SKYLIGHT by David Hare Opens Burning Coal Theatre Company's 20th Season

Burning Coal Theatre Company will open its 20th season in Raleigh, North Carolina with David Hare's Skylight, a love story about a brashly swaggering, politically conservative middle-aged businessman in the hotels and restaurants trade who stumbles back into the life of a progressive-minded, younger woman with whom he had a tempestuous affair years before. The play will run Thursdays through Saturdays, Oct. 6-9, 13-15 and 20-22, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays, October 9, 16, and 23, 2016 at 2 p.m. Performances will take place at Burning Coal's Murphey School Auditorium, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC 27604.

Tickets are $25 general admission; $20 for seniors (65+); and $15 for students, teachers and active military. All tickets forThursday performances are $15. The first Sunday, Oct. 9, is Pay What You Can Day and will be audio described. Burning Coal also offers group rates and $5 student rush tickets if available at curtain. Tickets and further information can be found atwww.burningcoal.org or by calling 919-834-4001.

Tom Sergeant, his son Edward, and Kyra Hollis are the three characters in Skylight. Kyra once worked with Tom and lived with his family. After her affair with Tom was discovered by his wife, Kyra flees and lives in a very poor neighborhood, attempting to teach some of society's most downtrodden youngsters. After Alice, Tom's wife, dies of cancer, the tense relationship between Tom and his son reaches a boiling point. Both father and son visit Kyra on the same night. Edward, 18, begs for help and wants to understand why she deserted the family. Tom seeks reconciliation and perhaps forgiveness. Skylight is both a smoldering romance between two mismatched lovers and a deeper exploration of the question: how ought we to live our lives? The play opened in London in the mid-1990s with Michael Gambon and Lia Williams as Tom and Kyra. A revival played on Broadway in 2015 featured Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan.

David Hare is an English playwright and screenwriter who has received numerous Golden Globe and Tony Award nominations, and many other accolades for his plays. Skylight received the Laurence Olivier Award for Play of the Year in 1996, and more recently received a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play in 2015. Some of Hare's other notable plays are Racing Demon,Pravda, Plenty, and Stuff Happens about the political manipulation of the British and American people by the government and the press leading up to the invasion of Iraq. Burning Coal produced his play, A Map of the World in 2006.

Playing Tom Sergeant will be Burning Coal's Artistic Director, Jerome Davis, who returns to the stage for the first time in five years. Emily Barrett Rieder will play Kyra Hollis. Emily recently moved back to Raleigh from Chicago. She appeared with Burning Coal in Angus MacLachlan's SECCA in 2010. Making his Burning Coal debut as Edward Sergeant will be Matthew Tucker, a recent graduate of NCSU. UNCG professor John Gulley will direct the production. Davis and Gulley worked together in 2002 in a production of Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful, starring Ellen Burstyn. Set design will be by Elizabeth Newton and costumes by Katy Werlin. The production stage manager will be Renee Eisenhour.

Jerome Davis (Tom Sergeant) founded Burning Coal 20 years ago with his wife, Simmie Kastner. As director, for Burning Coal: Rat in the Skull, Winding the Ball (Raleigh and NYC), Steward of Christendom, Hamlet, Night & Day, Iron Curtain Trilogy(Raleigh and London), Company, Shining City, The Weir and St. Nicholas (the last as an actor), The Road to Mecca, Juno & the Paycock, The Man Who Tried to Save the World (as playwright), Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Taming of the Shrew, Inherit the Wind, Hysteria, 1960, The Seafarer, Enron, Jude the Obscure Parts 1 & 2, Sunday in the Park with George, Spoonface Steinberg and Dark Vanilla Jungle (London). For NC Opera: Britten's Turn of the Screw. For Temple Theatre: Of Mice and Men, for Sonorous Road: Grounded. Jerome has studied or worked with Uta Hagen, Nikos Psacharapolous, Julie Bovasso, Adrian Hall, Richard Jenkins, Hope Davis, Ellen Burstyn, Oliver Platt, Amanda Peet and Ralph Waite. He worked at Trinity Rep in Providence, NJ Shakespeare, People's Light near Philadelphia, the Phoenix Theatre at SUNY/Purchase, Avalon Rep, the Mint, Columbia University and many others.

Emily Barrett Rieder (Kyra). Emily is thrilled to return to the Burning Coal stage. She just moved back to North Carolina after receiving her MFA in Acting from Northern Illinois University. She most recently appeared in the American Premiere of Vladimir Zaytsev's Out of the Blue with the Organic Theater Company in Chicago. Her favorite previous roles include Ruth in Blithe Spirit(NIU), Beth in A Lie of the Mind (NIU), Myrrhine in Lysistrata (Phare Play Productions NYC), and, always, Brooke in Noises Off!(Triad Stage). In addition to NIU, she has trained at the Barrow Group (NYC), Upright Citizens Brigade (NYC), The Moscow Art Theatre School (American School, Summer Intensive) and received her BFA in Acting from UNC-Greensboro. She would like to thank Jerry and John for this amazing opportunity, and her family and wonderful husband, Chris, for their constant support.

Matthew Tucker (Edward Sergeant) is excited for his first performance at Burning Coal Theatre. Fresh out of college, his past work includes multiple NCSU student productions, and the new 24-hour Women's Theater Festival. He would like to thank his friends and family for their love and support, as well as Rachel Klem and Mia Self for being such excellent teachers.

John Gulley (director) John teaches acting and directing at UNCG. He has most recently directed The Waiting Room, The Seagull, Big River, and Jersey Shore House at UNCG. As a freelance professional director, he has directed off-Broadway and for a number of regional professional theatres. Professional credits include the world premiere of Trophies at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City, The Trip to Bountiful starring Ellen Burstyn at TheatreFest in Montclair, NJ, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the NC Shakespeare Festival. From 1983-1991, He was the Resident Director for the Asolo Theatre Company in Sarasota, FL. While there, he directed more than 30 productions and taught at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Professional Actor Training.

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