Rep Stage Continues 16th Season W/ GOD'S EAR 4/1-4/26

Rep Stage, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), continues its 16th season with the regional premiere of Jenny Schwartz's "God's Ear," playing April 1 through April 26, 2009 in the Studio Theatre of HCC. "God's Ear" focuses on a young couple, Ted and Mel, and how they cope with the loss of their son. Positioned firmly in the center of "God's Ear" is the concept of language, and how language and expression are used to deal with tragedy and grief. Paul Morella (Ted), Julie-Ann Elliott (Mel) and Lauren Williams (Lanie) star; Helen Hayes Award-winning director Kasi Campbell directs. For show schedules and additional information, refer to the included Fact Sheet. To purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 410-772-4900 or visit www.repstage.org. Press opening is Sunday, April 5 at 2:30 p.m.

Ted, Mel and their two children are a seemingly happy family. But when their son drowns, their marriage begins to dissolve under the weight of grief that follows his death. "God's Ear" observes Ted and Mel throughout their grieving process - with sometimes bizarre results. Ted seems to continually run into parents with dead children, anything Mel touches turns to stone, and a G.I. Joe doll and the Tooth Fairy come to life to counsel their daughter. New York Times called "God's Ear" "a prime example of the kind of inventive writing that flourishes Off-Broadway but rarely has a chance to reach a larger audience. If Off-Broadway is to retain a reputation for groundbreaking theater, voices like Jenny Schwartz's need to be heard from more often." The Associated Press called it "an original and inventive theatrical experience."

"Jenny Schwartz is a major find on the American theatre scene," says Michael Stebbins, Rep Stage's producing artistic director. "God's Ear" is told with a poetic lyricism that is laugh out loud funny, deeply profound and heartbreakingly true and it's easy to see why it became the sleeper hit of Off-Broadway last season. Schwartz has a knack of making fear, anger, sadness, pain and joy-the human condition-profoundly moving and funny."

Jenny Schwartz is a New York-based playwright and a graduate of The Juilliard School, where she received a fellowship in the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Program. "God's Ear" originally premiered in February 2007 and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award. Schwartz is an Associate Artist with The Civilians and a member of New Dramatists.

Director Kasi Campbell is currently a theatre professor heading the acting program at HCC. Additional Rep Stage directing credits include "In the Heart of America," "Bach at Leipzig," "Hamlet," "The Violet Hour," "The Seagull," "Arcadia," "Kimberly Akimbo" and "The Judas Kiss." Her productions have garnered 26 Helen Hayes nominations including three for Outstanding Director and two for Outstanding Production, and seven Helen Hayes Awards including Outstanding Director in 2004 for "The Dazzle."

Cast

Matthew Eisenberg (GI Joe/Flight Attendant)
The Shakespeare Theatre Company: Hamlet, Richard III, Love's Labor's Lost, Tamburlaine
Folger Theatre: The Game of Love & Chance
Wayside Theatre: Tuesdays with Morrie
Synetic Theatre: Animal Farm, Frankenstein
Charter Theatre: Am I Black Enough Yet?
Adventure Theatre: Go Dog Go

Julie-Ann Elliott (Mel)
Rep Stage: Faith Healer
Olney Theatre Center: Is He Dead?, The Mousetrap, The Constant Wife, Hedda Gabler, An Enemy of the People, The Heiress, Lend Me a Tenor, Blithe Spirit
The Shakespeare Theatre Company: Way of the World, Titus Andronicus, As You Like It

Film: The Invasion
TV: The Wire

 

Gia Mora (Lenora)

MetroStage Theatre: Cool Papa's Party

Shakespeare Theatre: The Imaginary Invalid

Woolly Mammoth Theatre: She Stoops to Comedy

Round House Theatre: A Prayer for Owen Meany (Helen Hayes Nomination, Supporting Actress)

 

Paul Morella (Ted)

Olney Theatre: Rabbit Hole, Brooklyn Boy

Signature Theatre: Angels in America

Arena Stage: All My Sons

Woolly Mammoth: After Ashley, Grace, Big Death & Little Death, Quills

Everyman Theatre: Sight Unseen

Sasha Olenick (Guy)
Roundhouse Theatre: The Book Club Play, A Prayer For Owen Meany
Studio Theatre: Russian National Postal Service
Imagination Stage: Junebug and the Reverend, The Jungle Book

BARBARA RAPPAPORT (Tooth Fairy)
Theatre J: Honey Brown Eyes
Horizons Theatre: Johnny Bull (Helen Hayes Nomination, Best Supporting Actress)

Lauren Williams (Lanie)
Rep Stage: The Butterfingers Angel...
The Kennedy Center: Phantom Tollbooth
Studio Theatre: Reefer Madness Dog Sees God, Into the Woods (Helen Hayes Nomination, Best Supporting Actress)

About Rep Stage
Rep Stage is a member of both League of Washington Theatres and Baltimore Theatre Alliance. Performances are made possible by Howard County Arts Council, Howard County Government, Columbia Foundation, and Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of Maryland and National Endowment for the Arts, as well as through generous individual contributions. Howard Bank is the Rep Stage 2008-09 season partner.

The Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center (HVPA) is located on the Howard Community College campus at 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia, MD 21044.

 

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