A.C.T. Presents MAPLE AND VINE, 3/29-4/22

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2011–12 season with the West Coast premiere of Maple and Vine, written by Jordan Harrison and directed by A.C.T. Associate Artistic Director Mark Rucker. Fresh from a run at Playwrights Horizons in New York City, Maple and Vine tells the story of married couple Katha and Ryu, a pair of stressed-out urban professionals who feel unfulfilled by the impersonal gadgets and fast-paced lifestyle of the modern world. After meeting a charismatic man from a community of 1950s reenactors, they decide to swap cell phones and sushi for phone trees and fish sticks by joining a community where life is slower, passion is risqué, and a cocktail is a daily accessory. In this recreated world, where retro attitudes about gender, race, and sexuality stir up powerful questions, Katha and Ryu must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice for happiness and whether the "good old days" were really that good. Maple and Vine performs a limited run March 29–April 22, 2012, at the American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Tickets (starting at $10) are on sale now and may be purchased online at act-sf.org or by calling 415.749.2228.

A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff was immediately taken by how the play stirred up conversation. "When we first read Jordan's play last year," she says, "we were struck by not only the prescient humor he brought to this wildly entertaining notion that conveniences and evolved lifestyles have made life more complicated, but also with the lingering emotions we all felt days after we read the play! Jordan has captured a very modern world and transplanted it to a seemingly easier time, and of course we learn that, for some, modern complications turn out to be preferable for their way of life. Mark Rucker's uncanny ability to explore American comedy and this kind of period setting makes him the ideal director for this incredible new work. In the spirit of our breakout hit from last season, Clybourne Park, and last fall's production of David Mamet's Race, Maple and Vine asks outrageous and provocative questions about how we live our lives today, using wicked humor to skewer our contemporary perceptions."

Featuring a group of new and returning faces, the Maple and Vine cast includes Emily Donahoe (Broadway's 33 Variations), who plays modern business woman–turned–Betty Crocker, Katha, and Nelson Lee (world premiere of Zayd Dohrn's Outside People at New York's Vineyard Theatre) as Ryu, Katha's Japanese American husband, a plastic surgeon who faces a job demotion-and racial prejudice-when he takes on the '50s lifestyle. The cast of Maple and Vine also features Danny Bernardy (Loves Labour's Lost at New York Classical Theatre, Phaedra's Love at Cherry Lane Theatre), who plays roles in each era, Julia Coffey (Once in a Lifetime at A.C.T.), who plays the well-coiffed 1950s housewife, Ellen, and A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program graduate Jamison Jones (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Angels in America at A.C.T.), who plays enterprising SDO leader, Dean.

The creative team for Maple and Vine includes scenic designer Ralph Funicello (over 50 productions at A.C.T., Julius Caesar and others on Broadway), costume designer Alex Jaeger (Once in a Lifetime, The Homecoming, November, Speed-the-Plow, and Rock 'n' Roll at A.C.T. ), lighting designer Russell H. Champa (War Music and Waiting for Godot at A.C.T., God Said "Ha!" on Broadway), and sound design by Jake Rodriguez (Scorched, Rock 'n' Roll, and Blackbird at A.C.T.).

Jordan Harrison's other plays include Futura, Act a Lady (2006 Humana Festival, GLAAD Media Award nomination), Finn in the Underworld (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Amazons and Their Men(Clubbed Thumb), Kid-Simple (2004 Humana Festival), The Museum Play (Washington Ensemble Theatre), and Fit for Feet (2003 Humana Festival). His work has also been produced or developed at American Theater Company, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Geva Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, PlayLabs, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Rep, Signature Theatre Company, Soho Rep, the SPF Festival, the Tokyo International Arts Festival, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He is currently working on a musical for Ars Nova, a children's play for the Arden Theatre, as well as a play for Actors Theatre of Louisville/Berkeley Rep. He is the recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 2009 Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, the 2008 Kesselring Fellowship, the Heideman Award, a Theater Masters' Innovative Playwright Award, Jerome and McKnight Fellowships, and a NEA/TCG Playwright in Residence Grant. With Sally Oswald, he edits the annual Play: A Journal of Plays, devoted to the life of plays on the page. A graduate of Stanford University and Brown University's Master of Fine Arts Program in Playwriting, Harrison is a resident playwright at New Dramatists. He currently teaches playwriting at SUNY Purchase.

A.C.T. will offer numerous InterACT events-many of which are presented free of charge-in association with Maple and Vine that will give patrons opportunities to get closer to the action while making a whole night out of their evening at the theater:

• Audience Prologue Featuring Director Mark Rucker: Tuesday, Apr. 3, at 5:30 p.m.
Get inside the artistic process at this lively preshow discussion with director Mark Rucker. .

• Bring What You Can/Pay What You Wish: Thursday, Apr. 5, at 8 p.m.
Pay any amount for your tickets when you bring nonperishable food donations for the San Francisco Food Bank (sffoodbank.org). Patrons are limited to two tickets per donated item, two tickets per person. Tickets go on sale at 6 p.m. the day of the performance. Sponsored by Bank of the West.

• Theater on the Couch: Friday, Apr. 6, following the 8 p.m. performance
Led by Mason Turner, chief of psychiatry at San Francisco's Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, this exciting postshow discussion series explores the minds, motives, and behaviors of the characters and addresses audience questions.

• Audience Exchanges: Tue., Apr. 10, at 7 p.m. | Sun., Apr. 15, at 2 p.m. | Wed., Apr. 18, at 2 p.m.
After the show, stick around for a lively Q&A session with the actors and artists who create the
work onstage.

• OUT with A.C.T.: Wednesday, Apr. 11, following the 8 p.m. performance
The best LGBT night in town! Mingle with the cast and enjoy free drinks and treats at this popular afterparty. Visit www.act-sf.org/out for information about how to subscribe to OUT nights throughout the season.

• A.C.T. Family Series Workshop: Saturday, Apr. 21, at 1 p.m.
A new theater experience for young adults and their families! Join us before the 2 p.m. show for a lively, interactive workshop. Please note: due to sexual situations and partial nudity, Maple and Vine is recommended for audiences ages 14 and up.

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