FSU/Asolo Conservatory presents THE MOTHERF***ER WITH THE HAT

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training continues its 2017-18 season with Stephen Adly Giurgis' The Motherf***er with the Hat: a dark comedy about addiction, betrayal, and revenge. The Motherf***er with the Hat opens on Wednesday, January 3 and plays through January 21 in the Cook Theatre in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. A special pay-what-you-can preview will be offered to the public on Tuesday, January 2 at 7:30 p.m. with a $3 minimum.

After 26 months in prison, Jackie is trying to put his old life back together in New York City; staying clean with the help of his sponsor and patching things up with his longtime girlfriend, Veronica. But when Jackie finds an inexplicable hat in his living room, he is quickly consumed by an obscenity-laced hunt for the truth. The loyalties of Jackie's closest friends and family are tested until he arrives at a sobering self-revelation about his place in the cycle of addiction.

"This is a comedy about broken people, and that can be tough to pull off" says Director Celine Rosenthal. "But you're laughing with these broken people, not at them, and that's key. There's an odd sort of dignity in using things like addiction or living paycheck-to-paycheck to fuel a character to make bold decisions, and not just prop up a simple stereotype."

The Motherf***er with the Hat premiered on Broadway in April 2011. The New York Times called the play "accomplished and affecting," and the Wall Street Journal hailed Motherf***er as "one of the best new plays to come to Broadway in ages." The production was nominated for more than 15 Tony Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, and Drama League Awards, winning a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Theatre World Award.

"This script is an excellent showcase for our second-year company of students," said Greg Leaming, Director of the Conservatory. "It requires a great emotional flexibility from the actor, navigating quick turns of tender empathy and biting viciousness, often on the same page. It's a play that feels more like a full-contact sport."

The Motherf***er with the Hat will feature performances from second-year students John Wilson Bennett, Lawrence James, Matthew Kresch, Sara Linares, and DeAnna Wright. The production will be directed by Celine Rosenthal, with Costume Designer Sofia Gonzales, Lighting and Scenic Designer Christopher McVicker, Sound Designer Alex Pinchin, Voice and Dialect Coach Patricia Delorey, and Fight Choreographer Mark Rosenthal comprising the production team.

Please note that The Motherf***er with the Hat contains strong adult language.

Stephen Adly Guirgis is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and a former co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced both Off-Broadway and on Broadway as well as in the UK. Guirgis was awarded a 2006 PEN/Laura Pels Award for a playwright in mid-career, a 2006 Whiting Award, and a 2004 TCG fellowship. He attended the 2006 Sundance Screenwriter's Lab, and was named one of 2004's 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine. His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Guirgis received a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in May 2016.

Celine Rosenthal is an NYU Tisch alumnus, Tony Award-nominated producer (Leap of Faith, Seminar), and the current Artistic Associate at Asolo Repertory Theatre. Her work has been seen at NYMF, New York City Center, MMAC, 54Below, 59E59, and in the Broadway's Future Songbook Series at Lincoln Center. Recent projects include Borders in a Bedroom at The Tristan Bates Theatre in London and Adam Ashraf's The Death of Grandma Hanem at Theatre For The New City. Celine received her MFA in Directing from The New School for Drama, where she directed Little Man by Bekah Brunstetter, Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, and a musical adaptation of David Greig's Yellow Moon, among others. She is a New George's Jammer, and the recipient of an MTC Directing Fellowship, SDCF Observership, and a Directing Fellowship at Asolo Repertory Theatre.

Tickets for The Motherf***er with the Hat are $30 for both matinee and evening performances. To purchase tickets, call 941.351-8000 or 800.361.8388, visit www.asolorep.org, or visit the Asolo Repertory Theatre Box Office at 5555 North Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. The box office is open Monday 10am - 5pm, Tuesday - Thursday 10am - 7:30pm, Friday - Saturday 10am - 8pm, and Sunday 10am - 2pm. The box office closes at 5pm when there are no evening performances, and phone reservations close one hour before all performances.

A special pay-what-you-can preview will be offered to the public on Tuesday, January 2 at 7:30 p.m. with a $3 minimum.

Audiences may purchase a three-play subscription for the remaining productions in the conservatory season (The Motherf***er with the Hat, The Rehearsal, and Much Ado About Nothing) for $75.

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training is a celebrated three-year graduate program culminating in a master of fine arts degree. For more than 35 years, tens of thousands of actors from across the continent have auditioned for admission. A maximum of 12 students are admitted each year. In their second year, the students perform in the Cook Theatre, a 161-seat space designed to create an intimate experience for the audience and actors. Third-year students are seen on the Mertz Stage working with the Asolo Rep's professional actors in exciting and significant roles.

For more information, visit http://www.asolorep.org/conservatory/welcome.

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