwartz* as Husband/Harrison, and Ashlee Waldbauer as Angela/Millie/Maid. Stage Kiss is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French.

Circle Theatre's production team members include Megan Beddingfield* (Stage Manager/Prop Design), Clare Floyd DeVries (Set Design), John Leach (Lighting Design), David H.M. Lambert (Sound Design), and Amy Poe (Costume Design).

Photos are available upon request. Visit http://www.circletheatre.com/shows/kiss for more information.

*Member of Actors' Equity Association

About the Playwright

Sarah Ruhl is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee. Her plays have been produced on Broadway at the Lyceum by Lincoln Center Theater, off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, and at Lincoln Center's Mitzi Newhouse Theater. Her plays have been produced regionally all over the country and have also been produced internationally, and translated into over twelve languages. Ms. Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University where she studied with Paula Vogel. She has received the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright award, the Susan Smith Blackburn award, the Whiting award, the Lily Award, a PEN award for mid-career playwrights, and the MacArthur "genius" award. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family.

About the Director

Emily Scott Banks balances her time in theater between acting and directing. Most recently she appeared as Lyubov Ranesvsky in The Cherry Orchard for the inaugural production of The Classics Theatre Project. In projects upcoming this year she will reprise the Angel in Angels in America: Perestroika for Uptown Players; she will play Agatha in the regional premiere of The Moors at Theatre Three; and will reprise the one-actor Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol at Stage West. At the latter venue she also directed the award-winning Stupid F*cking Bird, Life Sucks., An Iliad, and The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence. Her many area directorial credits include the critically acclaimed The Big Meal; The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for WaterTower Theatre; Gee's Bend for African American Repertory; Ladybug Ladybug Fly Away Home for Contemporary Theatre of Dallas; and Fix Me Jesus for Theatre Three where she will direct Foxfire next year. Emily has won awards for her work in both disciplines, including multiple DFW Critics' Forum Awards, and Best Actress of the Year nods from Dallas Observer, D Magazine,, and TheaterJones. Emily is a proud member of Actors' Equity.

Founded in 1981 by Rose Pearson and Bill Newberry, Circle Theatre is currently producing its 37th season of live theatre in Fort Worth. Circle Theatre's mission is the advocacy of contemporary plays rarely seen in this community. Circle is committed to presenting professional, innovative theatre in an intimate setting. The Theatre is partially supported by the City of Fort Worth; the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County; the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Further support comes from the Amon G. Carter Foundation; Communities Foundation of Texas; Ann L. and Carol Green Rhodes Charitable Trust - Bank of America, NA; the Pangburn Foundation, JP Morgan, Trustee; the Sid W. Richardson Foundation; and The Shubert Foundation, Inc. To read Circle Theatre's full history visit: http://circletheatre.com/about/history.

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