People's Light & Theatre Presents The World Premiere of BARCELONA, 5/29-6/23

People's Light & Theatre presents Bess Wohl's Barcelona running May 29-June 23, 2013 on the Steinbright Stage. Jackson Gay directs. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355. For tickets call 610.644.3500 or visit PeoplesLight.org.

Late night in Barcelona. An American woman leaves her own party with a tall, dark stranger - an older Spanish man. Is it a carefree one-night stand or an invitation to danger? A scintillating World Premiere that takes a funny and seductive look at the politics of who we pretend to be versus who we really are.

Barcelona is produced as part of a rolling world premiere agreement between People's Light and The Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherds University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The play has also been optioned by Olympus Theatricals for a commercial production in London.

Bess Wohl, who earned her MFA in acting from the Yale School of Drama, has already garnered wide recognition for her writing. Her play, American Hero, will premiere at Williamstown Theatre Festival this summer. Williamstown previously produced her play Touch(ed). Bess' work has also been produced or developed at The Contemporary American Theater Festival, The Cape Cod Theatre Project, The Pittsburgh Public Theater, The Northlight Theater, TheaterWorks New Works Festival, The Geffen Playhouse, Ojai Playwright's Conference, and The Pioneer Theater.

Barcelona, a funny, sexy, thought-provoking play, uses a potentially dangerous encounter between a young American woman and an older Spanish man to explore both personal and geopolitical prejudices. Bess began writing this play during the Iraq War and was very interested in how Americans are viewed abroad: from the loud tourist to the Hollywood symbol to the international invader. As Bess states, "I hope this play explores this phenomenon - the American tourist - on both a personal and political level. What does it mean to impose one's fantasies and values on another country, on another person? How can we see 'the other' clearly, without projecting"?

Associate Artistic Director and Production Dramaturg, Zak Berkman, brought the play to People's Light after first learning of it while Executive Director of New York's Epic Theatre Ensemble. "Bess finds a way with just two characters to illuminate what makes old Europe so seductive and bewildering and what makes youthful America so alluring, profound, and oblivious. In this era when our continents are simultaneously closer and more distant than ever, this encounter offers a challenge and a hope that we can discover ways of helping each other heal from a decade of so much hurt."

Barcelona previews on Wednesday, May 29, and Thursday, May 30 at 7:30 pm and Friday, May 31 at 8 pm. The play opens on Saturday, June 1 and runs through Sunday, June 23. Audiences are encouraged to join the artists for a conversation about the production after the Thursday performances on June 6, 13 & 20.

People's Light continues its program called Scoop on Sundays: History, Context, and Gossip, a lively discussion before every Sunday 7 pm performance (June 2, 9 & 16). An artist will discuss the world of the play, how and why it was chosen, as well as how it was cast, designed, and rehearsed. The program begins at 5:30 in The Farmhouse Bistro. Cost of $15 includes light fare. Call the Box Office at 610.644.3500.

Single tickets: $25 - $45. For tickets, call the Box Office at 610.644.3500. Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information or to purchase group tickets, call 610.647.1900 x134 or email charles@peopleslight.org

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