Audrey Cefaly's ALABASTER to be Presented by Salt Lake Acting Company

Salt Lake Acting Company will present the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of Audrey Cefaly's ALABASTER. The play, directed and filmed virtually, marks the first production of its kind for SLAC and will be streamed on-demand through the theatre's streaming platform, SLAC Digital, May 10-30th. ALABASTER is directed by Martine Kei Green-Rogers.

Building on a year of innovative theatre creation-through a co-production of the live, virtual theatre experience AMERICAN DREAMS, the nine-part SLAC DIGITAL SHORTS series, and the recent three-part New Play Sounding Series Festival-SLAC sought to bring ALABASTER to digital life with a full, theatrical design team. Costumes, props, sets, and lighting equipment were designed to be shipped, installed, and filmed at the respective actors' homes in order to replicate (as much as possible) a live, in-person production. For one of the production's important plot elements-showcasing the traumatic physical scars obtained by a character-ALABASTER Makeup Artist Kelly Donahue worked through an onsite assistant who applied the elaborate effect to Actor Charlotte Munson.

In addition to the visual elements of ALABASTER, all direction and stage management was conducted virtually. Filming for the on-demand streaming production was completed in mid-April. Post production editing was overseen by Kenny Riches, who joins the production through a special partnership with the David Ross Fetzer Foundation for Emerging Artists (aka The Davey Foundation).

ALABASTER was included in the 2019 Kilroys List, an annual naming of new and under-produced work by female and transgender playwrights in the American theatre. The play is described as follows:

The inhabitants of a small farm in Alabaster, Alabama are no strangers to destruction and loss. But when an outsider arrives to help them make sense of the past, they must confront their mortality and deal with the trauma head-on. Through laughter, tears, and even a couple of talking goats, Audrey Cefaly weaves a darkly comic southern tale of redemption that examines how one reassembles the pieces of a broken heart.

"The play is a feast for designers, everything from outsider art to scars to epic storms sequences. I talked with Cynthia and Martine in the early days of the pandemic about how we might design for film vs. filming something designed for stage. And now SLAC is not only embracing those challenges but using them as an opportunity to push the boundaries of digital theater in this tailor-made-for-film production," said playwright Audrey Cefaly. "It thrills me to see such breath-taking art direction. Everything has been carefully considered... lighting, sound, camera angles, gorgeously rendered scenic elements, along with a meticulous master plan to refine and add additional elements in post-production. I'm blown away."

Comprising the cast of ALABASTER are four actors-each of whom is making their respective SLAC debut. Reanne Acasio*, an alum of DR SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS at The Old Globe, plays Alice. Catherine Doherty*, who is currently Head of the Performance Concentration in the Theatre Arts Department at SUNY New Paltz, plays Bib. Charlotte Munson* plays June, and was an original Off-Broadway cast member of DISENCHANTED. Tamiyka White*, Founder of the Black Girl Magic Creative Series, rounds out the cast as Weezy.

Martine Kei Green-Rogers, an invaluable player in SLAC's current 49 ¾ season (as Co-director of FOUR WOMEN TALKING ABOUT THE MAN UNDER THE SHEET and Co-writer of #SLACabaret) directs ALABASTER. She is joined on the production's creative team by Shawn Fisher** (Scenic Designer), Aaron Swenson (Costume Designer), Jessica Greenberg** (Lighting Designer), Jennifer Jackson (Sound Designer), Kelly Donahue (Makeup Artist), Justin Ivie (Props Designer), and Jennie Sant* (Production Stage Manager).

ALABASTER streams on demand May 10-30. Tickets, $20 per household for a 48-hour streaming window, can be obtained via SLACDigital.AtHomeArts.org. Current season ticket holders will be contacted directly by the theatre with further instruction on how to access the production. SLAC's Audience Relationship Team can be reached Monday through Friday from 11am to 5pm by calling 801-363-7522 or by emailing info@saltlakeactingcompany.org.

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