STAGE TUBE: Preview A.C.T.'s MAPLE AND VINE

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.

Check out the video preview with clips from the show and audience interviews below!

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.).

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