Trustus Theatre Presents THIRD FINGER, LEFT HAND, Opens 9/14

"Third Finger, Left Hand," a southern gothic one-act by playwright and Irmo native Randall David Cook, opens the 2011-12 Black Box Late Night Series at Trustus Theatre on September 14th, at 7:30pm.

Third Finger, Left Hand was first produced by the Regardez-Nous Theatre Company at the Flatiron Playhouse in New York in 200. Cook has revised the show for the Columbia production adding new twists and even a new character. He has been working with the Trustus cast of six since rehearsals began, rewriting and fine tuning the work. "Trustus was a downtown cultural mecca for me growing up," said Cook. "It was the place where I first saw the new plays from the country's most important and exciting playwrights. I'm not an actor and I'm not technically savvy, and I was so in awe of the work Trustus was doing that I was too shy to try to get involved otherwise, so I was never more than a happy audience member. But from afar I treasured Trustus as an institution, and so now, all these many years later, to come back home and have my play being produced at Trustus is truly a dream come true. I'm incredibly excited."

The play takes place in Beaufort, SC and centers around a bridal party riddled with anxiety and a family steeped in betrayal and controversy, the perfect recipe for a southern-friend disaster.

Larry Hembree, director of the Trustus production, says that "having a playwright like Randall David at your fingertips is a luxury director's rarely get." He continues, "the process of creating theatre takes on new life when the cast and crew know they are collaborating with a playwright to craft and fine tune a new production that will be unique and truly a ‘premiere'."

Cook graduated from Irmo High School, Furman University and received an International MBA from USC's Darla Moore School of Business. Since moving to New York, he's had two plays premiere Off-Broadway. "Fate's Imagination" opened at The Players Theatre and "Sake with the Haiku Geisha" opened at the Perry Street Theatre and was chosen as one of Backstage magazine's "Picks of the Week." His one-act play "Sushi and Scones" was broadcast by the BBC, and his two screenplays ("Quintet" and "Revelation") were both finalists for the Sundance Filmmakers Lab. He is the Resident Playwright of Gotham Stage Company and an active member of the Dramatists Guild.

The cast of "Third Finger, Left Hand" includes Dell Goodrich, Kristin Wood Cobb, Denise Pearman, Joe Hudson, and Trustus Company Members Ellen Rodillo-Fowler and Sumner Bender.

The production runs September 14 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. and September 16, 23 and 24 at 11:15 p.m. The show takes place at the intimate 50-seat Trustus Black Box, 520 Lady Street, next to the Vista Publix. Box office and bar will open 30 minutes prior to curtain.

Reservations are encouraged. Tickets are $15 each can be purchased by calling the Trustus box office between 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturdays at 803-254-9732. Additional information can be found at www.trustus.org.

Also, a free reading of another of Cook's full-length plays Southern Discomfort will be held at Trustus September 20. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the reading beginning at 6:30 p.m. No reservations are necessary for the reading.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.