Southern Rep Theatre to Stage COLOSSAL

Southern Rep Theatre announces details of its upcoming production of COLOSSAL by Andrew Hinderaker: a thrilling, one-of-a-kind theatrical experience that combines football, modern dance, and a live drumline across four quarters and a half-time performance to tell the story of a star college player following his catastrophic injury on the football field.

COLOSSAL is a combustible tour-de-force that demonstrates the incredible collaborations only live theatre can engender. With former pro ball and college football player Lester Ricard engineering the football plays, Jeffrey Gunshol marshaling the modern dance sequences, and Kevin O'Donnell making the live drum line pop, COLOSSAL is a relentless exploration of the love of the game. We are also thrilled that we get to showcase playwright Andrew Hinderaker's exceptional voice for the first time in New Orleans. His nuanced writing explores the challenges of modern masculinity in a dynamic and completely original way. COLOSSAL is not to be missed.

- Aimée Hayes, director

Andrew Hinderaker, who is a staff writer for the Showtime series "Penny Dreadful," wrote COLOSSAL after being challenged by a mentor to write an "unproduceable" play. "What makes COLOSSAL potentially so difficult to cast is that in some ways, you have to approach it like a musical," says Hinderaker. "You have this huge cast size and you have big physical demands for a lot of the characters."

Playing the leading role of Mike is Tobias "Toby" Forrest, who took on the character previously with Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis. "I'm a performer with a disability," says Forrest, "I have a spinal cord injury, and going into this role I knew that I was going to have to encounter a lot of my own feelings as far as who I was before this injury and who I had to become after the injury."

COLOSSAL will be presented as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere following productions in Dallas, Washington, Minneapolis, and Boston.

Individual tickets start at $40 and are on sale now. Prices are subject to increase based on demand. Discounts are available for seniors; military personnel, families, and veterans;* patrons 35 and under, theatre professionals, and teachers. Preview performances (June 1 - 3) are $25.

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