MRT Continues Season September 17 with WILD HORSES by Allison Gregory

Merrimack Repertory Theatre will continue its 2021-22 Season with Allison Gregory's Wild Horses, a woman's hilarious account of one wild summer in her youth, from September 17 through October 3 at various alternative locations and via video on demand, according to Nancy L. Donahue Artistic Director Courtney Sale and Executive Director Bonnie J. Butkas.

Sale will direct. Wild Horses features Leenya Rideout, whose Broadway credits include War Horse, Cabaret, and Company, and musician Rafael Molina, who will perform a host of 70s classics, including "A Horse with No Name," "Smoke on the Water," "Shambala," "Me and Mrs. Jones," "The Cisco Kid," and "Dancing in the Moonlight."

"Laughter is the best medicine!" said Sale. "It can relieve us from pain, it can make us see tough situations anew, and it can allow us to relax. And that is exactly the reason Allison Gregory's Wild Horses opens our season. Allison has crafted a fierce, funny, and dynamic story."

MRT describes the play as, "a woman hilariously recounts one summer of her youth: those first feelings of all-consuming love, the emergence of her own identity, the realization that all things are not as they should be, and the sheer intoxication of sweet freedom. With a little help from her friends Skinny Lynny and Zabby, she sets out to right an injustice with exhilarating, heartbreaking, and life-changing results. Those teen years? It will all come rushing back on this ride of a lifetime."

Sale said, "The play calls on an audience to access their youth space; an emotional space that may be lighter, more joyous, and certainly more adventurous. I am glad we will be able to share with intimate audiences in and around Lowell, as well as streaming for those at home. It's great to be back!"

The show will play live to limited audiences at the Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens in North Andover, September 17 and 18, outside on the lawn; The Whistler House Museum of Art, Parker Gallery, September 23-25; and Western Avenue Studios, September 30 to October 3. The live performances are nearly full, but the theatre expects to add performances. Visit www.mrt.org/wildhorses for tickets, performance times, and added dates. Wild Horses will be available as a fully produced video October 1-17.

Proof of vaccination; a negative COVID-19 regular test within the previous 48 hours; or a negative COVID-19 rapid test within the previous 24 hours will be required for all locations. Masks will be required at the indoor locations, The Whistler House and Western Avenue Studios. For full details, visit www.mrt.org/covid.

Sale, who joined MRT as the Nancy L. Donahue Artistic Director in March 2020, just as the theatre was forced to shut down, directed A Woman of the World here last spring. Sale served as Artistic Director of Seattle Children's Theatre, the nation's leading generator of new work for young audiences, and as Associate Artistic Director of Indiana Repertory Theatre. Directing credits include Tiny Beautiful Things at Seattle Rep, Support Group for Men at Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play at The Phoenix Theatre.

Additional credits for Rideout include Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway and the Off-Broadway productions of Fire and Air at Classic Stage Company and The Taming of the Shrew for Shakespeare in the Park. An actor, musician, composer, and sound designer, Molina recently composed the music for Closed for Installation, a collaborative project with the De Young Legion of Honor and the Harvey Milk Photo Center. Lee Viliesis, MRT's Production Manager and Costume Shop Manager, will design costumes; her credits here include A Woman of the World, Fannie Lou Hamer: Speak On it!; 45 Plays for 45 Presidents; and It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.

Closed for more than a year due to the pandemic, MRT reopened in April with video-only productions of Until the Flood by Dael Orlandersmith and A Woman of the World by Rebecca Gilman. The company will return to in-person performances at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre in Liberty Hall with an MRT commissioned play, The Rise and Fall of Holly Fudge by Trista Baldwin, November 26-December 12, 2021. After the holidays, the season will continue with the previously postponed Erma Bombeck: At Wit's End by Allison Engel and Margaret Engel, January 19-February 6, 2022; the concert Back Together Again: The Music of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, March 30-April 17, 2022; and the East Coast premiere of Best Summer Ever, written and performed by Kevin Kling, May 4-22, 2022.

In addition, MRT will present a special, non-subscription musical event: Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, February 23-March 13, 2022. For tickets, contact the Enterprise Bank Box Office at 978-654-4678 or visit www.mrt.org. Wild Horses tickets for both live and recorded performances are $21 for adults and $15 for students.

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