Connecticut Rep Presents PUNK ROCK, Now thru 4/7

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present Punk Rock, by Simon Stephens, tonight, Mar. 28 - Apr. 7, in the Studio Theatre on the Storrs campus. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 or visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Simon Stephens' play Punk Rock, set at a British boarding school, is inspired by the 1999 Columbine shooting, which Stephens says, "felt like the start of the 21st century." Ferociously funny, complex, contemporary and unnerving, Punk Rock explores the underlying jittery tensions, hormonal headiness and potential violence in a group of affluent, articulate 17 year-old students as they begin to plan for college and the rest of their lives. What happens when kids have the world at their feet, and its weight on their shoulders?

Punk Rock will appear on the CRT Studio stage at a particularly relevant time. As lawmakers contemplate, and in some cases enact, gun control laws in the wake of multiple major crises, playwright Simon Stephens' play (written in 2009) peels back the layers of the teenage psyche for a deeper look into the complexities that may cause someone to break. Mr. Stephens, an award-winning English playwright characterized as part of the "in-yer-face" generation, artfully weaves the highly politically charged issue of gun control with a rich portrayal of the turbulence of adolescence. Warning: This show contains political, social and language content that some will find challenging, maybe even offensive.

Artistic Director Vincent J. Cardinal said, "Punk Rock's plot is horrifyingly ripped from today's headlines. Like the very best drama it challenges us to grapple with tragedy by finding compassion for the darkest heart."

Director Kristin Wold said, "This play is unflinching as it takes us into a world that is frightening, a world that we'd rather not look at, a world which explores the danger and latent violence of humanity. It asks the incredibly difficult question of how it is possible for a young person to go into his school and shoot his classmates. The issue is not gun control (handguns are illegal in England), but rather the psychological and social forces at play in the lives of the characters. The brilliance of the play is that it derails the impulse to demonize and blame the characters. We are asked to be courageous, look at them and see if we can understand."

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Kristin Wold (Director) teaches acting and movement in the BFA and MFA Acting programs at the University of Connecticut. Her directing credits for Connecticut Repertory Theatre include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party, Thin Air: Tales from a Revolution, North Shore Fish, Judevine, Brutality of Fact and Loose Knit. Since 1987, Ms. Wold has been a member of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. Her acting credits there include The Tempest(Ariel) with Olympia Dukakis, The Memory of Water (Teresa), Sea Marks (Timothea Stiles), Othello (Emilia), Ice Glen (Sarah Harding), King Lear (Cordelia), Twelfth Night (Viola), Measure For Measure (Isabella) and Berkeley Square (Helen Pettigrew). She is a Master Teacher in movement and text for Shakespeare & Company's renowned professional actor training programs. Ms. Wold studied at Burt Reynold's Jupiter Theatre, Florida State University and with Tadashi Suzuki in Japan.

The Design team includes: Kailey Hays-Lenihan, Scenic Designer; Erika Johnson, Lighting Designer; Matt Iacozza, Costume Designer; Brandon Purstell, Sound Designer; Anna Woodruff, Dramaturg; and Christianne AE Glenn-Long, Stage Manager.

THE CAST

The play features undergraduate acting students: Alyson Danielczuk, Conor Donnally, Thomas Dubinski, Julia Estrada, Shane Tyler Harris, Colleen Labella, John Manning Jr., and Margaret Sulka; as well as localchild actor Courtney Schoeplein.

Conor Donnally (William Carlisle) is a Sophomore BFA Actor, recently seen in CRT's production of Romeo and Juliet and O Beautiful. Other credits include: Thoroughly Modern Millie,The Producers and The Music Man prior to college. He also performed in Xanadu at ArtsWest T heater in Seattle this summer.

Alyson Danielczuk (Lilly Cahill) is a third year BFA Acting Candidate and an Equity Membership Candidate. CRT credits include Mrs. Van Buren in Intimate Apparel, Martha in Spring Awakening, Dead Woman in Our Town, and Ensemble in I'm Connecticut. Other credits include Thyona in Big Love (GHAA), Maid in The Lesson, and Slave Girl/Others in The Arabian Nights (GHAA). Alyson has also been involved in several projects at UConn including a staged reading of and movement piece based on The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Later this semester, she will be appearing as Melody in CRT's D-series, Be A Good Little Widow.

Thomas Dubinski (Bennett Francis) is a Senior BFA Actor. Past credits include: CRT - Romeo and Juliet (Sampson), O Beautiful (Erik Waters), Spring Awakening (Georg), tick tick... Boom! (John), The Miser (Clèante), Pride and Prejudice (Captain Carter), Othello (Herald); Lark Play Development Center - Graffiti Drimz (Sorin's Dad) and Doctoring (Brian).

Please call 860-486-2113 for tickets or for more information. Please call the box office or visit www.crt.uconn.edu for specific show dates and times because performance schedules vary and are subject to change. Evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Matinee performances start at 2 p.m. Ticket prices range from $11- $30.

CRT is the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. CRT productions are directed, designed by, and cast with visiting professional artists, including Equity actors, faculty members, and the department's most advanced student artists. The synergy between professional and advanced student artists creates extraordinary theatre and a unique learning environment

Pictured: William Carlisle (played by Connor Donnally)with Lilly Cahill (played by Alyson Danielczuk) in a scene from Connecticut Repertory Theatre's Studio Works Series production of Punk Rock. Photo by Sean Nicholl.

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