LA's Ensemble Studio Theatre Will Present THE FISHERMAN’S WIFE and DOESN’T ANYONE KNOW WHAT A PANCREAS IS? in Rep, Opening 10/25

Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA is introducing a new performance space: "The Speakeasy." Located at their Atwater Village Theatre home, "The Speakeasy" will open with two world premiere comedies about relationships: the rolling world premiere of THE FISHERMAN'S WIFE, written by Steve Yockey and directed by Gates McFadden, which was originally produced in 2012 by Impact Theatre in Berkeley with EST/LA and the world premiere of DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW WHAT A PANCREAS IS?, written by Carole Real and directed by Jenny O'Hara. THE FISHERMAN'S WIFE will preview on Wednesday, October 24 and will open on Thursday, October 25 and will perform through Saturday, November 24 and DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW WHAT A PANCREAS IS? will preview Tuesday, October 30 and will open on Wednesday October 31 at Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. in Los Angeles, 90039.

ABOUT "THE FISHERMAN'S WIFE"

Vanessa's marriage to Cooper has grown stale. She wants excitement, passion. He merely wants to provide for her the best way he knows how: fishing. While Cooper is out at sea, Vanessa receives a visit from a mysterious traveling salesman with a bag full of danger. And he's not the only one new in town: a ravenously horny giant squid and octopus have settled in under the dock, ready for whomever comes their way. Drawing inspiration from the foremost example of tentacle porn, Hokusai's famous 200-year-old Japanese erotic woodcut The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, playwright Steve Yockey (Disassembly, Cartoon) seduces the audience with another of his brutally hilarious fantasias.

ABOUT "THE FISHERMAN'S WIFE" CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST

Gates McFadden (Director/Artistic Director EST/LA) has served as Artistic Director of Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA (EST/LA) since January 2009 and has been a member of the company since 1997. Under her leadership, EST/LA moved into its current home: Atwater Village Theatre. The three-stage complex shared with partners Circle X Theatre Company was built to encourage innovative performing arts and create community. She spearheaded the 10 months of renovation and construction of the complex which opened to the public in January 2011 with a landmark season of creative output, and critical praise. Plays produced under her tenure as Artistic Director include multi-award winning and nominated productions of Julie Hebert's Tree, Nicholas Kazan's Mlle. God, and Tom Jacobson's House of the Rising Son, as well as two she directed: the late night show Crack Whore Galore and House of Gold. Acting credits include six years and four films at Paramount Studios portraying Dr. Beverly Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Taking Care of Business", and "The Hunt for Red October." Her numerous New York acting credits include Tommy Tune's production of Cloud Nine, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Delacorte), How to Say Goodbye (Vineyard Theater), Emerald City (NYTW), The Homecoming (JRT) and EST's Circle in the Square production of To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday. Among her Los Angeles theatre credits are LATC's production of Viva Detroit and EST/LA's The Shore. On television, she portrayed a leading role in the Paramount series "Marker" and had a recurring role on CBS' "Mad About You," as well as numerous guest roles in other shows. Gates was Director of Choreography and Puppet Movement for the films "Labyrinth" and "Dreamchild" under Jim Henson. She was Choreographer in Residence for the BAM Theater Company under RSC member David Jones. Directing credits range from Sophocles' Women of Trachis, to the ST:TNG episode "Genesis" for Paramount Studios. A well-known teacher of the techniques of Jacques Lecoq, her faculty positions have included AADA, Brandeis, Harvard, NYU Tisch School of Arts, Perdue, Temple, The Stella Academy in Hamburg, and the University of Pittsburgh. Gates was awarded the George Burns Teaching Fellowship at USC.

STEVE YOCKEY (Playwright) is a Los Angeles based writer with work produced throughout the country and in Asia. afterlife: a ghost story, Large Animal Games, Octopus, CARTOON, subculture (collected short plays) and Very Still & Hard to See are published & available from Samuel French. Last season: afterlife: a ghost story co-world premiered at Southern Rep in New Orleans (dir. Aimee Hayes) and New Rep in Boston (dir. Kate Warner), Heavier than... premiered at the Boston Court in Pasadena (dir. Abigail Desser) and Bellwether premiered at Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, CA (dir. Ryan Rilette). This season: the new play Wolves will open in Atlanta, New Orleans, Phoenix, & Los Angeles and the sex farce The Fisherman's Wife will open in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Other plays include: Pluto, Wonder, The Thrush & The Woodpecker, and Feverish. Steve is a Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of Georgia and holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts (2008). After completing a yearlong National New Play Network residency at Marin Theatre Company, he now lives in Los Angeles, CA where he serves as an adjunct professor in the MFA Writing for Performance program at CalArts. He is the creator and co-executive producer of the Sony Pictures Television project Teeth and is currently adapting the Tama Janowitz novel Slaves of New York into a series for Sony/Wet Dog Entertainment/Killer Films.

The cast of THE FISHERMAN'S WIFE will feature Michael Hanson, Sarah McCarron, Patrick Flanagan, Kim Chueh and Gary Patent.

THE FISHERMAN'S WIFE is being produced by Gates McFadden and Andrew Carlberg and DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW WHAT A PANCREAS IS, is being produced by Gates McFadden and Patty Cornell. Both productions feature an award-winning design teaM. FisherMAN features Scenic Painting by Hillary Bauman. Lighting Design is by Derrick McDaniel (The Mercy Seat). Sound Design is by Joseph "Sloe" Slawinski (Tree Fall). Puppet and Set Design for "Fisherman" is John Burton. PANCREAS features Scenic Design by Michael McGee. Lighting Design is by Derrick McDaniel (The Mercy Seat). Sound Design by Martin Carillo. The Technical Director for both shows is Zack Belac Guiler. The Stage Manager is Priscilla Miranda.

ABOUT "DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW WHAT A PANCREAS IS?"

DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW WHAT A PANCREAS IS? was developed in EST LA's Winterfest and recently given a staged reading at the Blank's Living Room Series. After a pancreatic health scare, a frenzy of internet dating shows Jason he's not alone – everyone is as insecure, confused, desperate and bewildered as he is. Even for his handsome friend Anthony, love is not a done deal. Gorgeous Miranda overlooks perfectly nice men in favor of jackasses with accents and Josh and Laura's eternal love sometimes feels like a long stretch in purgatory. When we get our hearts broken, that's tragedy, when these guys do it, it's a raucous comedy. Forget the pancreas. Doesn't anyone know what love is?

CAROLE REAL (Playwright) A California native and a graduate of Yale University, Carole began her professional writing career in New York, when Joan Rivers responded to her cold submission by buying three of her jokes. She was soon writing sketch comedy that was performed in clubs and cabarets all over town, including Lewis Black's legendary West Bank Downstairs Theatre Bar.

Carole has written several one acts, including Why The Beach Boys are Like Opera, and The Battle of Bull Run Always Makes Me Cry, which has been anthologized, included in two textbooks and performed throughout the United States, Canada and Asia. Her one act, Don't Say Another Word, was included in 2009's Summer Shorts 3 Festival of One Act Plays at 59E59th Street in Manhattan. Her other full-length plays, We Used To Be Fun and You're A Shitty f-ing Friend have had had readings at The Lounge Theatre, The Blank Theatre and at Ensemble Studio Theatre in LA and New York. A WGA member, Carole has written for network primetime shows on ABC, CBS and Fox.

JENNY O'HARA (Director) Broadway: The Odd Couple (female version), The Iceman Cometh, Promises Promises, The Kid, Fig Leaves are Falling and Dylan (debut with Alec Guiness). Off Broadway: John Guare's New York Actor, Steve Martin's Wasp, Peter Hedges' Good News, EST's Marathon '93 and Sedalia Run, The Fox. Regional: Hello & Goodbye - Yale Rep, The Fox - Back Alley (Dramalogue Award), Little Egypt, Bitter Women, Bitten By A Fly, A Skull in Connemara, Bakersfield Mist, Love, Loss, and What I Wore.

Series Regular: "Grey's Anatomy," "The King of Queens," "Costello," "Life's Work," "The Pastor's Wife," "My Sister Sam," "The Facts of Life," "Secrets of Midland Heights," "Highcliff Manor." Guest: "Rizzoli and Isles," "Franklin and Bash," "CSI," "Grey's Anatomy," "Drop Dead Diva," "Boston Legal," "Philly," "NYPD Blue," "Family Law," "The Practice," "Roswell," "Strong Medicine," "The King of Queens," "ER," "Chicago Hope," "Party of Five," "Drew Carey Show," "Murphy Brown," "Beverly Hills 90210," "Law and Order," "L.A. Law" and many more. M.O.W: "If These Walls Could Talk II," "The Color of Courage," "My Name is Jane," "An Unexpected Family," Robin Cook's "Terminal," "A Mother's Prayer," "Happily Ever After," "Winnie," "V," "Black Beauty," etc. Features: "Sassy Pants," "Devil," "HeavyLifting," "The Hit List," "Extract," "Matchstick Men," "Mystic River," "Angie," "Career Opportunities," "Heartbeat." Director: "Another World" (CBS), "Shock Therapy," "We Used to be Fun," "The Glass Menagerie."

The cast of DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW WHAT A PANCREAS IS? will feature Annika Marks (The Sessions), Patty Cornell, William Duffy, Aaron Jettleson, Will McFadden, Heather Robinson and Liz Ross.

SCHEDULE AND PRICING

THE FISHERMAN'S WIFE will preview on Wednesday, October 24 at 8pm and will open on Thursday, October 25 and run through Saturday, November 24.

DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW WHAT A PANCREAS IS? will preview Tuesday, October 30 and will open on Wednesday October 31 and run through Saturday, November 24. Both productions will perform at Atwater Village "Speakeasy" Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039. Free, ample street and lot parking. Parking map: http://bit.ly/OsBCRg.

Tickets are $18 for all performances. Preview tickets are $12. For tickets, please call (323) 644-1929 or buy online at www.ensemblestudiotheatrela.org.

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