San Francisco Playhouse presents the Bay Area premiere of Tiny Beautiful Things by Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated writer and actress Nia Vardalos, based on the book by best-selling author Cheryl Strayed (Wild). Bill English will direct the Playhouse production.
Based on the book of the same title, Tiny Beautiful Things tells the story of
Cheryl Strayed's experiences as an anonymous advice columnist whose column "Dear Sugar" became a nationwide phenomenon. As Sugar navigates the questions of her real-life readers, she weaves together her own experiences to create a column full of light, laughter, and empathy. Tiny Beautiful Things is a play about reaching when you're stuck, healing when you're broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions that have no answers.
"I've always been a secret fan of advice columns. I am drawn to the question of how people reach out for understanding, and how they find it," said
Bill English, Artistic Director. "Is anonymity the deciding factor in people feeling free to unburden their hearts to someone they've never met?"
The cast features Susi Damilano*, Kina Kantor,
Mark Anderson Phillips*, and
Jomar Tagatac*.
San Francisco Playhouse's production of Tiny Beautiful Things is made possible by Executive Producers Gary & Dana Shapiro and Samuel & Sharon Muir; Producers Margot Golding, Gail & Arne Wagner, and Margaret Sheehan; Associate Producers William J. Gregory and
Kate Miller; and Artistic Underwriters Claire Axelrad & Mark Pahlavan and David Alcocer.
Nia Vardalos (Playwright) is the Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated writer and actress of such films as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Connie and Carla, My Life in Ruins, and I Hate Valentine's Day, and co-writer with
Tom Hanks of Larry Crowne. She lives in Los Angeles with her family, and donates Instant Mom proceeds to adoption charities.
Cheryl Strayed (Author)
Cheryl Strayed is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Wild, the New York Times bestsellers Tiny Beautiful Things and Brave Enough, and the novel Torch. Wild was chosen by
Oprah Winfrey as her first selection for Oprah's Book Club 2.0. Strayed's books have been translated into nearly forty languages around the world and have been adapted for both the screen and the stage. The Oscar-nominated movie adaptation of Wild stars
Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl and
Laura Dern as Cheryl's mother, Bobbi. The film was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, with a screenplay by
Nick Hornby. Tiny Beautiful Things was adapted for the stage by
Nia Vardalos, who also starred in the role of Sugar/Cheryl. The play was directed by
Thomas Kail and debuted at
The Public Theater in New York City in a sold-out run in 2016. It is now being staged in several theaters around the nation. Strayed's essays have been published in The Best American Essays, the New York Times, the Washington Post Magazine, Vogue, Salon, The Sun, Tin House, The New York Times Book Review, and elsewhere. Strayed was the co-host of the New York Times/WBUR podcast Dear Sugars, which originated with her popular Dear Sugar advice column on The Rumpus, and she co-authored, along with Steve Almond, The Sweet Spot advice column in the New York Times Thursday Styles section. Strayed holds an MFA in fiction writing from
Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Bill English (Director) Bill is the co-founder of and artistic director of the Playhouse, and in sixteen years with Susi Damilano, has guided its growth from a bare-bones storefront to the second-largest nonprofit theatre in San Francisco. He designed the first theatre space at 536 Sutter Street and personally reconfigured the barn-like 700-seat hall into our current gracious and intimate 199-seat venue. Along the way he has served as director, actor, scenic designer, and sound designer, winning San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nominations or awards in each of those categories. Bill is also an accomplished musician and builder. Milestone accomplishments include bringing Pulitzer Prize-winner
Stephen Adly Guirgis to the Bay Area by directing three of his plays, commissioning twelve playwrights including
Theresa Rebeck,
Aaron Loeb,
Lauren Gunderson,
Lauren Yee, and
Christopher Chen, and developing world premieres from workshops to Sandbox Series to our Mainstage Season to Off-Broadway (including the Off-Broadway transfers of Ideation and Bauer), and presenting the very first production of Grounded by
George Brant which later played at
The Public Theater. He coined the phrase "the empathy gym" and it drives everything at the Playhouse.
*Member of
Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers.
For tickets ($35 - $125) or more information, the public may contact the San Francisco Playhouse box office at 415-677-9596, or online at
https://www.sfplayhouse.org/sfph/2019-2020-season/tiny-beautiful-things/
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