'NIGHT, MOTHER Runs Now thru 12/14 at The Lost Studio

The issue of suicide has always been complicated and controversial. Celebrating the 6th Anniversary of Whitmore Eclectic, Aliah Whitmore directs Sylva Kelegian and Lisa Richards in a revival of Marsha Norman's eloquent, darkly humorous, Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 'night, Mother. The opening is set for tonight, Nov. 1 at The Lost Studio on La Brea Ave.

Considered to be an American classic and one of the most powerful contemporary dramas ever written, Norman's gripping two-hander is an intense, edge-of-your-seat drama that will keep audiences guessing the outcome until the very end. A supposedly normal evening in the mother-daughter Cates household is shattered when 40-something Jessie announces to Mama that she plans to kill herself before the night is over. Over the course of 90 minutes, in real time, Thelma desperately works to convince her daughter that life is worth living. Humor, pathos and the difficulty of looking life in the face become seamless everyday moments, inviting us to struggle with what is, and is not, in our control.

This production started out as a workshop at the Actors' Studio, where Kelegian and Richards are both lifetime members. When Whitmore saw a performance, she knew instantly that it would be right for her company, Whitmore Eclectic.

"Now that I have a child, my focus has shifted to plays that explore stories about parents and their children," Whitmore explains. "In 'night, Mother, we spend the evening with this mother and daughter, and they achieve a level of closeness and intimacy they've never reached before. It lets us into what Jessie is thinking and feeling and allows us to suspend judgment."

Not until playwright Marsha Norman heard an audience laugh at its dark humor during a reading of the play did she have confidence that it would be a success. 'night, Mother premiered at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts with Kathy Bates and Anne Pitoniak, then transferred to Broadway, where it received a Tony nomination for Best Play as well as nominations for both actresses and director Tom Moore. Other awards include the Dramatists Guild's prestigious Hull-Warriner Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The 1986 film version, adapted for the screen by the playwright, starred Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft, and a Broadway revival in 2004 starred Edie Falco and Brenda Blethyn. A second Broadway revival, starring Oprah Winfrey and Audra McDonald, is scheduled for the 2015-2016 season, with Tony winner George C. Wolfe linked to direct.

Scenic design for the Whitmore Eclectic production of 'night, Mother is by Jacob Whitmore, with lighting design by Lauren Sego.

Whitmore Eclectic founder and creative director Aliah Whitmore has been directing and producing theater in L.A. for the past seven years, including productions of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Backstage West "Critic's Pick"); True West; Briar Rose (co-director); Below the Belt; Moby Dick Rehearsed ("GO!" - LA Weekly); Girls, Girls, Girls... The Heart of the Relatively Make Believe; Kosher Cheerleader; and Proof. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, she was the recipient of the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival's 2012 Maverick Award.

Sylva Kelegian (Jessie) has appeared off-Broadway in numerous plays and guest-starred on television dramas such as CSI, NCIS: Los Angeles, Southland, Rizzoli & Isles, ER, Cold Case, Desperate Housewives, Big Love, Prison Break, Without a Trace and many more. She has starred in independent films, co-starred in Stephen King's movie of the week, Desperation, and appeared in Spiderman, Crash, Atlas Shrugged and Return to Zero. She is the author of the newly published memoir "God Spelled Backwards: The Journey of an Actress into the World of Dog Rescue" and of "The Dolphin Princess," a middle grade book. She is also the co-writer of S.O.S., a one-hour television drama about the animal-rescue world.

Lisa Richards appeared on Broadway in Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks, Mourning Becomes Electra and Sweet Bird of Youth (opposite Christopher Walken). Los Angeles audiences have seen her in To Quiet the Quiet, directed by Barbara Bain (Elephant Theatre); The Bewildered Herd and All Good Soldiers in the West Wind (Greenway Court); On Holy Ground (MET Theatre); Tennessee Williams' A House Not Meant to Stand (Fountain Theatre); You Can't Take It With You (Geffen Playhouse); and A California Seagull (Cornerstone Theater Company). Other theater credits include Buried Child and Lay of the Land (Pittsburgh Playhouse); Good Bobby (New York's 59 E 59th St Theatre); Death of a Salesman (Paper Mill Playhouse) and Alice in Eve Ensler's Lemonade (Alley Theatre in Houston). Her feature films include a starring role in Harry Jaglom's Eating. On TV, she starred as Sabrina Stuart on the original Dark Shadows, as Susan Barry on One Life to Live and, more recently, as Aunt Maureen on Hart of Dixie.

Marsha Norman is the winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize, Blackburn Prize, Hull-Warriner and Drama Desk Awards for 'night, Mother. She won Tony and a Drama Desk Awards for her book for the Broadway musical, The Secret Garden, and a Tony nomination for her book for the Broadway musical, The Color Purple. Her other plays include Getting Out, for which she won the John Gassner Medallion and the American Theater Critics Association Citation; Third And Oak: The Laundromat; The Pool Hall; The Holdup; Traveler In The Dark; Sarah and Abraham; Loving Daniel Boone; Trudy Blue; Last Dance; and The Master Butcher's Singing Club. Television and film credits include 'night, Mother starring Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft; The Laundromat starring Carol Burnett and Amy Madigan; The Pool Hall starring James Earl Jones; Face of A Stranger starring Gena Rowlands and Tyne Daly; Cooler Climate starring Sally Field and Judy Davis; Audrey Hepburn, Custody of the Heart and Samantha, An American Girl. She spent one year as co-executive producer of Law and Order: Criminal Intent and wrote the Gina episodes for Season 2 of HBO's In Treatment. The Trumpet of the Swan: A Novel symphony for actors and orchestra, written by Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman, was released by TRW and PS Classics. Her other published work includes "Four Plays, Collected Works Of Marsha Norman, Vol 1" and a novel, "The Fortune Teller." Ms. Norman is co-chair, with Christopher Durang, of the Playwriting Department of The Juilliard School. She writes and lectures frequently on the theater and has 18 honorary degrees from American colleges and Universities. She was elected to membership in the Fellowship of Southern Writers and serves on the Governing Board of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

Founded in 2004 to honor the artistic vision and commitment to public education of the late actor James Whitmore, Whitmore Eclectic is headed up by his family, including son James Whitmore, Jr. (director of NCIS and The Good Wife) and grandchildren, creative director Aliah Whitmore and production designer Jacob Whitmore. Together, they have previously produced 11 critically acclaimed productions including Better Days; The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Briar Rose; True West; Moby Dick Rehearsed; The Next Available Operator; Below the Belt (two versions); Betrayed; Girls, Girls, Girls; and Proof.

'night, Mother runs Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m., Nov. 1 through Dec. 14. There will be two preview performances, on Thursday, Oct. 30 and Friday, Oct. 31, both at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $20-$27.50; previews are $15. The Lost Studio is located at 130 South La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036. For reservations and information, call 818-826-3609 or go to www.WhitmoreEclectic.com.

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