Cornerstone Theatre's CALIFORNIA: THE TEMPEST Tour to Stop in Eureka, San Francisco & L.A.

The historic journey comes to an end! Cornerstone Theater Company commences on the final three destinations, after stops in six diverse California cities, with its year-long world premiere adaption of Shakespeare's The Tempest, CALIFORNIA: THE TEMPEST, written by Cornerstone Co-Founder Alison Carey and directed by its Artistic Director Michael John Garcés.

While the tour itinerary initially included the town of Holtville, circumstances demand that the show bypass the Imperial Valley. Cornerstone's friends in that community understand and the company expects to do another residency there in the future.

CALIFORNIA: THE TEMPEST embarks on its final stretch and heads to Eureka (at the Blue Ox) from May 21- 23; San Francisco (at the Z Space) June 4 - 6; and then makes its triumphant return home (to where it all began!), with performances June 18 - 20, at Grand Park in Downtown Los Angeles.

Cornerstone also invites you to its Sunset Celebration of California: The Tempest, an evening of dinner and theater under the stars, on Saturday, June 20, 2015 in Downtown Los Angeles' beautiful Grand Park. This celebratory event will be the culmination of our California Bridge Tour, a yearlong statewide touring production of California: The Tempest. Mark the date on your calendar to enjoy appetizers, cocktails, a silent auction, gourmet picnic dinner and our final performance with a breathtaking view of downtown Los Angeles.

In CALIFORNIA: THE TEMPEST, "What's past is prologue," as playwright Alison Carey's adaptation of The Tempest meets California's challenges head-on in this traveling experience that conjures love, disaster, revenge, forgiveness & music (all that you would expect from Shakespeare!); mixed with earthquakes, drought, overdevelopment, food equity, state politics, fracking and immigration policy (all that you would expect from California!) as Prosper, her daughter Minerva, her servant Caliban and Californians from across the state yearn to find the commonality in our diversity and imagine a healthy and inclusive future for California!

Comments Cornerstone Theater Company's Artistic Director Michael John Garcés, "We are so proud to be in the home stretch of what has been a monumental effort and collaboration on this project. Playwright Alison Carey's themes are so vital and important to our work as a company; when are we individuals, and when are we part of communities? When are we residents of real California, and when are we aspirants to mythic California? What is hunger in this state that feeds so much of our country, and in how many ways are we hungry? These are the questions we have been exploring and continue to look at as we embark the final three stops on this year-long quest across California."

CREATIVE TEAM:

MICHAEL JOHN GARCÉS (Director, Artistic Director, Cornerstone Theater Company) has directed many plays for Cornerstone, including two summer residency projects, Plumas Negras by Juliette Carrillo in Salinas, and atTraction by Page Leong in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District. For Cornerstone he has also written Consequence, which was presented in Arvin, a farming community in the Central Valley, and Los Illegals, created with day laborers and domestic workers in Los Angeles. His work has been produced in theaters across the country such as South Coast Repertory, The Wilma Theatre, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He is a company member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, D.C., serves on the executive board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and is a proud alumnus of New Dramatists.

ALISON CAREY (Playwright, Co-Founder, Cornerstone Theater Company) has written or co-written over 25 of Cornerstone's productions, and has been nominated for Emmy, GLAAD and Ovation awards. A member of the Dramatists Guild, she has served on advisory or peer panels for organizations such as The Ford Foundation, Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Foundation, the Mark Taper Forum's Other Voices Projects and Arts Midwest. She has guest lectured at universities and organizations around the country, including at Yale, Stanford and the BAM/CUNY Shakespeare Conference, and taught courses at the University of Southern California and CalState LA in playwriting and community-based theater.

The core cast of CALIFORNIA: THE TEMPEST will feature (in alphabetical order): Elzie Alexander, Maria Cano, Karen Covarrubias, MC Earl, Gabriel Garcia, Iris Gonzalez, Brent Grihalva, Peter Howard, Joji Koyuri, Page Leong, Francisco Martinez, Gema Sanchez and Bahni Turpin.

CALIFORNIA: THE TEMPEST features an award-winning design team. The Scenic Design is by Nephelie Andonyadis. The Costume Design is by Garry Lennon. The Lighting Design is by Geoff Korf. Sound Design is by Veronika Vorel. Original Music composed by Becky Dale. Puppet Design is by Lynn Jeffries.

From 2004 through 2013 Cornerstone created plays across California through its Institute Summer Residency program, an annual four-week academy that offers both classroom study and hands-on experience in creating community-collaborative theater. They spent a month each summer living and working with these unique California communities, and brought along other artists, activists and educators from all over the country to work on the play, get to know the community and learn Cornerstone's process of making community-engaged theater. Now, Cornerstone celebrates 10 years of Summer Residencies with this new production.

A core cast including Cornerstone's ensemble, graduates of our Institute Summer Residencies as well as performers from the collaborating communities will tour to all the communities. In each town, principal roles and a community chorus will be incorporated into the show. Cornerstone will spend three weeks in each location.

CALIFORNIA: THE TEMPEST will perform on the following dates:

May 21 - 23, 2015 Eureka (Humboldt Co), Outdoors at the Blue Ox Millworks at 7:00pm. Address: 1 X Street, Eureka, CA 95501.

June 4 - 6, 2015 San Francisco, indoors at Z Space Theatre at 8:00pm on Thursday and Friday; 4:00pm matinee on Saturday. Address: Mission District, 450 Florida Street, San Francisco, CA 94110.

June 18 - 20, 2015 Downtown Los Angeles, Outdoors at Grand Park at 8pm. Address: 200 N. Grand Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90012

Pay-What-You-Can Tickets (suggested donation of $10.00) are available for Eureka and San Francisco performances. Call 1-800-578-1335 to reserve seats and/or purchase tickets for the Eureka performances at The Blue Ox Mill. Call 1-866-811-4111 to purchase tickets for the San Francisco performances at Z Space or visit www.zspace.org.

Performances at Grand Park in Downtown Los Angeles are free and open to the public. Please call 1-800-578-1335 for more information. For groups, email grouptickets@cornerstonetheater.org.

Cornerstone Theater Company makes new plays with and about communities. By combining the artistry of people with many levels of theatrical experience, we act upon the conviction that artistic expression is civic engagement and that access to a creative forum is essential to the wellness and health of every individual and community.

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