Comedy OUT OF STERNO Opens Tonight at Gloucester Stage

Gloucester Stage continues the 36th season of producing professional theatre on Cape Ann with Deborah Zoe Laufer's Out of Sterno opening tonight, June 25 and running through July 18 at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA.

Directed by award winning veteran actress and Gloucester Stage favorite Paula Plum, Out of Sterno tells the story of Dotty, who lives a kind of reverse Alice-in-Wonderland existence in the colorful and cartoon-like apartment she shares with her husband Hamel. Dotty's life in Sterno is a fairy tale despite the fact that, in their seven years of marriage Hamel has forbidden her to leave their tiny apartment or speak to anyone. Naive, trusting and completely in love Dotty is so very happy to spend all her days watching video re-enactments of the day they first met.

When a phone call from a mysterious woman threatens to tear her world apart, Dotty must venture out into the vast city of Sterno where she encounters a bevy of characters on her quest to find out what it means to be a "real woman". Out of Sterno explores the triumph and heartbreak of growing up and the contradictory societal pressures women face just trying to make it across town.

Director Plum adds, "Deborah Zoe Laufer takes us on a fairy-tale ride. Within the chaotic universe of a controlling cave-man husband and a manipulative beauty-obsessed boss, Dotty seeks her authentic self. And as she finds her own inner magic, a real woman emerges." Out of Sterno takes an uproariously clever look at the influences that shape our own self-images.

Lynn native Paula Plum is the recipient of five IRNE Awards, the 1995 and 2007 Elliot Norton Award for Best Actress, the 2004 Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, and the 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University. In 2009 she was one of five actors nationwide to receive the Fox Actor Fellowship in association with SpeakEasy Stage Company. Ms. Plum is an actress, director, writer, and teacher and has created seven one-person shows for the Undadilla Theatre of Vermont, most notably, Plum Pudding. As a founding member of the Actors' Shakespeare Project, she has directed Macbeth and will be directing School for Scandal next season. For 12 years she has been the Artistic Director of A Christmas Celtic Sojourn for WGBH, a concert of traditional Celtic music, dance and poetry that tours New England in December. Original work includes Wigged Out!, a comedy about her mother's death, and What Lips My Lips Have Kissed a dramatic biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Other directing credits include: Jake's Women at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, I'm Not Rappaport at Gloucester Stage, Baltimore Waltz at Lyric Stage Company of Boston, and Steel Magnolias at Stoneham Theatre. She was last seen on the GSC stage in 2014's Auld Lang Syne opposite her husband Richard Snee whom she directs in Out of Sterno.

Deborah Zoe Laufer's plays have been produced at more than 80 theatres around the country including Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Cleveland Playhouse, Geva Theatre Center, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, ATL's Humana Festival, Portland Stage and all over the world in Germany, Russia and Canada. She is the recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award and the Lilly Award and grants and commissions from the Edgerton Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National New Play Network. End Days was awarded The ATCA Steinberg citation and appeared at EST through an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant. Informed Consent, a Sloan commission, will appear at The Duke Theatre in NYC later this summer as a co-production of Primary Stages and EST. Her plays have been developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Play wrights Conference, the Williamstown Theater Festival, the Missoula Colony at Montanan Repertory Theatre and New York City's Lark Play Development Center, among others. Ms. Laufer is a graduate of The Juilliard School and a member of The Dramatists Guild.

The Out of Sterno cast features the return of several Gloucester Stage favorites including Amanda Collins, Jennifer Ellis and Richard Snee as well as the Gloucester Stage debut of Noah Tuleja.

Amanda Collins returns to Gloucester Stage to play Dotty. She has been seen at Gloucester Stage in This Is Our Youth, 9 Circles and The Woman In Black. Regionally her credits include Taste of Sunrise at Wheelock Family Theatre; The Seagull with Harbor Stage Company; A Behanding in Spokane, The Bald Soprano, Speech and Debate, Shortstack, Colorado, and What Then at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater; When The World Was Green and An Ideal Husband at American Stage in Florida; 9 Circles with the Publick Theatre in Boston; The Island of Slaves with Orfeo Group; No Exit at the Payomet Performing Arts Center; Brecht's The Life of Galileo with Underground Railway Theater; and Jester's Dead with The Outfit in New York City. Her television credits include Olive Kitteridge on HBO, and the ABC pilot, Boston's Finest. On film she has appeared in Sea of Trees. Ms. Collins is a member of Theatre Espresso, performing interactive, historical dramas at schools and courthouses across New England. She received her BA in History and Theatre from Regis College.

Jennifer Ellis returns to Gloucester Stage to play Zena after having previously been seen in Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris and The Most Happy Fella. She was most recently seen as Cathy Whitaker in the regional premiere of Far from Heaven at SpeakEasy Stage Company and as Gabby/Bobbi in City of Angels at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston. She has worked with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, New Repertory Theatre, Central Square Theater, MetroStage, Boston Lyric Opera, Peterborough Players, Stoneham Theatre, and with Sibiline Shakespeare and Project Rushmore in New York City. She can often be found in the long-running Shear Madness at the Charles Playhouse. She received an IRNE award for her portrayal of Rosabella in Gloucester Stage's The Most Happy Fella and an IRNE award nomination for Far from Heaven. Ms. Ellis studied at Bridgewater State University and Circle in the Square Theatre School.

Noah Tuleja makes his Gloucester Stage debut as Hamelin Out of Sterno. He has worked at numerous theatres, both here and in England, including the Theatre Royal Plymouth, White Bear Theatre, Bread and Puppet Theater, and The Candidatos. Regional theatre credits include productions with Trinity Repertory Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Actors' Shakespeare Project, and New Century Theatre. His favorite roles include Scinius in Coriolanus, Slim in Cowboy Mouth, and Marlin in Pushcarts. He is currently a Guest Artist in the Mount Holyoke College Theatre Arts Department, as well as Co-Founder and Artistic Director at Trembling Stage.

Richard Snee returns to Gloucester Stage to play a variety of characters in the town of Sterno. His past Gloucester Stage appearances include Auld Lang Syne, Table Manners, Living Together, and Round and Round the Garden. Regionally he has appeared in Othello at American Repertory Theatre; Present Laughter and Sisters Rosensweig at Huntington Theatre Company; Uncle Vanya, Boy Gets Girl, Something in the Air, and A Christmas Carol at Merrimack Repertory Theatre. Mr. Snee has been a member of the Boston Company of Shear Madness since 1987 and is a founding member of the Actors' Shakespeare Project, and has appeared in several of their productions including Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Cherry Orchard, Richard III, and Comedy of Errors. He has also performed at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, SpeakEasy Stage Company, the Nora Theatre Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, the Wilbur Theater, Hasty Pudding Theatricals, and many other places over his thirty year career. His film credits include Gone, Baby, Gone; The Company Men; My Best Friend's Girl; Never Met Picasso; Treading Water; Mr. North; and Teacakes or Cannoli. Mr. Snee's television credits include voicing characters for several animated series including Science Court; Dr. Katz; Home Movies; and Hey, Monie! Richard and his wife, Paula Plum, helped create and starred in the FX network's animated series, The Dick and Paula Celebrity Special.

NeverDark events scheduled for the run of Out of Sterno include a film, talk backs including a talk back with the playwright and two play readings. NeverDark is a series of second-stage events that include lectures, talk backs, film screenings, play readings, and other events designed to enhance your knowledge and enjoyment of all Mainstage productions. All NeverDark events are Pay-What-You-Wish. The NeverDark events set for the run of Out of Sterno are a film screening of Pleasantville on June 22 at 7:30 pm at the Cape Ann Community Cinema; a reading of Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room (Or the Vibrator Play), a comedy about marriage, intimacy and equality set in the 1880's, on June 30 at 7:30 pm at Gloucester Stage; a reading of Tom Coash's Veils, set in Egypt at the beginning of the 2011 Arab Spring revolution July 14 at 7:30 pm at Gloucester Stage, plus three talkbacks following the 2 pm performances on Sunday, June 28, July 5 and July 12. These post show discussions feature artists from Out of Sterno. The July 5 talk back features special guest Out of Sterno playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer.

Deborah Zoe Laufer's Out of Sterno runs June 25 through July 18 at Gloucester Stage. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 pm. Following the 2 pm performances on Sunday June 28, July 5 (Special Guest playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer) and July 12 audiences are invited to free post show discussions with the artists from Out of Sterno. Ticket prices are $28 for all performances. Tickets are $1 for ages 25 Years and under for all performances. The $1 tickets are cash only and available at the door on day of performance only. Pay What You Wish tickets are available for the Saturday, July 11 matinee at 2 pm. Pay What You Wish tickets can only be purchased day of show at the door. All performances are held at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the Gloucester Stage Box Office at 978-281-4433 or at www.gloucesterstage.com.

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