Photo Flash: Stage West's GABRIEL Opens Tonight

Jeanne is a widow, living on the occupied Channel island of Guernsey. The ancestral home has been commandeered by the German occupiers, forcing her to shift her family to the cottage on the property. The German officer who had been in charge has now been replaced by a Major Von Pfunz, forcing Jeanne into a new and unwelcome alliance. And she has secrets to keep. Her daughter-in-law Lily is Jewish, her housekeeper is making money on the black market, and her young daughter Estelle is conducting her own sort of guerilla warfare on the Germans. And then, as Jeanne is on her first "date" with Von Pfunz, Lily finds a naked and unconscious young man on the beach, near death. When he begins to recover, they find he has no memory of his past. Estelle names him Gabriel. But who is he? He represents something different to each member of the household, and also to Von Pfunz. Is he a German spy? A downed RAF pilot? An angel sent to rescue them? There are no simple answers in this story of wartime intrigue, which is sure to give audiences a thought-provoking and suspenseful experience.

Moira Buffini was born in England in 1965, and studiEd English and Drama at Goldsmiths College, London University from 1983-1986. She subsequently trained as an actor at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. Jordan, co-written with Anna Reynolds in 1992, won a Writers' Guild Award for Best Fringe play. Her 1997 play Gabriel was performed at Soho theatre, winning the LWT Plays on Stage award. 1999's Silence earned Buffini the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for best English-language play by a woman. Loveplay followed at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2001. Dinner ( 2003) premiered at The National Theatre, and transferred to the West End, receiving a nomination for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy. Buffini is a founder member of the Monsterists, a group of playwrights who promote new writing of large scale work in the British theatre. Her other works include Dying For It, a free adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's classic, The Suicide, Marianne Dreams, a dance play with choreographer Will Tuckett, and a screen adaptation of Jane Eyre for BBC Films.

Gabriel is directed by Jim Covault. It will feature Dana Schultes as Jeanne and Garret Storms as Gabriel, both most recently seen in Stage West's What the Butler Saw. Michael Corolla, whose Stage West roles include MR. Jackson in Talking Pictures, will play Von Pfunz. Making their Stage West debuts will be Kelly Pino (most recently seen as Mae in Tuck Everlasting at Dallas Children's Theater) as housekeeper Lake, Tabitha Ray (Claire in the Manhattan Rep production of Moonlight in Boxes) as Lily, and Hayley Lenamon (July in Annie at Casa Manana) as Estelle.

The set will be designed by Jim Covault, with lighting by Michael O'Brien. Costume design will be again be handled by Michael Robinson and Dallas Costume Shoppe, who have provided costumes for several Stage West shows, most recently She Loves Me. Lynn Lovett will handle set décor and props.

Gabriel will preview Thursday, January 10 at 7:30 and Friday, January 11 at 8:00, and will run through Sunday, February 10. Performance times will be Thursday evenings at 7:30, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00, with Sunday matinees at 3:00. The opening night reception will be Saturday, January 12.

Ticket prices range from $28 to $32, with discounts for preview performances, and for students and seniors. Pay What You Can performances will be Sunday, January 13 and Thursday, January 17. Food service is available 90 minutes prior to performances (reservations are necessary), and all Friday nights after January 11 will feature the $39 Prix Fixe Special. Reservations and information are available through the Box Office (817-784-9378), or on the website, www.stagewest.org.

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