Photo Flash: The Old Globe's BE A GOOD LITTLE WIDOW Begins Tonight

The Old Globe presents the West Coast Premiere of Bekah Brunstetter's quirky and tender comedy Be a Good Little Widow. Directed by Hal Brooks, Be a Good Little Widow will run tonight, May 11 - June 9, 2013 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad PrebysTheatre Center. Preview performances run tonight, May 11 - May 15. Opening night is Thursday, May 16 at 8:00 p.m. Meet the cast in the photos below!

Melody thought being a young wife was hard-until she became a widow. Luckily her mother-in-law Hope is an expert in the field. As she navigates the prickly terrain of pressed black dresses, well-meant advice and inappropriate outbursts, she stumbles toward understanding what it means to find someone through losing them. A bittersweet look at the messy parts of life, Be a Good Little Widow contemplates how grief, devotion and hope can persevere within us all.

Christine Estabrook (Hope) originated roles in the Off Broadway productions of Christopher Durang's Baby with the Bathwater, Craig Lucas's Blue Window and Deborah Eisenberg's Pastorale, for which she won an Obie Award. She also originated roles in and earned Drama Desk Award nominations for North Shore Fish and Win/Lose/Draw. Estabrook was awarded both the Drama Desk and the Clarence Derwent Award for her portrayal of Sheila in The Boys Next Door. In 2011 LA Weekly presented her with their award for best comedic performance in another one of Christopher Durang's plays, Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them (The Blank Theatre). She performed in two of Wendy Wasserstein's hit Broadway shows, The Heidi Chronicles and The Sisters Rosensweig, as well as opening and performing for two years in Steven Sater's Broadway musical Spring Awakening. Her many television credits include "Desperate Housewives," "American Horror Story," "Anger Management" and "Mad Men." Her film appearances include Sea of Love, The Usual Suspects and Spider-Man 2.

Ben Graney (Craig) has appeared on Broadway in War Horse (Lincoln Center Theatre) and Off Broadway in When the Rain Stops Falling directed by David Cromer (Lincoln Center Theatre) and The Netflix Plays (Ars Nova). His other New York theater credits include Paper Dolls (Sundance Institute Theatre Lab), The Spring Fling (F*It Club/IRT Theater), Bare Naked Drama (Aporia Theater/Cherry Pit Theatre), Obama Drama (Creative Destruction/The Tank) and An Irish Brew (Studio Tisch). He has appeared regionally in Twelfth Night (McCarter Theatre Center), Postcards from Earth (Guthrie Theater), The Cherry Orchard and Twelfth Night (Chautauqua Theater Company) and the Brand:New Festival of New Plays (Hartford Stage). Graney's film and television credits include Canto, Ama at Sea and "Unscripted."

Kelsey Kurz (Brad) has previously been seen at the Globe in Nobody Loves You and Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show. He has appeared on Broadway and Off Broadway in The Merchant of Venice (The Public Theater), Davy & Stu (The Ensemble Studio Theatre) and I Coulda Been a Kennedy (2006 New York International Fringe Festival). His regional credits include Single Girls Guide (Capital Repertory Theatre), Sons of the Prophet (Huntington Theatre Company) and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Cat Ballou (Jackson Hole Playhouse). He has appeared in the films Spartan King (in post-production) and A Time to Speak (in post-production).

Zoë Winters (Melody) has appeared Off Broadway in 4000 Miles (LCT3 at The Duke, Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater) and Love Song (59E59 Theaters). Her other New York credits include Hater (Ohio Theatre), The Eyes of Others (New Ohio Theatre) and two productions of short stories that she wrote and performed: Swimming Legs (TheaterLab) and Not At The Dinner Table (New Ohio Theatre). Her regional credits include Seattle Repertory Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, CENTERSTAGE, Magic Theatre, Virginia Stage Company and Merrimack Repertory Theatre. Her film and television credits include In the Family, Under, "Law & Order," "Ugly Betty," "Gossip Girl" and "Army Wives."

The creative team includes Jason Simms (Scenic Design), David Israel Reynoso (Costume Design), Seth Reiser (Lighting Design), Ryan Rumery (Sound Design), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting) and Anjee Nero (Stage Manager).

Playwright Bekah Brunstetter has written the plays House of Home (Williamstown Theatre Festival, Rough Reading Series), Oohrah! (Atlantic Theater Company, 2009, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company Garage/LiveWire Productions, 2012) and Miss Lilly Gets Boned (Lark Play Development Center's Playwrights' Week, 2009, Finborough Theatre, June 2010, and Ice Factory, 2012). She was a New Voice/New York Fellow through the Lark Play Development Center, member of Primary Stages' Writer's Group and the Naked Radio writing team. Brunstetter is an alumna of the Women's Project Playwrights Lab, the Ars Nova Play Group and the Playwrights Realm. She worked with Craig Wright on his original MTV series "Underemployed" and is currently writing for ABC Family's "Switched at Birth."

Director Hal Brooks helmed the National Tour of Nilaja Sun's Obie Award-winning No Child... and the acclaimed Off Broadway hit and Pulitzer Prize finalist Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno. His recent credits include Figaro and The Bald Soprano (The Pearl Theatre Company), Alena Smith's The Bad Guys (Second Stage Theatre Uptown), Samuel D. Hunter's The Whale (Denver Center Theatre Company), Kimberly Rosenstock's Tigers Be Still and Itamar Moses' Back Back Back (Dallas Theater Center), Mona Mansour's Urge for Going (The Public Theater), creative consultant on Colin Quinn: Long Story Short directed by Jerry Seinfeld, Sharr White's Six Years (Humana Festival) and Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Two River Theater Company). He is Artistic Director of the Cape Cod Theatre Project and the Associate Artistic Director of the Ojai Playwrights Conference. He was Artistic Director of the Rude Mechanicals of New York where he directed the Off Broadway premieres of Don DeLillo's Valparaiso and Will Eno's The Flu Season.

Tickets to Be a Good Little Widow can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

Photo Credit: Snaps Studio

Christine Estabrook appears as Hope and Zoe Winters as Melody

Christine Estabrook appears as Hope and Zoe Winters as Melody

The cast of Be a Good Little Widow: (from left) Kelsey Kurz, Christine Estabrook, Zoe Winters and Ben Graney.

Zoe Winters appears as Melody

Christine Estabrook appears as Hope and Zoe Winters as Melody

Christine Estabrook appears as Hope

Kelsey Kurz appears as Brad

Ben Graney appears as Craig

Director Hal Brooks

Director Hal Brooks (center) and the cast of Be a Good Little Widow: (from left) Kelsey Kurz, Christine Estabrook, Zoe Winters and Ben Graney.