The Classics Theatre Project's THE CHERRY ORCHARD Announces Casting

The Classics Theatre Project's Artistic Director Joey Folsom today announced casting and creative team details for the Company's inaugural production, in a new adaptation by Ben Schroth of Anton Chekov's The Cherry Orchard. The Cherry Orchard, directed by Joey Folsom, will run June 21 - July 14, 2018 in the Kim Dawson Theatre at the The Trinity River Arts Center. The ensemble cast features Emily Scott Banks as Lyubov, Stan Graner as Gaev, Matthew Eitzen as Yepikodov, Francis Fuselier at Firs, Sterling Gafford as Trofimov, Taylor Harris as Lopakin, Gretchen Hahn as Barbara, Courtney Mentzel as Anna, James Hansen Prince as Pishtchik, Mary-Margaret Pyeatt as Charlotte, Rachel Reininger as Dunyasha, and Dean Wray as Yasha.

The creative team, in addition to Joey Folsom as Director, includes Ryan McBride as Production Designer. The Classics Theatre Project is nonprofit organization managed by Joey Folsom as Artistic Director and Gregory Patterson as Executive Director with Anthony Fortino, CPA, as Director of Finance, and Will Hudson as Director of Social and Digital Media. The Company's Board of Directors is led by President, April Bosworth, Vice President, Stan Graner, Secretary, Debbie Staggs and board members Judy Birchfield, Adam Litwin, Dawn Mickey, Gabe Nicolella, and Dennis Yslas. The Advisory Board consists of Maureen Anderson, Nancy Brenner, Mary Carpenter, Jennifer Martinez, Corky Pledger, and Andrea Redmon.

Individual Tickets to The Cherry Orchard, will go onsale, Tuesday, May 15 at 12 noon, and will be available by calling (469) 652-6614 or online at www.theclassicstheatreproject.com . Tickets are $25 for general admission with special discounts for students and seniors. Preview ticket prices (June 21 and 22) are $15.

Widely regarded as an influential classic of 20th Century Theatre, The Cherry Orchard is playwright Anton Chekhov's last work, written in 1903 and set against the backdrop of the socioeconomic changes taking place in Russia in the mid-19th century with the rise of the middle class, the abolition of serfdom and the decline in the power of the aristocracy. Centering on the inevitability of change and the reaction to, it is a work Chekhov described as a comedy and its first director (Konstantin Stanislavski) declared a tragedy for the plain man, with that duality fascinating those mounting it and audiences for generations. In the play, a family finds itself unable to save its estate and beloved cherry orchard when nostalgia for a fictitious golden age, desire for the safety of dated familiarities and an ignorance of youth and responsibility combine to create, as director Joey Folsom coins it, "the action of inaction" against looming economic and social ruin.

Tickets:

Online at www.theclassicstheatreproject.com

By phone: (469) 652-6614

Joey Folsom is the Artistic Director of The Classics Theatre Project. Joey recently appeared in Brick Road Theatre's The Cradle Will Rock. His recent credits include Lenny in Lenny Bruce is Back, Odysseus Rex in Year of the Rooster (Upstart Productions) Hank Williams in Hank Williams: Lost Highway (WaterTower Theatre), George in All My Sons (WaterTower Theatre), Danny in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Broken Gears Project Theatre). His numerous television/film credits include Camera Store, Cronus, Soul Frackers, Arc, and The Intangible Truth of Chance Malloy. He was the Artistic Director of Upstart Productions, and recently produced an acclaimed production of Lefty for Upstart, directed by David Meglino. Joey has won numerous awards and is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a Bachelor's degree in performance.

Ben Schroth is an award-winning North Texas actor, director, technician and playwright. Ben's comedy, Sherlock Holmes Versus Godzilla, won the 2012 Steve Lovett Award for Outstanding New Work by a Local Playwright. Sherlock Holmes Versus Godzilla was revived at The Pocket Sandwich Theatre in August, 2013 and again in July of 2016. The sequel, Sherlock Holmes on Ice! also wowed Dallas audiences. Ben's short play,Secrets of My Prison House, premiered in 2013 at MILC, Irving, TX as part of their Theatre on the Edge Series. Secrets was nominated for the 2013 Steve Lovett Award for Best New Play by a Local Author. One Thirty Productions premiered Ben's Our Breakfast at the 2014 Festival of Independent Theaters. BHCC, Dallas, Texas. Ben's 10 minute-type monologue Tyler's Mompremiered at the YOLO Solo Fest in Dallas and moved on to the NTSU Theatre and then to Sundown Collaborative's Short Works Festival, in 2014. If I Am Good, Ben's noir murder thriller, was a 2013 finalist in the Arch & Bruce Brown Foundation new script competition. You Hear That? a new 10 minute comedy, premiered as a finalist of the 2016 PlayPride at Dallas' Bishop Arts Theatre Center. Ben's raw fairy tale, Little Red, won a spot in Pegasus Theatre's inaugural Fresh Reads festival-- only three plays were so honored. Ben's Sci-Fi comedyGanymede, won the Wordsmyth Texas Playwrights Festival in 2018.

Russian writer Anton Chekhov is recognized as a master of the modern short story and a leading playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born on January 29, 1860, in Taganrog, Russia. Through stories such as "The Steppe" and "The Lady with the Dog," and plays such as The Seagull and Uncle Vanya, the prolific writer emphasized the depths of human nature, the hidden significance of everyday events, and the fine line between comedy and tragedy. Chekhov died of tuberculosis on July 15, 1904, in Badenweiler, Germany.

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