Piven Theatre Presents THREE SISTERS 10/16-11/21

Piven Theatre Workshop extends its 2009-10 season with the Chicago premiere of Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Chekov's Three Sisters, directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce Piven. The production will run October 16 - November 21, 2010 at Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes Street. Press opening is Monday, October 18, 2010 at 7:00PM.

Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov depicts an entire village of unlucky lovers struggling with the bittersweet distance between reality and dreams. This classic tale is given another look in a new version adapted by Sarah Ruhl, one of America's most acclaimed young playwrights, and author of In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), Late: a cowboy song and The Clean House. The Chicago Premiere is directed by Chicago theatre veteran Joyce Piven, the co-founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of Piven Theatre Workshop. The three sisters: schoolmistress Olga, unhappily married Masha and idealistic Irina, are stuck in a backwater town, and long to get to Moscow where they imagine their lives will be transformed. Discover the humor and heartbreak of one of the world's great plays, retold by one of the most original voices in Contemporary Theatre.

"With her wonderful talent and ear for language, Sarah has created a beautiful, accessible translation of Chekov's Three Sisters, and I am honored to stage the Chicago Premiere of this beautiful, melodic story," says Joyce Piven. "I met Sarah when she was just 10 years old, studying at the Workshop, and even then she had a depth beyond her years. Since then she has grown from student to exceptionally gifted playwright. I cannot say adequately what it has meant to me to work on this translation."
Three Sisters features Brent T. Barnes (Kulygin), Ravi Batista (Irina), Dave Belden (Andrei), Marcus Davis (Fedotik), Kevin D. Ambrosio (Ferapont),John Fenner Mays (Chebutykin), Andy Hagar (Tuzenbach), Amanda Hartley (Natasha), Jacob Murphy (Rode), Saren Nofs-Snyder (Masha), Jay Reed (Solyony), Kathy Ruhl (Anfisa), Dan Smith (Vershinin), and Joanne Underwood (Olga).

The creative team for Three Sisters includes Aaron Menninga (scenic design), Andrew iverson (lighting design), Bill Morey (costume design), Jesse Gaffney (properties) and Collin Warren (composition & sound design). Wendy Woodward is the Stage Manager.

Sarah Ruhl (playwright) Ruhl's Late: A Cowboy Song recently made its Chicago Premiere at Piven Theatre. Her plays include In The Next Room or the Vibrator Play (Glickman Prize, finalist for Pulitzer Prize, 2010), The Clean House (Susan Smith Blackburn award, 2004, finalist for Pulitzer Prize, 2005), Dead Man's Cell Phone (Helen Hayes award for best new play), Demeter in the City (nominated for 9 NAACP awards), Eurydice, Melancholy Play, Orlando, a new version of Chekhov's Three Sisters, and Passion Play (Kennedy Center Fourth Forum Freedom Award). Her plays have premiered at the Lyceum Theater on Broadway, produced by Lincoln Center Theater; off-Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights' Horizons, and Second Stage; and regionally at Berkeley Repertory Theater, Yale Repertory Theater, the Goodman Theater, Cornerstone Theater, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth, Cincinnati Playhouse, and the Piven Theater Workshop in Chicago, as well being produced at many other theaters across the country. Her plays have also been performed in England, Poland, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, and Australia, and have been translated into Spanish, Polish, Russian, Korean and Arabic. Sarah received her M.F.A. from Brown University where she studied with Paula Vogel, and is originally from Chicago. In 2003, she was the recipient of a Helen Merrill award and a Whiting Writers' award, a PEN/Laura Pels award, and in 2006 was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. Her work is published by TCG and Sam French, and she is a member of New Dramatists and 13P. She lives in New York City with her family.

Joyce Piven (Director/Co-Founder/Artistic Director Emeritus) was one of the founding members and leading actresses at Playwrights' Theatre, the group that spawned Compass Players and Second City. With Playwright's Theatre, she played leading roles in Midsummer Night's Dream, The Seagull, The Dybukk, Round Dance and Caucasian Chalk Circle and studied extensively with Uta Hagen and Mira Rostova. Returning to Chicago, she and husband Byrne Piven helped Paul Sills form the Second City Repertory with Bernie Sahlins and Joyce Sloane as well as (with Sills) the original Story Theatre Company. Ms. Piven played Lady Macbeth in the Piven Theatre's futuristic Macbeth, Bessie in Wisdom Bridge's production of Awake And Sing, Lillian Hellman in The Julia Project directed by Shira Piven at New York's Greenwich Theatre, and most recently appeared in Great Expectations at Piven Theatre and in Lookingglass Theatre's Hard Times. Ms. Piven is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of the Piven Theatre Workshop and founding director of the Piven Theatre Workshop's famed Young People's Company. Ms. Piven has directed Lili Taylor in the revival of Maria Irene Fornes' Mud at Victory Gardens and she directed the remounting of Orlando at the Actors Gang in Los Angeles. At Piven Theatre, she has directed: Rochelle Distelheim's Sadie In Love, Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, Brilliant Traces by Cindy Lou Johnson, Speed-the-Plow by David Mamet, Collected Stories by Donald Margulies, Chekhov's Three Sisters, Chekhov: The Stories, Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, Festival of Jewish Stories, Chekhov Stories: The Emerging Woman, What Dreams May Come: American Visions Through Jewish Eyes and Two By Pinter. She recently directed Suffragette Koan by Linda Carson in Los Angeles.

Susan Applebaum (Anfisa U/S) currently teaches dramatic literature and play analysis at Loyola University Chicago where she has been on the faculty since 1975. She also has a longtime association with the Piven Theatre Workshop. Starting in the mid-seventies, Susan studied with Joyce Piven, taught classes for both children and adults and directed stories for the YPC. From 1983 to 1985, Susan was the Director of the Junior Company and in 1987-1988 she served as Director of the Young People's Company. Other university teaching includes courses and seminars at Northwestern University where she earned her Ph.D. in 1998, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and the University of Pittsburgh. In 1969, Susan was a founding member and choreographer for Synthesis Theatre in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania where she acted in Michael Weller's Moonchildren and in Jean Giraudoux's Amphitryon 38. Her understudy role as Anfisa for The Three Sisters marks her professional acting debut in Chicago.

Brent T. Barnes (Kulygin) appeared Off-Broadway in Grasmere by Kristina Leach, continuing on with the production to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Chicago credits: Pangs of the Messiah at Silk Road, What Dreams May Come: American Visions Through Jewish Eyes, directed by Joyce Piven at Piven Theatre Workshop, Banquo/Doctor in Macbeth and Fluellen/Westmoreland in Henry V at Muse of Fire, and The Christmas Schooner at The Bailiwick. Regional Theatre credits: six seasons with the Utah Shakespearean Festival, A Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre, the U.S. premiere of The Parfumerie at Summer Studio Theatre Company, and Malvolio in Twelfth Night as a guest artist at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

Dave Belden (Andrei) appeared most recently at Piven as Ed Sullivan in Lady Chaplin & Her Tramp, and also appeared in Chekhov: The Stories. Other favorite productions include Uncle Vanya (Court Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew and Love's Labor's Lost (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Earth to Margaret (Acorn Theatre), Shoppers Carried by Escalators into the Flames (Viaduct Theatre), and Alcestis (Uffish Theater). Dave can be seen in the independent feature Eye of the Sandman, and he's a violinist with the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Joffrey Ballet.

Marcus Davis (Fedotik) makes his debut at Piven Theatre with Three Sisters. Recent credits include Eli in Sunchoke (Rodez Productions) on the Raven Theatre West Stage and Johnny in Onto Infinity (Azusa Productions) at the Greenhouse Theatre. Marcus is a new graduate of Columbia College with a BFA in acting. There, he appeared as Ryumin in Summerfolk, Cradeau in No Exit, Troy in Hiding behind Comets, and a few others.

Kevin D'Ambrosio (Ferapont) is an alumnus of The Piven Theatre Workshop and is a faculty member at Piven where he helped create the PEEP outreach program which was designed for adults with developmental disabilities to explore the Piven method. His credits include Six Degrees of Separation (Signal Ensemble Theater), The Brother (Hancock Productions) and Tweaked (Big Brother Productions). Recently, Kevin's voice could be heard in the TV commercial of the ThinkBeyondTheLabel campaign. Indie film projects include QWERTY, Dead Seriously and Driving the Dynamite Truck.

John Fenner Mays (Chebutykin) makes his debut with the Piven Theater and Anton Chekhov in Three Sisters. A fifteen year veteran of Chicago's storied off-loop scene, John has appeared in around thirty stage productions with over a dozen different theatre companies, and was recently seen this summer at the Storefront Theatre in Dog and Pony Theatre's world premiere of Dead Letter Office by Philip Dawkins and directed by DieteRich Gray(Piven ensemble member). Favorite roles include Nick from Lillian Hellman's Autumn Garden (Eclipse Theatre), Bradley from Sam Shepard's Buried Child (Mary Arrchie Theatre), Riley from Michael Henry Brown's King of Coons (Congo Square Theatre), Jerry from Denis Johnson's Soul of a Whore (Viaduct Theatre), and Policeman/Hugh from Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living (Circle Theatre). Commercial work includes a national spot for Coors Light. John can also be seen as Deputy Sheriff Ernest Blunk in Michael Mann's film Public Enemies. Thanks to Joyce for this wonderful opportunity,and as always, to Lorraine for her undying love and support.

Amanda Hartley (Natasha) makes her Piven Theatre debut with Three Sisters. She won a Jeff Award for playing Salome in The Robber Bridegroom (Griffin Theatre), and a Jeff nomination with her ensemble in the long-running Jacques Brel; Songs of Love and War with Theo Ubique. Most recent shows include The Yeoman of the Guard (Light Opera Works), Wild Nights with Emily (Caffeine Theatre) and The Diary of Anne Frank (Metropolis Performing Arts). She earned her MFA in Acting at The Theatre School of DePaul,

Jacob Murphy (Rode) Chicago credits include Talk Radio (State Theatre), A Brief History of Helen of Troy (Steep Theatre, assistant director). New York credits include Too Little Too Late (HERE Arts, Nominated: Best Ensemble, NY Innovative Theater Awards); Don't Pet The Zookeeper (Rising Phoenix Rep); numerous short plays with EST/Youngblood, readings and workshops galore (The Public Theater, Rattlestick, etc); assistant directing Kathleen Turner's production of Crimes of the Heart (Roundabout); and a summer at the Williamstown Theater Festival. Jacob was a member of Piven's Young People's Company in high school.

Saren Nofs-Snyder (Masha) makes her debut with Piven Theatre Ensemble in Three Sisters. She was in Three Sisters at the Babcock Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has waited 15 years to play the role of Masha. Most recently she was seen as Mrs. Alving in Ghosts at Bohemian Theatre ensemble, and Sarah in Return to Haifa at Next Theatre. A Jeff Award Nominee, Saren has worked locally with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Remy Bumppo, The Silk Road Theatre Project and Circle Theatre, among others. Regionally: Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Artists Repertory Theatre, Riverside Shakespeare Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company and many others. Saren earned an MFA in Acting from the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
Jay Reed (Solyony) returns to Piven where he was last seen in Two By Pinter and Disappearing Acts. This summer he played Omar in The Big Funk by John Patrick Shanley. Other credits include Orphans, Kiss of the Spiderwoman and La Cat Show. Jay got his BFA in Acting from Ithaca College. He also had the honor of being in the Young People's Company where he honed his machine building skills.

Daniel Smith (Vershinin) returns to the Piven Theatre, where he was last seen in Brilliant Traces, directed by Joyce Piven. He has previously worked with Victory Gardens, Defiant, Bailiwick, and Steppenwolf Theatre. His last theatrical appearance was at The Public Theatre for the New York premiere of Space, written and directed by Tina Landau.

Joanne Underwood (Olga) is an artistic associate at the Piven Theatre, where she has appeared in numerous productions. Favorite roles include Irina in Chekov's Three Sisters directed by Joyce Piven, Cordelia in King Lear starring Bryne Piven, and Florina in Mad Forest (After Dark Award: Best Ensemble). Other Chicago credits include Marina in Pericles @greasy joan and company and Mary in The Red Coat at Raven Theater.

Previews are October 16 & 17, 2010. The opening press performance is on Monday, October 18, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays.

Ticket prices are $15 for preview performances and $25 for regular run performances. Tickets are available at the Box Office, 927 Noyes Street, Evanston; (847) 866-8049 or online at www.piventheatre.org. Student and group rates are available by calling the box office at 847-866-8049 or visiting the website at www.piventheatre.org.

About The Piven Theatre
For over 35 years, the Piven Theatre Workshop has remained a nationally respected acting school and professional Equity theatre. Within recent history, Piven Theatre has received a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Sound Design, and an After Dark Award for Outstanding Ensemble. The theatre has also received several Joseph Jefferson Recommendations, a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Adaptation, and Jeff nominations for Best Original Score, and Best Ensemble. Co-Founders Byrne & Joyce Piven have trained countless theatre artists such as John and Joan Cusack, Kate Walsh, Aidan Quinn, Lili Taylor and Jeremy Piven, to name only a few.

Stagebill honored the Pivens with the designation "Chicago's first family of acting." The Pivens have been awarded the Evanston Mayors Award for the Arts, Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Chicago Improv Festival, and the University of Chicago's Glorious Gargoyle Award for lifetime contribution to the theatre. They were named 1996 Artists of the Year by the Chicago Tribune and were recipients of the Chicago Drama League's 1998 Crystal Award. In 2000, they were awarded a Joseph Jefferson Lifetime Achievement Award. For more information, please visit www.piventheatre.org.

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