La Jolla Playhouse's Next 'Without Walls' Production Will Be THE BITTER GAME

La Jolla Playhouse announces the latest presentation in its acclaimed Without Walls (WoW) series: The Bitter Game, a reprise of the acclaimed 2015 WoW Festival theatre piece, created, written and performed by UC San Diego M.F.A. graduate Keith A. Wallace, co-created and directed by UC San Diego Theatre & Dance faculty member Deborah Stein. Presented in association with the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, the show will run October 4 - 9 at Jacobs Center affiliate, Writerz Blok, 5010 Market Street, San Diego.

The Bitter Game blends verse, prose and 'shit-talkin,' into a stirring commentary that begs the question, what does it mean to survive while Black in America? This solo work, ripe with pain, poetry and laughter, examines the relationship between a young man and his mother as each struggles to protect one another from that which seems inevitable. Commissioned by The Playhouse, The Bitter Game explores the question of police agency and excessive force, the ripple effects of vicarious trauma in communities of color, and the value of Black lives in this country.

A major hit at the 2015 WoW Festival, The Bitter Game was praised by the San Diego Union-Tribune as "the festival highlight... The searing, well-honed one-man show is a fast-paced five-act drama that is sure to have a future life in other cities."

"In light of recent events - not to mention our current election environment - Keith's potent, immersive work couldn't be more relevant. He earned tremendous acclaim for the piece at our WoW Festival last October, and we're proud to partner with the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation to bring this singular theatrical experience to a dynamic new location," said Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley.

"The epidemic of excessive police force addressed in the play affects communities of color and all Americans. It's not an easy conversation to have, but having the support and encouragement of The Playhouse staff from day one has been integral to the success of the project," noted Wallace.

"From the beginning, the Jacobs Center has used arts and culture as a key element of our community engagement. The Bitter Game is both powerful and timely, and we look forward to this new partnership with La Jolla Playhouse," said Angela Titus, Executive Vice President, Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation.

Tickets ($10/$15) are available at LaJollaPlayhouse.org or (858) 550-1010. All performances take place outdoors at 7:30pm. Patrons are advised to wear comfortable walking shoes. Free parking is available at Writerz Blok and the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (404 Euclid Avenue), a 5-minute walk from Writerz Blok.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Keith A. Wallace is an actor, writer and director. His La Jolla Playhouse credits include JUNK: The Golden Age of Debt, Blueprints to Freedom and the 2015 Without Walls Festival production of The Bitter Game. UC San Diego credits: Death of a Driver, Venus, Golden Boy, In the Crowding Darkness, A Lie of the Mind, Grapes of Wrath. Other credits include: Dance of the Holy Ghost, Hoodoo Love, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Comedy of Errors, Hairspray, Passing Strange and The Tempest. Directing credits: The Brothers Size, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. He holds a B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College, an M.F.A. from UC San Diego and is the recipient of the 2016 Princess Grace Gant Gaither Theater Award.

Deborah Stein is a playwright, director, and co-artistic director of Stein | Holum Projects (SHP) and Assistant Professor of Playwriting at UC San Diego. Her plays include Chimera, The Wholehearted, God Save Gertrude, Wallflower, Bone Portraits, Heist! and Natasha and the Coat, as well as six plays with the Pig Iron Theatre Company. She has developed work at Playwrights Horizons, Berkeley Rep and Actors Theatre of Louisville, among others. SHP's new play The Wholehearted, a commission from ArtsEmerson, will be performed at Z Space in San Francisco before premiering this December at Center Theatre Group. She is the recipient of two Jerome Fellowships, a McKnight Advancement Grant, a Bush Fellowship, NYSCA, MRAC and a proud alumna of New Dramatists.

Without Walls (WoW) is La Jolla Playhouse's signature site-based theatre program. Since 2011, The Playhouse has been commissioning and presenting a series of site-specific productions at locations throughout the San Diego community. Underscoring the theatre's mission of providing "unfettered creative opportunities for the leading artists of today and tomorrow," coupled with the idea that The Playhouse is defined by the work it creates - not the space in which it is performed - WoW is designed to offer theatrical experiences that venture beyond the physical confines of The Playhouse's facilities. Building on the excitement and success of its past WoW productions - Susurrus, The Car Plays: San Diego, Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir, Accomplice: San Diego, El Henry and The Grift at the Lafayette Hotel, The Playhouse will be hosting its third WoW Festival in October 2017, featuring multiple site-based and immersive pieces by artists and companies from around the world.

Founded in 1995, the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation is focused on building communities and lifting lives. As a creative catalyst and incubator, the Jacobs Center works with the community to revitalize Southeastern San Diego's Diamond Neighborhoods. This means transforming nearly 60 acres into sustainable developments that provide residents with greater access to resources and amenities that improve their quality of life. Additionally, the Jacobs Center works with community organizations to increase residents' economic opportunities, leadership skills, and educational success. Learn more at www.jacobscenter.org.

Channeling youth expression into vibrant graffiti art, as well as providing real-world skills and hands-on experience has made Writerz Blok an internationally-recognized urban art program of the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. It is one of the nation's first public graffiti art parks. Since 2003, Writerz Blok artists have been at the forefront of a community-led effort to transform blight into beauty.

The Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is internationally-renowned for creating some of the most exciting and adventurous work in American theatre, through its new play development initiatives, its innovative Without Walls series, artist commissions and residencies, including BD Wong, Daniel Beatty and Kirsten Greenidge. Currently led by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg, The Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and reborn in 1983 under the artistic leadership of Des McAnuff. La Jolla Playhouse has had 25 productions transfer to Broadway, garnering 35 Tony Awards, among them Jersey Boys, Memphis, The Who's Tommy, Big River, as well as Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays and the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, both fostered as part of The Playhouse's Page To Stage Program. Visit www.LaJollaPlayhouse.org.

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