PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Misty McDowell
Marketing Manager, Capital Stage
mmcdowell@capstage.org | 916-822-3786
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Capital Stage Presents
Record Breaking NNPN Rolling World Premiere
ALABASTER by Audrey Cefaly
Directed by Kristin Clippard
Sacramento, CA — December 11, 2019 — Capital Stage presents the NNPN Rolling World Premiere of ALABASTER by Audrey Cefaly. This marks the largest Rolling World Premiere in NNPN's history with 11 productions being produced in the 2019/20 Season Nation-wide. In her Capital Stage debut, Kristin Clippard will direct this 2018 David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize Winner. The cast will feature Stephanie Altholz, Janet Motenko, and new to Capital Stage: Amy Kelly and Susan Maris. Performances will run from January 22 through February 23, 2020, with a Press Opening on Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 8:00 pm.
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ALABASTER
by Audrey Cefaly
NNPN Rolling World Premiere
2018 David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize Winner
An all-female darkly comic southern drama about women on the verge, art, and the power of human connection. After a tornado barrels through a North Alabama town leaving nothing but death and destruction, only June and her wisecracking pet goat Weezy live to tell the tale. When Alice, a prominent photographer, arrives to take pictures of June’s scars, every living soul on the farm is tipped to the breaking point in this epic tale of life after death.
“Sometimes a piece just glues you to your chair, makes you laugh, rips your heart out, and when it’s done you want to hold the people you love tightly and not let go.” — TONY CASELLI, WILLIAMSTON THEATRE
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Cefaly is a southern writer and Alabama native based in the DC region. Her plays include
The Gulf
(Edgerton Award, Lammy Award, Samuel French OOB Fest Winner, Charles MacArthur Award Nominee);
Alabaster
(NNPN Showcase, David Calicchio Prize);
Maytag Virgin
(Women's Voices Theater Festival);
The Last Wide Open
(Cincinnati Playhouse commission);
The Believers
(Eagle Theatre commission);
The Story of Walter
(digital podcast);
Tell Me Something Good
(UAB commission); and
Love is a Blue Tick Hound
(a collection of one-acts). Cefaly has developed plays with Signature Theatre, Serenbe Playhouse (New Territories), Aurora Theatre, Florida Rep, Vermont Stage, Theater Alliance, Quotidian Theatre Company and Contemporary American Theater Festival. She is published by Samuel French, Smith & Kraus (two volumes of Best American Short Plays), and Applause Books. She was recently named a Traveling Master by the Dramatist Guild Foundation. She is an outspoken proponent of silence in story-telling and has authored numerous articles on the topic of playwriting for HowlRound and Samuel French’s
Breaking Character
Magazine. Cefaly is a recipient of grants from the Boomerang Fund for Artists as well as the Alabama and Maryland state arts councils.
audreycefaly.com
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NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK
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National New Play Network is an alliance of professional theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays. Since its founding in 1998, NNPN has supported more than 250 productions nationwide through its innovative National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere program, which provides playwright and production support for new works at its Member theaters. Additional programs - its annual National Conference, National Showcase of New Plays, and MFA Playwrights Workshop; the NNPN Annual and Smith Prize commissions; its residencies for playwrights, producers and directors; and the organization’s member accessed Collaboration, Festival, and Travel banks and online information sessions - have helped cement the Network’s position as a vital force in the new play landscape. NNPN also strives to pioneer, implement, and disseminate ideas and programs that revolutionize the way theaters collaborate to support new plays and playwrights. Its most recent project, the New Play Exchange, is changing the way playwrights share their work and others discover it by providing immediate access to information on more than 29,000 new plays by living writers. NNPN’s 32 Core and over 90 Associate Members - along with the nearly 300 affiliated artists who are its alumni, the thousands of artists and artisans employed annually by its member theaters, and the hundreds of thousands of audience members who see its supported works each year - are creating the new American theater.
nnpn.org
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newplayexchange.org
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Kristin Clippard has worked as a theatre artist (director, actor, teacher, administrator, dramaturg, producer) across the U.S. for many years. She holds a BFA in acting from Wright State University and an MFA in Directing from the University of Iowa. She has trained with Shakespeare & Company in Massachusetts, the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre in Florida, the National Conservatory Theatre in Colorado, foolsFury and the SITI Company in California. Kristin has toured her original one-person show, developed new plays on both coasts, trained dozens of teaching artists and created theatre with at-risk populations. She has taught theatre to all ages for Anne Arundel Community College, University of Iowa, University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music Preparatory Department, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Opera, Victoria Theatre Association, California Shakespeare Theatre, TheatreWorks, Marin Theatre Company, Word for Word, Peninsula Youth Theatre and more. Formerly, she served as the Education Associate for the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and as the Education Director for the Annapolis Shakespeare Company. Selected directing credits include contemporary and new plays such as
Love’s Fire
(a collection of one acts based on Shakespearean sonnets),
Breaking the Shakespeare Code
by John Minigan,
Loyalty and Betrayal
(a community collaboration based on
Julius Caesar
),
Landless
by Andrew Saito,
Collective Amnesia
by Janet Schlapkohl, and
Champagne Gods
by Emily Dendinger. Some classic productions include
Taming of the Shrew
,
Measure for Measure
,
Pericles
,
Dr. Faustus
and
She Stoops to Conquer
. Kristin has assisted numerous directors and directed many staged readings of new work. She has served on selection committees for new play competitions such as the Playwrights Foundation in San Francisco, Playfest in Orlando and the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis. She has served as the Producer in residence for Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Visit her website at
www.kristinclippard.com
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ALABASTER will be directed by Kristin Clippard (Capital Stage debut). The production will feature Stephanie Altholz (SLOWGIRL, CLYBOURNE PARK, ERRATICA), Amy Kelly (Capital Stage debut), Susan Maris (Capital Stage debut), and Janet Motenko (THE HUMANS). The production design team will include Timothy McNamara (Scenic design), Michael Palumbo (Lighting design), Caitlin Cisek (Costume design), Ed Lee (Sound design).
Performances for ALABASTER will begin with three previews on Wednesday, Jan. 22 & Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7:00 pm, and Friday, Jan. 24 at 8:00 pm. The production will open Saturday, Jan. 25 at 8:00 pm. Performances will continue through Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020. Showtimes will be Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 7:00 pm, Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 2:00 pm.
Regular ticket prices range from $25-47. Discount tickets are available as follows: Student Rush tickets are $10 with valid student ID in person within 1 hour of performance (NEW); Senior tickets are $5 off regular priced tickets; Military personnel tickets are $10 off regular priced tickets with valid ID; and Group Rate tickets are $5 off each for parties of 12 or more. Tickets are currently available at the Capital Stage Box Office, by phone at 916-995-5464, or online at capstage.org.
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WHAT:
C
apital Stage presents the NNPN Rolling World Premiere of
ALABASTER by Audrey Cefaly
Directed by Kirstin Clippard
Tickets: $25 - $49
WHERE:
Capital Stage, 2215 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95816
WHEN:
January 22 - February 23
Previews:
Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7:00 pm, tickets $25
Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7:00 pm, tickets $25
Friday, Jan. 24 at 8:00 pm, tickets $25
Opening Night:
Saturday, Jan. 25 at 8:00 pm, tickets $44-49 tickets
Regular Performances:
Tuesdays at 7:00 pm, tickets $32-37
Wednesdays at 7:00 pm, tickets $32-37
Thursdays at 7:00 pm, tickets $37-42
Fridays at 8:00 pm, tickets $37-42
Saturdays at 2:00 pm, tickets $35-40
Saturdays at 8:00 pm, tickets $39-44
Sundays at 2:00 pm, tickets $37-42
BOX OFFICE:
Phone: 916-995-5464
Online: capstage.org
Location: 2215 J Street, Sacramento CA 95816
WHO:
Playwright: Audrey Cefaly
Director: Kristin Clippard
Cast: Stephanie Altholz*, Amy Kelly*, Susan Maris*, Janet Motenko
Scenic Design: Tim McNamara
Lighting Design: Michael Palumbo
Costume Design: Caitlin Cisek
Sound Design: Ed Lee
Stage Manager: Melissa Jernigan*
*Member Actors' Equity Association
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