Kristin McCalley Directs Martyna Majok's IRONBOUND Opening Saturday in Nashville

Nashville Story Garden presents the Nashville premiere of Ironbound by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok January 26-February 2 at the former Inglewood United Methodist Church, 3511 Gallatin Pike, Nashville. Starring Joe Mobley (Vik), Gerald Pitts (Maks), Tamara Todres (Darja) and Ted Welch (Tommy), Ironbound is directed by Kristin McCalley.

Waiting for the bus in a run-down New Jersey town, Darja, a Polish immigrant cleaning lady, is done talking about feelings; it's time to talk money. Over the course of 20 years and three relationships, Darja negotiates for her future with men who can offer her love or security, but never both. Martyna Majok's Ironbound is a clear-eyed, compassionate portrait of a woman for whom love might not be enough.

The production team includes Jessica Anderson (costumes), Amanda Card (stage manager), Chelsey Fuller (props), Clayton Landiss (lighting and set design) and Tasha Lemley (sound design).

Martyna Majok (playwright) was born in Bytom, Poland and aged in Jersey and Chicago. Martyna was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cost of Living (Williamstown Theatre Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club). Other plays include Sanctuary City (New York Theatre Workshop), Queens (LCT3/Lincoln Center, La Jolla Playhouse). Her plays have been performed and developed at Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Women's Project Theater, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and the Kennedy Center, among others. Awards include the Helen Merrill Award for emerging playwrights, Helen Hayes Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play, an ANPF Women's Invitational Prize, David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize, the New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellowship, the Kennedy Center's Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, and the NNPN Smith Prize for Political Playwriting. Majok has received commissions from the Bush Theatre in London, La Jolla Playhouse, The Foundry Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory, Manhattan Theatre Club, The New Yorker website, and Geffen Playhouse. Majok has a B.A. from the University of Chicago and an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama. She is currently a part of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at the Juilliard School and the Core Writer Program at the Playwrights' Center. Publications: Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, TCG, Playscripts, and Smith & Kraus. Majok is an alumna of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood and Women's Project Theater's Lab, and a member of The Dramatists Guild, the Writers Guild of America East, and New York Theatre Workshop's Usual Suspects. Majok was a 2012-2013 NNPN Playwright-in-Residence and the 2015-2016 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at The Lark. She is a 2018-2019 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University.

Kristin McCalley (director) graduated from Belmont University with a BFA in theatre performance. Since then, she has been performing with the Nashville Children's Theatre, Blackbird Theatre, Verge Theatre, Chicago Talking Machine Co., and others. She has also been busy producing and co-producing work including productions of Big Love by Charles Mee, Nerve by Adam Szymkowicz, and The Strange by Jenny Magnus.

Performances are January 26-28 and January 31-February 2. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. for each performance and tickets are priced at $15. The former Inglewood United Methodist Church is located at 3511 Gallatin Pike and the theater is on the second floor. Parking is available behind the building, with a lighted path to the entrance at the front of the building. Tickets are available online at www.eventbrite.com/e/ironbound-by-martyna-majok-tickets-52687686288 or at the door. Availability is limited.