Northern Stage Presents World Premiere About Hacking and Stolen Identity

What happens when someone gains access to your online identity? Dartmouth graduate Brenda Withers' world premiere Jordan tackles this timely topic on the main stage at the Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction, VT from October 16 - November 3. For tickets and information, call (802) 296-7000 or visit northernstage.org. Tickets start at $34 for adults and $19 for students.

Lara's world is turned upside down when she discovers that a hacker has invaded her online life. The mysterious presence, however, doesn't seem interested in her money or her data but something more elusive. Jordan asks its audience to examine how much we give away online and what we risk in our age of technology.

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center - a non-profit organization that helps victims of identity theft and educates the public about cybersecurity - there were 10,818 data breaches in 2018 exposing over a billion records. 1,612,530,601 to be exact. Brenda Withers (Huntington Theater Playwriting Fellow and co-creator of the New York hit Matt & Ben) puts a voice to these numbers in her new play Jordan, and says, "It's a dangerous part of the modern world, and I'm interested in how willing most people are to traffic in it, despite the common risks."

Withers explores the conflict between outward appearance and inward identity when this danger becomes reality. "Jordan will encourage some meditation on which parts of our identity can be stolen in the digital age, and which parts we're already giving away," adds Withers.

The dark comedy reflects on the ubiquity of technology in our everyday lives and its role in shaping who we are. Northern Stage's BOLD Associate Artistic Director Jess Chayes (Broadway Associate Director: Peter and the Starcatcher, The Snow Geese, Misery; Northern Stage: Venus Rising) directs the play and says, "Jordan is a play that not only examines the contemporary phenomenon of hacking (which has yet gone unexplored onstage), but it also asks how our identity is formed in our digital age: do we control it or is it shaped by the perception of others? And what happens when that perception changes? Brenda [Withers] tackles these serious subjects with delicious humor and a sense of playful mystery - I can't wait to share this play with our community."

Danielle Slavick (Broadway: The Other Place; Northern Stage: Last of the Red Hot Lovers) returns to Northern Stage as the lead, Lara. Northern Stage welcomes actors Ben Beckley (Broadway: What the Constitution Means to Me; Off-Broadway: Dying for It), Eric M. Messner (Second City/Kennedy Center: Twist Your Dickens; TV: VEEP, The Wire), and William Oliver Watkins (Denver Center: Sweat, Jackie & Me; TV: Wu-Tang's American Saga).

The creative team includes Sara C. Walsh (Scenic Designer), Barbara A. Bell (Costume Designer), Isabella Byrd (Lighting Designer), Asa Wember (Sound Designer), Alek Deva (Video Designer), Virginia Ogden (Assistant Director), Devin Day (Production Stage Manager), and Emma Elizabeth Anthony (1st Assistant Stage Manager).

A free Spot On conversation will contextualize the production on Sunday, October 20 at 3:00 PM. Director Jess Chayes will discuss the real world implications of Jordan's mysterious hacker with cybersecurity expert and Director of the Institute for Security, Technology, and Society at Dartmouth College V.S. Subrahmanian. Prof. Subrahmanian is an expert on Artificial Intelligence and predictive modeling including methods to analyze text/geospatial/relational/social network data, learn behavioral models from the data, forecast actions, and influence behaviors with applications to cybersecurity and counter-terrorism.

The 2019-20 Season is underwritten by Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital. Jordan is sponsored by Mascoma Bank, River Valley Club, and White Mountains Insurance. $19 student tickets and $5 Access for All tickets (for EBT cardholders) are available for any performance, and $20 tickets are available on Tuesday, October 22. Adult ticket prices range from $34 - $59.

Northern Stage (northernstage.org) is a regional non-profit LORT-D professional theater company located in White River Junction, VT. Northern Stage actively engages its audiences with world-class productions and extensive educational programs in its new home, the Barrette Center for the Arts. Founded in 1997, the company has offered more than 150 professional productions of new works, classics, and musicals. Now in its 23rd season, Northern Stage serves over 50,000 people. In 2014, the company launched a new play festival that has cultivated seven world premiere productions and three Off-Broadway transfers. A robust educational program focuses on professional training in a nurturing and supportive environment for students of all ages. Offerings include student acting ensembles, a summer musical theater intensive, and an expansive theater-in-the-schools residency program. Northern Stage's breadth of programming supports the company's mission to "change lives, one story at a time..."

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