Maryland Ensemble Theatre's Fun Company Presents COMMEDIA PUSS IN BOOTS, 11/24-1/6

Maryland Ensemble Theatre's (MET) family theatre, The Fun Company, is proud to present the second show of its 2012-2013 season: Commedia Puss in Boots, the laugh-out-loud tale about a clever cat in extraordinary footwear.

In Commedia Puss in Boots the foolish youngest son of a miller, follows the advice of a canny feline to achieve nobility and a fine marriage. Of course, The Players (Columbine, Arlequin, Punchin, Scaramouch, Rosetta and Pantalone) embellish the story with their own form of magic. There's a laundry list of laughs, especially when Puss in Boots duels the great laundry giant!

The original Puss in Boots story dates back to a French fairy tale from 1697 but the Fun Company's Commedia Puss In Boots is written by Lane Riosley who will be familair to Fun Company audiences as the author of last year's delightful production of The Commedia Pinnochio. Commedia dell'arte, Italian for 'comedy of the professional artists,' was a popular form of improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 15th century and continued in its appeal for centuries. The influence of commedia dell'arte is evident in much of our contemporary comedy, most notably in the great commedia artists of the 20th century, the Marx Brothers. When presented today, the commedia players are portrayed as poor travelers who have made all their props from objects they've found. Their costumes, with the commedia diamond pattern always evident, are partly hand-made and partly inherited from wealthier people who either tired of that fashion or thought better of it. The various talents of the actors' acrobatics, dance, music, quick wit and insight into human nature, all make the plays as entertaining and relevant today as they were to the people of Renaissance Europe, when commedia dell'arte was at its height of popularity.

Playwright Lane Riosley is a writer living and working in Houston, Texas. She is the 1991 winner of the Roger L. Stevens Award in Playwrighting from the Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts' Fund for New American Plays. Currently, Lane has 15 plays in publication that have been produced by schools and theatres nationwide. The show is directed by The Fun Company's Artistic Director, Julie Herber, and features a talented cast which includes Goeffrey Huntoon, Caitlyn Joy, Reiner Prochaska, Giovanni Strange, Lia Seltzer and Vanessa Strickland.

All performances of Commedia Puss In Boots are at Maryland Ensemble Theatre, located in the historic FSK Hotel at 31 W Patrick Street. The show runs every Saturday from November 26 to January 6 at 2 p.m., and most Sundays (11/25, 12/9, 12/30 & 1/6) at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 (plus a $1.50 service fee), and may be purchased by phone at (301) 694-4744, online at marylandensemble.org or in person at the MET box office.

The Fun Company's 2012-2013 includes two more upcoming shows: My Monster and Me by Devin Gaither, and Dakota Kane and the Quest for the Golden Mole by Matt Lee.

The Fun Company seeks to provide high quality, affordable theatre for the whole family that is both educational and entertaining by presenting a yearly Family Theatre Series, an In School Productions outreach program and Fun Camp. The 2012-13 Fun Company season is made possible in part through the support of season sponsors PNC Bank and GTI Federal.

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