Actors Theatre's Apprentice/Intern Company to Present THE DIAMOND TRADE, 9/28

Actors Theatre's Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are thrilled to announce THE DIAMOND TRADE by Emily Feldman, presented as part of the Apprentice/Intern Company season of new work. THE DIAMOND TRADE, which is the first of three productions commissioned by Actors Theatre for the Acting Apprentice Company, will be performed on Monday, September 28th 2015 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. in the Sara Shallenberger Brown lobby at Actors Theatre of Louisville. The performance is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. To reserve tickets or for more information, visit ActorsTheatre.org or call 502.584.1205.

When a gala event takes a surprising turn, this group of twenty-something lovers and one very old man must reconsider what they hold to be rare and valuable -- and what that has to do with a diamond ring.

THE DIAMOND TRADE is part of a triptych of plays written for Actors Theatre's Acting Apprentice Company. In its inaugural year, Actors Theatre has commissioned three playwrights -- Emily Feldman, Steve Moulds and Brendon Pelsue -- to write three one-act plays for the company's Ensemble Series. Our commissioned playwrights, who are also alumnus of Actors Theatre's Apprentice/Intern Company, work closely with three small casts of apprentices to create a story in collaboration with directing and literary interns that will then be performed in unique performance spaces at Actors Theatre or around the community.

Emily Feldman is a former literary intern at Actors Theatre of Louisville, and her short plays Important People and Estate Planning have previously been performed by the Apprentice Company. Feldman's full length plays have been developed by The Playwrights' Center, Live Girls! Theater, The Flea Theater, 12 Peers Theater, and Colt Coeur. Feldman's other credits include an Artist Residency at SPACE on Ryder Farm, an Associate Artist Residency at Atlantic Center for the Arts and a Core Apprenticeship at The Playwrights' Center. Additionally, she was given an honorable mention on The Kilroy's List, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, and is a recipient of a Tennessee Williams Scholarship at the Sewanee Writers Conference. She is a third-year M.F.A. playwriting candidate at The University of California, San Diego and holds a B.A. from Middlebury College.

THE DIAMOND TRADE will feature seven Acting Apprentices: Austin Blunk, Glenna Brucken, Mbali Guliwe, Yaron Lotan, Jayson Speters, Sara Turner, and Park Williams and will be directed by Michael Legg, Director of the Apprentice/Intern Company.

Now in its 52nd season, Actors Theatre of Louisville, the State Theatre of Kentucky, is the flagship arts organization in the Louisville community. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein, Actors Theatre serves to unlock human potential, build community, and enrich quality of life by engaging people in theatre that reflects the wonder and complexity of our time.

Actors Theatre presents almost 500 performances annually and delivers a broad range of programming, including classics and contemporary work through the Brown-Forman Series, holiday plays, a series of free theatrical events produced by the Apprentice/Intern Company, and the Humana Festival of New American Plays-the premier new play festival in the nation, which has introduced 450 plays into the American theatre repertoire over the past 38 years. In addition, Actors Theatre provides more than 17,000 arts experiences each year to students across the region through its Education Department, and boasts one of the nation's most prestigious continuing pre-professional resident training companies, now in its 44th year.

Over the past half-century, Actors Theatre has also emerged as one of America's most consistently innovative professional theatre companies, with an annual attendance of more than 140,000. Actors Theatre has been the recipient of some of the most prestigious awards bestowed on a regional theatre, including a Tony Award for Distinguished Achievement, the James N. Vaughan Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement and Contribution to the Development of Professional Theatre, and the Margo Jones Award for the Encouragement of New Plays. Actors Theatre has toured to 29 cities and 15 countries worldwide, totaling more than 1,400 appearances internationally. Currently, there are more than 50 published books of plays and criticism from Actors Theatre in circulation-including anthologies of Humana Festival plays, volumes of ten-minute plays and monologues, and essays, scripts and lectures from the Brown-Forman Classics in Context Festival. Numerous plays first produced at Actors Theatre have also been published as individual acting editions, and have been printed in many other anthologies, magazines and journals -- making an enduring contribution to American dramatic literature.

Now in its 44th year, the Apprentice/Intern Company is one of the nation's oldest continuing pre-professional resident training companies. The A/I Company is comprised of two distinct parts whose members work together on productions and projects throughout the season.

Each year, over 2000 young artists audition for only 20 spots in the Acting Apprentice Company. This one-of-a-kind bridge program is designed to transition recent college graduates into professional careers by teaching the practical skills necessary to be competitive in major markets, as well as methods for creating their own work. The Acting Apprentice Company performs its own five show season, apart from Actors Theatre's Mainstage season, which culminates in a specially commissioned work in the Humana Festival of New American Plays.

Members of the Intern Company work directly with department managers and staff, receiving hands-on training in administrative, technical, and/or artistic leadership. Internships are vital positions as they take leadership roles in the development and production of A/I Company projects throughout the season and are directly involved in regular season productions.

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