Sacred Heart University to Stage HEADS, by E.M. Lewis

"Heads," the story of four people - an American engineer, a British embassy employee, a network journalist, and a freelance photographer, who are thrown together when they are taken hostage during the early years of the war in Iraq, opens in New York at The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row, for a limited run, September 11-20, 2015 (410 West 42nd Street). "Heads" was written by playwright and librettist E.M. Lewis, whose works have been produced worldwide. She is the recipient of numerous awards including one for "Heads", the 2008 Primus Prize, honoring emerging women theatre artists. The play was first performed on stage in Los Angeles at the Blank Theatre Company and was a critical success. The Los Angeles Times said at the time that it was, "so topical that it feels as if the play was co-written by CNN." And Edward Albee called it "provocative and wonderfully threatening."

Now the production will have a new incarnation in the hands of a group of students, who are part of the newly minted Theatre Arts undergraduate degree program at Sacred Heart University. Tony-nominated Broadway producer Jerry Goehring, the creator and Artistic Director of the Theatre Arts Program, is using his professional theatrical experience, to build a unique program that offers students the opportunity to work on productions in a non-academic environment. As such, Sacred Heart University's Theatre Arts Program has teamed with its in-residence professional company, Connecticut Children's Theatre, Inc. (CCT, Inc.) to fund and produce a limited run of "Heads."

The intent of the production is to allow students, in all creative and technical areas, to work with a professional director and then produce the show in a professional theatrical venue, in this case at The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row. Students will be tasked with taking on all production positions including as designers, stage management, assistant director, running crew, house crew, graphics, as well as marketing and social media.

On this production, students will be guided by Director Laura Savia (BareKnuckle at Gleason's Gym, The Recommendation), who has developed work with the Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Company and has directed productions for Naked Angels, Ars Nova, and Theatreworks USA, to name a few. Casting for "Heads" was handled by Stephanie Klapper Casting (Bronx Bombers, A Christmas Story).

The ensemble cast of four is headed include David Dotterer (HMS Pinafore, Of Mice and Men), a member of the Connecticut Children's Theatre, Inc. family, as Harold Wolfe the American engineer who has been in captivity for seven months when we meet him. Jose Leon (The Glory of the World, That High Lonesome Sound), is cast as the freelance photojournalist, Jack Velazquez. Caroline Conway, an administrative assistant at the British Embassy in Iraq is played by award-nominee, actress/director *Kim Martin-Cotton (Moon for the Misbegotten, Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino). New York based actor, Michael Turner (Encounters, Last Days of Judas Iscariot), is cast as Michael Aprés the network correspondent.

"Heads" is a heartwrenching story about finding hope and intimacy in an environment with seemingly no way out. Performances are scheduled on:

Fri Sept 11, 8pm (preview)

Sat Sept 12, 2pm and 8pm (previews)

Sun Sept 13, 3pm (Opening)

Thurs Sept 17, 8pm

Fri Sept 18, 8pm

Sat Sept 19, 8pm

Sun Sept 20, 3pm

To purchase tickets visit Telecharge at www.telecharge.com or call (212) 239-6200.

(*)These actors are appearing courtesy of Actor's Equity Association.

This is an Equity approved showcase.

To post a comment, you must register and login.