Cast And Creative Team Announced For San Diego REP's ACTUALLY

San Diego Repertory Theatre announced today that DeLeon Dallas (REP's Honky) and Emily Shain will star in its upcoming production of Actually by the award-winning playwright, Anna Ziegler. Jesca Prudencio (REP's Vietgone) will direct the production, which runs October 11 - November 4, 2018, in the Lyceum Space Theatre. Tickets start at $25 and are on sale to the general public. Previews run October 11 - 16. Opening night is Wednesday, October 17 at 7:00 p.m.

At a raucous party during their freshman year at Princeton, Tom and Amber connect in ways that seem innocent enough at first. They flirt, they get drunk, and they hook up. The next day Amber accuses Tom of rape, and the two find themselves in murky territory with ramifications that could affect the rest of their lives. What actually happened between them? Tackling the highly-charged topic of sexual consent, this intimate and surprising drama explores the intersection of gender and race on college campuses today. When it comes to sex, what is consent and when can it be given? If you don't remember giving it, does sex become assault?

Deeply-felt, funny and extraordinarily provocative, fast-rising playwright Anna Ziegler's play is an intricate and psychologically complex jigsaw puzzle. Crafted with compassion and profound insight, Actually leaves it to the audience to grapple with the gray area of truth, where there are three sides to every story.

"I am thrilled to be returning to San Diego REP to direct this complex play exploring the humanity behind both sides of the timely and painfully relevant issue of consent," shared Director Jesca Prudencio. "Based on true events, Actually allows two compelling characters to speak their truth, confiding in our audience through this nonstop action-packed emotional rollercoaster. As the playwright, Anna Ziegler said so eloquently, 'the more you get to know someone, the harder it is to judge.'"

The two-hander cast includes San Diego based actor DeLeon Dallas as Tom, who was last seen at The REP in Honky, which was broadcast nationally as a part of the KPBS series, OnStage in America. Starring alongside Dallas is New York-based actor Emily Shain as Amber. Shain's credits include Indecent at La Jolla Playhouse and What May Fall at the Guthrie Theatre. Dallas and Shain are both graduates of the prestigious MFA in Acting program at University of California, San Diego.

The creative team includes: Jesca Prudencio (Director), Justin Humphres (Scenic Design), Anastasia Pautova (Costume Design), Melanie Chen Cole (Sound Design), Chris Rynne (Lighting & Projection Design), Angelica Ynfante (Properties Design), Heather M. Brose (Stage Manager), Kira Vine (Assistant Stage Manager), Chelsea Smith (Production Manager), Kimberly King (Dramaturg), Lamar Perry (Assistant Director), and Kim Heil (Producer and Casting Director).

Performances for Actually run October 11-November 4, 2018 at the Lyceum Space Theatre in Horton Plaza. Tickets range from $25.00 to $69.00 and can be purchased in-person at the San Diego REP Box Office, by calling 619-544-1000, or online at sdrep.org.

Anna Ziegler (Playwright): has written the plays The Wanderers (The Old Globe's 2017 Powers New Voices Festival and commissioned world premiere production); The Last Match (The Old Globe, City Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company; Craig Noel Award nomination for Outstanding New Play); the widely produced Photograph 51, directed on the West End in 2015 by Michael Grandage and starring Nicole Kidman (WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play); Actually (Geffen Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club; Ovation Award for Playwriting for an Original Play); Boy (Keen Company/Ensemble Studio Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company; Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award nominee); and A Delicate Ship (The Playwrights Realm, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park). She currently holds commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company, Second Stage Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Empire Street Productions. Her plays have been developed at The Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, The O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference, Cape Cod Theatre Project, New York Stage and Film, Old Vic New Voices, and Soho Rep.'s Writer/Director Lab, among others. Her plays are published by Dramatists Play Service; a collection entitled Anna Ziegler: Plays One is published by Oberon Books. She is currently developing television shows for HBO and AMC/Sundance and a screenplay for Scott Free Productions.

Jesca Prudencio (Director): is a theater director focused on creating highly physical productions of new plays, musicals, and documentary theater. Favorite credits include Qui Nguyen's Vietgone (San Diego Rep), Will Snider's How To Use a Knife (Mixed Blood), David Henry Hwang's Bondage (Drama League's Directorfest), Calling: a Dance with Faith (Ping Chong & Company, NYC), Ben Fisher's Mobile Happiness Bazaar (La Jolla Playhouse's WoW Festival), and FAN: stories from the brothels of Bangkok (Thailand). Assistant directing credits include Ping Chong's Throne of Blood at BAM and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame at La Jolla Playhouse, and Plenty at The Public Theater. She holds a BFA from NYU Tisch, and an MFA in Directing from UC San Diego. She is a recipient of The Drama League Fall Fellowship, The Old Vic's US/UK Exchange, and the inaugural Julie Taymor World Theater Fellowship, which supported her travels through Thailand, Japan, and The Philippines in 2017. She is founder and Artistic Director of People Of Interest, which creates new theatrical events that address community-specific issues. Jesca is currently Head of Directing at San Diego State University. Upcoming projects: Man of God at East West Players in L.A.

San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego REP) produces intimate, exotic, provocative theatre. Founded in 1976, San Diego Repertory Theatre is downtown San Diego’s resident theatre, promoting a more inclusive community through work that nourishes progressive political and social values and celebrates the multiple voices of our region. The company produces and hosts over 550 events and performances year-round on its three stages at the Lyceum Theatre. Since moving to the Lyceum, The REP has produced 45 main stage productions by Latino playwrights and more than 40 world premieres. The company has received more than 200 awards for artistic excellence from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle, Patté Theatre Awards, NAACP, Backstage West, Dramalogue and StageSceneLA. In 2005, the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle presented The REP with the Craig Noel Award “For 30 Years of Artistic Dedication to Downtown and Diversity.” San Diego Repertory Theatre feeds the curious soul.

www.sdrep.org.

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