TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will present the World Premiere of Jessica Dickey's NAN AND THE LOWER BODY

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will present the World Premiere of Jessica Dickey's Nan and the Lower Body, an audience favorite at TheatreWorks' 2019 New Works Festival. When Pap smear inventor Dr. George Papanicolaou takes on a brilliant new assistant, Nan Day, he senses that she is hiding a secret. As Dr. Pap discovers the truth, he learns that he may hold the key to solving her greatest mystery. This frank and funny play explores the mysteries of the heart and provides a personal perspective to the revolutionary technology that has saved the lives of millions. Directed by TheatreWorks Artistic Associate and Director of New Works Giovanna Sardelli, Nan and the Lower Body will be presented July 13 - August 7, 2022 (press opening: July 16) at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. For tickets (starting at $30) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (877)-662-8978.

Joining the director and playwright for Nan and the Lower Body is an all-female design team including scenic design by Nina Ball, costume design by Cathleen Edwards, lighting design by Pamila Z. Gray, sound design by Jane Shaw, and wig design by Heather Sterling. TheatreWorks has also assembled a talented cast for Nan and the Lower Body. Reprising the role she originated in TheatreWorks' 2019 New Works Festival, Elissa Beth Stebbins returns to TheatreWorks as Nan Day. Stebbins was also seen in TheatreWorks' A Civil War Christmas as well as performances in TheatreWorks Education's Oskar tours. Stebbins won a Theatre Bay Area Award for her performance in You For Me For You at Crowded Fire Theater Company. Stebbins has also appeared in productions at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, California Shakespeare Theatre, Shotgun Players, New Conservatory Theatre Center, City Lights Theatre Company, Berkeley Playhouse, and more.

Christopher Daftsios makes his TheatreWorks debut as Dr. George Papanicolaou. Daftsios has performed onstage at New Light Theatre Project, Rattlestick Theater, Town Hall, New Jersey Repertory Company, Shadowland Theater, New Century Theatre, Forestburgh Playhouse, and Shawnee Playhouse. His film and TV credits include NBC's "Law and Order: SVU," NBC's "Law and Order," NBC's "Law & Order: Conviction," CBS's "The Equalizer," and Universal Cable Companies' "Royal Pains."

Lisa Ramirez makes her TheatreWorks mainstage debut as Mache Papanicolaou, Dr. Pap's wife. She performed her semi-autobiographical dance theartre piece pas de deux (lost my shoe) in TheatreWorks' 2021 New Works Festival Online. She has been seen onstage at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Rattlestick Theater, Vineyard Theater, Marin Theatre Company, Cherry Lane Theatre, Working Theater, and The Atlantic Theatre Company. She currently serves as Associate Artistic Director of Oakland Theater Project. She has received Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards for her performances in Love and Anger and Buried Child. Her TV credits include roles on HBO's "The Flight Attendant" and FOX's "Almost Family." Jeffrey Brian Adams makes his TheatreWorks mainstage debut as Ted Day, Nan's husband. Adams has acted in productions at American Conservatoy Theater, San Francisco Playhouse, Hillbarn Theatre, San Jose Stage Company, and NYC Fringe. He appeared in the films Pale Blue Balloons, Mavis and Oren, and Bronsky.

For this production, Randall K. Lum serves as stage manager, George Psarras is the Dialect Coach, Maya Herbsman is the Intimacy Coordinator, Judith Nihei is the Artist Counselor, and Jeffrey Lo is Casting Director.

Jessica Dickey (Playwright) is an award-winning playwright whose writing was hailed by The New York Times as having "freshness, economy, cheeky vulgarity, with a fine measure of poetic insight," and the New Yorker magazine as "funny, smart, deep and sad." She recently signed a development deal with ABC and Touchstone (Fox21). Her plays include The Convent (premiered Off-Broadway with Rattlestick and Rising Phoenix) and The Rembrandt (sold-out run at Steppenwolf starring John Mahoney). Other plays Off-Broadway in New York and around the country: The Amish Project, Charles Ives Take Me Home, and Row After Row. In television, Dickey recently joined the writers room for Apple TV's comedy "Physical," starring Rose Byrne. She is also developing a show with Tom McCarthy's company, "Slow Pony," about young female clergy. Dickey is a member of the exclusive New Dramatists and a recipient of the prestigious Stavis Award.

TheatreWorks Artistic Associate and Director of New Works Giovanna Sardelli's (Director) many directing credits at TheatreWorks include this season's It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play and the March 2020 Northern California Premiere of They Promised Her the Moon, as well as Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph's Archduke (2019), FINKS (2018), The Velocity of Autumn and Crimes of the Heart (2016), Joseph's The Lake Effect (2015), Somewhere by Matthew Lopez (2013), and the World Premiere of Joseph's The North Pool (2011). She is an award-winning director who has worked on numerous plays by Rajiv Joseph including the world premiere of Archduke (Mark Taper Forum) and Guards at the Taj (Geffen Playhouse; 2016 Ovation Award for Best Production of a Play) and the World Premiere of the Obie Award winning play Describe The Night (2014 New Works Festival, Alley Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company in NYC). She has directed world premieres of plays by Theresa Rebeck, Lynn Rosen, Joe Gilford, Jeff Augustine, Lauren Yee, Zayd Dohrn, Melissa Ross, Lila Rose Kaplan, Matthew Lopez, and Zoe Kazan among others. Sardelli recently directed "Marvel's Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show!," a podcast series by Marvel Entertainment and Sirius XM.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley was founded in 1970 by Robert Kelley and has grown from an original Silicon Valley start-up to become one of the region's leading professional nonprofit theatre companies. TheatreWorks was honored as the recipient of the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award, the highest honor bestowed on a non-Broadway theatre. Now in its 51st season and led by Artistic Director Tim Bond and Executive Director Phil Santora, TheatreWorks presents a wide variety of contemporary plays and musicals, revitalizes great works of the past, and serves more than 100,000 patrons per year. TheatreWorks also champions new work, offering artists support and a creative home as they develop new stories for the American theatre. Offstage, TheatreWorks' arts education programs in local schools and arts engagement programs in Silicon Valley neighborhoods uplift its audiences and strengthen community bonds. Whether onstage or off, TheatreWorks seeks to celebrate the human spirit and the diversity of the Silicon Valley community.

Nan and the Lower Body was originally commissioned by the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Support for this production provided by funding from The Edgerton Foundation and it is supported in part by the National Endowment of the Arts. Media sponsor for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's 2021/2022 season is San Francisco Chronicle.

Photo Credit: Alessandra Mello

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