NCTC to Stage Regional Premiere of Terrence McNally's MOTHERS AND SONS

In March, New Conservatory Theatre Center presents the latest acclaimed play by four-time Tony Award winner and frequent NCTC collaborator Terrence McNally, with the regional premiere of Mothers and Sons, directed by Arturo Catricala and starring Velina Brown and Andrew Nance. Generations collide when a woman pays a surprise visit to the New York apartment of her late son's partner, who is now married to another man and has a young son. As she revisits the past, she begins to see the life her son might have led. "A resonant elegy for a ravaged generation" (The New York Times) and "eloquent, exceptionally timely and intensely resonant" (Chicago Tribune), Mothers and Sons explores family and forgiveness in a changing society.

Mothers and Sons runs March 4 - April 3, 2016. Opening Night is Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 8pm. Tickets are $25-45 and available at nctcsf.org or by calling (415) 861-8972.

Mothers and Sons marks the tenth McNally play to be staged at NCTC, including a revised West Coast premiere of Some Men and Crucifixion, the world premiere commission the playwright wrote in residence at the company in 2003.

Mothers and Sons received a Tony nomination for Best Play upon its premiere on Broadway in 2014, and was hailed by critics as an important addition to McNally's celebrated body of plays.

"A moving reflection on a changed America," raves The Chicago Tribune.

"A masterpiece," hails NY Observer. "Terrence McNally is one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theatre world has yet produced. Mothers and Sons is profound. Heartbreaking. Triumphant."

"Fantastic! McNally captures a moment of hope and promise," declares NBC New York. "Mothers and Sons feels like the sun on your face!"

Playwright Terrence McNally was awarded the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. He is the winner of Tony Awards for his plays Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class and his books for the musicals Ragtime and Kiss of the Spiderwoman. His other plays include Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Corpus Chritsti; A Perfect Ganesh; The Ritz; It's Only a Play; Some Men; Golden Age; Deuce; The Lisbon Traviata; Bad Habits; The Stendhal Syndrome; Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams; Next; Unusual Acts of Devotion; Sweet Eros; Witness; Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone? and his first play... And Things That Go Bump in the Night. He has written the books for the musicals The Full Monty; A Man of No Importance; The Visit and The Rink. He won an Emmy Award for Best Drama with his teleplay Andre's Mother. He wrote the screenplays for Frankie and Johnny, Love! Valour! Compassion! and The Ritz. He wrote the libretto for the opera Dead Man Walking with music by Jake Heggie. Among his many awards are a Citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, four Drama Desk Awards, three Hull-Warriner Best Play Awards from the Dramatists Guild, two Obies, two Lortel Awards and two Guggenheim Fellowships. Mr. McNally has been a member of the Dramatists Guild since 1965 and served as its Vice-President from 1985 to 2001.

Director Arturo Catricala is another frequent NCTC collaborator, most recently directing Jon Robin Baitz' Other Desert Cities, the Bay Area premiere of The Homosexuals by Philip Dawkins, the world premiere of Rights of Passage, as well as productions Master Class, A Perfect Ganesh, and the West Coast premiere of The Pride. He attended Fordham University at Lincoln Center and NYU School of the Arts where he studied stage directing with Carl Weber of the Berliner Ensemble and Mel Shapiro. Mr. Catricala is a member of SDC, the national labor union representing Stage Directors and Choreographers.

The cast of Mothers and Sons features Velina Brown, Andrew Nance, Daniel Redmond Davies, and Aviv Drobey (Thursdays, Saturdays & Sundays) and Dash Ferrero (Wednesdays and Fridays).

The creative team of Mothers and Sons includes scenic design by Kuo-Hao Lo, costume design by Keri Fitch, lighting design by Robert Hahn, sound design by AudioZephyrus and Prop Design by Daniel Yelen.

New Conservatory Theatre Center is San Francisco's premier LGBTQIA and allied performing arts institution and progressive arts education conservatory since 1981. NCTC is renowned for its diverse range of innovative, high quality productions, touring productions and shows for young audiences; its foundational anti-bullying work with youth and educators through YouthAware; and its commitment to nurturing emerging artists and playwrights to expand the canon of queer and allied dramatic work.

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