McCarter Theatre to End 2015-16 Season with World Premiere of ALL THE DAYS

If it's not one thing, it's your mother. McCarter Theatre Center is proud to present the World Premiere of Sharyn Rothstein's ALL THE DAYS, a blend of drama and comedy about the hectic history among eccentric mother, her grown daughter, and extended family. With works described as "a force of nature" by The New York Times, Rothstein represents a powerful new voice in the American Theater.

ALL THE DAYS follows Ruth (Caroline Aaron) from Long Island, whose deteriorating health leads her to stay with her grown daughter Miranda (Stephanie Janssen), who is trying to make a new life for herself in Philadelphia all while planning her son's bar mitzvah. As if that wasn't enough - Ruth's sister, ex-husband, a new love interest, and Miranda's boyfriend all find their way through the front door. With all the family in one place, it's anyone's guess if they'll all stay in one piece. Sharyn Rothstein's uniquely heartfelt view of the modern Jewish-American family holds a mirror up to all who know the pain and pleasure of families dealing with life, with loss...and with each other.

About the playwright, director Emily Mann said: "All the Days was my first introduction to Sharyn's work and I laughed out loud reading her fiercely funny characters, exquisitely wrought, struggling with dilemmas at once heartbreaking and hilarious. Sharyn's talent lies not only in her biting dialogue, but also in her ability to infuse her characters and story with depth and humanity. The mother-daughter relationship at the core of the play is both bitterly critical and deeply moving. I can't wait for our audiences to see it."

ALL THE DAYS is directed by McCarter Theatre Center's Artistic Director and Resident Playwright Emily Mann, and boasts a design team of McCarter veterans including scenic designer Dan Ostling (Antony & Cleopatra, Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery); costume designer Jess Goldstein (Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol); lighting designer Jeff Croiter (Five Mile Lake, Mrs. Packard); and sound designer Mark Bennett (Proof, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike).

About Sharyn Rothstein (Playwright) - Sharyn Rothstein is a playwright and television writer. Her play By the Water was produced by Manhattan Theater Club/Ars Nova and received the 2015 Francesca Primus Prize for an emerging woman playwright. Her play The Invested has been published in New Playwrights: The Best Plays of 2012. Her work has been produced and developed by Williamstown Theater Festival, Ensemble Studio Theater, Ars Nova, New Georges, and other theaters across the country. She is a graduate of Vassar College and holds a Master's Degree in Public Health from Hunter College as well as a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from NYU. She is a proud and grateful alum of many of New York's best emerging writer groups. Sharyn is currently in her second season writing for the USA television drama Suits.

About Emily Mann (Director) - Multi-award-winning Director and Playwright Emily Mann is in her 26th season as Artistic Director and Resident Playwright of McCarter Theatre Center where she has overseen 150+ productions. Under Ms. Mann's leadership, McCarter was honored with the 1994 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater and celebrated the Best Play Tony Award win for Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.

Ms. Mann wrote and directed Having Our Say, adapted from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth premiering at McCarter before it moved to Broadway (Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award; Tony nominations for Best Play, Best Direction of a Play, and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play along with Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations; NAACP and Joseph Jefferson Awards; Peabody and Christopher Awards for her screenplay). Ms. Mann directed the world premieres of The Convert by Danai Gurira (winning six Ovation Awards, including Best Director of a Play); Phaedra Backwards by Marina Carr; Sarah Treem's The How and the Why; Edward Albee's Me, Myself & I (also Off-Broadway); and Christopher Durang's Miss Witherspoon (also off-Broadway). Other favorite plays directed at McCarter are: Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics (also on Broadway), David Auburn's Proof, Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance; Rachel Bonds' new play Five Mile Lake; Antony and Cleopatra, All Over (also off-Broadway; Obie Award for Directing), Three Sisters, A Doll House, Glass Menagerie, and Mrs. Warren's Profession. In 2012, Emily directed A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway with Blair Underwood, Wood Harris, Nicole Ari Parker, and Daphne Rubin-Vega.

Emily's plays include: Execution of Justice (Guggenheim Fellowship; Helen Hayes and Joseph Jefferson Awards; Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award noms.); Still Life (six Obie Awards); Greensboro (A Requiem); Meshugah; Annulla, An Autobiography; and Mrs. Packard (recipient of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award). Her current writing projects include two new plays: Hoodwinked and Gloria (Steinem) Live at Lincoln Center.

Her adaptations include: Baby Doll; Scenes from a Marriage; Antigone; The House of Bernarda Alba (recently staged in London at the Almeida); and three Chekhov plays (Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, and A Seagull in the Hamptons). Emily is a member of the Dramatists Guild and serves on its council. She is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Princeton University; was named the 2011 Person of the Year from the National Theatre Conference; received the 2015 Helen Merrill Distinguished Playwrights' Award; and was awarded the 2015 Margo Jones Award given to a "citizen-of-the-theatre who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to the encouragement of the living theatre everywhere."

Led by Artistic Director/Resident Playwright Emily Mann and Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, McCarter Theatre Center is a leading destination for playwrights, actors, and directors to collaborate on ambitious world premieres, re-imagined classics, adaptations, and developmental workshops. Awarded the 1994 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, McCarter has evolved into a nationally and internationally acclaimed theatre recognized for its first-rate productions, daring world premieres, and lasting contributions to the American theatrical canon. The theatre is celebrated for its emphasis on the creation and development of new work, marked especially by an on-going program of commissions, an annual artists retreat, and the fostering of long-term relationships with emerging and established playwrights.

Creative, Production, and Design Team:
Playwright: Sharyn Rothstein
Direction: Emily Mann
Scenic Design: Dan Ostling
Costume Design: Jess Goldstein
Lighting Design: Jeff Croiter
Original Music and Sound Design: Mark Bennett
Casting Director: Caparelliotis Casting
Production Stage Manager: Cheryl Mintz*
Director of Production: David York
Resident Producer: Debbie Bisno
Managing Director: Timothy J. Shields
Artistic Director/Resident Playwright: Emily Mann

CAST (in alphabetical order):
Ruth Zweigman: CAROLINE AARON*
Monica Tobin: LESLIE AYVAZIAN*
Stew Mullen: JUSTIN HAGAN*
Miranda Blaser: STEPHANIE JANSSEN*
Baptiste Wright: RAHAEL NASH THOMPSON*
Delmore Zweigman: RON ORBACH*
Jared Blaser: MATTHEW KUENNE

SPECIAL EVENTS AND AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS:

Dialogue on Drama - Sunday, May 8th directly following the 2:00 p.m. matinee
Join us for a stimulating Mother's Day conversation with All the Days director Emily Mann and Georgetown University professor of linguistics and best-selling author Dr. Deborah Tannen. Mann will talk about her relationship to the play, as well as discuss her work with the playwright, the production's creative team, and All the Days ensemble of actors. Dr. Tannen will offer her experience of this world premiere production as seen through the lens of her interesting expertise and in relation to her book You're Wearing That?: Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation. Dialogue on Drama will begin at approximately 4pm. No RSVP or ticket is required to attend the discussion; it is free and open to the public.

Inside Story
Join us 45 minutes before any performance of All the Days for a talk led by a member of McCarter's artistic staff. Hear about what inspired the play, its unique creation and style, and much more.

Post-Show Discussions
Post-show discussions at McCarter are highly interactive audience-based conversations facilitated by a member of McCarter's artistic staff, often featuring cast members. These discussions focus on a range of topics including how artistic choices were made for the production, the actors' process, and reflections and questions from audience members. Post-show discussions occur directly following the 7:30 p.m. performance on Wednesday, May 11 and following the 2:00 p.m. performance on Sunday, May 15.

Single tickets for All the Days start as low as $25 and are on sale now online at www.mccarter.org, by phone at (609) 258-2787, or in person at the McCarter Theatre Ticket Office, located at 91 University Place in Princeton. All the Days will be performed on the Berlind Stage. The production runs 2 hours, including one 15 minute intermission. This production is recommended for grades 9 and up.

Among the noteworthy dramatists whose work has received world premieres, developmental productions, and workshops at McCarter are: Tarell Alvin McCraney, Edward Albee, Sarah Treem, Marina Carr, Lydia Diamond, John Guare, Nilo Cruz, Christopher Durang, Regina Taylor, Beth Henley, Danai Gurira, and Athol Fugard. Many, including Eclipsed, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Having Our Say, Anna in the Tropics, Crowns, Valley Song, and Yellowman, received original workshops at McCarter before moving on to Broadway and/or become some of the most frequently produced plays in the American theater. McCarter is equally recognized for its reinvestigations of the classic canon (currently, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap) including Fiasco Theater's reimagined production of Into the Woods, Stephen Wadsworth's acclaimed adaptations of the Marivaux Trilogy and Beaumarchais' Figaro plays, Brian Friel's Translations, and Emily Mann's adaptations of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba. ?

McCarter is supported by Princeton University, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and over 3,000 individuals, corporations, and foundations. McCarter Theatre is located at 91 University Place in Princeton, NJ. For more information, www.mccarter.org.

*Denotes membership in Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers
in the United States.

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