Sacred Fools Opens West Coast Premiere Of ANTIGONE

The Sacred Fools Theater Company is rounding out its Prime Season with the West Coast Premiere of Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine's by Madhuri Shekar, directed by Reena Dutt. Opening Friday, March 6 and running through April 11 in the Broadwater Main Stage, the show will run Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with Sunday matinees on March 22 and 29, and April 5 at 3pm and one performance on Monday, March 30 at 8pm.

They all have a million secrets. What's so bad about this one?

The St. Catherine's drama club is struggling to put up its first school play - Sophocles' Antigone. As if staging this tragedy in an all-girls Catholic school isn't challenging enough, the cast's beloved director ends up betraying them in an unforgivable way - and it's almost opening night!

The cast must figure out the right course of action, all while rehearsing a classic play about impossibly difficult choices. What is the right thing to do? And must the show go on?

"This show is hopeful, dynamic, and funny, all while mirroring the sense of tragic inevitability of Antigone, " says Co-Artistic Director Aviva Pressman. "It's a show where you just can't look away."

Playwright Madhuri Shekar was born in California and grew up in India. Other plays include House of Joy, Dhaba on Devon Avenue, Queen (whose world premiere at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theatre received a Jeff Award nomination for Best New Play) and In Love and Warcraft, winner of the 2013/14 Kendeda Graduate Playwriting contest held by Atlanta's Alliance Theatre, which also commissioned Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine's.

She has an MFA in Dramatic Writing from USC, and a dual Master's degree in Global Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and USC. She is a 2018 alumnus of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights program at Juilliard and is a staff writer for the upcoming HBO show The Nevers.

Director Reena Dutt is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors' Lab (New York City), Directors Lab West (Los Angeles), and a Semi Finalist for Drama League's Hangar Directing Fellowship.

She has directed staged readings at A Noise Within in conjunction with East West Players (Snow in Midsummer by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig), the Road Theatre (Kissing Che by Augusto Federico Amador) and Sacred Fools (Monkey Love by Madhuri Shekar). Most recently she directed the world premiere of Defenders by Cailin Harrison at The Broadwater. She is a graduate of the Media Arts program at the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the acting program at William Esper Studio, New York.

Producer Jax Ball has worn many hats at Sacred Fools in the past several years, on and offstage. She's appeared onstage in The Sirens of Titan and Crunch, as well a being a producer of the Fools' late-night juggernaut Serial Killers. She was an Associate Producer for The Rose and the Rime and Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine's is her first Prime Season show as a Lead Producer.

The design team consists of Amanda Knehans (Set), Kaitlin Chang (Lighting), Nancy Dobbs Owen (Costumes), Dennis Peraza (Sound) and Sam Squeri (Props). The production team is rounded out by Associate Producers Jessie Bias and Suze Campagna and Stage Manager Aaron Saldaña.

Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine's features Madeleine Hernandez, Emma Mercier, Scarlet Sheppard, Jessica Ma, Jenny Griffin, Chloe Wray Gonzalez and Luis Fernandez-Gil. Understudies are Sydney Ashe, Cameron Cipolla, Christina Burdette, Amber Li, Jessie Bias and Robert Paterno. The understudy performance will take place on Thursday, March 19. Our preference is that critics attend full-cast performances on other dates.

Sacred Fools Gives Back: DWYC Performance - Friday, March 13 at 8pm

It's "Pay What You Can" with a twist! Half of all proceeds for this performance will be donated Five Acres, which "partners with private health care organizations across Southern California to provide access to intensive services for children with the goal of maintaining them safely in their own home and community." Since 2013, Sacred Fools has held a DWYC performance for each mainstage show, partnering with close to 20 different organizations, raising over $6,000 for worthy causes.

Special Performance - Monday, March 30 at 8pm

Continuing at Sacred Fools for the four Prime shows of the season is the tradition of having a special Monday night performance to give other theatre artists performing and working on shows Friday through Sunday the opportunity to see the show.

Reservations can be made by contacting sfreservations@sacredfools.org or buy tickets online at www.sacredfools.org

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