ANOTHER REVOLUTION Premieres at Gulfshore Playhouse This Week

For the final production of the 2021-2022 professional season, Gulfshore Playhouse announces the world premiere of "Another Revolution" by Jacqueline Bircher. The performance runs April 30 through May 15, with preview performances on April 28 and 29.

Set in the tumultuous year of 1968 against the backdrop of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and the Vietnam War, two Columbia University graduate students are forced to share a lab and find they are opposed in more than just their scientific disciplines. Amid a campus devolving into political chaos and a growing sense of hopelessness and uncertainty, these students discover what it's like to be thrown into someone else's orbit. Will their differences create an insurmountable obstacle or will they learn to find hope in one another?

The play came to Kristen Coury' attention through its Annual New Works Festival submission process. Although the play didn't qualify for the festival, the decision was made to move it straight to production. Unfortunately, this plan was delayed by a year due to the pandemic. "I am so pleased to finally be able to produce this stellar work by such a talented emerging playwright," said Kristen Coury, CEO and Producing Artistic Director of Gulfshore Playhouse. "I think our patrons will resonate with being college-aged in 1968, and students today will find the themes and challenges incredibly similar to their lives today."

Playwright Jacqueline Bircher's work has been produced and/or developed at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Primary Stages, and others, and she has been named a finalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Lark Playwrights' Conference, and the NNPN National Showcase of New Plays, among others. Bircher was inspired to write the play because she saw many "parallels with the political and global turmoil of 1968 and the present day," believing that the story will resonate with both those who lived through the 1960s and with the generations that followed.

Director Lisa Rothe adds to Bircher's statement, saying how 1968 was an explosive time and a turning point in United States history. She comes to Gulfshore Playhouse after directing the Drama League-nominated "Belly of the Beast" at New York Theatre Workshop. Rothe has directed acclaimed work at many of the nation's top theaters, including the Guthrie, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and more. Rothe previously served as the Director of New Works at Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

Krishna Doodnauth will originate the role of Henry. He is a New York-based actor, receiving his BFA from NYU and studying under the Stella Adler Studio. Most recently, as Lysander in A Midsummer's Night Dream, he toured New York City, performing at public schools, holding facilities, and assisted living. He will soon appear in the upcoming feature film Peas and Carrots.

Rachael Fox will play the role of Kat. Rachael Fox is an actor and writer, originally hailing from Kansas City, MO. Her Off-Broadway credits include "The Inferno," "The King's Masquerade" and "The Forgotten" (Sleep No More). Regional credits include "Blood at the Root" and "Commedia," (Chautauqua Theater Company), "Why Did Desdemona Love the Moor?" (Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival and the St. Louis Tennessee Williams Festival), "Much Ado About Nothing," "The Learned Ladies," "Tovarich," "As You Like It," "Trelawny of the Wells," "Measure for Measure," "Macbeth" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey), "King Lear," "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Tame That" (Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre); Film credits include "Campus Code," starring Martin Scorsese and Ray Liotta, the recurring role of Charlie on the award-winning web series "Here We Wait," as well as independent films "The Sound of Ill Days," and "Manhattan." She holds an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse acting conservatory in New York.

The creative team features:

• Lighting and Scenic Designer Steve TenEyck is pleased to be returning to Gulfshore Playhouse having designed scenery for the "Broadway Cabaret Series" during the 2020-2021 season, scenery and lighting for "Skylight" in the 2018-2019 season and lighting for "Constellations" in the 2016-2017 season. He has also designed for The Dallas Theatre Center, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Syracuse Stage, The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, The Hangar Theatre, The Kitchen Theatre, Madison Opera, Syracuse Opera, Anchorage Opera, Minnesota Opera, The Florida Grand Opera to name a few. Steve is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and teaches design at Ithaca College in New York.

• Renee Baker, the costume designer, is also an Air Force Veteran, holds a Master's Degree in Apparel Design, is training to become a yoga instructor, and is an entrepreneur-having founded Tiger Stone Studios, based in Fort Myers, Fl, which hosts personal styling services, digital media productions, and collaborative creative space for other artists. With a background in fashion, Renee has been designing costumes for close to a decade. Whether on stage, on the catwalk, or alongside her personal clients, her design philosophy embraces beauty, collaboration, and the art of self-expression. She believes clothing is a powerful element of storytelling, and that when people look their best, they feel their best, and perform their best. Renee expresses her love for life, art, and connection through every design. Previous Costume Design Credits at Gulfshore Playhouse: "The Invisible Hand," "Love Letters," "Native Gardens," "Holmes and Watson," "StarCrossed," and "Shipwrecked."

• Sound Designer Lindsay Jones has designed on Broadway in shows such as "Slave Play" (Tony nomination), "The Nap," "Bronx Bombers," "A Time To Kill." Off-Broadway credits include "Privacy," "Dry Powder" (Public Theater); "Mankind," "Bootycandy" (Playwrights Horizons); "Rx" (Primary Stages) and many others. International credits include shows at the Royal Shakespeare Company (England) and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Canada). Regional works include Mark Taper Forum, Arena Stage, Goodman Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, The Old Globe, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Lookingglass Theatre Company and many others. Film/television scoring work: "The Brass Teapot" for Magnolia Pictures, "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin" (2006 Academy Award Winner, Best Documentary Short Subject) for HBO Films. Awards: two Tony Award nominations (Best Score and Best Sound Design Of A Play), seven Joseph Jefferson Awards and 24 nominations; two Ovation Awards and three nominations; LA and SD Drama Critics Circle Awards; two ASCAP Plus Awards; multiple nominations for Drama Desk, Barrymore, Helen Hayes and IRNE, among many others. Founding member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA) and The Collaborator Party.

• Danny Kuenzel, production stage manager, is giddy to the point of vibrating to be back in Naples, managing another production at Gulfshore Playhouse. She tackled "The 39 Steps" earlier this season and "Bedlam's Saint Joan" back in 2019. Other regional credits include Mason Street Warehouse, Clarence Brown Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, The Alley Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, and the Contemporary American Theatre Festival. 2022 marks Danny's 20th year as a member of Actors' Equity Association.

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