THE GAMBLER Takes Audiences on a Whirlwind Roulette Wheel

Villanova Theatre proudly presents a workshop production of The Gambler, written by Villanova University's Charles A. Heimbold Chair in Irish Studies and renowned playwright Owen McCafferty and directed by Philadelphia favorite David Bradley. In this provocative new piece, McCafferty brilliantly transforms Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic novella for the stage. Audiences will be transported by a whirlwind of love, gambling, and politics as our narrator spins the roulette wheel, inviting audiences to "take a chance" on the unexpected. The Gambler is on stage April 26-30, 2017.

In a world run by men, Polina Alexandrovna must stake herself in a game of love and chance, choosing between three potential suitors: the passionate Russian who claims her heart, the wealthy Englishman who covers his debts, and the French Marquis who shares her bed. Alexei, the Russian, is ready to risk it all for Polina - his love, his social standing, and his job with her stepfather, the imperious General. But among the European aristocracy, the rules of the game can change in a heartbeat, and even the smallest mistake can send the gambler into life's roulette wheel, where one's greatest win may also prove to be one's ultimate loss.

The Gambler marks the first new play slated to occupy the newly-created fifth-show slot in Villanova's theatrical season. This workshop production pares Dostoevsky's thrilling tale of intrigue down to its essentials, creating a fast-paced contest of wills as characters scheme, seduce, and sacrifice to get what they desire most.

According to director Bradley, "There's an energy that I'm really enjoying about this production of The Gambler - the chance to work on a new play; the opportunity for all of us to work with Owen McCafferty while he's in residence at Villanova; and the style of the play itself. Owen's adaptation really flows, moving through this gambling resort as the characters make their plays for love, or money, or the upper hand. It's spare, with the focus on the people, which is just right for this workshop event."

Playwright Owen McCafferty notes that the play has a structure specific to its content. "I wanted the play to feel as if it were a roulette wheel," he says. "When I started writing, I wasn't sure exactly how to achieve that, but I ultimately crafted Dostoevsky's world to flow fluidly. The action of the play is seamless, like the roulette wheel; time moves forward without favor or mercy to the characters. Utilizing a Narrator character allows the audience to be guided sometimes rapidly throughout various locations, as the play relentlessly pulls forward. The audience will feel as if they are going for a spin around the casino with the cast of characters, which is important to me because I really wanted to make the novella immediate for a modern retelling."

The cast includes Presidential Scholar Rachel O'Hanlon-Rodriguez (Narrator), Acting Scholars Chris Monaco (Alexei), Dan Cullen, (de Grieux), and Megan Slater (Blanche), Graduate Assistants Sisi Wright (Polina), Leo Bond (General), and Lize Meisenzahl (Baroness),and first-year graduate students Nikitas Menotiades (Astley), Ellen "Dash" Walter (The Grandmother), and Brishen Miller (Baron).

The production also highlights the compelling design work of Villanova's graduate students. The costume and set are designed by graduate assistant Rachel DelVecchio, who immerses the audience within the confines of high society. Graduate assistant Andrea Rumble-Moore's lighting design will capture the luxurious world of deviousness and manipulation.

The Gambler runs at Villanova Theatre from April 26-30, 2017. Villanova Theatre is located on the Villanova University campus in Vasey Hall (at Lancaster & Ithan Aves.). Performances will be held Wednesday - Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are free, and can be reserved through the Villanova Theatre Box Office (M-S, 12 -5 p.m.) in person, by phone: (610) 519-7474, or online at www.villanovatheatre.org.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
David Bradley is a director, producer, writer, teaching artist and consultant whose work includes making plays, leading a range of boundary-crossing artistic collaborations and exploring civic and community themes through the arts. He's been a member of the People's Light & Theatre ensemble since 1991, and his more than 30 productions there include Row After Row, Of Mice and Men, The Crucible, A View From the Bridge, Young Lady From Rwanda, Doubt, The Giver and three holiday pantos. In the summer of 2016, he was playwright and director of Voices of Voting, commissioned by the Committee of Seventy as part of events surrounding the Democratic National Convention. In Spring 2016, he directed A Fierce Kind of Love by Suli Holum, commissioned by Temple University's Institute on Disabilities. The play told the story of Pennsylvania's intellectual disabilities rights movement and had a sold-out run at Christ Church Neighborhood House. He's also directed at Indiana Repertory Theatre, Act II Playhouse, Delaware Theatre Company, Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis and others. David is Founding Director of LiveConnections, which inspires learning and builds community through collaborative music-making, working out of partner venue World Cafe Live. He's Artistic Director of Living News, which just completed its 10th season of dramatizing Constitutional issues at the National Constitution Center, where he also directed the exhibition/theater hybrid Fighting for Democracy. He's a frequent collaborator with Philadelphia Young Playwrights, leading a range of multi-generational collaborations, including directing The Lost Hour at the Kimmel Center for the 2013 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. David is a participating artist with Outside the Wire, which creates theater projects addressing public health and social issues, and has led and facilitated projects for them at conferences and military bases across the country and in the Middle East. He teaches at Arcadia University and has taught at the University of the Arts. David is a graduate of Yale University.

ABOUT THE NOVELIST
Fyodor Dostoevsky was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopher. Dostoevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes. His notable works include Notes From Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, The Brothers Karamazov, and The Gambler.

ABOUT THE ADAPTOR
Owen McCafferty is the 2017 Charles A. Heimbold Jr. Chair of Irish Studies in its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The visiting writer-in-residence program offers Irish Studies students the enriching experience of a close classroom experience with one of Ireland's finest playwrights. Prolific in his work, McCafferty has written nearly 20 full stage productions-earning him numerous awards and positive reviews from publications including the New York Times, The Guardian and The Irish Times. McCafferty was born in Belfast, Ireland. In 1985, he joined the Belfast Writers' Group, and his first production, Winners, Losers and Non-Runners, was performed at the Old Museum Arts Centre in Belfast in 1992. McCafferty followed up with two more plays in 1993 and 1994 and found continued success in the next millennium. His 2003 play, Scenes from the Big Picture, won the John Whiting Award, the Evening Standard's Charles Wintour Award for New Playwriting and the Meyer-Whitworth Award- marking the first time any playwright had won all of these awards in one year. Quietly (2012) won Best New Play at the Irish Times Theatre Awards and the Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2013. In 2016, Quietly enjoyed a three-month run Off-Broadway, at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York. Currently, McCafferty is writing the book and lyrics for Mojo Mickybo: The Musical as well as an adaptation of Julius Caesar for the children's Ark Theatre in Dublin. He has also been commissioned for a play called Beneath for The Abbey Theatre in Dublin-which produced Quietly and co-produced Death of a Comedian (2015), and which has a longstanding relationship with Villanova through the Abbey Theatre Exchange Program.

ABOUT VILLANOVA THEATRE
Villanova Theatre is a community of artist-scholars committed to transforming hearts and minds through the visionary production of classical, modern, and contemporary dramatic literature. Our work is fueled by the imaginative striving common to Villanova's accomplished faculty, versatile staff, and energetic graduate students. Together, we are devoted to creating a vibrant theatre enriched by and overflowing with the ideas explored in our classrooms. In all of our endeavors, we aim to share the dynamic experience of collaborative learning with our audiences in order to engage the intellect and stir the soul. As a facet of Villanova University, Villanova Theatre serves the campus community as well as thousands of theatre-goers from the Main Line and the Greater Philadelphia area.

ABOUT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY
Since 1842, Villanova University's Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges - the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University School of Law. As students grow intellectually, Villanova prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.

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