Burning Coal Theatre Company And Raleigh's Contemporary Art Museum Presents CHURCHILL'S SHORTS

The Burning Coal Theatre Company and Raleigh's Contemporary Art Museum are proud to present Churchill's Shorts, two short plays by Caryl Churchill (Far Away and A Number), directed by Stephen Eckerd, June 20 - 30, 2019 at CAM/Raleigh, 409 W. Martin Street, Raleigh, NC.

Performance times are Thursday through Saturday, June 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 and 29th at 7:30 pm and Sundays, June 23 and 30th at 2 pm. Tickets are $15 apiece and may be purchased at https://burningcoal.org/churchills-shorts/ or by calling 919.834.4001. Student rush tickets are available for $5 (if available) at curtain.

Far Away is a dystopian futuristic tale of a time when nature has begun to rebel against humanity's lack of stewardship over the planet. The cast will include Julie Oliver, Chloe Oliver and Ben Apple, all of Raleigh. The New York Times called the play "ravishing, deeply disturbing" and London's Guardian called it "strange, unsettling".

A Number is also set in the near future, but is more concerned with the advancement of technology and the degree to which those advancements may be outpacing our ability to keep up with them. Of the play, Variety said it "ranks among her most mesmerically disturbing works".

The confluence of concerns: global climate change and technological advancement is creating deep unease in societies across the world. These two plays, highly dramatic and entertaining, each look at one of these issues and suggests a conversation that needs to happen now and in a public forum.

Caryl Churchill is among the most revered and honored playwrights in the world. Originally from London, England, she was born in 1938, months before the beginning of World War II. As a child, she would have felt the impact of the German blitz. After the war, her family migrated to Canada. She returned to go to University at a women's college that was part of Oxford University where she studied English literature. After college, she began writing, first for BBC radio and later for the stage. She served as resident dramatist for the famed Royal Court Theatre in 1974-75 and later worked with Max Stafford-Clark and his touring Joint Stock Theatre. Her plays include Cloud 9, Top Girls, Serious Money (Olivier Award, Best New Play), Mad Forest, Vinegar Tom, Blue Heart, The Striker, Seven Jewish Children and Light Shining in Buckinghamshire.

Originally from New Orleans, Stephen M. Eckert is a NYC based theatrical director. He was a founder and Artistic Director of the award-winning Promethean Theatre Company in New Orleans from 2012-2017. He has directed over 10 productions within the company including the regional premier of Annie Baker's The Flick. Eckert has twice been nominated at New Orleans' Big Easy Entertainment Awards for Best Director of a Drama for his work on The Flick and Equus, and since 2012 his productions have received a total of 13 nominations and 5 wins. Eckert has directed several premier productions of new work including the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival award-winning production of We Will Not Describe the Conversation, The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends, winner of the Premier Premieres Festival of musical comedy in Chicago, and ID, Please at London's TÊTE À TÊTE new opera festival.

The cast includes Julie Oliver and Chloe Oliver, both members of Burning Coal Theatre Company and longtime participants in the Triangle Theatre. Mark Filiaci of Durham, another Burning Coal stalwart and regular performer throughout the Triangle Theatre world and Ben Apple of Raleigh, a recent graduate of UNC-Greensboro round out the cast. Matthew Adelson of Lee, Mass. will be lighting the show. Matthew has lit more than 30 productions for Burning Coal in the last 20 plus years. Recent ECU graduate Dylan Bailey will stage manage and scenery will be provided by Josh Martin, currently studying theatre at Oberlin in Ohio.

CAM Raleigh provides the platform for enriching our community and empowering creativity through contemporary art and design. CAM's ever-changing educational and cultural experiences ignite ideas and connect people to what is now and what is next. Gab Smith is CAM's Executive Director

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