PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT Plays TheatreSquared, Now thru 12/30

TheatreSquared will open Tenneessee Williams' only comedy, set on Christmas Eve and rarely seen since its 1961 premiere, this week in a new production directed by Broadway veteran Sean Patrick Reilly. After a disastrous wedding night, George deposits Isabel at the home of his old army buddy, Ralph-whose own wife has just walked out-and promptly disappears. The unexpectedly warmhearted and poignant drama that follows is vintage Williams, with all the hallmarks that have defined him as one of America's greatest playwrights.

Following a preview performance tonight, December 6, Period of Adjustment opens Friday, December 7 and plays through Sunday, December 30 in the intimate Studio Theatre at Walton Arts Center's Nadine Baum Studios, with performances Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays at 7:30, Saturdays and 7:30 (and 2:00 on Dec. 15 and 23), and Sundays at 2:00 and 7:00. Tickets start at $24 ($10/under 30) at the Walton Arts Center Box Office, and may be purchased at (479) 443-5600 or at theatre2.org.

"It's stunning that so few audiences across the country have seen this gem of a work by Tennessee Williams," said T2 Artistic Director Robert Ford. "We're thrilled to help rediscover it. Like every great holiday story, it's a tale of redemption-four people in love trying to find their ways back to each other through a thicket of emotions, expectations and simple human mistakes. You really root for them, and that's why it's lovely that-in this rare case-Williams has written a comedy."

TheatreSquared's new production is directed by Sean Patrick Reilly. Trained at Brown, Harvard, as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Reilly's career as an actor and director spans Broadway, regional stages, television and film. Directing credits include the award-winning current Off Broadway hit Cloud 8; PREY at the New York International Fringe Festival; Tennessee Williams' Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen (Soho Rep.); Terry Neal's Future (HERE Theatre); The Killer Inside Me (Promenade Theatre); In Our Time (Atlantic Theater); Holy Water (Flea) Here We Are Mrs. Parker (La Mama); Pvt. Wars; (Harold Clurman Theatre); Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Players Theatre); and A Lie of the Mind (Second Story). He appeared on Broadway in Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts and Martin McDonough's The Beauty Queen of Leenane. He has also appeared at Atlantic Theater Company, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre, The Public/NYSF, Naked Angels, The Cherry Lane, NYTW, Second Stage, Circle in the Square, La Mama, Circle Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Westport Playhouse, Alley Theatre, Huntington Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Trinity Rep, ART, Dallas Theatre Center, Kennedy Center, Royal Shakespeare Company, Edinburgh Festival, and others. Film and Television: ARGO; A Wife Alone; Fair Game; Howl; Following Bliss; Something Borrowed; Solitary Man; The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Man of the Century; Jerry Maguire; State and Main; Sleepers; "Blue Bloods"(CBS); "Bored to Death (HBO)";"MildrEd Pierce"(HBO); "Damages " (FX); "Third Watch" (NBC); "The Black Donnellys"(NBC); and "Law and Order" (NBC).

The cast for Period of Adjustment includes: Bryce Kemph (It's a Wonderful Life, Moonlight and Magnolias, Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol); David Mason, Elizabeth France, and Madeleine James. The creative team includes: Sean Patrick Reilly (director); Anna Lucia DeDe-Panken (stage manager); Josh Tillotson (production head); Alan Edward Schwanke (scenic design); Michael J. Riha (lighting design); Latricia Reichman (costume design); Will Eubanks (sound design); Ginny Headrick (properties design); and Emily Bohannan (assistant stage manager).

Though a relative stranger to the American stage for fifty years, Period of Adjustment was a breakout success in its recent London revival. "You must see this play," wrote the critic for the Sunday Times. "It's like a diamond cut with its own stardust."

Tickets for Period of Adjustment are on sale now at the Walton Arts Center Box Office, and can be reserved by calling (479) 443-5600 or visiting theatre2.org. Tickets are $22-$34. The Opening Night performance on December 7 includes a champagne toast at intermission and a post-show reception with the cast and creative team catered by BHK on the Square. Through the "30 under 30" youth access program, 30 $10 tickets are reserved for patrons under the age of 30 at every performance. Group discounts of up to 15% are also available for groups of eight or more. Recommended for ages 13 and up due to mild adult language.

TheatreSquared's locally produced and nationally acclaimed productions reach 22,000 patrons each year. The company is Northwest Arkansas's only year-round professional theatre, offering a unique audience experience in its intimate 175-seat theatre at Walton Arts Center's Nadine Baum Studios. In 2011, TheatreSquared was recognized by the American Theatre Wing, founder of the Tony Awards, as one of the nation's ten most promising emerging theatres.

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