World Premiere of THE ARSONISTS By Jacqueline Goldfinger Rolls At Capital Stage

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, celebrates the opening of NNPN Rolling World Premiere of The Arsonists by Jacqueline Goldfinger at Capital Stage. By the end of its Roll, The Arsonists will have received four productions at NNPN Members Azuka Theatre (May 3-21, 2017 in Philadelphia), Know Theatre of Cincinnati (September 22-October 14, 2017), and Perseverance Theatre (January 11-21 in Anchorage and coming soon, May 4-20, 2018 in Juneau). The Arsonists in NNPN's 67th Rolling World Premiere.

In an NNPN Rolling World Premiere, the Network provides production support to the playwright and the partnering theaters, including assistance with the creation and the contracting of the premiere agreement, collaborative interactions between the theaters, and travel and housing funds for the playwright to further develop the play in each city.

Sarah Gliko and Steven Rishard in the NNPN Rolling World Premiere of The Arsonists by Jacqueline Goldfinger at Azuka Theatre in Philadelphia (photo: Johanna Austin/AustinArt.org)

ABOUT THE ARSONISTS
Set deep in a Florida swamp, The Arsonists is a father-daughter tale of grief, loss and redemption. Inspired by the Greek tragedy Electra, this play with music is a contemporary American myth that explores the relationship between parent and child in that small space between death and life, the last breath before the awakening. It is the runner-up for the 2016 Leah Ryan Prize, and was nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and L. Arnold Weissberger Award for Playwriting.

ABOUT AZUKA THEATRE
Azuka Theatre gives voice to the people whose stories go unheard. Located in Philadelphia, Azuka Theatre was founded in 1999 by a group of young artists participating in the Arden Theatre Company's nationally recognized Professional Apprentice Program. Azuka Theatre has built a reputation for accessible, thought-provoking and socially conscious theater and been hailed as "a company to watch" and a "major player on the Philadelphia alternative theatre scene," by Philadelphia Weekly. azukatheatre.org

ABOUT KNOW THEATRE OF CINCINNATI
The Know showcases unexpected voices, new works, and plays that embrace the inherent theatricality of the live experience. Know Theatre seeks to be a place where artists and audiences feel welcome to take artistic risks, creating work that is cutting edge and accessible. knowtheatre.com

ABOUT PERSEVERANCE THEATRE
Perseverance Theatre's mission is to create professional theatre by and for Alaskans. We value community engagement, cross-cultural collaboration, professional rigor, and regional voice. The theatre was founded in Juneau, Alaska in 1979 by Molly Smith, and today is led by Executive Artistic Director, Art Rotch. Perseverance Theatre has grown over 38 years into Alaska's largest professional theatre, serving over 25,000 artists, students, and audiences annually. The theatre prioritizes education and training programs for youth and adults, providing learning opportunities across the state, including at the University of Alaska Southeast. Perseverance has an established actor-in- residence program and beginning in 2016, a new playwright-in- residence funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon foundation. At Perseverance Theatre, we believe theater going creates community. It fosters empathy, builds relationships, cultivates our ability to interact with each other, and in so doing - better equips us all to work out problems and create more vital and just communities. In the current 2017-2018 season, Perseverance Theatre is producing musical, contemporary, and world premiere productions in Juneau and Anchorage. ptalaska.org

ABOUT CAPITAL STAGE
Capital Stage's mission is to entertain, engage and challenge our audience with bold, thought-provoking, theatre. Capital Stage was founded as a professional Equity company in 2005. We aspire to be an award winning regional theatre of national renown, a leading voice in the development of new plays in America, and a regional center for theatre education and community enrichment. capstage.org

ABOUT NNPN
National New Play Network (NNPN) is the country's alliance of non-profit professional theaters dedicated to the development, production, and continued life of new plays. Since its founding in 1998, NNPN has supported more than 250 productions nationwide through its innovative National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere program, which provides playwright and production support for new works at its Member theaters. Additional programs - its annual National Conference, National Showcase of New Plays, and MFA Playwrights Workshop; the NNPN Annual and Smith Prize commissions; its residencies for playwrights, producers and directors; and the organization's member accessed Collaboration, Festival, and Travel banks and online information sessions - have helped cement the Network's position as a vital force in the new play landscape. NNPN also strives to pioneer, implement, and disseminate ideas and programs that revolutionize the way theaters collaborate to support new plays and playwrights. Its most recent project, the New Play Exchange, is changing the way playwrights share their work and others discover it by providing immediate access to information on more than 17,700 new plays by living writers. NNPN's 30 Core and 80 Associate Members - along with the more than 250 affiliated artists who are its alumni, the thousands of artists and artisans employed annually by its member theaters, and the hundreds of thousands of audience members who see its supported works each year - are creating the new American theater. nnpn.org | newplayexchange.org

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