Inkwell Theater to Present LUIGI, Beginning 7/18

Emmy Award winner and Executive Director, Elliot Shoenman, and his son Artistic Director, Daniel Shoenman, founded the Inkwell Theater ten years ago, subsequently establishing national critical acclaim for the company with such productions as the Ovation Award nominated AfterMath, starring Annie Potts. On July 18th they will launch Louise Munson's (Liam Rector Scholar in Fiction) play Luigi, offering Los Angeles audiences a first look at her work when this World Premiere opens at the VS Theatre.

When the patriarch of an Italian family is in his last days, relatives gather in Tuscany to celebrate life, love, and to rediscover the bonds that hold them together. Among the crowd is Luigi's young American niece, Anna, who soon discovers that her uncle is the key to a world of freethinking and a familial relationship that she has always longed to have. Woven with poetry and memories, the reunion unveils the intergenerational connection of family.

"At the heart of this play is the friendship between a thirteen-year-old and the uncle that she has never before met. I wanted to capture one of those brief and subtle life-altering moments that people can have when they're in a new, strange place and find themselves connecting to others who may not even speak the same language. It's funny how we often remember a handful of moments more clearly than some whole months, or even years of our lives" - Louise Munson; Playwright

Louise Munson (Playwright) is a recipient of the Max K. Lerner Playwriting Fellowship, the 2013 Walter E. Dakin Fellowship at the Sewanee Writers' Conference, and was a Liam Rector Scholar at Bennington College. Her work has been profiled in Salon, the Brooklyn Rail, New York Theater Review, among others. Plays produced: Penelope, Goodbye to All That, Do Like the Kids Do, and Montana (IAMA Theatre Company). Most recently, Do Like the Kids Do opened in NY at the Studio Theater on Theater Row.

Annie McVey (Director) is the Associate Artistic Director of The Inkwell Theater and a founding member of The Inkwell LAB, which workshops new plays through an intensive rehearsal process. She directed the staged reading of Luigi as a LAB project in the spring of 2013. Annie is a member of the Playwrights Horizons' Directing faculty. L.A. credits include every installment of Michael Feldman's Fairy Tale Theatre: 18 & Over (ACME Comedy Theater, Groundlings, The Matrix, UCB), We're Having A Panic Attack...and You're Invited (ACME, iO West), Daniel Shoenman's The Ohio 4th (Inkwell), and Leslye Headland's Assistance (IAMA Theatre Company).

LUIGI opens Friday, July 16th at 8pm and runs Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm through August 18, 2014. VS Theatre is located at 5453 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles, 90010. Tickets are $10-20. For reservations: http://www.inkwelltheater.com/

Ray Xifo (Luigi) appeared on Broadway in City of Angels, Three Penny Opera, and Black Comedy, in addition to his numerous Off Broadway & regional stage credits. He is a familiar face to movie audiences for his work in such films as Hard To Come By, Oceans 13, The Island, Terminator 3, Crazy as Hell, Fallen, and Angie. Selected TV credits include guest starring roles on Law & Order LA, Star Trek: Voyager, Touched by an Angel, Total Security, and Star Gate.

Helen Duffy (Mariella) began her career in NYC playing leading roles in Shakespeare, Strindberg, and Moliere plays at the award-winning Roundabout Theater. Her numerous TV appearances include guest starring roles on, The Golden Girls, Frasier, The West Wing, L.A. Law, The Practice, The Unit, and Hannah Montana. Selected film credits include Breakdown with Kurt Russell, Terminator III with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Austin Powers with Mike Meyers. This year she appeared in the USA Network pilot Benched and the notable indie films, 1982 and Doradus.

Erin McIntosh (Anna) was seen in My Brother (The Lillian Theatre), The Last Act of Lilka Kadison (The Falcon Theatre), Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You (Underground Theatre Company), The Matchmaker (Culver City Theatre), The Diary of Anne Frank (Spotlight Theater - AriZoni nomination, Best Actress), Fiddler on the Roof (Regional Theatre of the Palouse) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (TFT). Film and TV credits include The Mooring (Lionsgate) and Awkward (MTV).

Stephanie Sanchez (Diana) has recently appeared in Los Angeles productions of The Birthday Present 2050 at the Skylight Theatre and Valentino Valentina at the Macha Theatre. Television credits include roles on Revenge, Grey's Anatomy, Body of Proof, and Castle. Stephanie is a former TV news reporter for ABC. She is a combat veteran, a former Naval Officer having served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and Second City Conservatory.

Nicola Bertram (Maria) portrayed Alice in Snake In The Grass (Matrix), Inez in No Exit; Sarah in The Lover (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Helen in Some Explicit Polroids (Soho, London), Isabella Bird/Nell in Top Girls. UK Television credits include Eastenders; Coronation St; Casualty, Doctors, The Bill, and Home Again. Selected film credits are Green Street Hooligans, and The Last Seduction.

Gian Franco Tordi (Paolo) speaks 6 languages natively-fluently and with no accents. He studied acting at the New York Film Academy, UCLA Drama, and has numerous credits ranging from plays, films, and TV to and stand up comedy.

Ryan Plourde (Max) is a graduate of the University of San Diego and has studied at The Groundlings and The Upright Citizens Brigade.

Daniel Shoenman (Producer/Sound Design) serves as Artistic Director of The Inkwell Theater, after having been its Producing Director for 7 years. In that time, he produced over a dozen new plays, such as the critically acclaimed Sunset Park, AfterMath, Moment in the Sun, and Fairy Tale Theatre: 18+ at the Matrix Theatre. In New York, he presented the American premiere of Kobo Abe's The Green Stockings and developed original work at The Flea Theater. He authored The Ohio 4th, which premiered at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre. Additional Artistic and Production credits include work at Mark Taper Forum (New Works Festival) New York International Fringe Festival, the Wadsworth Theater, The Wooster Group, UCLA live, and Target Margin Theater in NY.

Bonnie Hallman (Producer) has numerous credits in theater working as Director/Playwright: Quickies Play Series; Playwright: Women's Inventing Theatre Festival; Associate Producer: It's Just Sex: Off Broadway, Writer/Researcher: Pan Gloss Films and National Geographic; Company Manger: Queen Mary's "Dark Harbor;" Company Manager: Shaping Sound Dance Company National Tour; Director: Sentence, Inkwell Theatre; Director: Euphrates, Inkwell Theater; Producer: 100 Days of Death franchise. Bonnie is currently a producer with Moving Pictures Media Group as well as Creative Director of a new theme park set to open in Dubai in 2016.

Elliot Shoenman (Executive Producer) started his career as a writer on Norman Lear's Maude, won an Emmy for his work as Executive Producer and showrunner on The Cosby Show and was Executive Producer and showrunner of Home Improvement. He's co-author, with Marley Sims, of the play Sunset Park and wrote the plays Moment In The Sun, Old Glories, AfterMath, with Annie Potts and A Heap Of Livin.' Elliot authored the book Nobody's Business. He's currently Executive Director of the Inkwell Theater.

David Mauer (Set Design) most recently produced and designed the Los Angeles premiere of Rajiv Joseph's Gruesome Playground Injuries at Rogue Machine. He was the recipient of the 2013 LA Weekly award in scenic design for Rob Mersola's Dirty Filthy Love Story. David also designed the world premieres of John Pollono's Small Engine Repair and Lost Girls, as well as the west coast premiere of Samuel Hunter's A Bright New Boise. David is Rogue Machine's Technical Director.

Derrick McDaniel (Lighting Design) received the LA Weekly Award - LightingDesign (2012) for Mercy Seat at the [Inside] the Ford Theatre. Other credits include Blood Brothers at the Whitefire Theater, Among The Thugs at the Odyssey Theater, and Cooperstown at the Road Theater. Derrick has been nominated for numerous awards, which include an Ovation Award nom for The Shelter at the Odyssey Theater and for Lady at the Road Theater. He received a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award nomination for On An Average Day, along with several others. Derrick has worked with Inkwell Theater for the past few years on projects such as The Ohio 4th at the Hudson Theater,Fairy Tale theatre 18+ at the Matrix, and the world premiere of Elliot Shoenman's Heap of Livin" at the Odyssey Theater.

Stephen Rowan (Cosutme & Prop Design) created costumes for Ice Capades and many highly acclaimed Las Vegas productions shows including Splash, Siegfried & Roy, Lido, Jubilee, Boy-lesque, and An Evening At La Cage. Stephen is currently making costumes and props for Fairy Tale Theatre 18+ starring Michael Feldman.

Lisa Pantone (Casting Director) worked along side Judy Henderson in New York for some of the top advertising agencies casting projects for Revlon, Levi's, Nike, JC Penny's, General Motors, The Gap, and several hundred more. In Miami Florida she worked on sets for such television shows as Miami Vice as well as on films for Disney and Universal Studios. Lisa now works as a Casting Director and private acting coach in Los Angeles.

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