SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS Begins Feb. 16, Rachel Chavkin Directs

The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County (@ArshtCenter) is proud to present the South Florida premiere of SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS (@SmallMouthPlay), the Obie Award-winning, critically-acclaimed play by Bess Wohl. Playing February 16 - March 4, 2018 in the intimate Carnival Studio Theater (Ziff Ballet Opera House), SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS continues the Center's 2017-2018 Theater Up Close Series.

Tickets to SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS are $50 & $55*; and they may be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center Box Office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org.

In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect. Filled with awkward and insightful humor, SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS is the unique and compassionate new play that asks how we address life's biggest questions when words fail us.

This 2016 Critics' Pick (The New York Times, New York Magazine, Time Out New York) was written by Drama Desk Award winner Bess Wohl (Pretty Filthy) and will be directed by Obie Award winner Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812).

The cast includes Connor Barret (Jan), Ben Beckley (Ned), Edward Chin-Lyn (Rodney), Orville Mendoza (Teacher), Brenna Palughi (Alicia), Socorro Santiago (Joan), and Cherene Snow (Judy). The original design team of SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS returns for the national tour and includes Obie-winner Laura Jellinek (Scenic Design), Tilly Grimes (Costume Design), Mike Inwood (Lighting Design), Lortel nominee Stowe Nelson (Sound Design), Andrew Schneider (Projection Design), and Noah Mease (Prop Design). Chavkin and the designers will restage the production, originally performed in traverse, for a proscenium setting.

The inspiration for the play came from Wohl's own personal experience at a silent meditation retreat. Surrounded by people who were looking for a way for their lives to be changed or healed, Wohl decided that this was fertile subject matter for a play. "What I loved about that for a play is that what's necessary for any play is that all the characters really need something. This is such a great environment: a play where there is this automatic need," Wohl says. "I think the central question of the play is should we seek peace or not, and if so, how?"

The 2017-2018 Theater Up Close Series is supported by Adrianne and Jerry L. Cohen, Alan and Diane Lieberman and the Hotel Croydon Miami Beach, WLRN and Ars Nova.

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATIVES

Brenna Palughi (Alicia) is an actor, director, choreographer based in Brooklyn. She has appeared on and off Broadway, in downtown and regional theater, on HBO, ABC, NBC, USA, Amazon, and in various films. Credits include: A Time to Kill (Broadway); Zelda Fitzgerald in Muse; Phedre (Yale School of Drama); Babs the Dodo at The Cherry Lane Theater. Off-Off-Broadway: The Bird in Birdgirl at HERE. She has a BFA in Acting from Marymount Manhattan and an MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama.

Connor Barret (Jan) Theater: The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois, Finer Noble Gases, The Metal, Saul Kimmer in Adam Rapp's production of True West. Various work at Geva Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center and Williamstown Theatre Festival. Other New York credits include SPF and the New York Fringe Festival. Film/television: The Runaround, "Hot in Cleveland," "We Hate Paul Revere," "True Blood," "Parks and Recreation," "CSI: NY," "Harry's Law," "Rita Rocks," "Do Not Disturb," "The Jury," "Guiding Light."

Socorro Santiago (Joan) is currently recurring on "Mozart in the Jungle" TV series. Broadway: The Bacchae. Off-Broadway: Roundabout Underground, Ars Nova, Public Theater, Intar, EST, BAM, Ma-Yi Theater, 59E59 Theater, Lark Theatre. Regional: Another Word for Beauty, Mojada, Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike, the Crucible, Trojan Women, Boleros for the Disenchanted. TV/Film: "Law & Order", "Seven Seconds", "Characters", "Blue Blood", "Madame Secretary", "The Good Wife", "All My Children", "Freedomland", "The Other Woman", "Heaven's Prisoner", "Night Falls on Manhattan", "Devil's Advocate", "iCreep".

Cherene Snow (Judy) Broadway: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Scarlett Johansson. Off-Broadway/ Regional: Walking Down Broadway, Last of the Thorntons, Welcome To Fear City, Having Our Say, Little Foxes, Fata Morgana, brownsville song: b-side for tray, Civil War Voices, Black Pearl Sings, Doubt, To Kill a Mockingbird, Coyote on a Fence. Film/TV: Arthur, Perhaps Tomorrow, My Sassy Girl, City of Angels, The Long Walk Home, "Law & Order," "Law & Order SVU," "Third Watch," "Chappelle's Show."

Ben Beckley (Ned) First national tour of Peter and the Starcatcher; various plays at The Actors Company, New Georges, and Berkshire Theatre Group. Developed new work for Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep, and The Public Theater, and with Obie Award-winners Anne Kauffman, Rachel Chavkin, and Robert Wilson. Ben has recorded spots for Ben and Jerry's, Expedia, and Verizon Wireless and can be heard as Thomas Jefferson in the History Channel's 2005 documentary "The Revolution".

Edward Chin-Lyn (Rodney) Film credits: Set It Up, Jessica Jones, Feed the Beast, Limitless, Elementary, Person of Interest, The Mysteries of Laura, Mysteries at the Museum, Sky, Cold War, Waiting for Tomorrow, Candy from a Stranger, A Day in the Life. Theater credits: KPOP, True West, Reconstruction, Leviticus w. Bekah Brunstetter, 2015 Worldwide Play Festival, The Brig, Wake, You Can't Take it With You, A Grimm Reality, A Year in the Life.

Orville Mendoza (Teacher) Broadway: Peter and the Starcatcher, Pacific Overtures. Off-Broadway: Pacific Overtures (Classic Stage Co.), Found (Atlantic Theatre Co.), Passion (CSC), Romeo and Juliet, Timon of Athens, and Road Show (all at The Public/NYSF). Regional: La Jolla Playhouse, ACT, Philadelphia Theatre Co., KC Rep., East West Players, Goodspeed, Long Wharf. TV: "The Blacklist", "Law and Order: CI", and many commercials. Orville is a Drama Desk Award nominee and Barrymore Award winner.

Bess Wohl (Playwright) Plays include Small Mouth Sounds (2017 John Gassner Award, Top Ten of 2015 in The New York Times; Drama Desk Award; Outer Critics Circle and Off-Broadway Alliance nominations), American Hero, Barcelona, Touched, In, Cats Talk Back, and Pretty Filthy, in collaboration with Michael Friedman and The Civilians (Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations for Outstanding Musical). Bess also writes for film and television and has developed projects for HBO, ABC, USA, Disney, and Paramount.

Rachel Chavkin (Director) is a director, writer and dramaturg, as well as the artistic director of Brooklyn-based company the TEAM (www.theteamplays.org), whose unique collaborative process was the subject of a documentary. Selected work: Dave Malloy's Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (Ars Nova, Kazino, A.R.T., Broadway), Marco Ramirez's The Royale (Old Globe, LCT), Bess Wohl's Small Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova/Off-Broadway/national tour), Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown (NYTW), Anne Washburn's Iphigenia in Aulis (CSC), and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac including judy's extravaganza The Lily's Revenge, Act 2 (HERE). The TEAM's work has been seen worldwide, including at The Public Theater, PS122, UK's National Theatre and Royal Court, the National Theatre of Scotland and festivals across Europe, Australia, and Asia. NYTW Usual Suspect. Winner of 3 Obie Awards, Drama Desk, Elliot Norton & IRNE awards, multiple Lucille Lortel nominations, twice nominated for the Doris Duke Impact Award, and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction for her work on Great Comet. She and Comet Dave Malloy are recipients of the 2017 Smithsonian Award for Ingenuity.

Eva Price (Producer) is a Tony Award-winning producer of over 15 Broadway plays, musicals, and concerts; one of Crain's NY 40 Under Forty Rising Business Stars and a member of The Broadway League's Board of Governors. Broadway: Angels in America (Starring Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield), Dear Evan Hansen (6 Tony Awards including Best Musical); On Your Feet! (The Story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan); Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on Broadway!; Peter and the Starcatcher (5 Tony Awards); Colin Quinn Long Story Short (directed by Jerry Seinfeld); Annie (Tony-Nominated Musical Revival);The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino (Tony-Nominated Play Revival); Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking; The Addams Family; Off-Broadway: Cruel Intentions The Musical; KPOP; Drama Desk-nominated Found; The Lion (Drama Desk-winner, Off-West End-winner); Smalwwwl Mouth Sounds. Touring: The Hip Hop Nutcracker with Rap Icon Kurtis Blow; The Magic School Bus Live!: The Climate Challenge; Ella, a bio musical about the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald. Upcoming: Jagged Little Pill.

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