Rec Room Arts Brings Ike Holter to Houston Audiences with Regional Premiere of SENDER

October 19 through November 11, Rec Room Arts will stage SENDER, a raucous new comedy by Chicago-based playwright Ike Holter, recent recipient of the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for Drama and author of notable works EXIT STRATEGY and HIT THE WALL.

In SENDER, Holter utilizes his signature rich, lyrical, rapid-fire language as he presents a millennial-centric, pressure-cooker of a world that's edgy, challenging, socially relevant, and hilarious.

The premise? A year after faking his own death, Lynx, played by Houston Press Best Supporting Actor, Jeremy Gee, shows up on the back porch of his former Chicago apartment alive and well and ready to pick up where he left off with his long-suffering girlfriend Tess, played by Stephanie Wittels Wachs.

Lynx is shocked to discover that she isn't exactly rolling out the red carpet. He is soon confronted by Cassandra, played by powerhouse Candice d'Meza, the only actual adult in the group, and her new husband and father of her unborn child, Jordan, played by Gabriel Regojo. Jordan recently got a "real" job at Groupon and has moved out to the 'burbs, but his life is thrown into a state of utter chaos when he discovers the best friend he eulogized, memorialized, searched for, and mourned is still very much alive.

SENDER is being directed by Stages Associate Artistic Director, Josh Morrison, who is excited that Rec Room is finally bringing Ike Holter's words to Houston audiences. "[Rec Room] is the perfect company to produce such a phenomenal play," says Morrison. Under his adept direction, an intimate audience of only 50 people per night will witness a razor-sharp, quick-witted, foul-mouthed, and dare we say, jaw-dropping 90-minute play that asks: "What does growing up even mean...and is it even desired in this day and age?"

"Hypothetically, what if you didn't pay any more loans and you didn't pay any more rent? What if you just left the cowardice to their kennels and what if you didn't go into work for 8 hours and what if we just jumped on the first megabus outta here hit the road and didn't look back ever, ever, ever look back, what about that?" - LYNX

"Ike spins these characters completely out of control in this play, and the fun is watching where they'll end up," says Matt Hune, Rec Room Arts' Artistic Director, who also happened to be Holter's college roommate at DePaul in Chicago. "It's been great to see [Holter's] journey as a writer from college to now, since he's grown into one of the most prolific young playwrights in the country. I'm excited that Rec Room is the first company to bring him to Houston, and I know we'll be seeing more of his work here in the future."

The SENDER creative team includes costume design by Laura Moreno, lighting design by Greg Starbird, and set design by Stefan Azizi. The play is stage managed by Timely Rain Watson.

Please note, this play contains nudity and profanity and is intended for mature audiences only.

SENDER opens October 19 and runs through November 11. Performances are 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

The Rec Room Bar opens for happy hour at 5 pm and stays open post-show until 12:00 am. Box office opens at 7:00 pm. House opens at 7:45 pm.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at the door or online at www.recroomarts.org/sender.

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