Geva's Fielding Studio Series Continues with STRANDED ON EARTH, 3/6-23

Geva Theatre Center's 2014 Fielding Studio Series continues with Stranded on Earth by Eric Coble and directed by William Brown. The production begins performances on March 6 and runs in the Fielding Nextstage through March 23.

One woman's mysterious tale of a life held in suspension. Alexa, a brilliant artist, flashes between the mundane chaos and poetic depths of her world, circling in on the moment when everything changed for her - the moment between Before and After.

Eric Coble's plays include Bright Ideas, The Dead Guy, Natural Selection, For Better, Southern Rapture, A Girl's Guide to Coffee, My Barking Dog and The Giver which have been produced Off-Broadway, throughout the U.S., and on several continents. Awards include an Emmy nomination, the 2011 AATE Distinguished Play Award for Best Adaptation, the AT&T Onstage Award, National Theatre Conference Playwriting Award, Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, an NEA Playwright in Residence Grant, a TCG Extended Collaboration Grant, the Cleveland Arts Prize, a Creative Workforce Fellowship from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, and four Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Grants. Mr. Coble is a member of the Cleveland Play House Playwrights Unit. His play, The Velocity of Autumn, starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella, opened at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. in September to great acclaim and begins its run on Broadway at the Booth Theatre in April.

Stranded on Earth is one of a trilogy of "Alexandra" plays - about a smart, creative woman at various stages in life. In the first play, A Girl's Guide to Coffee, we meet Alex, a free, vivacious girl in her 20s with her life ahead of her, and in The Velocity of Autumn we meet 80-year-old Alexandra who is desperately holding on to her world, when her family and body are telling her to let go. Coble realized, in writing them, that they were "bookends of the same story" and was intrigued about what that life looked like in the middle. "I know what she's like at each end of the spectrum, but what type of person is she when she's in her 40s when she's made some of these commitments but she's still wrestling with her choices? So I wrote the middle piece [Stranded on Earth] and that's how that all came about."

Brigitt Markusfeld plays Alexa. Ms. Markusfeld returns to the Geva stage after most recently appearing in You Can't Take It With You, Over the Tavern and one of her favorite roles as Miss Shields/Witch in A Christmas Story. Other Geva credits include Our Town, Smell of the Kill, House and Garden, The Wier, Stop Kiss, The Triumph of Love, A Girl's Life, The Illusion, Picasso at the Lapin Agile and The Comedy of Errors. Regional credits include Richard III and Rumors with the Sacramento Theatre Company, I Remember Mama at A.C.T., On the Verge at Marin Theatre Company, The Tempest and The Comedy of Errors at the Valley Shakespeare Festival, Way of the World and Blood Wedding at A Noise Within and The Taming of the Shrew and Country Wife at the Grove Shakespeare Festival. Ms. Markusfeld has also appeared in television and radio commercials. TV credits include "Picket Fences," "The Bold and the Beautiful," "Tour of Duty," and "Second Chances." Ms. Markusfeld trained at the American Conservatory of Theatre in San Francisco.

Stranded on Earth is directed by William Brown. The creative team includes Chelsea Warren (Scenic Design), Amanda Doherty (Costume Design), Derek Madonia (Lighting Design) and Dan Roach (Sound Design).

Stranded on Earth begins on March 6 and runs in the Fielding Nextstage through March 23.

To post a comment, you must register and login.