Trustus Theatre Presents the World Premiere of Jon Tuttle's Newest Play BOY ABOUT TEN

Trustus Theatre is bringing the latest work of South Carolina playwright, Jon Tuttle, to their Main Stage this summer. Boy About Ten, commissioned by the Trustus Playwrights' Festival, is a savage farce about what happens to the kids when the parents don't grow up. It's about the effect parents' choices have on their children-everyone wants to love and be loved, but sometimes those attempts at achieving two seemingly simple goals can go terribly wrong. Boy About Ten will open on Friday, August 17, and will run through Saturday, August 25, 2018. Tickets may be purchased at www.trustus.org, or by calling the Trustus Box Office at 803-254-9732.

Terry Spooner truly believes that if he can just stuff this angry copperhead into a canteen, his ex-wife will forget that he ever knocked her eye out during sex, and will return to the home she once set fire to. If he can just get her alone long enough to belt out a medley of adulterated KISS songs and ply her with enough Cheerwine, surely she will recall that magical night at the taco bar and reunite their two sons-one a highly-decorated Cub Scout, and the other... well, the other a boy now so damaged that he lives outside his body at the bottom of the sea.

Boy About Ten is presented by the Trustus Playwrights' Festival and is written by Jon Tuttle, a member of Trustus Theatre's Company Emeritus. It is the sixth and wildest world premiere of Tuttle's to debut on Trustus Theatre's stage. Boy About Ten is the third piece of brand new theatre that Trustus is bringing to Columbia this season, joining previous Season 33 new works A Christmas Miracle at the Richland Fashion Mall and The Restoration's Constance. It will be directed by Trustus Company Member Patrick Michael Kelly.

"Two words: Jon Tuttle," said Kelly. "Jon is a cornerstone of Trustus. He was a playwright in residence and literary manager for the better part of two decades, and counting this one, we've produced six of his plays, all of which are world premiere productions. Jon's writing is so balanced-serious and absurd, smart and silly, poignant and whimsical-and this piece is no exception. It's a dark farce about a family and the ties that bind as well as break us. It's equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, and I just think it's a knockout.

"There's nothing more exciting or challenging in this business than developing and producing new work," said Kelly. "Working directly with the playwright, throwing ideas back and forth, watching the actors uncover the characters' deeper levels, and then seeing those ideas and discovers manifest in a new draft or a scene or a line is a real thrill. You're a part of something that is living, breathing, and changing all the time, right up until it goes in front of its first audience. That same element of change is also the most challenging part-we could rehearse a scene several times and then the writer comes in, isn't feeling it, and turns around and hands us a new scene-all while the countdown clock to opening is ticking. There's a lot of pressure, but the experience is rich and the reward is great.

"If you're a parent or you're someone's child, this show is for you," said Kelly. "If you've ever been crazy in love with someone you never imagined yourself in love with, this show is for you. If you ever said or did something to someone you love that you regret, this show is for you. If there's something you've been meaning to say to your parent or your child, this show is for you. If you like to laugh or you like to cry, this show is for you."

Boy About Ten will run from Friday, August 17 through to Saturday, August 25, 2018 and tickets are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Trustus Theatre Box Office at 803-254-9732 or online at trustus.org. Tickets are $25 each for the general public and are $20 each for students. Opening night is Friday, August 17, at 8pm. The performances following are on Saturday, August 18, at 8pm; Sunday, August 19, at 3pm; Wednesday, August 22, at 7:30pm; Thursday, August 23, at 7:30pm; Friday, August 24, at 8pm; and Saturday, August 25, at 8pm. A Talk-Back with cast and panelists will follow the performance on Sunday, August 19th.

Boy About Ten is sponsored by Aloft Downtown Columbia.

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