CCRI Players to Present Rhode Island Premiere of WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND UNAFRAID

Dramatist Sarah Treem once told an interviewer that for a good play, "you put people in a room who have very good reasons to be furious at each other and you don't let them leave." Treem's play When We Were Young and Unafraid receives its Rhode Island premiere when staged by the Community College of Rhode Island Players.

Performances will be presented at the Liston Campus, 1 Hilton St. in Providence, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, December 1, 2, and 3, at 7:30 PM and on Saturday and Sunday, December 3 and 4, at 2 PM.

When We Were Young and Unafraid was produced in New York by the Manhattan Theatre Club in June, 2014, starring Cherry Jones and Zoe Kazan.

The play is set in 1972 -- before Roe v. Wade, before the Violence Against Women Act -- on an island off the coast of Washington State. Agnes has turned her quiet bed and breakfast into one of the few spots where victims of domestic violence can seek refuge. Mary Anne is her latest runaway, having been severely beaten by her husband of six years. Despite her condition, Mary Anne has still not gotten over him, as they were childhood sweethearts. Soon, to Agnes's dismay, Mary Anne begins to influence Agnes's college-bound daughter Penny, giving her some questionable advice about how to deal with boys, which Penny is only too anxious to put into practice. Two other characters who become involved are Paul, a guest at the B&B, and Hannah, a wayfarer looking for work on her way to a radical woman's collective nearby. As the drums of a feminist revolution grow louder outside of Agnes's tiny world, Agnes is forced to confront her own presumptions about the women she's spent her life trying to help.

Sarah Treem began writing at a very young age, beginning with poetry when she was eight years old. When she was twelve, her first play won a young playwright contest and was staged in Connecticut. She continued to write throughout high school and college, earning a B.A. from Yale in 2002, followed by an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama in 2005. Treem's plays include The How and the Why, which was produced by Trinity Rep in 2012. Her work in television began on the acclaimed HBO series In Treatment and continued with the political drama House of Cards. Treem co-created the hit Showtime series The Affair, which won the Golden Globe for Outstanding Drama Series in 2015. Writer and HBO executive producer Anya Epstein (sister of Theo) has observed, "There's a vibrancy and ease to Sarah's writing you sometimes find elsewhere, but never combined with the depth and heart she's got to offer."

The CCRI Players' production of When We Were Young and Unafraid is directed by Prof. Bert Silverberg, with set design by Prof. Luke J. Sutherland, lighting design by Kathy Abernathy, and costume design by Prof. Marilyn Salvatore. Student designers are Kat Brown of West Greenwich (Properties) and Ian Thresher of Exeter (Sound). The cast includes Erin Archer, Tabi Baez, and Jerry Middlemiss of Providence; Julia Egan and Amber Rastella of Cranston; Victoria Jessop of Swansea, MA, and Carl J. Gerhard of Bristol. Chelsea Titchenell of Coventry is the Stage Manager, assisted by Shoshana Adler of Cranston. Raymond S. Legare of Pawtucket is the Dramaturg and the graphic designer is Natasha Corkren of Bellingham, MA.

Tickets for open seating are $10 general and $8.00 for students, seniors, and CCRI faculty and staff. Patrons are advised that the play deals with mature subject matter and is not suitable for children. For reservations, call (401) 825-2219.

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