Theater Exile Presents HUNTER GATHERERS 10/29-11/22

Theatre Exile invites you to explore your carnal cravings with the Philadelphia premiere of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's Hunter Gatherers. Directed by co-artistic director Deborah Block, Hunter Gatherers runs October 29th through November 22nd at the Adrienne Theatre (mainstage). Hunter Gatherers is recommended for mature audiences.

The first production of Theatre Exile's 13th season, Hunter Gatherers is a "bitingly hilarious black comedy [that] spares neither savages nor saints" (LA Times). Hunter Gatherers "explores what happens when the thin veneer of civilization melts away," says director Deborah Block, "and our primal urges bubble to the surface." Richard, Pam, Wendy and Tom have been the "Fab Four" since prom night 17 years ago. Even through the bedlam of being 30-something, successful urban professionals, the two married couples still find time amidst the Reiki sessions, novel writing and organic food shopping to gather for a yearly dinner. As the smell of their freshly killed dinner fills the room, their culturally savvy world is threatened by the animal instincts that lurk inside every sophisticated scenester.

Theatre Exile and Flashpoint Theatre Company partner to offer a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in the work of this rising-star playwright: while Hunter Gatherers runs downstairs at the Mainstage, Flashpoint presents Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's boom October 28th through November 21st at the Adrienne's Second Stage. For one weekend only, Theatre Exile invites audiences to meet Peter Sinn Nachtrieb in person! San Francisco-based Nachtrieb will be our guest the weekend of November 7th and 8th. On Saturday, November 7th, come see Hunter Gatherers at 8pm and stay for a post-show talkback. Join us Sunday, November 8th for a 1:30pm pre-show brunch before the matinees of boom at 2:30pm and Hunter Gatherers at 3pm. Another talkback follows this boom matinee.

Theatre Exile has gathered a gifted ensemble for our season opener, featuring Barrymore Award winner Amanda Schoonover, star of Exile's Mr. Marmalade and Killer Joe, as the sensitive software specialist Pam. Exile's own associate artistic director and winner of the 2008 F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Theatre Artist, Matt Pfeiffer, follows his critically acclaimed direction of Exile's American Buffalo last season to return to the stage as the embittered doctor Tom. Exile is pleased to welcome Sarah Sanford, member of the award-winning Pig Iron ensemble, nominee for 2009 F. Otto Haas Award, and Philadelphia Magazine's Best of Philly 2009 Up-and-coming Theater Talent, as the voracious masseuse Wendy and Ross Beschler, recently with People's Light & Theatre Company in End Days and last seen in Cabinet of Wonders at Gas and Electric Arts, as the testosterone-driven artist Richard. Exile's Co-artistic director Deborah Block directs this uproarious and surprising look at two couples teetering between virility and middle-aged panic.

Exile welcomes set designer Meghan Jones, who designed Hamlet and the Barrymore-nominated The Hothouse for The Lantern Theater Company last season. This season's costume designer Alison Roberts is in her tenth year with the Arden Theatre Company and has designed for 1812 Productions, Rowan University, and Jeanne Ruddy Dance. Veteran Exile lighting designer Paul Moffitt has also designed for Celebration Theatre Company, Headlong Dance Theatre, The Wilma, Intrepid Theatre Company, Zen One Dance Collective, Philadelphia Theater Company, Mayflower Theater Company, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, and Azuka Theatre, as well as in New York and internationally. Sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman most recently co-sound designed Fatebook for the 2009 Live Arts Festival and designed Cabinet of Wonders for Gas and Electric Arts, and is currently co-sound designing at The Flea Theatre in Tribeca, NYC. Fight choreographer John Bellomo returns to Exile after fight choreographing previous productions including Killer Joe, for which he was Barrymore Award-nominated.
Director

Deborah Block has been a consistent figure in the Philadelphia arts community for over 20 years as a director, dramaturg, producer, curator and educator. She has been involved in the creation of many professional productions including directing over 50 shows with an emphasis on new plays and movement based theater, and has received much recognition for her professional and educational work. She has directed scores of educational productions and has taught at many local universities including Rowan University and the University of the Arts, and has been a guest at Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania among others. A recipient of the Lambda Award, The Albert Benzwie Memorial Scholarship in Playwriting and Independence Fellowship in the Arts, she is also one of the founders of the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe and was the program director for ten years. She currently teaches at Temple University where she received her MFA. Block has previously directed Kick Me, Sole Searching, Roosters and dark play or stories for boys for Theatre Exile.
Playwright

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is a San Francisco-based playwright whose works include boom, Hunter Gatherers, Colorado, T.I.C. (Trenchcoat In Common), and Multiplex. His work has been seen off-Broadway and across the country at Ars Nova, SPF, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Seattle Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Public Theatre, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep, the Bailiwick Theatre, Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theatre, Dad's Garage, and in the Bay Area at Encore Theatre, Killing My Lobster, The Magic Theatre, Impact Theatre, and The Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Hunter Gatherers received the 2007 American Theatre Critics Association/Steinberg New Play Award for best new play to premiere outside of New York and the 2007 Will Glickman Prize for best new play in the Bay Area. He is under commission from South Coast Rep and is a Resident Playwright at the Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco. Peter holds a degree in Theater and Biology from Brown and an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. He likes to promote himself online at www.peternachtrieb.com.

 

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