Rogue Machine Theatre to Present GRUESOME PLAYGROUND, Begin. 5/24

Pulitzer Prize nominee Rajiv Joseph's (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - NEA Award BEST PLAY) Gruesome Playground Injuries launches the season for multi-award winning Rogue Machine Theatre (BEST PRODUCTION award winner 2013, 2011 and 2010 - Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Ovation). Their SEVENTH SEASON begins May 24, 2014.

Charting the intersections of two lives over the course of 30 years, the manipulations of their relationship, and the cumulative damage of the wounds inflicted, intimacy may never have looked so familiar.

"Our season opener comes from a very impressive playwright who has so cleverly captured our ability to love and how it relates to our childhood. How those early experiences inform our behavior and lack of ability for intimacy in our adult relationships. It's a funny-serious subject, so audiences can have a good time laughing while taking a very thought-provoking journey," says Artistic Director John Perrin Flynn

Rajiv Joseph (Playwright) Broadway: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama, and also awarded a grant for Outstanding New American Play by the National Endowment for the Arts. Joseph's New York productions include Gruesome Playground Injuries, Second Stage Theatre, 2011; Animals Out of Paper, Second Stage Theatre, summer 2008; The Leopard and the Fox (adaptation), Alter Ego, fall 2007; Huck & Holden, Cherry Lane Theatre, 2006; All This Intimacy, Second Stage Theatre, 2006. World premieres of new plays this year, include The North Pool at Theatre Works in Palo Alto; The Lake Effect at Crossroads Theatre in New Jersey; and The Medusa Body at the Alley Theatre. He received his BA in Creative Writing from Miami University and his MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He served for three years in the Peace Corps in Senegal.

GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES opens at 5pm on Saturday, May 24, 2014 and runs 5pm Saturdays, 7pm Sundays, and 8pm Mondays (no performance on Monday, June 23rd) through July 14, 2014. ROGUE MACHINE is located at 5041 W. Pico Blvd., LA, CA 90019. Reservations can be made at www.roguemachinetheatre.com or more information at 855-585-5185. FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/303745439783433/ and Twitter: @RogueMachineLA #GruesomePlay

Larissa Kokernot (Director) has directed regionally and locally with companies such as Eye of the Storm, Indiana Repertory, Ten Thousand Things, the Guthrie, California Rep, Watts Village Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she was the 2007 Phil Killian Directing Fellow. Larissa is a founding member of Chalk Repertory Theatre where she has directed Three Sisters, Family Planning (Ovation Awards for Best Play in an Intimate Theatre and for Director), Stray, Full Disclosure and Mommune. Larissa has an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of California, San Diego.

John Perrin Flynn (Artistic Director/Producer) is Rogue Machine's founding Artistic Director and has produced all 22 of the main stage productions, including the sell out (LA Times - CRITIC'S CHOICE) productions of Dying City and One Night In Miami..., and Lost Girls. He directed the previous season's productions of The New Electric Ballroom by Enda Walsh, Three Views Of The Same Object by Henry Murray, and A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter (all named - LA Times CRITIC'S CHOICE). John received the LA Weekly Career Achievement Award in 2012. He directed the critically acclaimed Los Angeles premiere of The Sunset Limited (CRITIC'S CHOICE - LA Times; GO - LA Weekly, CRITIC'S PICK-Backstage, Ovation RECOMMENDED), which ran for six months. John directed the award winning World Premiere of Henry Murray's Treefall (published by Dramatist Play Service in 2010) as well as the critically acclaimed Los Angeles premiere of Rogue Machine's inaugural production, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, by Jeffrey Hatcher. He was the Executive Producer and director of Lifetime's long running award winning series Strong Medicine, has produced two other series and 14 television movies or miniseries including the Emmy nominated Burden of Proof.

Brad Fleischer (Doug) originated the role. Broadway credits include Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Golden Boy (Lincoln Center), Coram Boy (Drama League nomination). Appearances Off Broadway include the play Streamers (Roundabout), Regionally; Brad was seen in the World Premiere of Gruesome Playground Injuries (Alley), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Mark Taper Forum/Kirk Douglas Theatre), Pig Farm (South Coast Repertory). Film: Walk Among the Tombstones, and The Good Shepherd. TV: Nurse Jackie, 24, The Unit, Prison Break, Jericho,Law and Order, and Over There. Short Film credits: Arata and Seany B vs. McSwains Lichen (dir. Esat Revelipotty), and Drewzilla drops the Sketchy Boon (dir. Mia Carriero).

Jules Willcox (Kayleen) is making her Rogue Machine debut but is well known to Los Angeles audiences. At A Noise Within, she appeared in Macbeth, Pericles, Eurydice, and The Doctor's Dilemma. At The Antaeus Company she has performed roles in The Seagull, The Liar, The Malcontent. At Pacific Resident Theatre, Jules was seen in Becky's New Car, The Time of Your Life, and Stanton's Garage. Other credits include roles in Hippolytos at The Getty Villa, Othello, and A Midsummer Night's Dream at Theatricum Botanicum, and The Contest at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. TV: Friends with Better Lives, Teen Wolf, CSI:NY, and The Forgotten. Film: Deadline, Snake & Mongoose and Paraphobia.

PRODUCTION TEAM: David Mauer (Scenic Design), Dan Weingarten (Lighting Design), Colin Wambsgans (Sound Design), Halei Parker (Costume Design), and Jennifer McHugh (Props)

ROGUE MACHINE has garnered recognition for their work in upwards of 60 awards and nominations, including BEST PRODUCTION Award, for three seasons, from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Ovation members, and for two seasons from the Garland voters, the Polly Warfield Award for Excellent Season in Small to Mid-Size Theater (funded by the Nederlander Organization), and 2013 LA Weekly Award for Playwriting (Kemp Powers) for One Night In Miami.

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