HALF OF PLENTY Sets New opening Date For 5/8 At Rogue Machine

Award winning Steppenwolf playwright Lisa Dillman has chosen ROGUE MACHINE to present the West Coast premiere of her play HALF OF PLENTY, for their season opener of 2009. This hilarious and chilling take on lean times and family values in America expresses some all too familiar anxieties on modern living.

Playwright LISA DILLMAN is well recognized by America's best regional theatre companies for her prolific contemporary themes and her solid body of work. Her plays have been produced in Chicago at Steppenwolf, American Theatre Company, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, and Collaboraction. In New York Lisa's work has been produced at the Hypothetical Theatre Company; in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at Theaterwork, and elsewhere around the country. Her play Six Postcards was featured in the Goodman Theatre's 2005 New Stages Festival. Dillman has received the Sprenger-Lang New History Play Prize, the Sarett National Playwriting Award, and the Julie Harris-Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Award, as well as commissions from Steppenwolf, Northlight Theatre, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, and Imagination Theatre; two Illinois Arts Council playwriting fellowships; and residencies at the Millay Colony, the Ragdale Foundation, Blue Mountain Center, the William Inge Center for the Arts, and the O'Neill Theater Center, where her play ROCK SHORE (published by Dramatic Publishing) was presented at the 2003 National Playwrights Conference. Her work has been anthologized in collections from Dramatic Publishing, Smith and Kraus, Heinemann, and New Issues Press.

BARBARA KALLIR (Director) is known by local audiences for her work at Pacific Resident Theatre and Son of Semele. Her production of Sarah Ruhl's MELANCHOLY PLAY at Son of Semele Ensemble was "Recommended" by the LA Times, and was a "Critic's Pick" in Back Stage West and City Beat. THE TOWER by Matthew Maguire (Son of Semele Ensemble) was nominated for 5 NAACP awards, including Best Director, and was "Recommended" by both the LA Weekly and the LA Times. Other theatre credits include Alan Bennett's play, KAFKA'S DICK and Murray Mednick's CHARLES' STORY at the Pacific Resident Theatre Co-Op, A THURBER CARNIVAL for Pasadena Shakespeare Company, NO EXIT for Space Theatre, and OUR FRIEND SAM at Theatre of NOTE. Barbara co-directed Son of Semele's 365 (Week 21), as well as pieces in SOSE's collaborative effort with the Rogue Artists' Ensemble, HYPERBOLE. FILM: Barbara was Second Unit Director on Charles Burnett's TO SLEEP WITH ANGER and Roger Corman's WIZARDS OF THE LOST KINGDOM. She is a graduate of The American Film Institute and is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Director's Lab, West.

HALF OF PLENTY opens Friday, May 8th and runs through June 21, 2009 at ROGUE MACHINE in Theatre Theater, 5041 Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90019. Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 8:00pm & Sundays at 7 pm. Tickets are $25 ($50 for May 10th GALA) and may be purchased by calling (323) 960-7774 or at www.roguemachinetheatre.com

JOHN PERRIN FLYNN (Producer/Artistic Director) directed the critically acclaimed Los Angeles premiere of Rogue Machine's inaugural production COMPLEAT FEMALE STAGE BEAUTY. He helmed the Craig Lucas' hit SMALL TRAGEDIES at The Odyssey Theatre and the world premiere of John Pollono's LOST AND FOUND at The Lounge Theatre. Executive producer and director of Lifetime's long running award winning series STRONG MEDICINE, John has produced two other series and 14 television movies or miniseries including the Emmy nominated BURDEN OF PROOF. He attended The London School of Music and Dramatic Art and has an MA degree in Theatre from Illinois State University.

ROGUE MACHINE is a collective of award winning entertainment veterans bringing a new and distinctive voice to Los Angeles Theatre. This presentation of HALF OF PLENTY launches the company's 2nd season which takes place in their newly remodeled intimate home at Theatre Theater. ROGUE MACHINE draws upon the diverse and extensive experience of its collective while creating high-quality productions by contemporary playwrights who specifically address our culture and time. The ROGUE MACHINE mission includes building a theatre of ideas and nurturing the development of plays from contemporary writers while manifesting current culture, and consciousness. ROGUE MACHINE projects will exhibit a strong emphasis on presenting new plays or plays new to Los Angeles.

Robert Mandan (Jack) is probably best-known as the philandering Chester Tate in the now-classic television series Soap. On Broadway, he originated the role of "Howard Benedict" in Applause with Lauren Bacall, as well as the role of "Max Berkowitz" in the hit musical Mail, at the Pasadena Playhouse. Robert has starred in regional productions of Chicago; Same Time, Next Year; Born Yesterday, four productions of Sleuth; and Gary Goldstein's Just Men at the Stella Adler. He played in the revival of How To Succeed in Business at the La Jolla Playhouse and in Theatre Leagues' My Fair Lady, as well as Reprise's Finian's Rainbow. He directed Naomi Feldman's Entanglements at the Court and an acclaimed revival of The Curious Savage at the Adler (while playing in Everything I Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten at the Tiffany). Mandan starred with Bea Arthur in After-Play at the Pasadena Playhouse and its extended run at the Canon Theatre. In addition to Soap, Robert has been seen in the TV series Private Benjamin, Three's a Crowd, and Caribe, as well as hundreds of TV guest appearances.

BETSEY ZAJKO (Mitzi) recently moved to Los Angeles from Chicago where she performed at Steppenwolf, Trap Door, Reverie theaters, and was named Chicago Screen Magazine finalist, Talent of the Year. Betsy studied at Second City, Chicago Improv and graduated from the Columbia College School of Theater and Dance. A former host for National Public Radio, Betsy is also a voice-over actress. Locally she has been seen performing in FIRE DANCER (Berman Gallery, Bergamot Station). Regional credits include FEARLESS (Cleveland Playhouse), COLLECTED STORIES (Halle Theater), HOMECOMING (Ensemble), MacBETH, OF MICE AND MEN (Magical Theater). FILM: STRIKING DISTANCE, MOTHMAN PROHECIES, MONEY FOR NOTHING. TELEVISION: CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM and ASSASINATION FILES.

MICHAEL TRAYNOR (Marty) has performed with NYSF/Public Theatre in THE WINTER'S TALE, played the title role in HAMLET, Dennis Ziegler in THIS IS OUR YOUTH, and Billy Crocker in ANYTHING GOES. He starred as Edward Kynaston in Rogue Machine's inaugural production of COMPLEAT FEMALE STAGE BEAUTY. Michael has had leading roles in the feature films CRY FUNNY HAPPY, A NECESSARY DEATH, and A PERFECT GETAWAY.

Leigh Allen (Lighting Designer), a multi-award winner for lighting design is a recent recipient (2009) of the Career Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. Leigh returns to Rogue Machine after her highly acclaimed design for RAZORBACK and AMERICAN DEAD. Other credits include: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Musical Theater West), CHAMPAGNE (Regent Cruise Lines), SHIMMY! (Princess Cruise Lines), SNOOPY ON ICE, THE RED ROAD (Native Voices), KILLER JOE (Ovation Award: Production of the Year), THE FAB FOUR (South Bay CLO), THE PRINCE OF LA (The Old Globe in San Diego), and VINCENT IN BRIXTON (Pasadena Playhouse). Leigh received the Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle and LA Weekly Lighting Design Awards for JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN.

STEPHANIE KERLEY SCHWARTZ: (Costume Design) is the multi-award winning resident designer for ROGUE MACHINE. Last year Stephanie won a Garland award for her costumes in the Los Angeles premiere of the critically acclaimed COMPLEAT FEMALE STAGE BEAUTY, ROGUE MACHINE's inaugural production, and a Maddy award for her set designs. She was also nominated for an Ovation Award for the same, and she created sets for this year's Moving Arts production of SONG'S OF EXTINCTION at the John Anson Ford. Other credits include Pacific Resident Theatre (ROCKET TO THE MOON, HOGAN'S GOAT, and ORPHEUS DESCENDING), Matrix Theatre (BOLD GIRLS, DEALING WITH CLAIR, and HONOUR), Colony Theatre (BEA[u]TIFUL IN THE EXTREME), and Electric Lodge , The Met (including SCAR with Ed Harris), and The Coast. Stephanie has designed costumes for THE WIZARD OF OZ in Concert (Avery Fisher Hall) for TNT. Film credits as Production Designer or Costume Designer include two period films set in Vermont- WHERE THE RIVERS FLOW NORTH and A STRANGER IN THE KINGDOM.

ROGUE MACHINE

in Theatre Theater

5041 Pico Boulevard

Los Angeles, California 90019

(West of La Brea)

When: previews May 1-7, 2009

Opening May 8, 2009

Thursdays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm

Sundays at 7pm

Closing: Sunday June 21, 2009

How:

For reservations call: (323) 960-7774 or visit www.roguemachinetheatre.com

How Much:

Tickets are $25 (student, senior, and group discounts)

DESCRIPTION: A satire expressing some all too familiar anxieties of modern living and lean times. While a young woman tries to balance caretaking and a career at home, her husband becomes seduced by the local neighborhood watch folks.

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