Cast and Creative Announced for La Jolla's West Coast Premiere BLOOD AND GIFTS, 6/12-7/8

La Jolla Playhouse has announced the cast and creative team for its upcoming production of Blood and Gifts, by J.T. Rogers, directed by Lucie Tiberghien, running in the Mandell Weiss Forum June 12 – July 8.

The cast includes: Amir Arison as "Colonel Afridi" Kelly AuCoin (A Dram of Drummhicit) as "James Warnock," Benjamin Burdick as "Speechwriter," Demosthenes Chrysan as "Abdullah Kahn," Donald Sage Mackay as "Walter Barnes," Daniel Pearce as "Simon Craig," Triney Sandoval as "Dmitri Gromov," Babak Tafti as "Saeed," Geoffrey Wade as "Senator Birch" and Touheed Yousef as "Mujahid." The cast also includes six UC San Diego M.F.A. students in various roles: Ngozi Anyanwu as Danvir Singh Grewal, Sarah Halford, Regan Linton, Scott Patteson and Maurice Williams.

The creative team includes Kris Stone, scenic designer; Charlotte DeVaux Shields, costume designer; Matt Richards, lighting designer; UCSD Theatre Professor Shahrokh Yadegari, sound designer; Shirley Fishman, Dramaturg.

Making its West Coast premiere, Blood and Gifts tells the story of the secret spy war behind the official Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s. Spanning a decade and playing out in Washington DC, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the play offers up a slice of historical fiction laced with dark humor, as it follows the character of CIA operative Jim Warnock and his struggles to stop the Soviet Army's destruction of Afghanistan. The ground constantly shifts for Jim and his British, Russian and Pakistani counterparts as the political and personal alliances between the men keep changing. In this thrilling, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse, Blood and Gifts depicts the unknown men who shaped one of the greatest historical events in recent history, the repercussions of which continue to shape our world. The New York Times hailed it as "a first-rate production with the taut grip of a spy novel. J.T. Rogers's knowledge of the hearts and minds of his characters is as deep as his grasp of the geopolitical games being played."

"Part spy thriller, part black comedy, J.T. Rogers's Blood and Gifts illuminates a controversial moment in recent American history, delving into the complex relationship between the U.S. and Afghanistan in a way that constantly keeps audiences on The Edge of their seats," said Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley. "Given the current international climate, coupled with San Diego's military history and population, The Playhouse is the perfect place to host the West Coast premiere of Blood and Gifts."

For information on The Playhouse's 2012/2013 season, visit LaJollaPlayhouse.org or call The Playhouse Box Office at (858) 550-1010.

J. T. Rogers is the author of The Overwhelming, which debuted at The National Theatre in London and had its American premiere at the Roundabout Theater Company (top ten play of the year, Time Magazine). Blood and Gifts debuted at the National as well and had its American premiere last season at Lincoln Center Theater (top ten plays of the year, The New York Times). His works have been staged throughout the United States and in Australia, Canada, Israel, and Germany. He is a member of New Dramatists and the Dramatist Guild and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Lucie Tiberghien's credits include Barcelona by Bess Wohl (workshop at Ojai Playwriting Conference and upcoming production at Contemporary American Theater Festival), That Old Black Magic by Koffi Kwahule (workshop at the Lark and upcoming workshop at NYTW), Craig Wright's The Pavilion (Drama Desk nomination for best play, Rattlestick Theater, CATF) and Blind (world premiere at Rattlestick), Augusta by Richard Dresser (world premiere, CATF), Stephen Belber's Geometry of Fire (world premiere, Rattlestick Theater, New York Stage and Film) and A Small Melodramatic Story (world premiere, LAByrinth), Lee Blessing's Great Falls (world premiere, Humana Festival), The Winning Streak (George Street Playhouse) and Flag Day (CATF),Katori Hall's Hoodoo Love (world premiere, Cherry Lane) and Hurt Village (Juilliard Playwright's Festival), We Are Here by Tracy Thorne (CATF), Another Girl by John Yearley (workshop at Playpenn), J.T. Rogers' Blood and Gifts (workshop at Playpenn and New Dramatists) and The Overwhelming (workshop at Playpenn), Only the end of the world by Jean Luc Lagarce (Directors Company), The Last Schwartz by Deborah Laufer (CATF), Quand j'avais cinq ans je m'ai tué by Howard Buten (Théâtre Jean Vilar, Paris), Mine by Laura Marks (Juilliard Playwright's Festival), among others. Ms. Tiberghien has translated numerous plays, including Eric Assous's An Ordinary Day, Veronique Olmi's Mathilde, Jean Luc Lagarce's Only the end of the world and Stephen Belber's Tape and Match, which enjoyed a 3-month run at Le Théâtre de la Madeleine in Paris in 2010 and is currently on tour in France and Switzerland. She has worked as associate director at New City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Washington Opera, Le Theatre du Chatelet in Paris and the Milwaukee Opera.

The nationally-acclaimed, Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is known for its tradition of creating the most exciting and adventurous new work in regional theatre. The Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and is considered one of the most well-respected not-for-profit theatres in the country. Numerous Playhouse productions have moved to Broadway, including the currently running Tony Award-winning musicals Memphis and Jersey Boys, as well as Big River, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Walk in the Woods, Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Farnsworth Invention, 33 Variations and Bonnie & Clyde. Located on the UC San Diego campus, La Jolla Playhouse is made up of three primary performance spaces: the Mandell Weiss Theatre, the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for La Jolla Playhouse, a state-of-the-Art Theatre complex which features the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. La Jolla Playhouse is led by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg.

Blood and Gifts by J.T. Rogers runs June 12 – July 8, 2012 with a media night of Sat, June 16 at 8:00 pm. The regular run is Tue/Wed at 7:30 pm; Thu/Fri/Sat at 8:00 pm; Sun at 7:00 pm; Matinees: Sat/Sun at 2:00 pm; Also Mon, July 2 at 7:30 pm. (No performance on Wednesday, July 4). Mandell Weiss Forum, La Jolla Playhouse is located at 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, Calif. BOX OFFICE: (858) 550-1010; LaJollaPlayhouse.org.

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