Martin Sola and Nicholas Urda Star in CRT's OLIVES AND BLOOD, Running Now thru 10/12

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will open their 2014-15 season with Olives and Blood at the Nafe Katter Theatre today, October 2nd - 12th. Written by Michael Bradford, this new play stars Martín Solá as Juan Luis Trescante Medina, the aging fascist who claims responsibility for the murder of poet-playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, played by Nicholas Urda.

Martín Solá has appeared on Broadway in The King and I, Baz Luhrmann's La Boheme and Coram Boy. His regional credits include The Kennedy Center, The Goodspeed Opera House, The Signature Theatre and The Sundance Theatre. Solá has also appeared onstage in performance singing with the New York Pops. He played the lead role in the off-Broadway world premiere of All Eyes and Ears, directed by Eduardo Machado with INTAR.

The cast will feature Equity actors Nicholas Urda as Lorca, Anita Petry as Margarite/The Actress, Anthony J. Goes as Alonso/Ignacio, and Dale AJ Rose as Eduardo. The cast also includes Saul Alvarez, Whitney Andrews, Gabriel Aprea, Kent Coleman, and Derrick Holmes.

Olives and Blood tells the story of Juan Luis Trescante, an aging fascist that is called before a judiciary tribunal to testify about his involvement in the murder of Spanish poet-playwright Federico Garcia Lorca. Moving in time and space between the 1930s and 1970s, Bradford explores the last days of the talented poet, and the political and social motivations that attempted to silence his voice. A relatively new play Olives and Blood was first produced in New York City at HERE in 2012. It received its British premiere in the fall of 2013 in London at Brixton East. Michael Bradford's work has been produced Off-Broadway at the American Place Theatre, and also in New York at the Lark Developmental theatre, the Flea, The Access and the NADA Theatre.

It is said in Spain that the dead are more alive than the day they were born. So it is for the presumed murderer of Federico Garcia Lorca, Juan Luis Trescante Medina. 60 years after Lorca's unsolved death, the aging fascist, Trescante, fights to hold onto the myth of an execution that has defined his life but failed to silence the great poet. In Spain, sixty years is little more than a breath, and a reckoning is all but inevitable. Olives and Blood investigates the repression of the artist in times of political upheaval and the power of a poetic voice that resonates beyond the confines of the flesh. Bradford examines how an artist's life may end, but their work continues on. Riveting and thought provoking, this plunge into the resonance of art is directed by Gary M. English (Pentecost, A Man for All Seasons).

Preview performance is October 2, 2014. Opening night is Friday October 3, performances continue through October 12, 2014 onstage at the Nafe Katter Theatre on the campus of UConn in Storrs, CT. Tickets are available online at crt.uconn.edu or via phone at 860-486-2113. Subscriptions for the entire 2014-15 season are still available.

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Gary English (Director/Scenic Designer) is the Founding Artistic Director of Connecticut Repertory Theatre and served as Artistic Director and Department Head in Dramatic Arts for fifteen years. Gary English holds a BFA from the University of Arizona and an MFA in Stage Design from Northwestern University. In addition to his current position at UCONN he has also served on the Faculty at the State University of New York and at Carnegie-Mellon University. Recent major directing credits include The Miracle Worker, and American Primitive, both by William Gibson, and produced at The Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, MA. Other projects at CRT include A Man For All Seasons, Pentecost, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, A Little Night Music, Carousel, Man Of La Mancha (which received the 1997 Best Musical Award for the Connecticut Critics' Circle), Wings, The Musical (which was nominated for Best Direction by the Connecticut Critics Circle), Candide, A Cry Of Players, Jesus Christ Superstar, Our Country's Good, and the world premiere of William Gibson's play, Jonah's Dream.

As a designer, his work includes scenery and costumes for Off-Broadway, television and over 70 productions at many of America's leading repertory theatres, including Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse In the Park, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Buffalo Studio Arena, StageWest, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Barter Theatre, Brunswick Music Theatre, American Stage Festival, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and North Shore Music Theatre.

Michael Bradford is an Associate Professor of Dramatic Arts and Director of the Theatre Studies BA at the University of Connecticut, where he teaches theatre history, dramaticliterature, and playwriting. He has written numerous full-length and one-act plays produced at various venues in New York, including Off-Broadway at the American PlaceTheatre, the LARK Play Developmental Center, the Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Access and the NADA Theatre. Regionally, his work has premiered at the Hygienic Arts Theatre (New London, Ct), eta Creative Arts Foundation, Inc. (Chicago, Il.), the Playhouse on Park Theatre (Hartford, Ct.), the HERE Art Center (NYC) and a World Premiere at A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) (Seattle, Wa.). His work is published by Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. and can also be found Michael is also the playwright-in-residence for the Bated Breath Theatre Company, Hartford, Ct.

The Design Team includes: Thamiris Esteves, Costume Designer; Michael Chybowski, Lighting Designer; Tim Brown and Josh Winiarski, Video Designers; and Lexi Macchiaroli, Sound Designer. The Production Stage Manager is Julien Winter Tremblay.

THE CAST

Martín Solá (Trescante) is delighted to make his CRT debut as Tescante in "Olives and Blood." He has performed on Broadway in "The King and I", "La Bohème", and "Coram Boy". Martín has also appeared in productions with the prestigious City Center Encores The Public Theater, New York City Opera, and INTAR. Regional credits include The Goodspeed Opera House, The Signature Theater, The Sundance Theater Lab, and The Banff Center. Martin also made an appearance on CBS "Hostages" and starred in the award winning independent film short " Sabado Morning".

Nicholas Urda (Federico Garcia Lorca) was last seen onstage as Valentine in Two Gentlemen of Verona with Shakespeare on the Sound in Rowayton, CT. Other credits include: The Off-Broadway premiere of The Preacher and The Shrink, Counselor James in Billy Witch (APAC), Wheeler in Costa Rehab (MTWorks), Brutus in Julius Caesar (Curious Frog), The Real Thing, The Shrew Tamer (Northern Stage), Private Lives (Two River Theatre), Othello, starring Patrick Page and Avery Brooks, Comedy of Errors, Don Juan, The Persians, Loves Labour's Lost (Shakespeare Theatre Co, DC), Loves Labour's Lost (Royal Shakespeare Co). His film Credits Include: White Irish Drinkers, Audition directed by Matt Herron and many other shorts and commercials.

Anthony J. Goes (Alonso/Ignacio) graduated from UConn in 2014 with his MFA in Acting. Past CRT credits include: Much Ado About Nothing, Three Musketeers, Big Love, Hairspray, His Girl Friday, Romeo & Juliet, O Beautiful, and Odysseus DOA. Regional credits include: Chautauqua Theatre Company, Foothills Theatre, Fiddlehead Theatre, and The GAMM to name a few. Anthony is also a graduate of the New England School of Clowning.

Anita Petry (Actress/ Margarite) holds a BA in Theatre from The City College of New York and an MFA in Acting from Columbia University where she studied with Andrei Serban, Anne Bogart and Kristin Linklater. Her New York credits include roles with Classic Stage Company, Mabou Mines and INTAR Theatre. She has performed onstage internationally in Brazil at Teatro Dulcina and Teatro Helena Barcelos. She can be seen as Spanish professor Camila Perez in the Amazon.com original series "Alpha House" and soon in the new Google Translate commercial.

Box Office Location -- Please note that the CRT box office is now housed in the Nafe Katter Theatre, located at 820 Bolton Road. There is short term parking on Bolton Road, in the loading zone directly in front of the theatre. CRT tickets can no longer be purchased at the Jorgensen box office. CRT's box office is open Monday-Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and will also be open one hour prior to show time at the theatre where the performance is taking place. Weeknight evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. Weekend evening performances start at 8 p.m. Matinee performances start at 2 p.m. Ticket prices range from $7 - $37.

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: Martín Solá stars as Juan Luis Trescante Medina.

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