The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre to Open Season 38 with DESCRIBE THE NIGHT in September

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) will open Season 38 with Describe the Night, Rajiv Joseph's epic and timely play exploring the fraught relationship between observation and truth, storytelling and history, and the shaping of reality. Unfolding in two acts over 90 years in Poland, Russia, and East Germany, Joseph's Obie Award winner for Best New American Play connects eight fascinating characters - both real and invented - across time and place.

Artistic Director Tony Estrella (A Lie Agreed Upon, The Night Watch) directs an ensemble cast including Michael Liebhauser (Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry Maison in Incognito) as the legendary Russian writer Isaac Babel, first appearing as a Russian Jew serving as a wire service journalist on the frontlines of the Polish-Russo war in 1920.

"Describe the Night is the perfect Season 38 opener," Estrella said. "Echoing today's most important and harrowing headlines, Joseph's play is a thrilling historical fiction that questions the idea of fiction itself, the instability of narrative and our ever diminishing grasp of a common objective reality. Amid a roster of actual historical characters including Babel and even Vladimir Putin, one of America's great young playwrights has woven together 90 years of Russian history into a morality tale for our globalized 21st century."

Describe the Night runs from Sep 15-Oct 9 at The Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, R.I. Tickets are $55-$65; preview performances (Sep 15-18) are $38. Information about Friday night pay-what-you-can rush tickets, as well as discounts for seniors, students, groups and more at gammtheatre.org/discounts.

Tickets at 401-723-4266 or gammtheatre.org/describe. Health and safety protocols at gammtheatre.org.

ABOUT DESCRIBE THE NIGHT


In 1920, the Russian writer Isaac Babel wanders the countryside with the Red Cavalry. In 1989, a mysterious KGB agent and future Russian president spies on a woman in Dresden and falls in love. In 2010, an aircraft carrying most of the Polish government crashes in the Russian city of Smolensk. Spanning 90 years, this thrilling and epic play by the author of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo traces the stories of eight men and women connected by history, myth, and conspiracy.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Describe the Night by Rajiv Joseph
Directed by Tony Estrella+

CAST (∞ denotes actual historical figure)

Isaac ∞.....Michael Liebhauser
Nikolai ∞.....Sean McConaghy*
Yevgenia ∞.....Donnla Hughes*
Vova ∞.....Jeff Church*
Urzula.....Gabrielle McCauley
Feliks.....Dan Garcia
Mariya/Mrs. Petrovna.....Sophia Blum*

CREW

Set Design Michael McGarty
Costume Design David T. Howard
Lighting Design Jeff Adelberg△
Sound Design Alex Eizenberg
Production Management Jessica Hill Kidd
Stage Manager Robin Grady*

+Member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical union.
△ Member of United Scenic Artist, Local USA 829 of the IATSE, the union representing Scenic, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Projection Designers in Live Performance.
*Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

ABOUT THE GAMM THEATRE

Founded in 1984, the non-profit Gamm Theatre is proud to tell stories that entertain, provoke, and engage seriously with the most important issues of our time. The Gamm further serves the public with educational programming that enriches the cultural and civic life of our community. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Tony Estrella and Managing Director Amy Gravell, The Gamm is a regionally recognized, award-winning theater and a proud member of New England Area Theatre (NEAT), a bargaining unit of the Actors' Equity Association.

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