Mile Square Theatre to Stage Regional Premiere of Steven Levenson's CORE VALUES, 7/10-27

What place do values such as teamwork and loyalty have in today`s constantly changing marketplace? Can a middle-aged business owner who clings to these values unite his staff at a weekend retreat and save his small travel agency from the recession? Will a perfectly executed trust fall do the trick?

MST associate artistic director Matthew Lawler (seen recently in George Street Playhouse`s OUR TOWN, and featured in the film God`s Pocket with Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Annie McAdams (MST's God of Carnage) lead a cast of four as they explore these questions in Steven Levenson`s funny play about discontent in the modern workplace.

While Mile Square Theatre (MST), Hudson County`s premiere professional theatre company, builds its new theatre space in The Artisan at 1400 Clinton Street, the company will perform across the street in the intimate Edge Lofts at 1405 Clinton. MST artistic director Chris O`Connor believes this unique setting will enhance the themes of the play and provide an exciting experience for the audience. "Levenson's hilarious and bittersweet play offers a familiar look into the office workplace, where colleagues struggle to find value in theirjobs and in their lives, " O'Connor says. "I'm excited to produce this play in the intimate setting of Edge Lofts. Our design team is going to have a lot of fun creating this world."

Core Values by Steven Levenson

July 10-July 27

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday @ 8pm

@The Edge Lofts

14th and Clinton, Hoboken

Core Values is presented with the generous support of Bijou Properties, Ironstate, the Mason Family Civic League and the Rockefeller Group.

Tickets are $30 and can be purchased @ milesquaretheate.org, or at the door. Reservations are STRONGLY recommended.

About Mile Square Theatre: Mile Square Theatre (MST) is the leading professional Equity theatre in Hudson County. Since 2003, MST has presented full-scale productions for adults andchildren, in addition to providing theatre education programs. Under the artistic direction of Chris O'Connor, MST receives support from The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Hudson County Division of Cultural Affairs. Forcompany information, visit www.milesquaretheatre.org.

COMPANY BIOS:

MATTHEW LAWLER (Richard) Matthew recently portrayed Simon Stimpson in George Street Playhouse`s production of Our Town with Boyd Gaines. Matt co-founded the award-winning rUDE mECHANICALS theater company and appeared in Valparaiso by Don DeLillo (NY premiere), The Flu Season by Will Eno (US premiere) and many more. Other NY theater includes DETROIT (Playwrights Horizons), Hurlyburly, Abigail`s Party, and One Arm (The New Group); Rough Sketch (59e59); Louis Slotin Sonata (EST); Three Sisters (Roundabout). Associate Artistic Director of Mile Square Theatre. MST acting credits include; God of Carnage, Twelfth Night ,The Pavilion; directing: It`s A Wonderful Life, My Italy Story. Film/TV include God`s Pocket (w/ Philip Seymour Hoffman), Knight and Day, Anything But Love, The Jimmy Show, Filmic Achievement. TV includes: Hostages, Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos, Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, The Americans. MFA, American Conservatory Theater.

ANNIE MCADAMS (Nancy) Annie has worked regionally at the Intiman Theatre in Seattle (World Premiere of Smash by Jeffrey Hatcher) and at the Franklin Stage Company as Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream. New York City: Lydie Breeze (New York Theatre Workshop), Cruel and Barborous Treatment (Culture Project). At MST she appeared in 7th Inning Stretch in Warren Leight's Love of the Game, Lee Blessing's Fantasy League, and in God of Carnage. She directed A Little Chatter for the 2008 Stretch. Annie is MST's resident graphic designer. Her work as a graphic designer includes design for Book of the Month Club, The Metropolitan Museum, OXO, The New York Times, and countless otherclients. She is also DONA-trained doulah and mom to Willa and Mae. Annie currently sits on thefaculty of the New World School of the Arts in Miami, FL.

ANDREW BALDWIN (Todd) MST: Frog in A Year with Frog and Toad, and Captain in Twelfth Night. Andrew was recently featured off-off Broadway in the award-winning new play O Walter, My Walter. Other credits include 54: The Musical (EAT) and Paris in Romeo and Juliet (Columbia Stages). Andrew is a proud member of the Drop Your Jaw Improv group and an actor/combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors. Training: BFA University of Miami. www.andrewnbaldwin.com

ANNETTE HAMMOND (EIiot) is a recent graduate from the University of Miami where she earned her BFA in Acting. Credits include: Thebans (Ismene), Metamorphoses, South Pacific (Liat), King Lear (Cordelia), Boeing Boeing (Gabriella), and The House of Bernarda Alba (Amelia).

CHRIS O'CONNOR (Director) Chris founded Mile Square Theatre in 2002. He conceived and produces the annual 10-minute play festival 7th Inning Stretch. His MST directing credits include St. Columba and the River, The Souls of Black Folk, John Redding Goes to the Sea, Charlie Peter's Striking Out the Babe for the 2003 7th Inning Stretch, Warren Leight's The Love of the Game for the 2004 Stretch, Jenny Levison's Homefield Advantage for the 2006 Stretch, Neil LaBute's Squeeze Play for the 2012 Stretch, the inaugural MST Mainstage production, Cyrano, he co-directed (with Jeff Steitzer) The Scams of Scapin, for which he played the title role, AMidsummer Night's Dream, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, and The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi, The Pavilion, Twelfth Night. As an actor, Chris has been associated with Zoetic Stage, 12 Miles West, A Contemporary Theatre, The Culture Project, Soho Rep, the 78th Street Theatre Lab, Target Margin, Gloucester Stage, Book-It Repertory, City Theatre in Pittsburgh, Provisional Theatre of Los Angeles, The Bathhouse, Seattle Children's Theatre, among others. Chris's voice can be heard in countless audio tours in America's best-known museums. Recent TV credits include Burn Notice and Magic City. He is a theatre educator, and his plays for young people have been produced at The Seattle Children's Theatre and in schools in the Puget Sound area. His play The Mascots is published in Smith & Kraus's 2011 Best 10-Minute Plays. He has taught theatre at Colgate University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, SUNY Purchase, Rutgers University and is currently a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Miami. Chris holds a BFA in acting from Carnegie-Mellon University and an MFA in Directing from Rutgers University.

STEVEN LEVENSON (playwright) Steven Levenson's playsinclude THE LANGUAGE OF TREES (Roundabout Underground), ALMOST STUCK, GIRLSDAY, and BECOMING SAMMY. His work has been seen and developed by Roundabout, Ars Nova, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Stage and Film, New Dramatists and Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre. A graduate of Brown University, he has also received play commissions from Roundabout and Lincoln Center Theater.

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