PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: January 21, 2009
CONTACT: Dan Berube, berube@merrimackrep.org
PR CONTACT PHONE: 978.654.7595
BOX OFFICE: 978.654.4MRT (4678)
New England Premiere of
BOB CLYMAN’S TRANCED
A New Psychological Thriller from the Author of Secret Order
Performances Run February 12 through March 8
PRESS OPENING: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 7PM
Lowell, MA – A hypnotherapist uncovers international deceit during sessions with an African graduate student in Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s Tranced by Bob Clyman; stage direction by Kyle Fabel. Performances begin Thursday, February 12 at 8pm, with Opening Night on Sunday, February 15 at 7PM, running through March 8 at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, 50 E. Merrimack St., Downtown Lowell.
Philip is a trancing psychologist, charged with unearthing the repressed traumatic memory of Azmera, a London graduate student suffering from panic attacks. What happened to Azmera on her volunteer trip to Africa and why is it linked to the ongoing Kanguya Dam Project? What is the truth in the shocking memories of his patient and will anyone listen? Layered with provocative questions, the outcome has life and death consequences for thousands of people. This truly powerful production is sure to leave its audience questioning their experience and what they would have done in each of the characters’ difficult positions.
“A drama of ideas is rare enough, let alone one equally in touch with its characters and with a tricky plot and twist ending.” –Variety
Tranced director Kyle Fabel shares his thoughts on Bob Clyman, saying “I've been bothering Bob for years to direct one of his plays. I've been a champion of his work since I first read Secret Order back in about '02. Tranced is his best play yet. Smart and complex. But at the same time delicious, old-fashioned, edge-of-your-seat storytelling. It reads (and hopefully plays) like a note-perfect genre piece...but I wouldn't put a label on what that genre is. Maybe he's creating his own.”
Tranced is the second play written by Bob Clyman to be produced at Merrimack Repertory Theatre. Merrimack Repertory Theatre audiences will remember that in Spring 2007 MRT produced the regional premiere of Secret Order here in Lowell and then was invited to produce it in New York. It played Off-Broadway at the 59E59 Theaters in Manhattan in Fall 2007, and at the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre in Houston in 2008. Both the New York and Houston production were directed, as it was here, by MRT’s Artistic Director Charles Towers.
Thanks to the strong relationship established with Secret Order, Clyman is excited that his newest work, Tranced, will also be produced at MRT. “I would like to think every play I write is unlike anything I (or anyone else for that matter) has ever written before, but truthfully with Tranced, I’m more or less up to the same old thing. If I have an agenda, it’s to examine the strong convictions each of us has about important moral issues by slowly turning up the heat, so I can thin the ice on which those weighty convictions stand --- without ever forgetting that an audience deserves to laugh while it sweats. The only thing sweeter than having a highly regarded theatre like MRT decide to produce one of my plays is to have a highly regarded theatre like MRT tell me it thinks I’m on the right track by inviting me back.”
Clyman, who considers himself a psychologist first and a playwright second, has a practice in Oldwick, New Jersey where he is a clinical psychologist noted for working with criminals and testifying at trials and appeals in the State. In the theatre world, Bob Clyman is an award-winning playwright who has had three of his dramas performed Off-Broadway in New York and all nine of his critically acclaimed shows have been performed in regional theatres around the world. He has received numerous national awards for his writing such as the Eugene O’Neill Summer Conference Fellowship, New Jersey State Council on the Arts Award, Edward Albee Foundation Fellowship, and Shenandoah Valley Playwrights Fellowship. His play Famous Ali was commissioned by Playwrights Theatre for Rowing to America: The Immigrant Project.
The production’s creative staff includes Kyle Fabel (director), Campbell Baird (scenic design), Deborah Newhall (costume design) and Brian J. Lilienthal (lighting design). The all-Equity company includes Mark Zeisler (Philip), Zainab Jah (Azmera), Kimber Riddle (Beth) and David Adkins (Logan). Tranced will be the third time Kyle Fabel has directed an MRT production. In 2007 he directed Trying and in 2008 The Four of Us. Fabel is also an actor, and is currently appearing on stage as Nick in MRT’s production of A View of the Harbor. Mark Zeisler previously appeared in MRT’s 40th anniversary production of The Homecoming, while Zainab Jah, Kimber Riddle and David Adkins are all making their MRT debut.
MRT’s production of Tranced is sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Merrimack Repertory Theatre is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
CAST BIOS:
Zainab Jah (Azmera) Merrimack Repertory Theatre: debut. Off-Broadway: Trojan Women (Helen of Troy), Harlem’s Classical Theatre; In Darfur (Hamida), Public Theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival; Intimate Apparel (Mayme), Wellfleet Harbor Actors’ Theatre; and the national tour of Athol Fugard’s Valley Song (Veronica Jonkers). Film: Dinner Rush (with Danny Aiello). Television: Principal roles in 100 Center Street (directed by Sidney Lumet), Law & Order. Award: Zainab received the Best Actress Award for Nick Mwaluko’s Waafrika, which was presented as part of the Fresh Fruit Festival. Education: Studied dance at the London School of Contemporary Dance and acting with The Actors’ Center, NYC and Leeds University, UK. Other: Born in London, Zainab spent her childhood in Sierra Leone, West Africa, where she was a regular on children’s television shows.
Mark Zeisler (Philip) Merrimack Repertory Theatre: The Homecoming. Broadway: A View from the Bridge, Brooklyn Boy. Off-Broadway: Eurydice, Second Stage; The Accomplices, The New Group; Self-Defense, New Georges; Acts of Faith, Mosaic Theatre/92 St Y. New England: Major Barbara, Road to Nirvana, The King Stag, The Homecoming, Once in a Lifetime, The Caretaker, American Repertory Theatre; The Black Dahlia, The King Stag, Eurydice, Yale Repertory Theatre; Big Love, Long Wharf Theatre; Hamlet, The Matchmaker I, Elm Shakespeare Company. Regional: The Tempest, The Seagull, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Actors Theatre of Louisville; Big Love, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, BAM Next Wave Festival; Measure for Measure (Helen Hayes nomination), Folger Theatre; A Picasso, City Theatre; A Doll House, McCarter Theatre; Art, Hangar Theatre; Othello, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Arcadia, Alabama Shakespeare; Julius Caesar, Philadelphia Drama Guild; Picasso at the Lapin Agile, GeVa; Romeo and Juliet, Baltimore Center Stage. Film: Random Hearts, Torch Song Trilogy, Shaft, The Thomas Crown Affair, Two Week Notice, Head of State, Revolution #9, After School (2008 NY Film Festival entry). Television: Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU; Law & Order: Criminal Intent; Third Watch; New York Undercover; Rescue Me, New York News, Third Watch, Prince Street, Queens Supreme, Nothing Sacred, many soaps. Education: BFA, SUNY-Purchase. Other: Proud member of Actors Equity.
Kimber Riddle (Beth) Merrimack Repertory Theatre: debut. New York/Off-Broadway: The Mad Forrest, Manhattan Theatre Club; Zero Church, St. Ann’s Warehouse; Enrico IV, NYU Directors Lab. Regional: House Arrest, Mark Taper Forum; Common Infractions, Gross Injustices, American Repertory Theatre; Piano, Harvard University; The Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue Acting Company 1998-2000 (Harvard University, Director Anna Deavere Smith). Film: Guy, Thirty, Under the Bridge. Television: ABC Mini Series, Stephen King’s The Langoliers; CBS Mini Series, The Last Mafia Marriage. Education: MFA, Graduate Acting Program, New York University.
David Adkins (Logan) Merrimack Repertory Theatre: debut. Broadway: Saint Joan, National Actors Theatre. Off-Broadway: Manhattan Theatre Club, Aquila Theater Company, Agamemnon, Women’s Project Theater. Regional: Center Stage, George Street Playhouse, Goodman Theatre, Seattle’s ACT Theatre, American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, Old Globe, Long Wharf Theatre, Madison Repertory Theatre, Kennedy Center, The Cleveland Play House, Huntington Theatre Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Philadelphia Drama Guild, Barrington Stage Company, and Berkshire Theater Festival (13 Seasons). Television: Without a Trace, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU; Chicago Hope, Trinity, As The World Turns, One Life to Live, Another World, and the pilots of Benjamin Franklin and Blaq Jaq. Education: Juilliard.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: Wednesday through Friday evenings at 8PM and Sundays at 7PM; Sunday matinees at 2PM; Wednesday matinee on March 4 at 2PM; and Saturday performances at 4:30PM and 8:30PM. Pay What You Will & Director’s Dialogue post-show discussion, Thursday, February 12; Lowell Night, $10 tickets for Lowell residents, Saturday, February 14 at 8:30PM; Cookie Matinee, Wednesday, March 4 at 2PM; Wine Lover’s Wednesday, February 18 at 7PM; Post Show Forum, Thursday, February 19; Young Professionals Night, Thursday, February 26 at 7PM.
TICKETS: Single Tickets $26-$56; Student/Senior/Group discounts are available. Season Subscriptions run $72-$282 and include an extensive package of benefits, including the lowest prices available, the best seats, free ticket exchange privileges, discounts on individual tickets, discounts at area restaurants and retailers, and free parking. Tickets can be purchased at MRT’s Online Box Office at www.merrimackrep.org, or in person at 50 E. Merrimack St., Lowell, or by calling 978.654.4MRT (4678). Groups of 6 or more save up to 30% off single ticket prices.
For more information, bios, interviews, or photos, please contact Dan Berube at 978.654.7595 or berube@merrimackrep.org.
For MRT show times, tickets, season information, directions, or to request a brochure, please visit www.merrimackrep.org or call the Box Office at 978.654.4MRT (4678).
Merrimack Repertory Theatre is located in beautiful historic downtown Lowell at Liberty Hall, the Company’s 308-seat theatre, 50 E. Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA 01852 (adjacent to Lowell Memorial Auditorium). Each season, MRT presents an eclectic mix of six contemporary productions, engaging the best available actors, designers and directors in the country. Now celebrating its 30th Anniversary, MRT’s mission is “To advance the cause of human understanding by creating theatrical productions at the highest level of artistic excellence and making them affordable to the broadest possible community.” MRT’s unique artistic vision is shaped by a passion for excellence and a profound commitment to its community. MRT strives to enhance the community’s life while contributing to its economic strength, measuring success by the depth of the Company’s artistic and social contribution to the region.
Merrimack Repertory Theatre's 2008-2009 Season
The Fantasticks book & lyrics by Tom Jones Music by Harvey Schmidt, October 16-November 9; Skylight by David Hare, November 20-December 14; A View of the Harbor by Richard Dresser, January 8 - February 1; Tranced by Bob Clyman, February 12-March 8; Bad Dates by Theresa Rebeck, March 19-April 12; A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill, April 18 - May 17.
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