Road Theatre's World Premiere of Emilie Beck's SOVEREIGN BODY Opens Tonight

THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, announced that the world premiere of SOVEREIGN BODY, written by Emilie Beck and directed by Scott Alan Smith (That Good Night, Lady) opens tonight, April 4 at 8pm and run through Saturday, May 24 at the Historic Lankershim Arts Center, 5108 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood, CA.

As a wife and mother of two grown daughters welcomes an uninvited Thanksgiving dinner guest, a family's life is forever challenged and changed. Is she losing her mind and body or owning them once and for all? SOVEREIGN BODY is an epic story of a family's journey to healing.

Comments playwright Emilie Beck, "I'm thrilled that The Road is producing the world premiere of SOVEREIGN BODY. It takes a lot of courage to commit to the needs of this script, running the gamut, as it does, from poetry to violence, from dream play to naturalism. It's not an easy undertaking, and yet the drive of everyone at the company to get this play on stage is inspiring."

Adds director Scott Alan Smith: "We first read Emilie's play as part of our annual Summer Playwrights Festival in 2011. It was a haunting look at a family's struggle to uphold their lives in the face of severe adversity. It also spoke so eloquently about the redemptive power of art in our world that we all felt we simply had to do this wonderful play."

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST

EMILIE BECK (Playwright) Her play Sovereign Body was a finalist for NNPN's 2011 Smith Prize. It was developed through readings at Playwright's Theatre of New Jersey, The Road Theatre, and The Elephant Theatre. Her play Number of Peoplehad its world premiere at the Piven Theatre in Chicago, in spring of 2010. Number of People was developed at Hartford Stage and Pasadena Playhouse with Edward Asner in the role of Leo Gold. It was further developed at Playwright'sTheatre of New Jersey with Len Cariou. Most recently her play Habeas Corpus was presented as a reading in The Theatre@ Boston Court's 2013 New Play Festival.

Emilie is also known for her directing work. In 2013 she directed the Ovation Award winning Cassiopeia by David Wiener at The Theatre @ Boston Court. She won 2010 LA Weekly Awards for Best Director and Best Production for Block Nine at the Elephant Theatre, and directed Because They Have No Words in both LA (Ovation nominated) and Chicago (Jeff award). In 2003 Emilie wrote and directed And Let the Skies Fall at the El Portal Circle Theatre in an acclaimed Los Angeles premiere (nominated for six Garland Awards, including Best Playwriting and Best Director).

As a performer, she has collaborated with Mary Zimmerman (Godiva, The Mystery of the 4th Wall, Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci), Veronique Guillaud (Processions) and Maurice Guillaud (Une Chronique d'une Piano-Femme) and others, performing in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Paris, as well as Amsterdam, in the improv/sketch hit, Boom Chicago. She is co-Literary Manager at The Theatre @ Boston Court, where she has served as Dramaturg for Heavier Than, The Children, and Alcestis, and will do so again for the upcoming Everything You Touch.

SCOTT ALAN SMITH (Director) Serves as the Associate Artistic Director of the award-winning Road Theatre Company and has been the Summer Playwrights Festival Director since it began in 2010. At The Road he has directed That Good Night (world premiere) and Lady by Craig Wright (4 Ovation nominations and 5 LA Weekly Award nominations with 2 wins) and assistant-directed Craig Wright's directorial debut at The Road with The Unseen. Scott also directed New York Mets (ADA nominated) and So Nice to See You (1 Dramalogue award) here at The Road. He is set to direct the west coast premiere of Melissa Arctic at The Road Theatre fall 2014. Other directing credits include The Petoskey Stones, Three Days of Rain, Bus Stop(Pepperdine University), Proof (with Michael O'Neill), The Roads to Home, Bus Stop (at Spokane's Interplayers Theater - People's Choice Award), Tabak (The Met), Lynette at 3AM, Mr. Happiness, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Elizabeth Sampson's play Bringin' Home the Girl. He has assistant-directed Mother Courage, Light (Theater@Boston Court ) and True West (Deaf West Theater).

Scott is co-author of King of the Moon which ran Off-Off Broadway, in Los Angeles at the Groundlings Theater and HBO Workspace and was made into a film for FOX Searchlab that premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. He directed Ed Harris for the L.A. Philharmonic's 2005 Season Opening Gala at Disney Hall, andHeart...Beat for the Boston Court's Music at the Court series. As an Associate Artist at the New American Theatrehe directed The Adding Machine. As an actor, Scott's L.A. theatre credits include The Dinosaur Within(Theatre@Boston Court - Stage Scene L.A. Award), Apollo (Taper Too), Richard III (with Alfred Molina), King of the Moon, Kindertransport, Detachments, The Memorandum, The Water Engine, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Rose Tattoo. Scott has also appeared regionally at the Studio Theater, Scena and the Source Theater, as well as in New York at the Present Company where his two-man show, King of the Moon, ran to sold-out houses. His over 100 appearances in television and film include playing Kate Walsh's therapist on 'Private Practice' last season, appearing in 21 episodes. Other TV credits include Aaron Sorkin's new show for HBO, 'Newsroom' (with Jeff Daniels), 'Rizzoli and Isles', 'Murder in the First', 'Hung', 'CSI: Miami', 'CSI:NY', 'CSI', 'Medium', 'NCIS', 'NCIS:LA', 'Cold Case', 'Without a Trace', 'Next', 'Rules of Engagement', 'Bones', 'Three Rivers', 'True Blood', 'House', 'Chuck', 'The Closer', 'Veronica Mars', 'Big Love', 'Entourage', 'Justice', 'Philly' (recurring), 'NYPD: Blue', 'Boston Legal', 'Six Feet Under', '24', 'JAG', 'Alias', a recurring role as Dr. Jack Gannon on 'The Young and the Restless', and others. Scott's film credits include " A Matter of Faith", "Stargate", "Mousehunt", "D.C.9/11", "Magnolia", "Déjà Vu", "Bewitched", "The Ring", "X-Files:The Movie", and "Bounce". Scott trained at Arena Stage and the Studio Theater before earning his MFA from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. He is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, SAG-AFTRA, AEA, SDC and the Actor's Studio Playwrights/Directors Unit, and is an adjunct professor of theater at Pepperdine University. He is also a proud alumnus of the Lincoln Center Theater Director's Lab West (Gold Medal Class of '05).

The cast of SOVEREIGN BODY will feature: Taylor Gilbert, Carole Goldman, Kevin McCorkle, Jack Millard, John Cragen, Danielle Stephens, Hannah Mae Sturges and Anna Carini.

SOVEREIGN BODY features an award-winning design team. The Scenic Design is by Stephen Gifford. The Costume Design is by Jocelyn Hublau. The Lighting Design is by Caroline Andrews. The Sound Design is by David B. Marling. The Film Segments are directed by Scott Alan Smith and Darryl Johnson. The Prop Design is by TJ McNeill. The Fight Choreography is by Matt Glave. Original Music is composed by Drew Price.

SOVEREIGN BODY will now preview on Saturday, March 29 at 8pm; Sunday, March 30 at 2pm and Thursday, April 3 at 8pm and will open on Friday, April 4 at 8pm and run through Saturday, May 24 at the Historic Lankershim Arts Center, 5108 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood, CA.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm. Ticket prices are $34.00; Previews are $15. Economic Stimulus tickets are $10 on Sunday, April 6 at 2pm (subject to availability). Special group rates available for parties of 8 or more. For tickets, call 866-811-4111 for details or visit www.RoadTheatre.org to purchase tickets online or to view complete schedule.

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