Capital Stage Co Presents OR, Closes 7/17

Capital Stage celebrates the end of their six year run at the Delta King Theatre with the Sacramento premiere of the wickedly funny OR, by Liz Duffy Adams, closing July 17. Before moving to their newly restored midtown Sacramento home in the fall, Capital Stage presents a saucy, sexy new Restoration comedy. Capturing a time when female writers immerge, free love explored and an unpopular war rages on, OR, follows Aphra Behn, England's first professional writer, as she gets out of the spy trade and into show business. If she can only write her play without interruptions from her lovers, King Charles II, famous actress Nell Gwynne, and double-agent William Scott, among others, it'll be a damn good day's work.

Performances for OR, end July 17, 2011. Showtimes will be Wednesdays at 7pm, Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets range from $26-$33. Discount tickets are available as follows: Preview Tickets are $15; Student Rush Tickets are $12; Senior Sunday Matinee Tickets are $22; and Group Rates are available for parties of 12 or more. Tickets are currently available at the Capital Stage Box Office, by phone at 916-995-5464 or online at www.capstage.org. The Pilothouse Restaurant offers a specially priced $29 three-course dinner for theatre patrons. Pilothouse reservations can be made through the box office.

THE PLAY
OR, takes place (mostly) during one night in the life of Aphra Behn, poet, spy, and soon to be the first professional female playwright. Sprung from debtors' prison after a disastrous overseas mission, Aphra is desperate to get out of the spy trade. She has a shot at a production at one of only two London companies, if she can only finish her play by morning despite interruptions from sudden new love, actress Nell Gwynne; complicaTed Royal love, King Charles II; and very dodgy ex-love, double-agent William Scott-who may be in on a plot to murder the king in the morning. Can Aphra resist Nell's charms, save Charles' life, win William a pardon, and launch her career, all in one night? Against a background of a long drawn-out war, terrorist hunting and a counter-culture of free love, cross-dressing, and pastoral lyricism, the 1660s look a lot like the 1960s, or even today, in this neo-Restoration comedy.

THE PLAYWRIGHT
Liz Duffy Adams' other plays include Dog Act; Wet or, Isabella the Pirate Queen Enters the Horse Latitude; The Listener; The Reckless Ruthless Brutal Charge of It or, The Train Play; and One Big Lie. She received a Lillian Hellman Award for Playwriting in 2010, the Lilly's inaugural year. Other honors include: New Dramatists residency (2001-2008), New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Will Glickman Award, Weston Playhouse Music Theater Award, and a commission from Children's Theater Company, Minneapolis. Theatres that have produced or developed her work include the Humana Festival, Women's Project, Portland Center Stage, Portland Stage Company, Syracuse Stage, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, New Georges, Shotgun Players, MOXIE Theater, Clubbed Thumb, Cutting Ball, and Crowded Fire. Publications include Poodle With Guitar And Dark Glasses in Applause's "Best American Short Plays 2000-2001," Or, in Smith & Kraus' "Best Plays Of 2010," numerous short works in anthologies from Smith & Kraus and Heinemann, and several plays in acting editions by Playscripts, Inc. and Dramatists Play Service. BFA: New York University's Experimental Theater Wing; MFA: Yale School of Drama. She has taught playwriting at Mt Holyoke College, New Dramatists Teaching Collective, and many times at Playwrights Foundation.

THE PRODUCTION MEMBERS
For this final production in their original home, Capital Stage founders Stephanie Gularte, Peter Mohrmann and Jonathan Rhys Williams join together for the first time since the company's production of Boy Gets Girl in 2006. Mohrmann will helm the production as director with Gularte performing as playwright Aphra Behn and Williams portraying King Charles and William Scott. OR, also features Jessica Bates who will make her Capital Stage debut as Restoration actress Nell Gwynne and others. The creative team will include Stephen Jones (scenic design), Gail Russell (costume design), and Steve Decker (lighting design).

OR, is intended for mature audiences.

When:
Previews June 17-June 23, $15 tickets
Opening Night: Friday, June 24, 2011, 8pm, $33 tickets
Continues: Wednesdays-Sundays through July 17, 2011

Performances Times & Prices:
Wednesdays 7pm / Thursdays & Fridays 8pm / Sundays 2pm $26 tickets
Saturdays 7pm $30 tickets

Tickets:
Box Office: 916-995-5464
Online: www.capstage.org

Description:
Or, follows Aphra Behn as she tries to finish her first play she hopes will make her career but interruptions from her lovers make it hard to concentrate. Behn's front door is always swinging as King Charles II, Nell Gwynne and double-agent William Scott as well as a host of other characters pass through in a bevy of quick costume changes and lightning fast exits and entrances.

Who:
Playwright: Liz Duffy Adams
Director: Peter Mohrmann
Cast: Jessica Bates*, Stephanie Gularte* and Jonathan Rhys Williams*
Scenic Design: Stephen Jones
Costume Design: Gail Russell
Lighting Design: Steve Decker
Wigs & Properties Master: Michael Coleman
Sound Engineer: Ed Lee
Production Manager: Cathy Coupal
Stage Manager: Liz Estella*
*Members of Actors' Equity Association
Mission
Capital Stage Company's mission is to be a dynamic leader in the evolution of the contemporary live theatre landscape in the Capital region and to passionately engage audiences in the art of live storytelling with bold, innovative plays performed by professional artists, in an intimate, up close setting. With a strong commitment to expanding the base of working artists in the greater Sacramento region, we shall develop a company of actors, directors, writers, designers, and technical staff who are dedicated to bringing bold, lively productions of contemporary and classic plays to our community.

While part of the mission of any theater company is to entertain its audience, we at Capital Stage feel strongly that the productions we mount address issues that are vital to understanding the society we live in and ourselves as human beings in that society. We address themes of power and manipulation in relationships between men and women, children and parents, and organizations and individuals. We invite audiences to question the ethics and meaning of art, the definitions of sanity and intelligence, and the line between exploitation and legitimate relationship. We believe that in a large and growing urban environment, where individuals and groups are constantly bombarded with information and demands for decisions, the need for thoughtful examination of our interactions in society has never been greater.

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