Unexpected Stage Company's BE A GOOD LITTLE WIDOW By Bekah Brunstetter Begins July 12

As part of its ninth season, Unexpected Stage Company presents Be a Good Little Widow, a comedy about life, grief, and longing by Bekah Brunstetter (This Is Us, The Cake, The Oregon Trail). The production will run July 12 to August 5 in the Fireside Room, an intimate 40-seat venue at the River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation Building, located at 6301 River Road in Bethesda. General admission tickets, priced $10 to $29.50, are on sale via phone at 800-838-3006, online at www.unexpectedstage.org, and at the door subject to availability. A special Pay-What-You-Wish preview performance is scheduled for Thursday, July 12, at 7:30 p.m.; reservations are recommended. For information, please call 301-337-8290 or visit www.unexpectedstage.org.

Life can be messy. Melody thought being a young wife was hard, until she became a widow. As she contemplates the proper way to grieve, her mother-in-law is by her side with expert, never-ending, yet well-meaning, advice. From dutiful black dresses to inappropriate outbursts, Melody navigates an unchartered course towards understanding what it means to find someone through losing them. Brunstetter's quirky comedy contemplates how devotion and hope can persevere in the midst of unexpected loss.

The cast of Be a Good Little Widow features Nick Duckworth as Craig, Emily Morrison as Hope, Lansing O'Leary as Brad, and Ruthie Rado as Melody. Playwright Bekah Brunstetter is currently a producer on NBC's television hit This Is Us. Brunstetter has written for ABC Family's Switched at Birth and Starz's series American Gods (co-producer). Her plays include The Cake, Going to a Place where you already are (Theater Alliance, 2016), and The Oregon Trail (Flying V, part of the Women's Voices Theater Festival 2015).

The production is directed by Unexpected Stage Company co-founder Christopher Goodrich. The creative team also includes Michael Cherry (set design), Andrew Dodge (lighting design), and Matthew Mills (sound design). On choosing Be a Good Little Widow, Goodrich explains, "Bekah's style of writing for the stage appeals to me. Her dialogue is sharp and short, and a little prickly - just as she writes for television. Be a Good Little Widow perfectly captures, in both poignant and humorous ways, our struggle to find a language for grief."

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