Flashpoint Theatre's World Premiere of THE BENDS Begins Tonight

Flashpoint Theatre Company dives deep into their 2012-2013 season, titled XX, as the company presents the World Premiere of Megan Mostyn-Brown's The Bends. Flashpoint is setting out to explore the lives and issues women face this season and The Bends is an explosive way to kick the theme off. The Bends follows the company's holiday show and their Barrymore and Brown Martin Award winning World Premiere of Slip/Shot. The show runs tonight, March 13-March 31 and opens Saturday, March 16 at 8 p.m.

Tickets cost $15-$22. All shows will take place at the Off-Broad Street Theatre, 1636 Sansom Street. Tickets and more information are available at www.flashpointtheatre.org.

The Bends begins simply - Gemma, a now best-selling author, returns home to see her college friends for the first time in many years. The evening sets out to be simple, but spins out of control rapidly. Mostyn-Brown spins a wine-soaked Bacchanalian tale of what happens when the past and present collide in a single house. Multiple Barrymore-nominee Kathryn MacMillan directs this dark and hilarious play that proves that you can always come home again -- it just won't always be pretty.

"Flashpoint is thrilled to present the world premiere of this exciting, brutal, and honest play. I've known Megan's work for some time and I think The Bends is amongst her finest," said Flashpoint's Artistic Director, Thom Weaver. "Flashpoint's dedication to exploring the life of women this season, and our continued mission to present impactful work by some of the finest emerging artists in the community, makes The Bends a perfect fit."

Flashpoint has assembled a stellar cast for this show. Coming off her recent performance of The Amish Diaries, Janice Rowland plays Gemma. Megan Slater is playing Lacy. Jared Delaney is cast as Lacy's husband Adam and Charlie DelMarcelle is playing Paul. Isa St. Clair is cast as Paul's fiancée Sadie and Walter DeSheilds is playing Manny.

Weaver, who won the 2012 Barrymore Award for Lighting Design, is creating the set and designing the lights. Katherine Fritz is designing the costumes and Larry Fowler is designing the soundscape.

Megan Mostyn-Brown is a graduate of Northwestern University and is a member of LABrynth Theater Company. Her plays include: Girl, The Secret Lives of Losers, Going After Alice, Lizards, Objects Are Closer Than They Appear, The Bends, Nora Gets a Boyfriend, Nancy Blue: Girl Detective and The Rest of Your Life. Her work has been produced at The Guthrie Theater, The Cherry Lane Theater, Union Station Theater, Carelton College, NYC International Fringe Festival, MadCat Theater, The 52nd Street Project and The Actor's Theater of Louisville apprentice program. She has had workshops at New York Stage and Film, The Women's Project, LAByrinth Theater Company, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Public Theater, The Warehouse Theater, New Georges, Barrington Stage Company, The Old Vic/ New Voices New York Exchange, The Tribeca Theater Festival, Duke University and The HBO Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO. She was mentored by Theresa Rebeck as part of the Cherry Lane Mentor Project. She was a member of the 2010-2011 P73 Writers Lab and a former member of Women's Project Playwrights LAB. Mostyn-Brown was also a guest playwright at New River Dramatists, The Orchard Project, The Royal Court Theatre, The Rockefeller Foundation and the 24/7 Lab.

Flashpoint Theatre Company produces socially provocative and emotionally resonant works of new and Contemporary Theatre in the greater Philadelphia area. The company is devoted to giving voice to a diverse group of emerging artists. In the 2011-2012 season, the company won the Barrymore Award for Best New Play for their World Premiere of Jacqueline Goldfinger's Slip/Shot. Slip/Shot also won the Brown Martin Award for work that builds community and showcases diversity.

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