Furious Theatre to Present FOXFINDER U.S. Premiere in Pasadena, Jan 8-Feb 2

The critically-acclaimed FURIOUS THEATRE COMPANY will present the second show of their 2013-2014 season, in association with, and direct from its critically-acclaimed run at the ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATRE in Portland, the rolling U.S. premiere of FOXFINDER written by Dawn King and directed by Dámaso Rodriguez. FOXFINDER will feature Furious members, Sara Hennessey and Shawn Lee as well as Amanda Soden and Joshua Weinstein and will preview on Wednesday, January 8, Thursday, January 9 and Friday, January 10 at 8pm and will open on Saturday, January 11 at 8:00pm and run through Sunday, February 2 at the Pasadena Playhouse Carrie Hamilton Theatre, 39 S. El Molino Ave. in Pasadena.

In FOXFINDER, Dawn King's gripping, futuristic parable, beats an incendiary plot that pulses with menace and suspicion. In rural England, a blight of bad luck has befallen the countryside and a fox infestation may be to blame. The totalitarian government sends an agent, a "foxfinder," into the home of Judith and Samuel Covey and the invasive inspection whirls simple lives into a frenzy of finger-pointing and distrust. As the bizarre scrutiny intensifies, guilt, fear and distorted realities fuel a feverish hunt to explain the unknown.

DÁMASO RODRIGUEZ (Director) is the Artistic Director of Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland having joined the theatre in July of 2013. He is a Co-Founder of the Los Angeles-based Furious Theatre Company, an ensemble-driven theatre committed to daring, socially relevant new plays of visceral impact, where he served as Co-Artistic Director from 2001-2012. From 2007-2010 he served as Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse, where he directed mainstage productions and oversaw programming for The Playhouse's Second Stage, including its Hothouse New Play Development Program. His directing credits include work at the Pasadena Playhouse, Intiman, South Coast Repertory, Laguna Playhouse, A Noise Within, TheTheatre@Boston Court, Odyssey Theatre, The Blank Theatre, The Road Theatre and Furious Theatre. Recent productions include the West Coast premieres of Dan LeFranc's The Big Meal and Jeffrey Hatcher's Ten Chimneys at Artists Rep, Ruth and Augustus Goetz' The Heiress (starring Richard Chamberlain); Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes (starring Kelly McGillis) and Austin Pendleton's Orson's Shadow (starring Sharon Lawrence) at the Pasadena Playhouse; Clifford Odets' Paradise Lost at Intiman and Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, Tennessee Williams' The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms and Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma at A Noise Within. Furious Theatre credits include the Los Angeles premieres of Craig Wright's Grace, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's Boom and Hunter Gatherers, Bruce Norris' The Pain and the Itch, Yussef El Guindi's Back of the Throat, Richard Bean's The God Botherers, Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things and the world premieres of Alex Jones' Canned Peaches in Syrup and Matt Pelfrey's An Impending Rupture of the Belly and No Good Deed, among many others. Up next at Artists Rep he will direct the revival of J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World. Dámaso is a recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, the Back Stage Garland Award, the NAACP Theatre Award and the Pasadena Arts Council's Gold Crown Award. In 2010, Furious Theatre Company was named to LA Weekly's list of "Best Theatres of the Decade." In 2012, he was honored as a finalist for the Zelda Fichandler Award. He is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

DAWN KING (Playwright) is an award-winning writer who works in theatre, radio and film. Dawn's play Foxfinder won the Papatango Theatre Company writing competition in 2011 and was produced at the Finborough Theatre, London, where it was critically acclaimed and sold out. Foxfinder won Dawn 'Most Promising Playwright' at the Off West End Awards 2012 and was shortlisted for the Susan Smith Blackburn prize 2012 and the James Tait Black drama prize 2011/2012. Foxfinder has had productions in Sweden (Gothenburg English Speaking Theatre) and Australia (Red Stitch). Dawn was Pearson writer-in-residence at the Finborough for 2012. She was one of 10 writers chosen for the BBC Writersroom 10 scheme in 2012, and through this, received a seed commission and residency at West Yorkshire Playhouse, where she wrote Ciphers. Ciphers is being produced by Out of Joint, Exeter Northcott and The Bush and will tour the UK in 2013/2014. In 2013, Dawn participated in the prestigious Channel Four television writing scheme, 4 Screenwriting 2013. She has an original drama series in development with Touchpaper Television. Her short film, The Karman Line, is in post-production. Dawn writes regularly for radio and has had radio plays broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 4 Extra and BBC Radio 3. Previous theatre work includes Water Sculptures/ZOO double bill (The Union Theatre); Face Value (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) and Doghead Boy and Sharkmouth Go To Ikea (The Junction, Cambridge). Dawn was a member of both the Soho Theatre and Royal Court Theatre Young Writers' Programmes and has an MA distinction in Writing for Performance from Goldsmiths University, London.

The cast of FOXFINDER features: Sara Hennessy, Shawn Lee, Amanda Soden and Joshua Weinstein.

FOXFINDER has assembled an award-winning design team. The Set/Lighting Design is by Kristeen Willis Crosser. The Sound/Composer Design is by Furious Theatre member Doug Newell. The Costume Design is by Gregory Pulver. The Properties Design is by Rusty Tennant.

FOXFINDER preview on Wednesday, January 8 at 8:00pm, Thursday, January 9 at 8:00pm and Friday, January 10 at 8pm and will open on Saturday, January 11 at 8:00pm and run through Sunday, February 2 at the Pasadena Playhouse Carrie Hamilton Theatre, 39 S. El Molino Ave. in Pasadena. Performances will be Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00pm; and Sundays at 2:30pm & 7:30pm.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at Furious Theatre's website, www.furioustheatre.org or by calling the Pasadena Playhouse Box Office at (626) 356-7529. Previews are $10.

The critically acclaimed Furious Theatre seeks to inspire a new generation of theatre artists and audience members by delivering provocative and challenging stories, delivered with unforgettable performances and stunning production value. The company debuted in April 2002 after Pasadena's Armory Center for the Arts granted them temporary use of a 9,000 sq. foot section of Armory Northwest, a former plastics factory. The group converted the shipping and receiving dock of this raw warehouse into an alternative performance space. They rapidly produced five plays in 12 months. These productions earned numerous award nominations and critics' picks from the Los Angeles media. The company also received the Pasadena Arts Council's Gold Crown Award and The Debut Award from Back Stage. In September of 2004, the legendary Pasadena Playhouse granted Furious a residency at its Balcony Theatre (later renamed the Carrie Hamilton Theatre), The Playhouse's 99-seat Second Stage. During its seven-year residency at the Pasadena Playhouse, Furious Theatre Company produced 18 premieres, which garnered numerous LADCC and LA Weekly Awards and award nominations. Its impressive body of work from 2002-2010 prompted LA Weekly to designate Furious as one of L.A.'s "Best Theatres of the Decade." In 2011, Furious Theatre Company ended its tenure at the Pasadena Playhouse when the Pasadena Playhouse ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy, opting to pursue co- producing partnerships throughout the greater Los Angeles area and beyond. Recent productions and partnerships include the World Premiere of Matt Pelfrey's play NOgoodDEED, which opened in January 2012 at Hollywood's [Inside] the Ford Theatre in partnership with the L.A. County Arts Commission, and the World Premiere Adaptation of Gogol's The Government Inspector in a co-production with The Theatre @Boston Court in Pasadena. More at: www.furioustheatre.org .

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