New Rep Announces Post-Performance Talkbacks for CHERRY DOCS, Opens 10/18

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is thrilled to announce it will be holding post-performance talkbacks after select performances of Cherry Docs with keynote speakers, such as Davalene Cooper, a professor of law at New England Law, Boston; Barbara Wallace Grossman, a Professor of Drama at Tufts University, theater historian, and director; Peter B. Krupp, a prominent Criminal Defense Lawyer and founding partner of Lurie & Krupp, LLP; Jason Owens, a Substance Abuse Counselor and Court Advocate at ROCA in Chelsea; and Elyse Rast, Holocaust Programs Coordinator and Educator, Jewish Community Relations Council, to complement this powerful production.

The themes of these post-performance talkbacks include: Ethical Responsibility in Representation; The Principles of Restorative Justice; Confronting Controversy Through Theatre; and Forgiveness and Atonement. New Rep is offering these post-performance talkbacks to further engage its audience in this provocative piece of theatre, as well as to provide an opportunity to promote dialogue through the arts.

"Cherry Docs is an important piece of theatre because it not only addresses the lasting affects of a hate crime, it also dares us to examine our own capacity for compassion and forgiveness," says Kate Warner, New Rep's Artistic Director.

Ms. Warner continues, "I love this play because it also shows the power of live theatre and how it can impact and inspire its audience. I am pleased to be able to offer post-performance talkbacks with keynote speakers from the community, which allows our audience the opportunity to further engage with the powerful topics addressed this work."

David R. Gammons, the director of Cherry Docs and who previously directed the New England Premieres of The Lieutenant of Inishmore and My Name is Rachel Corrie at New Rep, adds "I am thrilled to be returning to New Rep and to be working on this play. Gow's writing is commanding and actively engages us to partake in the two main characters' intertwining journey of self-discovery."

Cherry Docs features New Rep favorite Benjamin Evett, and is pleased to introduce Tim Eliot to New Rep's stage.

Cherry Docs opens for the press on Monday, October 18, 2010 at 7:30pm and plays through Sunday November 7, 2010 at the Arsenal Center for the Arts.

When a Jewish lawyer is assigned to defend a young skinhead accused of brutally killing an immigrant man, the lawyer must alter his preconceived notion of humanity in order to discover forgiveness. In this New England Premiere, David Gow dares audiences to examine their capacity for compassion and asks, is there atonement for all crimes?

New Repertory Theatre produces plays that speak powerfully to the essential ideas of our time. Through the passion and electricity of live theater performed to the highest standards of excellence, New Rep expands and challenges the human spirit of both artists and audience. New Rep presents world premieres, contemporary and classic works in several intimate settings. We are committed to education and outreach, including special dedication to the creation of innovative in-school programming and providing access to underserved audiences. New Rep is an active advocate for the arts and a major voice in the national dialogue defining the role of theater in our culture.

ARTISTS

Tim Eliot (Mike). Boston: Sexual Perversity in Chicago (American Repertory Theater), Taming of the Shrew (Commonwealth Shakespeare), The Winter's Tale (ART/MXAT Institute), Skin of our Teeth (ART/MXAT Institute), Stairs to the Roof (ART/MXAT Institute). New York: Mad Forest (Columbia Stages), Red Beads (Mabou Mines), Rockberry (Jollyship the Whiz-Bang), Akropolis/Prototype (Andrew Ondrejcak), Hamlet (Gallery Players), The Girl Detective (Ateh Theater), In Bocca Alla Lupa (Grotto Theater). Other: The Little Tragedies (Moscow Art Theater), Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged. (Nat'l Tour). Upcoming: Men Go Down (Hotel Savant). BA from Yale, MFA from ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard.

Benjamin Evett (Danny) was seen last season at New Rep as Dorian in Opus and in Indulgences as the Salesman. He is the Founding Artistic Director of the Actors' Shakespeare Project where he has directed numerous productions and played Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, the title role in Coriolanus, Caliban in The Tempest, the title role in Hamlet, Edmund in King Lear, and Cassius in Julius Caesar. At New Rep, he has also appeared as Paul Barrow in Permanent Collection (for which he won the Elliot Norton Award), Abbe de Coulmier in Quills, Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol, Stephen in A Girl's War, and Will in Jerusalem. He was a member of the Resident Acting Company at A.R.T. in Cambridge from 1983 to 2003, acting in more than 50 productions including: Waiting for Godot, The Bacchae, Phaedra, Ivanov, The King Stag and Six Characters in Search of an Author. He has also performed at the Huntington Theatre Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare, Hartford Stage, Missouri Repertory Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Cleveland Play House, and others. He has performed at the Festivale Biennale in Venice, the Festival d'Automne in Paris, the Taiwan National Theatre, and The Moscow Art Theatre. He is a graduate of Harvard College with a degree in Classics.

David Gow (playwright) Mr. Gow's plays have seen international production and recognition. David's plays have been produced in London, Berlin, New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Memphis, Tel-Aviv, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, and more than fifty other cities around the world. David trained as an actor in Montreal, and then moved to Toronto where he became a playwright. He studied with Urjo Kareda and Andy McKim in the Chalmers Playwrights Unit, at the prestigious Tarragon Theatre. More recently, David made his debut as a filmmaker, with Steel Toes, starring David Strathairn and Canadian actor, Andrew Walker. Based on Cherry Docs, Steel Toes, has won many awards (www.steeltoesthemovie.com). Other plays by David Gow include: Bea's Niece, The Flight of Peter Pumpkineater, Friedman Family Fortune, and most recently a soon to premiere play about the Irish coming to America, Wake Of The Bones. This off-beat Musical is about the re-discovery of a mass grave of Irish who had lost their lives to "Ship's Fever" or Typhoid. 6000 Irish, buried in Montreal were "found" again when the railway came through their gravesite ten years later in the late 1850's.

David R. Gammons (director) is thrilled to return to New Rep, having directed the New England premieres of The Lieutenant of Inishmore and My Name is Rachel Corrie. David is a director, designer, visual artist, and theatre educator. He is the recipient of the 2007 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director for his production of Titus Andronicus with the Actors' Shakespeare Project. Recent directing projects include: the world premiere of John Kuntz's award-winning The Salt Girl for Boston Playwrights' Theatre; The Winter's Tale as part of the Shakespeare Exploded Festival at The American Repertory Theatre; Adrienne Kennedy's Funnyhouse of a Negro for Brandeis Theatre Company; Blackbird at SpeakEasy Stage Company; The Duchess of Malfi for Actors Shakespeare Project, and Romeo and Juliet at The Boston Conservatory. His work as a director, designer, and creator of original performance material includes collaborations with Headlong Dance Theater, Spencer/Colton Dance, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Phantom Theater, and Theatre Offensive, to name a few. David is a graduate of both the Directing Program at the A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, and the Visual and Environmental Studies Department of Harvard University. He has been the Director of the Theatre Program at Concord Academy since 2000, where he directs a company of student artists committed to creating original experimental work.

POST-PERFORMANCE SPEAKERS BIOS

Davalene Cooper: Ms. Cooper is a professor of law at New England Law êBoston, where she teaches courses in the areas of legal ethics, criminal law, restorative justice, and dispute resolution. Her scholarly interest is in how restorative justice principles might be used to create a more justice centered and peaceful world. She is a member of the Ambassador's Council of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, an international human rights organization, and previously served as a member of its Board of Directors.

Peter B. Krupp: Peter handles a wide array of commercial litigation, including breach of contract, real estate disputes, zoning, qui tam, intellectual property and construction law. His clients include businesses in the real estate development, telecommunications, high technology, manufacturing, financial services and entertainment industries. His practice involves state and federal litigation in the trial courts in Massachusetts and on appeal. He has also represented clients in commercial litigation in New Hampshire, New York, California and South Dakota. Peter also represents individuals and corporations under investigation for, or accused of, state or federal crimes. He has represented individuals in cases charging bank and mail fraud, economic espionage, OUI, robbery, assault and battery, drug offenses, firearms offenses and murder. He has represented hundreds of witnesses in state and federal grand jury investigations, and dozens of high school and college students accused of criminal acts and/or facing school or university disciplinary proceedings. Peter is a founding partner of the firm. He is actively involved in the delivery of quality legal services to indigent criminal defendants. Peter has served on the Criminal Justice Act Board in the District of Massachusetts for more than seven years, and currently chairs the CJA Board. He served as the Massachusetts representative to the annual national CJA Panel Attorney Conference from approximately 1999 through 2007. He served on the committee formed in 2002 by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to study and improve the process for appointing counsel for indigent federal criminal defendants on appeal, and served for a number of years on the screening for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to review applications from attorneys wishing to take indigent criminal defense appointments on appeal. Peter is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and chairs its Amicus Committee. Peter has written and lectured on various civil and criminal law issues. He has been named by his peers as one of Boston Magazine's Super Lawyers in the area of criminal defense. In 2007, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly named Peter one of its ten Lawyers of the Year. Peter served as an Assistant Federal Defender in Boston from 1993 through 1996. He was a litigator at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. in Boston from 1986 to 1993. Peter received his J.D. in 1986 from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a member of the winning team of the Hinton Moot Court Competition. He received his B.A. in Economics in 1983 from Brown University, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Brown Daily Herald.

Elyse Rast: Ms. Rast serves as the Holocaust Programs Coordinator and Educator for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston and the New England Holocaust Memorial. Through her work as a Survivor liaison, workshop leader, and event programmer, Elyse has worked with at many schools, religious institutions and non-profits around New England. In addition, Elyse has more than 15 years of teaching experience, many of which have been in Holocaust education. Elyse has master 's degrees from Boston University and Wheelock College. Currently, she teaches classes on Art in the Holocaust, Neo-Nazi and Hitler Youth, and Moral Implications of the Holocaust at Prozdor High School, a subsidiary of Hebrew College.

Barbara Wallace Grossman: Professor of Drama at Tufts University, Barbara Wallace Grossman is a theater historian and director. She is the author of Funny Woman: The Life and Times of Fanny Brice (Indiana University Press) and A Spectacle of Suffering: Clara Morris on the American Stage, recently published by Southern Illinois University Press. A Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts (1994-1999) and the United States Holocaust Memorial Council (2000-2005), she currently serves as on the Holocaust Museum's Committee on Conscience. She is Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is a member of its Executive, Advocacy, and Grants Committees. She also co-chairs The American Repertory Theatre's Advisory Board. In addition to being senior faculty in the Department of Drama and Dance, Professor Grossman is an adjunct faculty member of the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts. She chairs the Academic Awards Committee and serves on the Academic Standing and Honors Committee, as well as on the advisory boards of the Center for the Humanities, the Communication and Media Studies Program, the Institute for Global Leadership, and the International Letters and Visual Studies Program. She was inducted into the Delta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in April 2010 in recognition of her contributions to Tufts University and the arts. Professor Grossman teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses at Tufts including The American Musical, Imagining the Holocaust on Stage and Screen, Confronting Genocide on Stage and Screen, and Domestic Tragedy (among others). As a director, her work has ranged from Our Country's Good to Arcadia, The Learned Ladies to Tales of the Lost Formicans. Her most recent productions have been musicals: A Little Night Music, Parade, Company, and Kiss Me, Kate. With her distinguished colleague Laurence Senelick, she adapted, co-directed, and performed in Cabaret at the End of the World: Songs and Sketches from the Ghettos and Concentration Camps. She also appears as a vocalist with The Jumbo Knish Factory (the Klezmer ensemble at Tufts) and sings with the Choir of Temple Emanuel in Newton. She is married to Steve Grossman (Princeton '67), a businessman and Democratic candidate for Treasurer of Massachusetts. Their children are David Grossman and Mary Jo Sisk (both Princeton '98), Ben Grossman (Princeton '02) and Rebecca Walker, and Joshua Grossman.

 

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