Photo Flash: Commonwealth Shakespeare Company presents DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) announces the first staged production of its 2017-18 Winter/Spring Season, Ariel Dorfman's shattering drama Death and the Maiden, directed by Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler at the Sandra L. Sorenson Black Box, Sorenson Center, Babson College, 231 Forest Street in Wellesley, MA.

Performance dates: January 30, 31, February 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 at 7:30PM; February 4 and 11 at 3:00PM. Opening night: Wednesday, January 31 at 7:30PM. Single Ticket prices: $40, $36 for Seniors (65+), $15 for Babson faculty/staff and non-Babson students; $5 for Babson students

Now on sale at CSC Death and the Maiden or by calling 781-239-5880

In this powerful political drama and psychological thriller, a former political prisoner finds herself face to face with the man she believes was her captor. Set in an unnamed country that is, like the author's native Chile, emerging from a totalitarian dictatorship, the play explores the after-effects of repression on hearts and souls. This white-knuckle thriller is a riveting intellectual and emotional tug of war.

The cast includes Flora Diaz as Paulina Salas, Mickey Solis as Gerardo Escobar, Mark Torres as Roberto Miranda. Set and costume design is by Clint Ramos, lighting design by Jeff Adelberg, and sound design by Arshan Gailus.

Flora Diaz (Paulina Salas) was last seen in the Boston area as Gretchen in Donnie Darko at the A.R.T. and Flora/Eve in Boleros for the Disenchanted at the Huntington Theatre. Her off-Broadway credits include Abyss (The Play Company), Enfrascada and Crumble (Clubbed Thumb), Flowers and Tooth And Claw (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Jailbait and Girl (Cherry Lane Theatre), War and Seven Spots on the Sun (Rattlestick Theatre), With Love, Gabe (INTAR), Women on Love (The Culture Project), SCAB (Women's Expressive Theatre) Regional credits include So Go the Ghosts of Mexico, Part Two (Sundance Theatre Lab), A Christmas Carol(Actors Theatre of Louisville), The Rest of your Life (Axial Theatre), Once Removed (Coconut Grove Playhouse), Crippled Sisters (Baltimore Center Stage), How to Act Around Cops (SOHO Theatre, London). Television and film: "Gotham," "Elementary," "Law & Order" (classic, "Criminal Intent" and "SVU"),"Over/Under" (pilot), The Eyes of My Mother (2016 Sundance), CAM, Rodger Dodger, You Were Never Here, The Impossibilities (web series). She attended Northwestern University. www.floradiaz.com

Mickey Solis (Gerardo Escobar) played Edmund in CSC's production of King Lear on the Boston Common in 2015 and was most recently seen at Gloucester Stage in the New England Premiere of The Effect with Lindsay Crouse, directed by Sam Weisman. He is a graduate of the A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard, and played leading roles in the A.R.T. productions of The Seagull, Cardenio, Romeo and Juliet, and Desire under the Elms. His New York and Off-Broadway credits include Illusions (Baryshnikov Arts Center), An Oresteia (Classic Stage Company), God of Carnage (Engeman Theater), White People (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Night Over Taos (INTAR), The Master and Margarita (Fisher Center at Bard College), Beckett at 100 (92nd St. Y with Alvin Epstein and Bill Camp), and Error of Their Ways (HERE Arts Center). He has also performed at several regional theaters. His film and TV credits include michigan (writer), Lament for the Artist (co-writer), Fall North, Man with Van, "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "Person of Interest," "Blacklist," "Mysteries of Laura," and "Girls."

Mark Torres (Roberto Miranda) recently appeared in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter at Arkansas Repertory Theater. He has worked on Broadway, and at such regional theatres as Trinity Repertory Company, Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Shakespeare Festival, Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Plaza Theatre in Dallas, Center Stage in Baltimore, Melody Top Theatre in Milwaukee, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Music Theatre of Connecticut, Ocean State Theatre, The Theatre at Monmouth and Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre. He has also appeared on television and in several films, most recently the thriller Shorecliff.

Ariel Dorfman (Playwright) is a Chilean/American author and human rights activist whose plays and novels follow the vibrant and politically engaged Latin American literary tradition. Born in Buenos Aires to Russian Jewish parents, Dorfman completed his graduate studies and eventually taught at the University of Chile in Santiago. He served as cultural advisor in the administration of Salvador Allende until 1973 when he was forced into exile upon the overthrown of Allende's government by the US supported coup. He lived in Amsterdam, Paris, and Washington, DC and returned to Chile upon the end of Pinochet's dictatorship and the restoration of Chilean democracy. An American citizen since 2004, he lives with his family in both Chile and the US, where he currently teaches literature and Latin American Studies at Duke University. Dorfman wrote extensively on issues related to Latin American politics, American cultural hegemony, war, and human rights, publishing essays in both English and Spanish. His other plays include The Other Side, Purgatorio, Picasso's Closet, and Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark (based on interviews with human rights defenders by Kerry Kennedy Cuomo) premiered at the Kennedy Center in 2000, and subsequently aired on PBS as part of its Great Performances Series. Dorfman's works have been translated into more than 40 languages and performed in over 100 countries, also including poetry, essays, novels, and short stories. He worked with organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Index on Censorship.

Steve Maler (Director) is Founding Artistic Director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) and Director of the Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College. At CSC he has been producing and directing Free Shakespeare on the Boston Common productions since 1996. Other local work includes last season's world premiere of Our American Hamlet at the Sorenson Center, Peter Eötvös's operatic treatment of Tony Kushner's Angels in America (U.S. Premiere), and productions at New Repertory Theatre and SpeakEasy Stage Company. His New York City credits include the New York Musical Theatre Festival production of Without You, for which he was recognized with an Honorable Mention for Excellence in Directing by The NYMF 2010 Awards for Excellence. The production has toured to Edinburgh, London, Toronto and Seoul, South Korea. He has received multiple awards including the Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence.

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC), best known for its annual free performances on Boston Common, is a non-profit theater company founded in 1996, dedicated to artistic excellence, accessibility, and education. CSC's Free Shakespeare on the Common has served over one million audience members over its 23-year history, and has become a beloved summer tradition enjoyed by nearly 75,000 people annually, including last summer's highly acclaimed production of Romeo and Juliet. In 2013, CSC became the Theatre-in-Residence at Babson College in Wellesley, MA. In addition to the annual Boston Common production, CSC now presents fully staged productions at the Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson, including the recent world premiere of Our American Hamlet and Becket in Brief; "Theatre in the Rough," semi- staged readings including Fear and Misery in the Third Reich featuring Tony Shalhoub, Brooke Adams and local actors; as well as "Shakespeare & the Law," and "Shakespeare & Leadership." CSC fulfills its educational mission with actor-training programs for pre-professional and professional actors through the summer Apprentice program and CSC2. To learn more about these programs, visit www.commshakes.org.

Photos by Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots

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