Convergence-Continuum Presents KIMBERLY AKIMBO, 3/19-4/17

Tremont's resident theatre company, convergence-continuum, opens its 2010 season at the Liminis theatre with KIMBERLY AKIMBO, a wacky and warmhearted dark comedy by David Linsay-Abaire.

Teenagers grow up so fast these days; but in Kimberly's case, way too fast. Kimberly is a 16-year-old suburban teenager, but due to a rare condition, she ages physically at 4½ times the usual rate. And as if that, on top of all the usual teenage high-school stuff weren't enough, like the nerdy guy in her class that hangs around her all the time, she also has to contend with a pregnant, hypochondriac mother, a rarely sober father and a homeless, scam-artist aunt. "A wacky, touching and totally charming dark comedy that gives a whole new meaning to 'coming of age story.'" -NY Daily News. "Kimberly Akimbo is at once a shrewd satire, a black comedy and a heartbreaking study of how time wounds everyone." -NY Times.

KIMBERLY AKIMBO is directed by convergence's Artistic Director, Clyde Simon, and features actors Amy Bistok-Bunce, Scott Gorbach, Tom Kondilas, Marcia Mandell and Lauren B. Smith. Designers include Colleen Albrecht (lights), Joe Kubelka (sound), Sade Wolfkitten (costumes), and Jim Valore (set) . Stage Manager is Lucy Bredeson-Smith.

KIMBERLY AKIMBO opens Friday, March 19 and runs at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through April 17 at the Liminis, 2438 Scranton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for students and seniors (65+). For reservations and information call 216-687-0074 or visit www.convergence-continuum.org on the web.

The Playwright: David Lindsay-Abaire

David Lindsay-Abaire received the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Rabbit Hole, which premiered on Broadway at MTC's Biltmore Theatre. Rabbit Hole also received five Tony Award nominations, including Best Play, and the Spirit of America Award. His other works include Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, Wonder of the World, High Fidelity, and A Devil Inside, among others. In addition to his work in theatre, Mr. Lindsay-Abaire wrote the screenplay for the Newline feature Inkheart, and Sony Picture's upcoming Spider-Man 4. He is also currently at work on screen adaptations of his plays Rabbit Hole for 20th Century Fox, starring Nicole Kidman, and Kimberly Akimbo for Killer Films and DreamWorks. He is a New Dramatists alum, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the Juilliard School, as well as a member of the WGA and the Dramatists Guild Council.

Walking a fine line between grave reality and joyous lunacy, the worlds of his plays are often dark, funny, blithe, enigmatic, hopeful and ironic, Lindsay-Abaire describes his plays as centering around "outsiders in search of clarity." He claims he has always thought that theatre is a place for absurd things to happen and tends to stay away from realism in his writings, specifically looking for characters who look at the world differently than everyone else.

The Play: KIMBERLY AKIMBO

Kimberly Akimbo was commissioned, developed and first produced by South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California, premiering on May 13 2001. A revised version was produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City, opening in February 2003 to rave reviews.

The Company: convergence-continuum
convergence-continuum was founded in 2001 by Clyde Simon (Artistic Director) and Brian Breth. After completion of the renovations of the Liminis, the company's artistic home in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, into an intimate, versatile, storefront performance space, the company then transformed it into an 18th century French asylum for its first production, a four-weekend run of QUILLS by Doug Wright, in August 2002. For the company's second production (Oct. 2002), the Liminis was converted into a junkyard outside the city of Azusa for a four-weekend run of Sam Shepard's THE UNSEEN HAND. Since then, the company has continued to produce alternative/experimental theatre work, and to completely transform the Liminis for each show, immersing audiences in the world of the play in up-close productions. (Maximum seating is 40-50 depending on the set-up for each show.)

KIMBERLY AKIMBO, the company's 33rd production, is the first of six in the 2010 Season (our ninth). The company's season runs from Spring through Fall, with a hiatus over the Winter.

All of the cast and crew for KIMBERLY AKIMBO have been involved in previous convergence-continuum productions in many and various capacities. The company seeks to create a core ensemble that continues to work together over the long term in exploring and developing its artistic voice, and performance and production practices to create up-close, environmentally staged productions that challenge the status quo and extend the boundaries of theatre.

 

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