Cygnet Theatre to Present SONS OF THE PROPHET, 1/15-2/15

- Cygnet Theatre will continue its run of presenting Southern California premieres with Sons of the Prophet, the latest work by Stephen Karam (Speech and Debate). Premiering at New York's Roundabout Theatre in 2011, Karam was hailed as "a major new voice in American Theater." His brutally funny and explosive comedy was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize and has received multiple other awards including the 2012 Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel and Hull-Warriner Awards for Best Play. The production runs January 15 - February 15 at Cygnet Theatre in Old Town. Opening Night for Media is Saturday, January 24, 8 pm.

Inspired by an actual news story about a high school prank gone wrong, Karam's contemporary tale about two gay brothers dealing with a family tragedy in a run down area of Nazareth, PA, deals with themes of family, culture, and resilience. Two brothers are on their own after their father dies of a heart attack two weeks after a car accident, leaving them alone to take care of themselves and their aging uncle. What unfolds is a comedy about human suffering, love, strength and hope. Sons of the Prophet explores the inevitability of loss and our attempts to cope with its consequences.

Director Rob Lutfy returns to Cygnet after a critically acclaimed mounting of The Motherf**ker with the Hat last season. Lutfy is currently the 2014-2015 National New Play Network Producer-in-Residence at Marin Theatre Company. He has worked on plays in development at The Kennedy Center, The O'Neill Theatre Center, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. He was the 2012-13 William R. Kenan, Jr. Directing Fellow at The John F. Kennedy Center. Rob is a graduate of the directing program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Drama where he returns annually to teach acting as guest faculty.

"We see so much humor and pathos in these layered people," said Lutfy. "Karam portrays a uniquely American phenomenon. It's an immigrant story. The world of Sons of the Prophet is just as complicated as the conflict in the Middle East: present over past, the new world over the old world and a fall from a more prosperous, meaningful past."

The nine-member cast includes a majority of actors making Cygnet Theatre debuts as well as two actors in a long line of University of North Carolina School of the Arts graduates to gravitate to fellow alumni and Cygnet Artistic Director Sean Murray here in San Diego.