Photo Coverage: Opening Night of The Girl from Nashville

Playwright, screenwriter, and "Friday Night Lights" actor Steven Michael Walters' new Southern Gothic tragedy opened Friday, December 3 at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre in the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex (312 West 36th Street at 8th Avenue).

The Girl from Nashville tells the tale of a high school football coach who inexplicably murders his star quarterback in the middle of playoff season. Fading between present-day interrogation room drama and moments from the coach's past hiding out in a motel with a young female student, The Girl from Nashville explores questions of right and wrong, good and evil, and the nature of redemption.

Cast includes: Brad Makarowski* (The Flea Theatre's Design Your Kitchen), Jessica Renee Russell (Houston Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing), Dan Sharkey* (Broadway: The Music Man); EBE Ensemble member Montgomery Sutton* (White Horse Theater Company's Clothes for a Summer Hotel), and Erin Wilhelmi (Manhattan Theatre Source's Likeness)

The stage manager is Andrea Herbert*, with scenic design by David Ogle, costume design by Amanda Jenks, lighting design by Tsubasa Kamei, sound design by Joshua B Jenks, and fight direction by Turner Smith.

Steven Walters (playwright) is a founding ensemble member and the co-Artistic Director of Second Thought Theatre in Dallas, TX. His plays have been produced by Second Thought Theatre, Casa Manana, Project X, Water Tower Theatre's Out of the Loop Festival, the Festival of Independent Theaters, and Firebone Theatre (NYIT Award Winner-2010). In 2005, Steven was named "Best Local Playwright" by the Dallas Observer. Acting credits include work at the Dallas Theater Center (including a co-production with The Public Theatre of The Good Negro), Second Thought Theatre, Peterborough Players, Lost Nation Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theatre, as well as television work on Friday Night Lights, My Generation, Trauma, Prison Break, Case Closed. Steven is also a screenwriter and he is currently represented by the Agency for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

The play continues through December 18, Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $18 ($13 through November 1 with discount code EARLY2) and can be purchased on www.smarttix.com or by calling 212-868-4444.

EBE Ensemble is dedicated to developing and presenting new and unique works of theatre. They believe that making theater accessible enhances a community and that, through an ensemble-based approach, they can better present quality theatre that strives for an emotional truth. For more information, visit www.ebeensemble.com.

Photo Credit: Kristine Ayers

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