Cutting Ball Theatre Stages Reading of THE BLACK MASKS Today

Cutting Ball Theater presents the final installment of this season's Hidden Classics Reading Series, THE BLACK MASKS, by Leonid Andreev, in a new translation by Allison Horsley.

In this 1907 symbolist play, a ball thrown by the wealthy Duke Lorenzo turns strangely sinister when a cohort of mysterious, masked guests arrive. In the tradition of Maurice Maeterlinck and August Strindberg, Andreev's vivid imagery and lyric dialogue transport the audience on a journey that is surreal, macabre, haunting, and profoundly resonant. Cutting Ball Artistic Director Rob Melrose, who directed Cutting Ball's main stage production of Maeterlinck's Pelleas and Melisande and the company'sStrindberg Cycle: The Chamber Plays in Rep, helms this staged reading.

This season, Cutting Ball's Hidden Classics Reading Series presents a variety of extraordinary works ranging from the ancient Greeks to the Elizabethans and modern experimentalism. The series offers a profound look at some of the greatest authors ever to write for the stage in a program that continues to be one of San Francisco's best-kept secrets.

Co-founded in 1999 by theater artists Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal avant-garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. The company has commissioned, developed, and produced new experimental plays, and has partnered with Playwrights Foundation, and the Magic Theatre/Z Space New Plays Initiative to commission new experimental works. In addition to producing West Coast Premieres and re-imaging various classics, Cutting Ball Theater has produced nine World Premieres and seven World Premiere translations. Cutting Ball received the 2008San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie award for outstanding talent in the performing arts, and was voted "Best Theater Company" in the 2010San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay issue. The company also earned the Best of SF award in 2006 and "Best Experimental Theater Company" in 2012 from SF Weekly, and was selected by San Francisco magazine as Best Classic Theater in 2007. Cutting Ball Theater was featured in the February 2010 and 2012 issues of American Theatre Magazine. In 2012, Cutting Ball was awarded a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a three-year residency for resident playwright Andrew Saito.

The reading is set for today, June 9, 2013, 1pm at The Cutting Ball Theater in Residence at EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor St., San Francisco. Readings free and open to the public. For more information, visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205.

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