Marin Theater Presents The Premiere Of MAGIC FOREST FARM

Marin Theatre Company is pleased to present the world premiere of Magic Forest Farm by Zayd Dohrn, winner of the first annual Sky Cooper New American Play Prize in 2008. The production will be staged in MTC's 99-seat Lieberman Theatre.

From one of America's hottest young playwrights comes a riveting story of a young woman's desperate search for her past. Seventeen year-old Allegra is beginning to piece together the swirling memories of her early years in the beautiful woods of Northern California on a mystical commune called Magic Forest Farm. Mixing with joyous recollections of waterfalls and wildflowers are darker revelations and startling images of the people she thinks she trusts most. A journey begins that takes Allegra back to the commune, back to the past, to confront the truth.

This coming-of-age story is set in 1989, in Allegra Behrman-Cohen's La Jolla family home and the Magic Forest Farm commune, and revisits her family life from a decade past. Allegra's extended family includes her father, English professor, Marvin, mother Eleanor, brother Ben, and commune members Gabby Hoyle and his daughter Swan.

"Zayd Dohrn is a thrilling find for our first Sky Cooper winner. Magic Forest Farm is a deeply insightful play about coming of age in California for a spirited young daughter of parents who turned their backs on the commune culture. We are honored to introduce you to Zayd Dohrn," says MTC Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis.

Zayd Dohrn is the son of William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, founders of the 1960s radical organization The Weather Underground. He was born underground and grew up in communes and hideouts across the country. His plays have been produced and developed at Marin Theatre Company, A.C.T., The Public Theater, Woolly Mammoth, Kitchen Dog Theater, South Coast Repertory, The ALLIANCE THEATRE, Southern Rep, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, New Jersey Repertory Company, and Alchemy Theatre of Manhattan. In addition to the Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, he is a recipient of Lincoln Center's Lecomte du Nouy Prize, the Jean Kennedy Smith Award, an IRNE for Best New Play, and residencies with Ars Nova, Chautauqua, and The Royal Court Theatre of London. Zayd received his MFA from New York University and is a recipient of a Lila Acheson Wallace Fellowship from Juilliard.

Magic Forest Farm will be director Ryan Rilette's first production at MTC. He joined MTC as Producing Director after six years as Producing Artistic Director at Southern Rep Theatre, the premiere professional theater of New Orleans. During his tenure, Southern Rep was honored with more awards than any theater in the region, including "Theater of the Year" and the Governor's Arts Award for "Outstanding Arts Organization." He recently directed Virginia Woolf's Orlando, adapted by Sarah Ruhl, at the Zeum Theatre with the third-year MFA students at A.C.T., his alma mater. Other recent directing credits include the world premieres of The Breach by Catherine Filloux, Tarell McCraney, and Joe Sutton; Rising Water and The Vulgar Soul, both by John Biguenet; and The Sunken Living Room by David Caudle. Ryan serves as Vice President of the Executive Board of the National New Play Network.

The Magic Forest Farm cast features MTC veterans Julia Brothers (Eleanor), last seen in the 2007 production of Love Song; Anna Bullard (Swan), seen in the 2006 production of Killer Joe; Avery Monsen (Ben) from the 2008 MTC School Tour production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Laura Morache (Allegra), currently featured as Isabel in My Children! My Africa!; and Robert Sicular (Marvin) seen in 2008's The Seafarer. MTC welcomes David Cramer (Gabby), who has appeared at the Magic Theatre, Word for Word, and Shotgun Players.

About the MTC Sky Cooper New American Play Prize. Norton J. "Sky" Cooper established the New American Play Prize at MTC in 2007 to recognize the work of the American playwright and encourage the creation of bold, powerful new voices and plays for the American stage. The Sky Cooper Prize will be awarded annually to a playwright for an outstanding new work. Each play selected as the Sky Cooper winner receives a full production at MTC as part of the theater's annual season and will be given regional and national promotion. In addition, the playwright receives a $10,000 award, as well as travel and accommodations for the MTC rehearsal period.

MTC received 875 play submissions for the 2008 competition from across the country. Approximately 20 percent of the submissions came from California playwrights.

A staged reading of Magic Forest Farm was produced in May 2008 as part of MTC's 07-08 Nu Werkz series.

Please note: this play contains nudity. It is not appropriate for children.THE

For more information visit www.marintheatre.org or call 415.388.5208.
Marin Theatre Company is located at 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley 94941.

Previews-Wednesday April 22 through Saturday April 25, 2009

Opening Night-Sunday April 26 at 5:00 pm

Performance Schedule
Thu, Fri and Sat 8:00 pm
Wed 7:30 pm
Sun 5:00 pm
Please check www.marintheatre.org or call box office at 415.388.5208 for exact performance dates and times.

Regular Ticket Prices $21-36
No reserved seating, all seating FESTIVAL
Previews: Wed through Sat, $21
Regular Performances:
Fri, Sat & Opening Night (1st Sun) $36
Wed, Thu, & Sun (except Opening) $31
Discounts Available:
Students $15
Senior discounts available
Rush tickets $10, available one-half hour prior to show, based on availability

ABOUT MTC
Entering its 42nd year, Marin Theatre Company is one of only five LORT theaters in the Bay Area, and is the largest professional regional theater company located in San Francisco's North Bay. It produces an annual season of more than 200 performances on its two stages. MTC provides a forum for contemporary, classic and emerging playwrights and, through the new Expanded Programs forum, an environment that introduces people of all ages to the transformative power of theater. Through its public performances, school tours, and various educational programs, MTC serves more than 40,000 people annually.

Julia Brothers (Eleanor) has appeared at MTC in Love Song, The Subject Tonight Is Love, Life x 3, and Fortune. She has appeared at Magic Theatre in Found Objects, Evie's Waltz, Triptych, Moving Right Along, The Hopper Collection, The Long Christmas Ride Home, and 'Bot; Pacific Repertory Theatre in Medea (title role), directed by Joseph Chaikin; Aurora Theatre Company in Salome; Theatreworks in Nickel and Dimed, Ambition Facing West, and Theophilus North; San Jose Stage in Wit and Beauty Queen of Leenane; and B Street Theatre in While We Were Bowling, Off the Map, Melville Boys, Women Who Steal, Beneath the Moon Beyond the Stars, Communicating Doors, Criminal Hearts, A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking, and The Agent. She recently starred opposite Marlo Thomas in Roger is Dead, a new comedy written and directed by Elaine May at The George Street Playhouse in New York. Julia has received numerous Bay Area theater awards, and was named Bay Area Theatre MVP by the San Francisco Chronicle in 2006.

Anna Bullard (Swan) appeared in MTC's 2006 production of Killer Joe. She has appeared at A.C.T. in Blackbird (Una u/s), TheatreWorks in Ambition Facing West, and Magic Theatre in the premiere of Mat Smart's The Hopper Collection. Other recent credits include the premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde at Arizona Theatre Company and San Jose Repertory Theatre, where she also appeared in The Foreigner and Around the World in 80 Days. Anna has worked with Actors Theatre of Louisville, Laguna Playhouse, Dorset Theatre Festival, Porchlight Theatre Company, and Playground. She received her BA from Whitman College and trained as an Acting Apprentice at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

David Cramer (Gabby) has appeared at Magic Theatre in Ted Kazinski Killed People with Bombs, and Nero, Another Golden Rome; Word for Word in The Blues I'm Playing and A Passion in Eden; Shotgun Players in Quills and Winesburg, Ohio (a co-production with Word For Word). Film and television credits include A Piano For Mrs. Cimino with Bette Davis, The Waltons, M*A*S*H*, Battlestar Galactica, How The West was Won, and Nash Bridges. David has a BFA from the University of New Mexico, and has studied at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, HB Studio in New York, and with The Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop in Los Angeles.

Avery Monsen (Ben) returns to MTC after appearing in the 2008 School Tour production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He is an artistic associate at Cutting Ball Theater, and has appeared in their productions of Victims of Duty, Endgame, and The Taming of the Shrew. He has also appeared at Cal Shakes, PlayGround, and Tony and Tina's Wedding. Avery has a BA in theater from Oberlin College where he appeared in Romeo and Juliet, A Bright Room Called Day, and Dancing at Lughnasa. He has also trained at the Moscow Art Theater and with the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles.

Laura Morache (Allegra) appears as Isabel in MTC's current production of My Children! My Africa! She recently appeared as Sister James in Doubt at CenterREP. A former member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Acting Company, she appeared in productions of The Diary of Anne Frank (Anne Frank), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Annie Loder), Richard III (Lady Anne), Tartuffe (Mariane), Henry VI, Part 1 (Young John Talbot), and the world premiere musical Tracy's Tiger (Laura Luthy). Laura has also appeared at the Utah Shakespearean Festival, Rubicon Theatre Company, and the New Hazlett Theater. Laura received her BFA in acting from Carnegie Mellon University.

Robert Sicular (Marvin) appeared as Mr. Lockhart in MTC's 2008 production of The Seafarer. He appeared in MTC's 1992 production of Arms and the Man, and has performed at virtually every theater company in the Bay Area, most recently in the 2008 A.C.T. production of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. He has appeared at Berkeley Rep; San Jose Rep; the St. Louis, South Coast, and Seattle Reportory Theatres; The Denver Center Theater Company; Actors Theatre of Louisville; the Oregon, California, Berkeley, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and Santa Fe Shakespeare Festivals; and the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC. Robert has performed in over 80 Shakespeare productions, playing many of the great roles. Film and television credits include General Hospital and The Young and the Restless, a featured part in the Bollywood potboiler Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya (My Heart has Become a Foreigner), and a starring role in the sci-fi action comedy thriller Never Die Twice. He attended the University of California at Berkeley and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

 

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