City Theatre Announces THE REVOLUTIONSTS By Lauren Gunderson

City Theatre launches its new season with an all female cast and creative team for the Pittsburgh premiere of America's most produced playwright from 2017, Lauren Gunderson, and her hysterical and historical comedy, The Revolutionists. While set during France's Reign of Terror (1793-94), it is a timely treatise for the United States today as it celebrates four badass women out to change the world.

"Over these past few years Lauren Gundersdon has become a red hot voice in the American Theatre," said City's newly appointed Artistic Director Marc Masterson. "We are thrilled to introduce her to Pittsburgh with this wildly theatrical, smart, and funny take on 'badass women' of the French Revolution. The play speaks to our own historical moment with insight and relevance, fun and frenzy." Masterson commissioned Ms. Gunderson's first nationally renowned play, I and You, while at South Coast Repertory.

Liberté, égalité... sororité! It's the French Revolution and heads will roll - including playwright Olympe de Gouges' and her muses: assassin Charlotte Corday, Caribbean freedom fighter Marianne Angelle, and the one-and-only Marie "Let Them Eat Cake" Antoinette. In this irreverent comedy, these women hang out, murder Marat, and try to beat back the extremist insanity in 1793 Paris. This grand and dream-tweaked play is about violence and legacy, art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, and how we actually go about changing the world. It's a true story. Or total fiction. Or a play about a play. Or a raucous resurrection...that ends in a song and a scaffold.

"The Revolutionists is a play that time travels but lands solidly in this very moment; and I couldn't be more honored and excited to have this story at this time at City Theatre," said playwright Lauren Gunderson. "For a play about art, voice, crisis, protest, women, humanism, and friendship to get the kind of riveting, vivid production only City Theatre can offer is a dream for me. I think the historical figures my characters are based would be pretty damn proud too."

City Theatre's production of THE REVOLUTIONISTS is directed by Jade King Carroll, who returns to City Theatre after helming the acclaimed Sunset Baby by Dominque Morisseau in 2015.The cast includes local favorites Daina Michelle Griffith (The White Chip, The Last Match at City Theatre), Moira Quigley (City Theatre Main Stage debut), and DREW LEIGH WILLIAMS (City Theatre Main Stage debut). New York-based Shamika Cotton, recently seen in last year's Citizens Market, returns to City Theatre. The badass all-woman design team features Anne Mundell (scenic), Susan Tsu (costumes), Nicole Pearce (lighting), and Fan Zhang (sound). City Theatre Director of New Play Development, Clare Drobot, is dramaturg for the production.

Lauren M. Gunderson is the most produced playwright in America of 2017, the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award, the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, she is also a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and John Gassner Award for Playwriting, and a recipient of the Mellon Foundation's 3-Year Residency with Marin Theatre Company. She studied Southern Literature and Drama at Emory University, and Dramatic Writing at NYU's Tisch School where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her work has been commissioned, produced and developed at companies across the U.S. including South Coast Rep (Emilie, Silent Sky), The Kennedy Center (The Amazing Adventures of Dr. Wonderful And Her Dog!), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The O'Neill, The Denver Center, San Francisco Playhouse, Marin Theatre, Synchronicity, Berkeley Rep, Shotgun Players, TheatreWorks, Crowded Fire and more. She co-authored Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley with Margot Melcon, which was one of the most produced plays in America in 2017. Her work is published at Playscripts (I and You, Exit Pursued By A Bear, The Taming, and Toil And Trouble), Dramatists (The Revolutionists, The Book of Will, Silent Sky, Bauer, Miss Bennet) and Samuel French (Emilie). Her picture book Dr Wonderful: Blast Off to the Moon was released from Two Lions / Amazon in May 2017. LaurenGunderson.com and @LalaTellsAStory

In highlighting the play's themes of women's leadership, City Theatre will partner with Strong Women, Strong Girls on the production, highlighting their work in the Pittsburgh community. Strong Women, Strong Girls (SWSG) is a multi-generational mentorship organization that connects professional women, college women, and elementary school girls. They champion the aspirations and promote the potential of girls from under-resourced communities through innovative mentorship programming.

After a successful pilot last year, City Theatre continues its new ticketing initiative that ensures that price not serve as a barrier to attendance. During the preview performances of The Revolutionists, patrons can purchase tickets at a price of their choosing online, over the phone, or at the box office. Any price can be named in-person or over the phone (just mention "Pick-Your-Price-Previews"); online sales start at $5 and increase incrementally. Subject to availability; phone and online fees apply.

MORE ABOUT 'THE REVOLUTIONISTS'

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: September 8 - September 30, 2018

Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. and/or 7:00 p.m.

Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m.

Saturdays at 1:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and/or 9:00 p.m.

Sundays at 2:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m.

For a complete listing of show times, please visit CityTheatreCompany.org or call 412-431-2489.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Post-Show Talkbacks: Sundays, September 16 and 23, following the 2:00 p.m. performances.
Hosted by Director of New Play Development, Clare Drobot, post-show talkbacks encourage audiences to engage with the artists behind the performances.

Greenroom: Art & Afterparty: Friday, September 21 at 8:00 p.m.
Join the cast and artistic team for a party in the Gordon Lounge following the performance featuring special guests, free beer and light bites. Tickets are just $30 for the evening with promocode GREENROOM.

Pay-What-You-Want: Saturday, September 22 at 1:00 p.m.
A block of tickets is reserved for audience members to name their own price at this performance. Walk up sales only, beginning two hours before curtain. Call the box office to check on availability.

ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES:
ASL Interpretation Tuesday, September 25 at 7:00 p.m.
Open Caption & Audio Description Sunday, September 30 at 2:00 p.m.

BOX OFFICE INFORMATION:
412.431.CITY (2489) or CityTheatreCompany.org
Single Tickets start at $29.
Six-play subscriptions still available and start at $150.

DISCOUNTS:
Under 30: Reserve $15 tickets in advance for performances except Opening Night and Saturdays at 5:30 p.m.; rush tickets may be available at those performances. Must present ID to receive Under 30 pricing.
Seniors age 62 and older: $24 rush tickets may be purchased at the box office beginning two hours before curtain, based on availability.
Groups of ten or more: Contact Joel Ambrose at 412.431.4400 x286.

WHERE:
1300 Bingham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203 (South Side)
Port Authority bus routes: 48, 51, 54, 81, 83

PARKING:
Patron parking is available in the lot across from the City Theatre entrances for $9, subject to availability. Additional metered parking is available surrounding the theater (note: meters now extend until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays).

10TH STREET BRIDGE DISRUPTION
Work continues on the 10th Street Bridge, which is closed to traffic heading south from downtown (outbound) requiring alternate routes to the South Side, including Second Avenue and Forbes Avenue to the Birmingham Bridge, Second Avenue to the Hot Metal Bridge, and Smithfield Street Bridge to West Carson Street. Allow for additional travel time as there is no late seating at City Theatre due to the nature of the venues.

ABOUT CITY THEATRE:
Founded in 1975, City Theatre enters its 44th season as Pittsburgh's home for bold new plays. Located in the historic South Side on its four-building cultural campus, the company produces a season of regional and world premieres, including the upcoming The Burdens by Matt Schatz and We Are Among Us by Stephen Belber; its renowned Young Playwrights Festival; a season-long reading series of new works in progress; and the annual Momentum Festival. City Theatre's mission is to provide an artistic home for the development and production of contemporary plays of substance and ideas that engage and challenge a diverse audience. With an annual average operating budget of $2.75 million, City is the largest performing arts organization not located in Pittsburgh's downtown Cultural District and is a constituent and core member of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT), Theatre Communications Group (TCG), and the National New Play Network (NNPN). Marc Masterson returned as Artistic Director in July, after a 19 year absence, to join Managing Director James McNeel as co-leaders of the organization.

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