Salt Lake Acting Company - New Play Sounding Series

Salt Lake Acting Company’s New Play Sounding Series Presents a Free Reading of

ROAD TO EDEN by Sean Christopher Lewis

Salt Lake Acting Company is pleased to offer a free reading of ROAD TO EDEN by Sean Christopher Lewis and directed by Robin Wilkes-Dunn on Monday, February 24, 2014 at 7 p.m. as part of the New Play Sounding Series (NPSS). An outreach program at SLAC, NPSS provides an essential testing ground where playwrights can see their work in progress and receive insightful feedback from the audience in a post-play discussion. We thank the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation for their support of this vital program.

In 1848 a group of Mormon pioneers flee to the Mexican Territories of Utah to escape their oppressors. In 2013 a Mormon family's life is forever changed when a woman, who came to this country much like their ancestors did, mysteriously risks her life to save their rebellious son. ROAD TO EDEN tells two riveting stories which take place at the same place in Iowa but at two very different times. While the group of pioneers are forced to flee from Missouri and Executive Order 44 which authorizes the murder of any Mormon, a mother, father and son in 2013 are faced with the threat of gang violence. Both groups will be offered help in the form of a bold, strong Mexican woman and both will get way in over their heads.

ROAD TO EDEN explores themes that are complicated in a most thought provoking way. How does one distinguish the word of God from the whim of man? When is it okay to doubt? When is it good to trust? What choices would we make in the face of life-threatening danger? How far can fear push us?

This free reading offers a unique opportunity to hear a new play by an excellent cast and take part in a post-play discussion in which the playwright welcomes comments, questions and feedback from the audience.

THE PLAYWRIGHT
SEAN CHRISTOPHER LEWIS can be heard as a commentator on NPR'S This American Life. His plays have won the Kennedy Center's Rosa Parks Award, the 2010 National New Play Network's Smith Prize, the NEA Voices in Community Award, a Puffin Foundation Artists Award, a Barrymore Award from the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, a Central Ohio Critic's Circle Citation for Best Touring Production, a Central Ohio Critic's Circle Citation for Best New Work, a National Performance Network Creation Fund Grant, the William Inge Fellowship and more. He served as National New Play Network Emerging Playwright in Residence at Interact Theatre in Philly and as Playwright in Residence at the William Inge Arts Center in Independence, Kansas. His work includes MAYBERRY (Hancher Auditorium, Bucksbaum Performing Arts Center, Iowa Arts Center); KILLADELPHIA (Baltimore Centerstage, Woolly Mammoth, Interact Theatre, Cape May Stage, Adirondack Theatre Festival, Touchstone Theatre, Hartbeat Ensemble, Drilling Company, Riverside Theatre, CSPS/Legion Arts, John Jay University/Gerald W. Lynch Theatre, Available Light Theatre, Revolutions International Theatre Festival); JUST KIDS (Available Light Theatre, Sandglass Theatre, Working Group Theatre, Pontine Theatre); I WILL MAKE YOU ORPHANS (Uno Festival of Solo Performance, Available Light 01 Festival, Equinox Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Center for Independent Artists, Galapagos Art Space, Hyde Park Theatre, TIXE Arts Center, Bowery Poetry Club);THE GONE CHAIR (Penn State University's Cultural Conversations Festival, Openstage Harrisburg's Flying Solo Festival, Riverside Theatre); MILITANT LANGUAGE (National Premiere at Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Halcyon Theatre of Chicago, Bang and Clatter in Cleveland, and Theater for the New City in NY, published by Original Works Publishing); THE APERTURE (Cleveland Public Theatre); THE HOMESCHOOLING OF JONATHAN ANDERSON (Drilling Company NYC, Luna Theater and Theatre of Note); SURVIVING THE BABY (Riverside Theatre); THE TEACHER SHOW (Revolutions International Theatre Festival) and GOODNESS (Project Y Theatre, Clockwise Theatre). He has been a playwriting fellow at the O'Neill Playwrights Conference and has had his work developed at the PlayPenn New Play Conference, Lark New Play Development Center, Orlando Shakespeare Festival's Harriet Lake Festival of New Work and at the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. He is currently under commission with Davenport Theatricals, Interact Theatre, Hancher Auditorium, Available Light Theatre and Adirondack Theatre Festival. Internationally he has collaborated on MAJNOON SAITARA with the Ashtar Theatre of Palestine and with the International Theatre and Literacy Project he worked on JOURNEY TO THE DREAM a new play by high school students in Tanzania, East Africa. In 2011 he collaborated and directed WE STOOD UP for the Centre X Centre International Theatre Festival in Rwanda that incorporated the performances and stories of 23 orphaned survivors of the genocide. Lewis is also a noted actor, working Off Broadway at the Pearl Theatre, in NYC at La Mama ETC, regionally with companies like the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, in television and feature films from COMEDY CENTRAL'S Upright Citizen's Brigade to GOD'S COUNTRY and his work has been nominated for the Fox Foundation Fellowship and the Princess Grace Theatre Fellowship.

THE DIRECTOR
ROBIN WILKS-DUNN is back at SLAC after directing GOOD PEOPLE and DOTTIE: THE SISTER LIVES ON. She recently directed LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER and THE GOOD BODY for Pygmalion Theatre Company. Robin is script supervisor, co-writer and director for a children's touring show for the Intermountain LIVE campaign. Robin has directed several staged readings at SLAC, most recently David Kranes' THE LAST WORD. Other productions she has directed at SLAC include BOOM, PEARL, ONE LAST DANCE and NAPOLEON'S CHINA. She reads scripts for the Sundance Theatre Lab and works as Outreach and Education Coordinator for Kingsbury Hall.

 Salt Lake Acting Company’s New Play Sounding Series Presents a Free Reading of 

By Thomas Gibbons

A free Reading April 22, 2013
7:00 pm

The Salt Lake Acting Company joins the National New Play Network, and over 25 partnering theatres across the US, in celebrating NNPN's 15 anniversary with a nationwide theatre event: a staged reading of NNPN's first Rolling World Premiere, Permanent Collection by Thomas Gibbons.
THis reading also celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Continued Life of New Plays Fund, which supports three theatres that choose to mount the smae new play within a twelve-month period.  The result is a "Rolling World Premiere".

COMPANY

THOMAS GIBBONS (Playwright) is playwright-in-residence at InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia, which has premiered eight of his plays: Pretending to America, 6221, Axis Sally, Black Russian, Bee-luther-hatchee, Permanent Collection, A House With No Walls, and Silverhill. Other plays include The Exhibition and Homer. His plays have also been seen at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, off-off-Broadway at Blue Heron Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Florida Stage, Unicorn Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, New Repertory Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Center Stage, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Kirk Douglas Theatre/Center Theater Group, Aurora Theatre, Madison Repertory Theatre, Roundhouse Theatre, and many others. He is the recipient of seven playwriting fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Roger L. Stevens Award from The Fund for New American Plays, the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwriting Award, the NAACP Theatre Award, two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding New Play, and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. Permanent Collection was the pilot selection of the National New Play Network’s Continued Life of New Plays Fund, and A House With No Walls was a subsequent selection. Both plays, along with Bee-luther-hatchee, are published by Playscripts.

BRIEN JONES (Sterling North) is thrilled to again be part of the cast supporting the Salt Lake Acting Company's New Play Sounding Series (NPSS). He has been featured in the cast for prior NPSS readings including GRANT & TWAIN (Harrison Terrell), THE OVERWHELMING (Joseph Seromba), FRANKINCENSE (the Reader), and COURTING DISASTER (Kaman Holmes).
Brien has also had the good fortune to appear in several Salt Lake City theater productions including MISS EVERS' BOYS (Dr. Brodus) with the EttaGrace Black Theatre Company at The Grand Theatre, CAROLINE, OR CHANGE (The Bus), LOVE! VALOR! COMPASSION! (Gregory), and BOYS IN THE BAND (Bernard) with Wasatch Theatre Company, MASTER HAROLD...AND THE BOYS (Sam), A SOLDIER'S PLAY (C.J. Memphis), JITNEY (Turnbo), and HOME (Cephus Miles) with People Productions SLC, and A RAISIN IN THE SUN (Joseph Asagai) with the University of Utah Babcock Theatre.
Brien's "big boy job" is the Executive Vice President for Business Development and Continuing Education for an international association of business valuation and financial forensic analysts. He dedicates this performance to his stepfather the Rev. C.C. Hines and his mother Annie Hines who always challenged and encouraged him to discover how freeing it is to speak for himself ... what he believes.

TONI BYRD (Ella Franklin) has been acting and directing in the Salt Lake Valley for over 30 years. Her recent acting credits include Tituba in THE CRUCIBLE, Sadie Delany in HAVING OUR SAY, Louise Seger in ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE. Toni was last seen in a reading of Kurt Proctor's A TURQUOISE WIND at SLAC. She is the cofounder of the EttaGrace Black Theatre Company.

KENT HADFILED (Paul Barrow) is thrilled to be appearing with Salt Lake Acting Company for the first time and working with his U of U schoolmate Robin Wilks Dunn. Pioneer Theater Company credits include THE ODD COUPLE (Roy), DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (Nazi Officer), 12 ANGRY MEN (Juror #2), world premiere of Charles Morey's THE THREE MUSKETEERS (O'Reilly), and as one of the first PTC interns. Graduate of the University of Utah's Actor Training Program; member Chautauqua Conservatory Theater Co. under the direction of Michael Kahn and Rebecca Guy; AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (Fogg) Meat and Potato Theater Co.; DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE (Gordon) Wasatch Theater Co.; KING LEAR (Kent), PROOF (Robert) guest artist Utah State Theater; INTO THE WOODS (Cinderella's Father) Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater; ST. GEORGE AND THE RELUCTANT DRAGON (Dragon) Unicorn Children's Theater; NOISES OFF, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, CASH ON DELIVERY, RELATIVE VALUES, AN INSPECTOR CALLS, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and more during the course of 8 seasons with Old Lyric Repertory Co.  Kent is a proud member of Actor's Equity.

TOM JACOBSEN (Alfred Morris) "If only I looked as young as that old headshot!  It is a pleasure to be back at SLAC."  It has been since the mid 90's that Tom has performed at Salt Lake Acting Company.  He is excited to once again work with beloved friends on a familiar stage.  "It doesn't get better than this."

ANGELA TRUSTY (Kanika Weaver)

STEPHANIE HOWELL (Gillian Crane) has appeared in BORDERLANDS, THE END OF THE HORIZON, THE ALIENATION EFFEKT, and BASH with Plan-B Theatre Company. She has also acted in all 9 (soon-to-be 10) 'SLAMs (Plan-B's annual 24-hour-hour theatre festival.) Other local credits include ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, BIG RIVER, FORUM, and SOUTH PACIFIC at Pioneer Theatre Company. Additional favorite roles include Cassie in A CHORUS LINE, Amy in COMPANY, and Susie in W;T. Stephanie is a graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in Theatre Arts and is a member of Actor's Equity. Film/television credits include: DAYS OF OUR LIVES and PECULIARITIES. Stephanie is also an aerialist and has performed locally with Revolve Aerial Dance.

DIRECTOR

ROBIN WILKS-DUNN is pleased to be back at SLAC again after directing last season's DOTTIE: THE SISTER LIVES ON!  She recently directed LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER and THE GOOD BODY for Pygmalion Theatre Company. Robin is script supervisor, co-writer and director for a children's touring show for the Intermountain LIVE campaign and will direct it again for the Spring tour. Robin has directed several staged readings at SLAC, most recently David Kranes' THE LAST WORD. Other productions she has directed at SLAC include the premiere productions of BOOM, PEARL, ONE LAST DANCE and NAPOLEON'S CHINA. She reads scripts for the Sundance Theatre Lab and works as Outreach and Education Coordinator for Kingsbury Hall.  Robin's work has been seen on stages across Salt Lake Valley for years and hopefully for many years to come!

by Fengar Gael

Free Reading December 3, 2012

Company:  Sean Carter, William Ferrer, Nell Gwynn, Bijan Hosseini, Paul Kiernan, Nicki Nixon, Josh Thoemke
Director: Alexandra Harbold

Salt Lake Acting Company is thankful to the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation and the Dramatists Guild Fund for their generous and vital support of our New Play Sounding Series program.

 Playwright's Notes

The inspiration for Devil Dog Six came from a friend who relishes the mathematics of handicapping, and took me to racetracks all over the country. Naturally I noticed there were very few women jockeys or trainers, so after some research and interviews, the play evolved, and because I admire the magnificent horses themselves, I couldn't exclude their presence in the play. I especially loved the Fairgrounds race track in New Orleans, and read in a book of interviews called Women in the Sport of Kings that southern male jockeys make it especially hard on women trying to break in.

FENGAR GAEL (PLAYWRIGHT) Ms. Gael has had her plays developed and produced at various theatres including the Sundance Playwrights Lab, New York Stage and Film Company, the InterAct Theatre of Philadelphia, the Moxie Theatre Company, New Jersey Repertory, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Seanachai Theatre of Chicago, Kitchen Dog Theatre of Dallas, The Theatricum Botanicum Seedlings, the Tangent Theatre and AboutFace Ireland New Play Festival, and in New York City: MultiStages, The Abingdon Theatre Company, Collaborative Arts Project 21, Playwrights Gallery, Reverie Productions, and the Flux Theatre Ensemble. Ms. Gael is a recipient of the Playwrights First Award, The Craig Noel Award, as well as commissions from South Coast Repertory, New Jersey Repertory, the InterAct Theatre, (through the National New Play Network),  and a playwriting fellowship from the California Arts Council. Most recently, The Usher’s Ball was given a showcase production at the Collaborative Arts Project 21's Shop Theatre; The Cantor's Tale was produced at the Hunger Artists Theatre Company, directed by Jill Johnson; and The Buttonhole Bandit was produced by the Edna Manley College of Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica. In February, 2012, The Gallerist (A Tale of Desecration and Desire) was produced at the Rorschach Theatre in Washington D. C.; this October Devil Dog Six was produced at The Venus Theatre in Laurel, Maryland; in November, The Island of No Tomorrows, as coproduced by MultiStages and the Interart Development Series in New York under the direction of Lorca Peress. Ms. Gael is currently a writer in residence at CAP 21 with the composer, Dennis McCarthy, continuing work on their musical, Soul on Vinyl.

ALEXANDRA HARBOLD (DIRECTOR) Previously at SLAC, she directed the world premieres of (a man enters) and The Persian Quarter.  Other directing credits: Betrayal, Three Days of Rain, Rabbit Hole, and Romeo and Juliet (Pinnacle) and SLAM (Plan-B). Acting: Circle Mirror Transformation, Dancing at Lughnasa, Six Years, The Seagull, Ice Glen.  Most recently, she directed a reading of Spark for Pygmalion Productions and served as Dramaturg on Pioneer Theatre Company's Of Mice and Men; also at PTC: Assistant Director on Emma and the Player Queen in Hamlet.  Education: Masters, University of London Goldsmiths; BA, Middlebury College; SITI Summer Intensive; and Midsummer at Oxford.  Current and upcoming projects:  SENSES 5, a collaboration with Robert Scott Smith (The Leonardo), A Slight Discomfort, and The Eccentrics (University of Utah, Studio 115).

SEAN CARTER (ACTOR #1) Sean is ecstatic to be back at Salt Lake Acting Company, where he was last seen in “Angles in America” as Belize. Sean has performed in several venues along the Wasatch Front to include Hale Centre Theatre, The Grand Theatre and The Egyptian Theatre Company. In addition to Belize, some of his favorite roles include Willie Johnson in “Miss Evers’ Boys,” and Papa Ge in “Once on This Island.” Sean would like to thank the production team, cast and crew, and his friends and family for their continued support.

JOSH THOEMKE (ACTOR #2) Josh last appeared on the SLAC stage in The Persian Quarter, in dual roles.  He was most recently featured in Meat & Potato's production of Aliens:  The Puppet Musical, in six roles.  Devil Dog Six marks his third collaboration with Andra Harbold.  When not acting, he plays and sings in the Celtic band, Bad Colleen, usually seen at Scottish festivals and St. Patty's Day celebrations.

PAUL KIERNAN (ACTOR #3) Is proud member of Actor's Equity Association. Locally has been seen at the Pioneer Theater in; Hamlet, 12 Angry Men, Is He Dead, Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice, Our Town, The Tempest, Of Mice and Men and Amadeus among others.
SLAC productions include; Freedomland, Skin in Flames, The Beard of Avon, The Memory of Water, Six years and End Days. He was last seen with Salt Lake Shakespeare as Brutus in Julius Caesar and as Falstaff in Henry IV. He has toured with the one man play A Slight Discomfort, written and lived by Jeff Metcalf. Regionally; Romeo and Juliet, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival; Cyrano in Cyrano at the Hangar Theater; MacBeth, As You Like it, The tempest and The Taming of the Shrew, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival; Merry Wives, You Can't Take it With You and Amadeus at Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival; Twelfth Night, Much Ado, Hamlet, Richard III, As You Like It, Taming of the Shrew, Henry V and Every Christmas Story Ever Told with The Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Much Ado with Kentucky Shakespeare. Film and TV include; The
HBO series From The Earth to the Moon, Luck of The Irish, Go Figure, The Cell 2, Gold Coast, Rosanne among others. He received his MFA in Acting and Directing from Brandeis University in Boston.

WILLIAM FERRER (ACTOR #4) William Ferrer has lived in the Salt Lake City area for about 13 years.  He has spent much of that time teaching in the city's schools.  Ferrer has also performed as a storyteller in the region.  After years away from acting, he returned to theater in 2002 and has performed with Salt Lake Acting Company, Pygmalion Productions and worked extensively with People Productions.  Ferrer has also appeared in a number of feature and independent films shot in the area.  He plans to continue acting and directing in both the theater and film mediums.

NELL GWYNN (ACTOR #5) Nell Gwynn is very happy to be back at SLAC after playing Veronica Novak in "God of Carnage".  Other SLAC credits include "The Persian Quarter" and "Angels in America".  She most recently completed the filming of playwright David Johnston's "Mothra is Waiting", directed by Kevin Newbury and hitting film festivals in 2013.  She is currently employed by the Sundance Institute for the 2013 Film Festival.

NICKI NIXON (ACTOR #6) is thrilled to be returning to Salt Lake Acting Company’s directed readings for the third time with the talented Andra, the previous two premiering THE AGONY AND ECSTACY OF STEVE JOBS, as well as Kathleen Cahill’s MONSTER HEART. She also had the privilege of playing Antigone in TOO MUCH MEMORY at SLAC. She was most recently seen in Pygmalion Theatre Company’s reading of SPARK as Lexie. She was happy to play Annelle in STEEL MAGNOLIAS with Pinnacle Acting Company. Other local credits include Michella in Off Broadway Theatre’s TRANSMORFERS and Princess Justine in PUSS 'N BOOTS at the Children's Theatre. She is a proud graduate of Weber State University’s Theatre Arts program, where some of her favorite roles include Tess in SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, Angie/Dull Gret in TOP GIRLS, and Eve in WAITING FOR THE PARADE. She was also given the opportunity to perform as a Weird Woman in MACBETH at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

BIJAN HOSSEINI (READER) Bijan would like to thank Andra, Kev, Cyn and the rest of the SLAC family for this - and so many other -opportunities. Bijan has worked with the Salt Lake Acting Company (Too Much Memory, Charm, The Persian Quarter NPSS reading), Plan-B, PYGmalion, Sting & Honey, the Babcock, the Classical Greek Theatre Festival, Pinnacle, Around The Globe, Wasatch, UTAC, Holiday Arts, and SLCC. He was last seen as Polixenes in Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale" and is still touring with PYGmalion and Art Access' production of "The Mysterious, Happy Life of Brown Bag". Bijan is represented by TMG.

By Mike Daisey

FREE NPSS Reading | Monday, March 12 @ 7 pm

Company Jason Bowcutt, Nicki Nixon, and Robert Scott Smith

Director Alexandra Harbold

Salt Lake Theater Examiner | Biting the Apple: Free reading of The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs set

Salt Lake Acting Company is thankful to the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation and the Dramatists Guild Fund for their generous and vital support of our New Play Sounding Series program.

MIKE DAISEY (PLAYWRIGHT) has been called "the master storyteller" and "one of the finest solo performers of his generation" by the New York Times for his groundbreaking monologues which weave together autobiography, gonzo journalism, and unscripted performance to tell hilarious and heartbreaking stories that cut to the bone, exposing secret histories and unexpected connections. His latest work, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, was called "the best new play of the year" by the Washington Post, and was recognized as one of the year's best theater pieces by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and will return to the Public Theater in 2012.

Since his first monologue in 1997, Daisey has created over fifteen monologues, including the critically-acclaimed The Last Cargo Cult, the controversial How Theater Failed America, the twenty-four-hour feat All the Hours in the Day, the unrepeatable series All Stories Are Fiction, the four-part epic Great Men of Genius, and the international sensation 21 Dog Years. Other titles include If You See Something Say Something, Barring the Unforeseen, Invincible Summer, Monopoly!, Tongues Will Wag, I Miss the Cold War, and Teching in India.

He has performed in venues on five continents, ranging from Off-Broadway at the Public Theater to remote islands in the South Pacific, from the Sydney Opera House to an abandoned theater in post-Communist Tajikistan. A partial list: Cherry Lane Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Victory Gardens, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Barrow Street Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, the Spoleto Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Intiman Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, ACT Theatre, Performance Space 122, the Noorderzon Festival, the T:BA Festival, the Under the Radar Festival, the Flynn Theatre, the Lensic, and Chicago's Museum for Contemporary Art.

He's been a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, as well as a commentator and contributor to the New York Times, This American Life, WIRED, Vanity Fair, Slate, Salon, NPR and the BBC. His first film, Layover, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, and a feature film of his monologue If You See Something Say Something is currently in post-production. His second book, Rough Magic, a collection of his monologues, will be published in 2012. He has been nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award, two Drama League Awards, and is the recipient of the Bay Area Critics Circle Award, five Seattle Times Footlight Awards, the Sloan Foundation's Galileo Prize, and a MacDowell Fellowship. He lives in Brooklyn with his collaborator and partner Jean-Michele Gregory.

Company

JASON BOWCUTT (ACTOR) For years Jason worked primarily as an actor and was on the stage of many great theatres including McCarter Theatre Company, The Guthrie Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Shakespeare Theatre in DC, and our very own Pioneer Theatre Company. In New York Jason played Nathan Leopold Jr. in the Outer Critics Circle Award winning production of NEVER THE SINNER, for which he earned a Drama Desk and Helen Hayes Award nomination. Jason is also proud to be one of the Founding Directors of the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation (the IT Awards) which honors excellence in Off-Off-Broadway.

Since returning to Utah Jason has had the pleasure of working with Plan B Theatre Company and Pygmalion Productions as an actor and director. Jason currently works at Utah Arts & Museums in Community and Performing Arts.

NICKI NIXON (ACTOR) is excited to return to SLAC for her first reading after having the privilege of playing Antigone in TOO MUCH MEMORY.  She was most recently see as Annelle in Pinnacle Acting Company's STEEL MAGNOLIAS.  Other local credits include Michella in Off Broadway's TRANSMORFERS and Princess Justine in PUSS'N'BOOTS at the Children's Theatre.  She is a proud graduate of Weber State University's Theatre Arts Program, where some of her favorite roles include Tess in SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, Angie/Dull Gret in TOP GIRLS, and Eve in WAITING FOR THE PARADE. She was also give the opportunity to perform as a Weird Woman in MACBETH at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.. She has been a proud and faithful subscriber at SLAC for the last 4 fun-filled years.

ROBERT SCOTT SMITH (ACTOR) NYC: Pericles (SLANT). SLC: CHARM, Swimming in the Shallows, Six Years, Big Love, BATBOY:The Musical (Salt Lake Acting Company); Pains of Youth, Santaland Diaries (Tooth and Nail Theatre); BASH (PlanB). Film and TV: Blessing, Animae, "Guiding Light". Print: The Unfortunate Moment of Misunderstanding (Jim Fiscus). Training: MFA Old Globe Theatre San Diego.

ALEXANDRA HARBOLD (DIRECTOR, ARTISTIC & LITERARY ASSOCIATE) At SLAC, Andra directed the world premieres of (A MAN ENTERS) and THE PERSIAN QUARTER and the New Play Sounding Series readings of T.I.C. (TRENCHCOAT IN COMMON), THE PERSIAN QUARTER and PROPHETS OF NATURE.  Local directing credits: ROMEO AND JULIET, RABBIT HOLE, THREE DAYS OF RAIN (PAC), and SLAM (Plan-B); Assistant Director: EMMA (Pioneer Theatre Company) and CHARM (Salt Lake Acting Company). Education: BA, Middlebury College; Master's in Performance Studies, University of London Goldsmith's College. Training: SITI Company's Summer Intensive at Skidmore. Upcoming directing projects include BETRAYAL by Harold Pinter (Pinnacle) and SLAM (Plan-B Theatre).

MIKE DAISEY (PLAYWRIGHT) has been called "the master storyteller" and "one of the finest solo performers of his generation" by the New York Times for his groundbreaking monologues which weave together autobiography, gonzo journalism, and unscripted performance to tell hilarious and heartbreaking stories that cut to the bone, exposing secret histories and unexpected connections. His latest work, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, was called "the best new play of the year" by the Washington Post, and was recognized as one of the year's best theater pieces by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and will return to the Public Theater in 2012.

Since his first monologue in 1997, Daisey has created over fifteen monologues, including the critically-acclaimed The Last Cargo Cult, the controversial How Theater Failed America, the twenty-four-hour feat All the Hours in the Day, the unrepeatable series All Stories Are Fiction, the four-part epic Great Men of Genius, and the international sensation 21 Dog Years. Other titles include If You See Something Say Something, Barring the Unforeseen, Invincible Summer, Monopoly!, Tongues Will Wag, I Miss the Cold War, and Teching in India.

He has performed in venues on five continents, ranging from Off-Broadway at the Public Theater to remote islands in the South Pacific, from the Sydney Opera House to an abandoned theater in post-Communist Tajikistan. A partial list: Cherry Lane Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Victory Gardens, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Barrow Street Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, the Spoleto Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Intiman Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, ACT Theatre, Performance Space 122, the Noorderzon Festival, the T:BA Festival, the Under the Radar Festival, the Flynn Theatre, the Lensic, and Chicago's Museum for Contemporary Art.

He's been a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, as well as a commentator and contributor to the New York Times, This American Life, WIRED, Vanity Fair, Slate, Salon, NPR and the BBC. His first film, Layover, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, and a feature film of his monologue If You See Something Say Something is currently in post-production. His second book, Rough Magic, a collection of his monologues, will be published in 2012. He has been nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award, two Drama League Awards, and is the recipient of the Bay Area Critics Circle Award, five Seattle Times Footlight Awards, the Sloan Foundation's Galileo Prize, and a MacDowell Fellowship. He lives in Brooklyn with his collaborator and partner Jean-Michele Gregory.

By Shawn Fisher

FREE READING Monday, February 27th @ 7 pm

Director Adrianne Moore

Stage Manager Elizabeth Miller

Company Randall Eames, Marilyn Holt, Michael Gardner, Darryl Stamp

Salt Lake Acting Company is thankful to the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation and the Dramatists Guild Fund for their generous and vital support of our New Play Sounding Series program.

Playwright's Note

Years ago I came across a massive 300-year-old live oak that had been blown over by a hurricane somewhere in the South. On the side of the tree was a black scar resulting from years of cooking-fires built by plantation slaves, centuries ago. The scar had been mostly closed-over as the trunk had grown thicker and I was struck that, as with emotional scars, it had become deeper but harder to see as time went on. The idea of this "slave tree" and its scar stayed with me and eventually became a catalyst for the play. It led me to explore race from a point of hind-sight and through a societal lens that has evolved through the decades. I decided to set the play in the North, where opinions about race weren't as explicit as they were in the South. Specifically I chose my home region of rural South Jersey, a rustic part of the country once nicknamed the "Mississippi of the North" where some schools were segregated until the 1950's. The main character of Mrs. Wright is inspired by a real woman, Cora Fisher, who was mandated to integrate the elementary schools in Bridgeton, NJ despite the fact that she privately held racist attitudes. The fascinating aspect of her life is that, even with her personal biases, she was a dedicated educator who was successful by all measures and served her students equally regardless of race. This contradiction fuels the story and the character of Mrs. Wright as she prepares for her imminent death and faces the legacy she will leave behind.

Company

SHAWN FISHER (PLAYWRIGHT) is originally from New Jersey and works nationally as a theatre designer and playwright. He is currently based in Utah where he runs the MFA Program in Theatre at Utah State University. His other original scripts include SCOPE, The Crow Song and Do Not Hit Golf Balls into Mexico which was staged here at SLAC last summer. His plays have been produced or had staged-readings in New York, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Salt Lake City. He is the Founder and Director of the Fusion Theatre Project, a non-traditional ensemble, based at USU, which creates original works of progressive theatre. Shawn's professional design work includes the New York productions of Seal Sings Its Song for Woken' Glacier Theatre Company, Cop Out and The Talking Dog at the Gene Frankel Theatre and over seventy other designs around the country. Shawn holds an MFA in Theatre from Brandeis University.

ADRIANNE MOORE (DIRECTOR) Adrianne's previous productions for SLAC include CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION, HOLD PLEASE, WATER IMAGES (part of THE WATER PROJECT), ANCIENT LIGHTS (New Play Sounding Series) and most recently, DO NOT HIT GOLF BALLS INTO MEXICO for SLAC's Fearless Fringe Festival. She has also served as dialect coach on numerous SLAC productions including, RED, ANGELS IN AMERICA, CHARM, THE CARETAKER, END DAYS, CLEAN HOUSE, and SKIN IN FLAMES. She directs regularly for the Old Lyric Repertory Company; productions include ALWAYS PATSY CLINE, THE FOREIGNER, RELATIVE VALUES, THE RIVALS and SYLVIA. Other Utah directing credits include THE MIKADO (Utah Festival Opera) TALKING WALES (Utah Contemporary Theatre), PETER PAN, (The Egyptian Theatre Company) MIASMA and PLAY SLAM for Plan B Theatre. She is a professor of Voice and Directing at Utah State University. Favorite productions at USU include PROOF, OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD and KING LEAR.

A native of New Zealand, Adrianne worked as a director and actor in New Zealand, Australia and England before coming to the U.S. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Theatre Directing from the British Theatre Association in London and an M.F.A. in Directing from Florida State University.

RANDALL EAMES (READER) graduated Magna Cum Laude from Weber State University with a degree in Theatre Arts. He is happy to be returning to SLAC's stage after appearing in last season's Saturday's Voyeur and this season's How I Became a Pirate. Some of his favorite roles include: one of the guys in THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ABRIDGED, Flute in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, Roy Johnson in THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, part of the company of UNDER CONSTRUCTION and Willard in FOOTLOOSE. He would like to thank his friends, family and educators for their endless support.

MIKE GARDNER (MICK) is a Utah trained actor, studying at Hurricane High school, Dixie College, and finally graduating from Utah State's acting program in the spring of 2007. While at Utah State and under the direction of Adrianne Moore he played, and was awarded Irene Ryan nominations for outstanding performer, as Simon in Hayfever, Action in West Side Story, and Aunt Spiker in JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH. Mike has performed at SLAC as Adam in DARK PLAY: OR STORIES FOR BOYS, and as Boy in IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE. Mike has also been seen in EVERYMAN and SHADOWS OF THE BAKEMONO with Meat and Potato theatre. Other favorite roles include the title role of Pippin (HHS), Sydney Bruel in DEATHTRAP (DSC), Arnold Wiggins from THE BOYS NEXT DOOR (DSC) and Mercutio in Pinnacle Acting Companies' production of ROMEO AND JULIET.

MARILYN HOLT (MRS. DELORES WRIGHT) Dr. Holt was a faculty member of the University of Utah Theatre Department for more than 30 years and chair for 9 years. She has played leads in about l20 full productions and has directed 30 at the University, in Salt Lake City, and throughout Utah and the Intermountain West. Some of her favorite roles were in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, KNOWING CAIRO, VIVAT, VIVAT REGINA, and ROAD TO MECCA. Among her favorite productions directed were 2 productions of RAISIN IN THE SUN, one at Pioneer Theatre and again a few years later at Babcock Theatre. She and husband, John, have been married 63 years, are parents of 3 children, grandparents of 5 grand children and - in April, will be great grand parents. She does volunteer work for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, has been president of Utah Theatre Assoc. and Utah Women's Forum. She reads widely, loves theatre of any kind and takes her cat, Buddha, for walks on a leash. She is known in the neighborhood as "The Crazy Cat Lady".

ELIZABETH MILLER (STAGE MANAGER)

DARRYL STAMP (ARTHUR "BO" WELLS") Darryl is thrilled to be making his SLAC debut after having directed and acted in Wasatch Theater's 2010 Page to Stage Festival. He is also a former Kansas City Drama Desk Award winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. Locally, he has recently appeared as Midge in I'M NOT RAPPAPORT for the Holladay Arts Theater, as Ron in THE TALENTED TENTH for People Productions, and has just completed directing "Niggah," and Blues for an Alabama Sky for the Edward R. Lewis Black Theater Festival at the downtown Sal Lake City library. He has taught acting, Teaching Theater in Secondary Schools, and Shakespeare for Teachers courses at Weber State University, and he is currently a Language Arts teacher and an Assistant Baseball Coach at Hunter H.S. He thanks his wife Mindy and his daughter Sophia for their love and support.

by Kathleen Cahill

FREE NPSS Reading
Monday, April 30 @ 7 pm

Company Cheryl Gaysunas, Jacob Johnson, Deena Marie Manzanares, Amanda Maylett, Nicki Nixon, Nick O'Donnell, Zack Phifer, Barbara Smith

Director Alexandra Harbold

Salt Lake Acting Company is thankful to the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation and the Dramatists Guild Fund for their generous and vital support of our New Play Sounding Series program.

KATHLEEN CAHILL (PLAYWRIGHT) Kathleen's awards include the Jane Chambers Playwrighting Award (for her musical, DAKOTA SKY) a Jane Chambers Honorable Mention (for CHARM) two Connecticut Commission on the Arts Playwrighting Awards, (for THE STILL TIME and CHARM) a Massachusetts Artists Foundation Award, a Rockefeller Grant, a National Endowment for the Arts New American Works Grant, two Edgerton Foundation Awards (for CHARM, and for THE PERSIAN QUARTER) and a Drama League Award. Her musicals include for THE NAVIGATOR, FRIENDSHIP OF THE SEA; DAKOTA SKY, an opera, CLARA, two opera/cabarets, FATAL SONG, and A TALE OF TWO CITIES: PARIS AND BERLIN IN THE TWENTIES. Her plays include THE STILL TIME (Georgia Rep/ Porchlight Theatre, Chicago) the comedy, WOMEN WHO LOVE SCIENCE TOO MUCH (Porchlight Theatre and NPR Radio) HENRI LOUISE AND HENRY (Cleveland Public, Firehouse Theatre, Massachusetts) CHARM (National New Play Network Festival, Salt Lake Acting Company premiere, Kitchen Dog Theatre, Dallas; Orlando Shakespeare) and THE PERSIAN QUARTER (Salt Lake Acting Company, Merrimack Rep.) She wrote the screenplay for the film Downtown Express, which premiered at the 2011 Woodstock Film Festival. She has also written short stories for Cosmopolitan Magazine, worked as a journalist for the Hartford Courant, and co-authored medical papers for JAMA. Ms. Cahill received an MFA in Writing for Music-Theatre from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She works as writer/senior editor for Masterpiece on PBS where she writes the Introductions to Downton Abbey, presented by Laura Linney, and the Introductions to Mystery! presented by Alan Cumming.

Company

CHERYL GAYSUNAS (CLEO) lasted visited SLAC as Margaret Fuller in CHARM. Recent Pioneer Theatre credits include LAUGHING STOCK, IS HE DEAD?, NOISES OFF, and THE HEIRESS. Broadway credits: the original production of LA BETE, THE MOLIERE COMEDIES, and AN IDEAL HUSBAND, directed by Sir Peter Hall. Television credits include Den Brother, Law & Order, The Chapelle Show and many commercials. Cheryl has a husband named Jeff, a daughter named Phoebe, and cats named Bruce and Pete, all of whom are lovely and highly entertaining.

DEENA MARIE MANZANARES (DAISY) is a graduate of the Atlantic Theater Co. Acting School in NYC. Training also includes NYU's CAP21 and Juilliard. Among NYC credits are Witch/Mom in AMAZING ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR (Atlantic Theater Company) and Darlene in BALM IN GILEAD (Atlantic 453). Deena Marie has previously been seen at SLAC as Dana in (a man enters), Shirin/Azedeh in THE PERSIAN QUARTER, Blue Dog in GO, DOG. GO!, Ida in SKIN IN FLAMES, Sara in BOY and various readings in the NPSS. Local credits include Plan-B, Egyptian Theatre Co., Pygmalion Productions, Pioneer Theatre Co, Meat & Potato, Hale Centre Theatre and others. Recent highlights include Actor #5 in THE THIRD CROSSING (PLAN-B) and Sheila in HAIR (ETC). Deena Marie writes and performs sketch comedy on the web and has been featured on G4TV's "Attack of the show", MTV's "It's on with Alexa Chung", and our local KUTV2 Morning Show and "Good Things Utah". She also creates and appears in a weekly video for the Salt Lake City Weekly website. Recipient, Salt Lake Magazines Best of the Beehive (The Comedienne), and City Weekly's Best of Utah (Media/Politics). Next up is SLAM with PLAN-B Theatre Company, May 2012. She is a proud member of Actors Equity. www.deenamarie.biz

AMANDA MAYLETT (LILLY) This is Amanda Maylett's first experience working with SLAC and is extremely excited to be part of this team. She is currently a freshman and a theatre major at Westminster College. Her favorite educational productions include 42nd Street (Anytime Annie), Pride and Prejudice (Elizabeth), and The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (Bessie). Amanda would like to thank her family for their continuous support.

NICKI NIXON (POPPY) is excited to return to SLAC for her first reading after having the privilege of playing Antigone in TOO MUCH MEMORY. She was most recently seen in the SLAC reading of THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS and as Annelle in Pinnacle Acting Company's STEEL MAGNOLIAS. Other local credits include Michella in Off Broadway's TRANSMORFERS and Princess Justine in PUSS'N'BOOTS at the Children's Theatre. She is a proud graduate of Weber State University's Theatre Arts Program, where some of her favorite roles include Tess in SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, Angie/Dull Gret in TOP GIRLS, and Eve in WAITING FOR THE PARADE. She was also give the opportunity to perform as a Weird Woman in MACBETH at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.. She has been a proud and faithful subscriber at SLAC for the last 4 fun-filled years.

NICK O'DONNELL (NIGEL) NICK CHEEK-O'DONNELL (NIGEL) is thrilled to be working with Salt Lake Acting Company again for this reading of MONSTERHEART. He's done a few readings at SLAC before and loves the type of collaboration readings foster between playwright, performers and audience. Three years ago at SLAC, Nick doubled as Stephen Hawking and Jesus in END DAYS and Buisson and Verbeek in THE OVERWHELMING. He has also done stints at the Pioneer (JULIUS CAESAR) and Plan B (SLAM '08). A graduate of Carleton College, Nick worked in Minnesota with the Children's Theater Co., Theatre de la Juene Lune, Frank Theater and the Jungle Theater. In the Northwest, Nick performed with Seattle Shakespeare Co., Wooden O, Book-It Rep, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks and Seattle Children's Theater. He has coauthored a travel guidebook on NYC & designed theater posters for the U. Nick will enter the Master of Social Work Program at the U this Fall. These days Nick spends much of his time monkeying around with his four-year-old daughter and one-year-old son.

ZACK PHIFER (CHARLEY) Zack had uber fun doing SLAC's well received production of GOD OF CARNAGE last fall. After graduating from the U of U in the Acting Emphasis Program, he headed to Los Angeles where he appeared in over 150 commercials, 50 television shows and many films. Some favorite projects were Murphy Brown, Seinfeld, Get Shorty and Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion. He can currently be seen in the film Darling Companion shot in Utah.

BARBARA SMITH (IRENE) performed recently in LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER. Other productions include: STEEL MAGNOLIAS, MACBETH, SORDID LIVES, HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA, ALL MY SONS, and University of Utah Classical Greek Theatre ELEKTRA, IPHIGENIA AT AULIS (2005). HIPPOLYTUS, IPHIGENIA AT AULIS (1986), TROJAN WOMEN, THE BAKKHAI, SUMMER AND SMOKE, THE CHERRY ORCHARD, NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, EQUUS, A LIE OF THE MIND, ANNA CHRISTIE, and THE CRUCIBLE. Her directing credits include FEVER, MACBETH, HELEN, ENDGAME, JOHN LENNON AND ME, ANTIGONE, PICNIC, and COME BACK TO THE 5 & DIME JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN, and BUS STOP.

JACOB JOHNSON (READER) is pleased to be involved with this staged reading of Kathleen Cahill's MONSTERHEAD. Audiences will see him this summerJacob Johnson Headshot in his seventh production of SATURDAY'S VOYEUR here at SLAC. He was the producer/emcee of the CastPartySLC cabaret series at SLAC. He has performed with many theatres throughout the Wasatch Front, including Pioneer Theatre Company, Egyptian Theatre Company, Hale Center Theatre, The Grand Theatre, Off-Broadway Theatre, Rodgers Memorial Theatre, and many others throughout Utah and California. Favorite credits include: THE SECRET GARDEN (Dickon), FORUM (Hysterium), HOW TO SUCCEED...(Bud Frump), SOUTH PACIFIC (Lt. Buzz Adams), THE FANTASTICKS (Matt), CHARLEY'S AUNT (Jack), DAMN YANKEES (Rocky), and NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS (Psychiatrist). He is a graduate of the University of Utah and is a proud member of Actor's Equity since 2005.

KATHLEEN CAHILL (PLAYWRIGHT) Kathleen's awards include the Jane Chambers Playwrighting Award (for her musical, Dakota Sky) a Jane Chambers Honorable Mention (for Charm) two Connecticut Commission on the Arts Playwrighting Awards, (for The Still Time and Charm) a Massachusetts Artists Foundation Award, a Rockefeller Grant, a National Endowment for the Arts New American Works Grant, two Edgerton Foundation Awards (for Charm, and for The Persian Quarter) and a Drama League Award. Her musicals include for The Navigator, Friendship of the Sea; Dakota Sky, an opera, Clara, two opera/cabarets, Fatal Song, and A Tale of Two Cities: Paris and Berlin in the Twenties. Her plays include The Still Time (Georgia Rep/ Porchlight Theatre, Chicago) the comedy, Women Who Love Science Too Much (Porchlight Theatre and NPR Radio) Henri Louise and Henry (Cleveland Public, Firehouse Theatre, Massachusetts) Charm ( National New Play Network Festival, Salt Lake Acting Company premiere, Kitchen Dog Theatre, Dallas; Orlando Shakespeare) and The Persian Quarter ( Salt Lake Acting Company, Merrimack Rep.) She wrote the screenplay for the film Downtown Express, which premiered at the 2011 Woodstock Film Festival. She has also written short stories for Cosmopolitan Magazine, worked as a journalist for the Hartford Courant ,and co-authored medical papers for JAMA. Ms. Cahill received an MFA in Writing for Music-Theatre from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She works as writer/senior editor for Masterpiece on PBS where she writes the Introductions to Downton Abbey, presented by Laura Linney, and the Introductions to Mystery! presented by Allan Cummings.

ALEXANDRA HARBOLD (DIRECTOR, ARTISTIC & LITERARY ASSOCIATE) At SLAC, Andra directed the world premieres of (A MAN ENTERS) and THE PERSIAN QUARTER and the New Play Sounding Series readings of THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS, T.I.C. (TRENCHCOAT IN COMMON), THE PERSIAN QUARTER and PROPHETS OF NATURE. Local directing credits: ROMEO AND JULIET, RABBIT HOLE, THREE DAYS OF RAIN (PAC), and SLAM (Plan-B); Assistant Director: EMMA (Pioneer Theatre Company) and CHARM (Salt Lake Acting Company). Education: BA, Middlebury College; Master's in Performance Studies, University of London Goldsmith's College. Training: SITI Company's Summer Intensive at Skidmore. She is currently BETRAYAL by Harold Pinter (Pinnacle Acting Company, May 3-12).  Upcoming projects include SLAM (Plan-B Theatre, May 12) and a collaboration with Director Elizabeth Williamson.

By Kathleen Cahill

Free Reading Monday, February 21 @ 7 PM

Director: Kathleen Cahill
Company: Colleen Baum, Daniel Beecher, Mark Fossen, Shannon Musgrave, Cassandra Stokes-Wylie

COURSE 86B IN THE CATALOGUE is a comedy about evolution. It tells the story of  a visiting paleontologist from Harvard, Stevie Stuart, who is teaching a course at a small community college in the southern corner of an arid state. She has just broken up with her husband, Bill, a Boston businessman who has a “flexible” attitude to the truth. She discovers that the college is set on land which contains extraordinary artifacts from the ancient past – some of them still living.

PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTE

"This play is very different from other pieces I’ve written. It's a flat out comedy, a comedy with serious intent but still a comedy... and I don't want to think about how hard it is to write comedy ... When you parachute out of an airplane it's better not to look.  The reading is a way for me to learn about it, hear it in front of an audience, get a sense of what's working or not. It's an opportunity to make use of audience reactions as a contribution to this new work as it begins its journey."

Company

Colleen Baum (Stevie) is happy to be back at Salt Lake Acting Company. She was last seen at SLAC in ANGELS IN AMERICA.  Other SLAC credits include GO DOG GO, END DAYS, SEX STING, RABBIT HOLE, KIMBERLY AKIMBO, CABBIES COWBOYS AND THE TREE OF THE WEEPING VIRGIN and THE WATER PROJECT. At Plan-B Theatre Company in the LARAMIE PROJECT: 10 YEARS LATER, AN EPILOGUE, LARAMIE PROJECT, ANIMAL FARM, WAR OF THE WORLDS, AND THE BANNED PLAYED ON, TRAGEDY: A TRAGEDY and SLAM; and the Old Lyric Repertory Company in BLITHE SPIRIT, MOUSETRAP, ALWAYS PATSY CLINE, GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA GOOD MORNING JULIET, SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS, BLOOD BROTHERS, POOL'S PARADISE, and THE UNEXPECTED GUEST.  Colleen is a proud member of the Actor's Equity Association.

Daniel Beecher (Sterling)is happy to be returning to SLAC, where he was last seen in YOGA CONFIDENTIAL as part of the Fearless Fringe Festival and in last season’s THE CARETAKER. He's also done several readings at SLAC, and played Antoine in AN EMPTY PLATE IN THE CAFÉ DU GRANDE BOEUF. Dan attended the University of Utah's Actor Training Program. While at the U, Dan played in SUMMER AND SMOKE, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, and what feels like innumerable other parts, mostly in the Babcock Theater. Elsewhere around town, Dan has been seen in A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, KING LEAR, MACBETH, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and PETER PAN (in which he played Nana the dog and the crocodile- favorites) at Pioneer Theatre Company. He was in Salt Lake Shakespeare's productions of AS YOU LIKE IT, ROMEO AND JULIET, TWELFTH NIGHT, and played both Banquo and Macduff in MACBETH. Other local credits include ROMEO AND JULIET at Pinnacle Acting Co, and DIRTY BLONDE with Utah Contemporary Theatre. Outside of Utah, Dan studied at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. Film and television credits include Incident at DARK RIVER with Helen Hunt and Mike Farrell, and several independent films including VAPID LOVELIES, which he also helped write and associate produced, and which was accepted into several film festivals internationally.

Mark Fossen (Bill) is thrilled to be back at SLAC’s New Play Sounding series after appearing in the reading of Kathleen Cahill’s CHARM. Mark has been seen locally in THE ALIENATION EFFEKT, AMERIGO, and EXPOSED at Plan-B, MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at Sundance Summer Theater, and Salt Lake Shakespeare's HENRY V and MACBETH among others. Recent directing work includes AN IDEAL HUSBAND at Pinnacle Acting Company and THE GLASS MENAGERIE at The Grand. Regional credits include work with Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater Company, San Francisco's Thick Description, Berkeley Repertory Theater, and both the California and Idaho Shakespeare Festivals. He is a member of the Plan-B/Meat & Potato DIRECTORS’ LAB, and teaches at the Theatre Arts Conservatory.

Shannon Musgrave (Dell) has been seen on SLAC’s stage in SATURDAY’S VOYEUR for the past two years and in last season’s GO, DOG. GO! Other local shows include 42^ND STREET at Pioneer Theatre Company, SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK LIVE and MUSICAL OF MUSICALS at The Grand Theatre, 25^TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE and ROMEO & JULIET with Pinnacle Acting Company, and many productions at Weber State University where Shannon earned her BA in Musical Theatre. Shannon also choreographed The Grand Theatre’s production OLIVER last fall. Offstage, Shannon works as SLAC’s Executive Assistant and loves being part of this fantastic company.

Cassandra Stokes-Wylie (Reader) was last seen as the Reader for ANGELS IN AMERICA: PART 2, PERESTROIKA at SLAC.  She also participated in SLAC’s Fearless Fringe Festival as Shudder and Stella in THE HARVEY GIRLS. Other local credits include Anna in Utah Theatre Artists Company’s production of BURN THIS and the Governess in their production of THE TURN OF THE SCREW. She will be seen next in Pygmalion’s production of THE GOOD BODY.  Cassandra is a graduate of the Actor Training Program at the University of Utah and a recent member of the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre’s acting internship program.  Favorite productions include Pride and Prejudice, The Cherry Orchard, The Shape of Things, Cloud Nine, Cowboy Mouth and The Comedy of Errors.  She is thrilled to be a part of the New Play Sounding Series.

Kathleen Cahill(Playwright) Ms. Cahill has received many awards for her work, including the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award, a Connecticut Commission on the Arts Playwriting Award (twice), a Massachusetts Artists Foundation Award, a Rockefeller Grant, a National Endowment for the Arts New American Works Grant, and a Drama League Award. Her plays include THE STILL TIME (Georgia Rep/Porchlight Theatre, Chicago), WOMEN WHO LOVE SCIENCE TOO MUCH (Porchlight), HENRI LOUISE AND HENRY (Cleveland Public), SLAM (Plan-B Theatre, UT), and the screenplay DOWNTOWN EXPRESS, a film for David Grubin Productions in NY. With composer Michael Wartofsky she wrote the book and lyrics for THE NAVIGATOR and FRIENDSHIP OF THE SEA; with Deborah Wicks LaPuma she wrote DAKOTA SKY (Olney Theatre), WATER ON THE MOON (Signature Theatre readings), and CAPTIVATED (Kennedy Center New Works Festival). Other musical works include the opera CLARA, FATAL SONG, and A TALE OF TWO CITIES: PARIS AND BERLIN IN THE TWENTIES (all Maryland Center for the Performing Arts). Her play CHARM (directecd by Meg Gibson) received its world premiere at SLAC last season and went on to Kitchen Dog Theatre in Dallas and Orlando Shakespeare.

trenchcoat in common: a blog turned into a play

by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb

FREE READING : Monday, November 15, 2010 @ 7 pm

Director Alexandra Harbold

Company: Austin Archer, Anne Cullimore Decker, Darrin Doman, Cheryl Gaysunas, Elise Groves, Megan Noyce, Nick O'Donnell

The birds are in the trees,
the toast is in the toaster
and the poets are at their windows.

- from Monday by Billy Collins

Every man is surrounded
by a neighborhood of
voluntary spies.

- Jane Austen

SL Theater Examiner | Secrets and schemes revealed at SLAC's free reading of TIC

PETER SINN NACHTRIEB (Playwright) is a San Francisco-based playwright whose works include boom (TCG's most produced play 2009-10), T.I.C. (TRENCHCOAT IN COMMON), HUNTER GATHERERS (2007 ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award, 2007 Will Glickman Prize), COLORADO, and MULTIPLEX. His work has been seen off-Broadway and across the country including at Ars Nova, SPF, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Seattle Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Public Theatre, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, Dads Garage, and in the Bay Area at Encore Theatre, Killing My Lobster, Marin Theatre Company, Impact Theatre, and The Bay Area Playwrights Festival.   His newest plays are BOB, a South Coast Rep commission (and set to premiere at the 2011 Humana Festival for New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville) and Litter, a commission for A.C.T.,  Peter holds a degree in Theater and Biology from Brown and an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.  Peter is a member of New Dramatists, a resident playwright at the Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco and often writes at Z Space Studio in San Francisco.   He likes to promote himself online at www.peternachtrieb.com.

Company

AUSTIN ARCHER (SHYE) Austin Archer was last seen at SLAC during the extended run of SATURDAY'S VOYEUR 2010 when he played Tonto and others. He also appeared at SLAC as Haemon in TOO MUCH MEMORY. Other favorite roles include George Gibbs in OUR TOWN at Weber State University, Millet in FUDDY MEERS (WSU), Dr. Berrensteiner in A NEW BRAIN (Dark Horse Company Theatre), Aaron Krieffels and other characters in THE LARAMIE PROJECT (WSU), Hot Blades Harry in URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL (WSU), Lysander in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (WSU), Cosmo Brown in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (Pink Garter Theatre) and WILL PARKER in Oklahoma! (Pink Garter Theatre). Television and film credits include Touched By An Angel, Everwood, Teenius (Film), and Whisper Island (Film). When Austin isn't busy doing all of this acting business he is either playing music with his band "Us Thieves", or working for SLAC in the box office or as a house manager.

ANNE CULLIMORE DECKER(CLAUDIA) Anne Cullimore Decker has been actively involved as a civic leader as well as a professional actress and director in theatre, opera, television and film. Her most recent credits include a a sold out/extended production of M ASTER CLASS where she played the role of Maria Callas at Salt Lake Acting Company; THEGONDOLIERS, and CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS, Utah Opera/Symphony’s at Deer Valley; YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU, at Pioneer Memorial Theatre; Her latest film is Darling Companion starring Kevin Kline, Diane Keaton, Dianne Weist, directed by Lawrence Casden (The Big Chill). In 2011 she will be performing in WELL for Pygmalion Theatre.

DARRIN DOMAN(DAD) Darrin has appeared on many stages around the valley. Most recently, he played Cosme McMoon in SOUVENIR with Utah Contemporary Theatre. Other credits include Eddie, et al, JOHNNY GUITAR; Major Holmes, THE SECRET GARDEN; Spike Spauldeen, SONG OF SINGAPORE; Protean, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM; Shem/Ham, CHILDREN OF EDEN; Wally Ferguson, 1940's RADIO HOUR; Rufus Pervis, THE PIRATED PENZANCE; Robert Livingston, 1776 (Grand Theatre); Agwe, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND (Heritage Theater) and Simon Zelotes, SAVIOR OF THE WORLD (Conference Center Theater).  Other work at SLAC includes Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (understudy), I AM MY OWN WIFE, Orestes Brownson (understudy) in CHARM and Ben, SATURDAY'S VOYEUR 2005. For SLAC’s New Play Sounding Series, Darrin has played Bart, THE THUGS; Mike, 14 and Reader, MAMMOTH. Darrin also has credits as musical director and enjoys singing with the Utah Chamber Artists. To support his theater "habit," Darrin works as a speech/language pathologist at the University of Utah Hospital. He enjoys teaching voice lessons, with a special interest in rehabilitating injured vocalists. Other hobbies include writing, international travel, collecting blue art glass and attempting to master circular breathing to become the next great didgeridoo player.

MEGAN NOYCE(Reader) Megan Noyce is a proud, new owner of a degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Puget Sound. And after a summer as an Education Intern/Teaching Artist at Lexington Children’s Theatre, she returns to Utah to put her degree to use. After spending most of her college career enchanted by acting, she began to study other aspects of theatre. This led her to dramaturgy, directing, teaching and playwriting. Her directing credits include THE SECRET IN THE WINGS, the one-act play NIGHT VISITS, and assistant directing THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH. Her play EINE LANGE REISE recently received a staged reading as part of Wasatch Theatre Company’s Page-to-Stage Festival. Megan currently works as an Assistant Teacher for the University of Utah Youth Theatre.

ALEXANDRA HARBOLD (Director, Artistic Literary Associate) At Salt Lake Acting Company, Andra directed last season's New Play Sounding Series readings of THE PERSIAN QUARTER and PROPHETS OF NATURE; she acted in SIX YEARS and ICE GLEN and is now an Artistic Literary Associate and a member of SLAC's Communications & Audience Development team.  Other local credits: HAMLET (Pioneer Theatre Company), LIVING OUT, FAT PIG (Pygmalion Theatre), and THE SEAGULL (Pinnacle Acting Company).   Directing credits: ROMEO AND JULIET, RABBIT HOLE, THREE DAYS OF RAIN (PAC), and SLAM (Plan-B). Andra is currently acting in Pinnacle Acting Company's DANCING AT LUGHNASA and will direct the world premiere of Kathleen Cahill's THE PERSIAN QUARTER at Salt Lake Acting Company in the new year.

By David Kranes

FREE READING Monday, October 11th @ 7 pm

Directed by Robin Wilks-Dunn

Company: Michael Behrens, Brenda Sue Cowley, Brien Jones, Alexandra Harbold

PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTE

"Much of Courting Disaster was written over two visits to the Wordbridge Playwrights Lab, where I was serving as a resource artist to emerging playwrights.  Being in the presence of "gifted" individuals is powerful and illuminating.  How those who are gifted navigate their gifts and selves through a lifetime poses choices and reconciliations.  How does a person-of-gifts get from "here" to "there"?  Delia, in this play, has made choices, her voice is unashamed.  Kaman has heard her voice and been drawn to it -- but he still has choices to make.  Agent Winters?  Well....he's doing his job --though he'd rather be doing another one."

DAVID KRANES (Playwright)

David Kranes is a writer of seven novels and two volumes of short stories--most recently, Making The Ghost Dance (2005). His 2001 novel, The National Tree, was recently made into a film by Hallmark, which aired in November, 2009. His short fiction (appearing in such magazines as Esquire, Ploughshares, Transatlantic Review) has won literary prizes and has been anthologized. Over 40 of his plays have been performed in New York and across the U.S. (in theaters such as The Actors’ Theater of Louisville, The Mark Taper Forum, Manhattan Theater Club, Cincinatti’s Playhouse in the Park), and his Selected Plays (with an Introduction by director, Jon Jory) will be published in 2010. His radio plays have been performed in the U.S., Canada and abroad. He has written for film and for dance companies. The opera, Orpheus Lex, for which he wrote the libretto, was performed at New York City’s Symphony Space in February of 2010. He is currently working on a novel, a play and a “wordscape”-score for a new Ririe-Woodburry dance piece choreographed by Charlotte Boyes-Christensen. In his second (or is it third?) life, Mr. Kranes, travels and consults in the casino industry.

Review

Salt Lake Theatre Examiner | The magic of a well-told tale at Salt Lake Acting Company's Courting Disaster (10/7/10)

Company

MICHAEL BEHRENS(AGENT KEITH WINTERS) Michael is very happy to be returning to SLAC. Previous SLAC appearances have been in the NPSS reading of THE PERSIAN QUARTER, PROPHETS OF NATURE, as Tom in SIX YEARS, Michael in ROUNDING THIRD, Jaisu in POLISH JOKE and Bill in LOBBY HERO, as well as two SATURDAY'S VOYEURS. You may have seen him in PRIDE & PREJUDICE at Pioneer Theatre Company as well as HENRY V, THREE MUSKETEERS, COMEDY OF ERRORS, PEER GYNT, ST. JOAN and THE MISER. Other favorite roles include Hamlet for TheaterWorks West, Lloyd in NOISES OFF, Sydney in LIGHT UP THE SKY, Froggy in THE FOREIGNER, Jane/Lord Edgar in THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP, Durdles in THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, and Clotaldo in LIFE IS A DREAM all for Creede Repertory Theater. Michael can be seen and heard in countless radio and television spots as well as film. Michael is a graduate of The University of Utah's Actor Training Program and is a proud member of the Actor's Equity Association.

BRENDA SUE COWLEY(DELIA BLANCHARD) has been living and working as an actor in Salt Lake City for nineteen years. She was most recently seen as Mechum in Julie Jensen's THE HARVEY GIRLS for SLAC's Fearless Fringe Festival, and in the role of Katie Wynn in Mike Dorrell's World Premier Play, TALKING WALES: FINDING SIR FORMIDOR for Utah Contemporary Theatre. Brenda has been seen over the years in a number of productions at the Salt Lake Acting Company, Pioneer Theatre Company, The Grand Theatre, Pygmalion and others. Brenda takes particular pleasure in World Premier Plays, and is proud to have performed in Julie Jensen's WAIT!, as well as J.T. Rogers World Premier of MADAGASCAR. Television credits include a recurring role as Deena Clark on WB's Everwood, and she was recently seen in Trent Harris' film, Delightful Water Universe. Writing credits include (but are not limited to) SHEAR LUCK, THE MUSICAL (book and lyrics by Brenda; musical score by Kevin Mathie), which was produced at the Grand Theatre in the spring of 2006. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Brenda holds a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature from Northwest Nazarene University.

BRIEN K. JONES(KAMAN HOLMES) Brien Jones is the Director of Education and Conferences for several domestic and international financial forensic and business valuation associations. He is grateful to have the ability to balance his career with the performing arts. As an actor, he is performed with many Utah theater production companies including the Salt Lake Acting Company, People Productions, Wasatch Theatre Company, University of Utah Youth Theatre and the University of Utah Babcock Theatre. A short list of his stage credits include CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION!, A RAISIN IN THE SUN, BOYS IN THE BAND, A SOLDIER'S PLAY, HOME, A HEART DIVIDED, JITNEY, THE EXONERATED, and MASTER HAROLD...AND THE BOYS.

ROBIN WILKS-DUNN (Director) Robin is delighted to be back with the New Play Sounding series after having last directed  the reading of Kathleen Cahill’s CHARM.  She previously directed premieres at SLAC of PEARL as part of THE WATER PROJECT, ONE LAST DANCE and NAPOLEON’S CHINA.   Robin enjoys reading working with new scripts and is a script reader for the Sundance Theatre Lab. She has taught theatre and directed around Salt Lake for over 20 years. Next on her plate is boom at SLAC this November and THE GOOD BODY at Pygmalian Theatre in the Spring.  Thank you to SLAC and David Kranes for the opportunity to work with this wonderful script and talented cast.

ALEXANDRA HARBOLD (Reader, Artistic Literary Associate) At Salt Lake Acting Company, Andra directed the recent New Play Sounding Series readings of THE PERSIAN QUARTER and PROPHETS OF NATURE; she acted in SIX YEARS and ICE GLEN and is now an Artistic Literary Associate and a member of SLAC's Communications & Audience Development team.  Upcoming projects include acting in Pinnacle Acting Company's DANCING AT LUGHNASA and directing the world premiere of Kathleen Cahill's THE PERSIAN QUARTER at Salt Lake Acting Company.

By Matthew Ivan Bennett

Monday, October 24, 2011 @ 7 pm

A love letter to Kaufman and Hart
An oddball play with a twist toward 21st century problems

Director Mark Fossen
Cast Michael Gardner, Mark Gollaher, JJ Peeler, Teresa Sanderson, Richard Scott, Cassandra Stokes-Wylie

A NIGHT WITH THE FAMILY is a comedy surrounding a character-driven, dysfunctional family who has gathered together in Salt Lake City. Playwright Matthew Ivan Bennett describes his script as "a love letter to the Kaufman and Hart, an oddball play with a twist toward 21st century problems." In A NIGHT WITH THE FAMILY, we meet: Donald- a New Age hoarder, Diane- a micromanager and a cougar, Antoine- a French-Canadian modern dancer and soon-to-be stepdad, Bree- a Mormon convert whose husband has an internet porn addiction, and Donny- a newlywed with anxiety attacks. We meet a family..... full of advice.

We are thankful to the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation and the Dramatists Guild Fund for their generous support of SLAC's New Play Sounding Series program.

Playwright's Note

"When I was in my early 20s, my attitude about my family was that I was so obviously, completely, deeply, and intrinsically different from them. In my early 30s, my attitude is that I used to be a dumbass. Family is so much a part of who you are, it's impossible to see sometimes. A NIGHT WITH THE FAMILY is a play about a family in crisis (or a whole family involving themselves in a son's crisis), how we directly sabotage each other even as we're trying to help, and how relationships are always, always messy--and, mercifully, hilarious."

Playwright's Bio

Matthew Ivan Bennett is the Resident Playwright of Plan-B Theatre, where he's premiered several plays. BLOCK 8, his play about the Japanese-American internment at Topaz, was supported by the NEA. His radio adaptation of FRANKENSTEIN received the Best Feature Program award from the Utah Broadcasters Association. His works have appeared at Chicago's Circle Theatre, at Hunger Artists in LA, and in the Source Festival in Washington DC. He's published in Smith & Kraus' 161 One-Minute Monologues from Literature. He acted in the SLAC production of Harold Pinter's THE CARETAKER. Matt earned a Bachelors' of Theatre Arts at Southern Utah University.

We thank the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation and the Dramatists Guild Fund for their generous support of our New Play Sounding Series program.

a new play by Elaine Jarvik and Kate Jarvik Birch

FREE READING: Monday, April 25th at 7 pm

As they get their grandmother's house ready for her 90th birthday party, Rosie and her brother wonder if their estranged father will show up after a 20-year absence.  The wondering turns into a series of fantastical and bittersweet encounters that explore who their father was, why he left, and what the rules of marriage should be.

Director: Tracy Callahan

Company: Dan Beecher, Teri Cowan, Darrin Doman, Cheryl Gaysunas, Terence Goodman, Tracie Merrill

Reviews

Life without father: memories sweet and sad at Salt Lake Acting Company reading | Salt Lake City Theater Examiner | Jenniffer Wardell | April 18, 2011

By Kathleen Cahill

FREE READING Monday, April 26th @ 7 pm

Directed by Alexandra Harbold
Company: Michael Behrens, April Fossen, Bijan Hosseini, Deena Marie Manzanares, Melanie Nelson

TWO WOMEN * TWO COUNTRIES * TWO GENERATIONS

The play is both a story told on a Persian carpet and a piece of political history, set in the United States and Iran between 1979 and 2009. In Tehran in 1980, Ann is an American hostage and Shirin, an Iranian revolutionary student, is one of her captors. Thirty years later their daughters, Emily and Azadeh, meet accidentally in an empty classroom at Columbia University during the visit of the Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTE

"I wrote the play, inspired by what is happening in Iran these days- especially what is happening to the women, their passionate heroism, what they've lived through and what they are willing to do in honor of their country. I wanted to remember my life there, when I lived in Iran, more than thirty years ago, to give meaning to my memories and to try to understand what I didn't understand when I was a young woman living there. The play though, isn't a memory. It's a re-evaluation. And it's a question. Actually, it's a lot of questions."

KATHLEEN CAHILL (Playwright)

Ms. Cahill has received many awards for her work, including the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award, a Connecticut Commission on the Arts Playwriting Award (twice), a Massachusetts Artists Foundation Award, a Rockefeller Grant, a National Endowment for the Arts New American Works Grant, and a Drama League Award. Her plays include THE STILL TIME (Georgia Rep/Porchlight Theatre, Chicago), WOMEN WHO LOVE SCIENCE TOO MUCH (Porchlight), HENRI LOUISE AND HENRY (Cleveland Public), SLAM (Plan-B Theatre, UT), and the screenplay DOWNTOWN EXPRESS, a film for David Grubin Productions in NY. With composer Michael Wartofsky she wrote the book and lyrics for THE NAVIGATOR and FRIENDSHIP OF THE SEA; with Deborah Wicks LaPuma she wrote DAKOTA SKY (Olney Theatre), WATER ON THE MOON (Signature Theatre readings), and CAPTIVATED (Kennedy Center New Works Festival). Other musical works include the opera CLARA, FATAL SONG, and A TALE OF TWO CITIES: PARIS AND BERLIN IN THE TWENTIES (all Maryland Center for the Performing Arts).

Coverage from Salt Lake Theater Examiner - Salt Lake Acting Company previews the future with reading of The Persian Quarter

Photo Credit: Shadi Ghadirian, Qajar 1998

SLAC Sparks

Spark noun. a trace or hint | inspiration or catalyst | an ignited or fiery particle, something that sets off a sudden force | anything that serves to animate, kindle, or excite

The Essential Rumi
introduction by Coleman Barks
The ecstatic, spiritual poetry of Rumi

Blood and Oil: A Prince's Memoir of Iran, from the Shah to the Ayatollah by Roxane Farmanfarmaian and Manucher Farmanfarmaian
Iran was the first country in the Middle East to develop an oil industry, and oil has been central to its tumultuous twentieth-century history. A finalist for the PEN/West Award, Blood and Oil tells the epic inside story of the battle for Iranian oil. A prominent member of one of Iran's most powerful aristocratic families--so feared by Khomeini that the entire clan was blacklisted--Prince Manucher Farmanfarmaian was raised in a harem at the heart of Iran's imperial court. With wit and provocative detail, he describes the days when he served as the Shah's oil adviser and pioneered the partnership that resulted in OPEC. Beautifully written and epic in its scope, this scintillating memoir provides a fascinating history of modern Iran.

The Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia, lectures by Inayat Khan
Poems by five Persian writers are accompanied by a discussion of the poems and the background of each poet

The Ayatollah Begs to Differ by Hooman Majd
The grandson of an eminent ayatollah and the son of an Iranian diplomat, journalist Hooman Majd is uniquely qualified to explain contemporary Iran's complex and misunderstood culture to Western readers.
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ provides an intimate look at a paradoxical country that is both deeply religious and highly cosmopolitan, authoritarian yet informed by a history of democratic and reformist traditions. Majd offers an insightful tour of Iranian culture, introducing fascinating characters from all walks of life, including zealous government officials, tough female cab drivers, and open-minded, reformist ayatollahs. It's an Iran that will surprise readers and challenge Western stereotypes.  In his new preface, Majd discusses the Iranian mood during and after the June 2009 presidential election which set off the largest street protests since the revolution that brought the ayatollahs to power.

Understanding Iran: Everything You Need to Know, from Persia to the Islamic Republic, from Cyrus to Ahmadinejad by William R. Polk
William R. Polk provides an informative, readable history of a country which is moving quickly toward becoming thedominant power and culture of the Middle East. A former member of the State Department’s Policy Planning Council, Polk describes a country and a history misunderstood by many in the West. While Iranians chafe under the yolk of their current leaders, they also have bitter memories of generations of British, Russian and American espionage, invasion, and dominance. There are important lessons to be learned from the past, and Polk teases them out of a long and rich history and shows that it is not just now, but for decades to come that an understanding of Iran will be essential to American safety and well-being.

Persian Mirrors: The Elisive Face of Iran by Elaine Sciolino
As a correspondent for Newsweek and The New York Times, Elaine Sciolino has had more experience covering Iran than any other American reporter. She was aboard the airplane that took Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to Tehran in 1979 and was there for the Iranian revolution, the hostage crisis, the Iran-Iraq war, the rise of President Khatami, and the riots of the summer of 1999. In Persian Mirrors, Sciolino takes us into the public and private spaces of Iran and uncovers an alluring and seductive nation where a great battle is raging -- not for control over territory, but for the soul of its people.

Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey From Her Father's Harem Through the Islamic Revolution by Ssattareh Farman Farmaian
As founder in 1958 of the Tehranok/per book School of Social Work, Sattareh naively believed, "If one only avoided politics, one could achieve something constructive." After two decades of humanitarian efforts in Iranian family planning, day care, vocational programs and aid to the poor and prisoners' families, she was arrested in 1979 by Khomeini's machine-gun-toting teenage minions. Branded an "imperialist," she narrowly escaped execution and now lives in the U.S. The 15th of 36 children, Sattareh revered and feared her "all-powerful" father, a prince and governor. This dramatic if restrained autobiography, written with freelancer Munker, describes her patriarchal upbringing and her education at UCLA. She belatedly realized that "keeping our mouths shut let the Shah do what he wanted." Her memoir is actually most effective as a political document. She powerfully condemns the Eisenhower-backed coup that toppled democratic premier Mossadegh and installed ruthless dicatator Reza Shah Pahlavi, whose fascist secret police were trained and financed by the CIA. The Shah's corrupt, unjust regime, she graphically demonstrates, fueled explosive resentment that found an outlet in Khomeini's fanaticism.

All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer
With a thrilling narrative that sheds much light on recent events, this national bestseller brings to life the 1953 CIA coup in Iran that ousted the country's elected prime minister, ushered in a quarter-century of brutal rule under the Shah, and stimulated the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and anti-Americanism in the Middle East. Selected as one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post and The Economist, it now features a new preface by the author on the folly of attacking Iran.

Further reading and links

Shadi Ghadirian's images, featured in 2007 Telegraph interview Confusion in sharp focus
Qajar Gallery

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
By Azar Nafisi
Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. As Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids in Tehran, fundamentalists seized hold of the universities, and a blind censor stifled artistic expression, the girls in Azar Nafisi's living room risked removing their veils and immersed themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. In this extraordinary memoir, their stories become intertwined with the ones they are reading. Reading Lolita in Tehran is a remarkable exploration of resilience in the face of tyranny and a celebration of the liberating power of literature.

The Complete Persepolis
By Marjane Satrapi
Here, in one volume: Marjane Satrapi's best-selling, internationally acclaimed memoir-in-comic-strips.
Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming--both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.
Edgy, searingly observant, and candid, often heartbreaking but threaded throughout with raw humor and hard-earned wisdom--Persepolis is a stunning work from one of the most highly regarded, singularly talented graphic artists at work today.

Persepolis (Film)

The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi, Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett on NPR, December 13, 2007 [53:00 audio]