Holly Twyford and Luigi Sottile to Star in Signature Theatre's SEX WITH STRANGERS This Fall in D.C.

This fall, Signature Theatre continues its commitment to presenting bold new contemporary plays with the DC area premiere of Sex with Strangers by Laura Eason. After its New York premiere at Second Stage Theatre this summer, Signature is proud to introduce this play to DC audiences. Running October 14 - December 7, Sex with Strangers will be presented in Signature's intimate 110-seat ARK Theatre.

Directed by Aaron Posner (Signature's The Last Five Years, Woolly Mammoth's Stupid F***ing Bird), the production will star Holly Twyford (Signature's The Little Dog Laughed) as Olivia and Luigi Sottile (Steppenwolf's Buena Vista) as Ethan.

"I am thrilled to be directing Sex with Strangers and equally pleased to be back at Signature," said director Aaron Posner. "Playwright Laura Eason and I have known each other for almost 30 years and I have admired her work forever as an actor, then director, then playwright. She is an insightful, engaging theater artist and I am honored to be doing her play in DC. Sex with Strangers engages in really effective ways with very current issues of privacy, veracity, integrity and more. It is also really sexy and a really fun playground for two excellent actors. I could not be happier to have two long-time collaborators in the cast, Holly Twyford and Luigi Sottile. Both of them have wonderful things to bring to these characters and I feel certain we will make a production that will be fun, sexy, playful and genuinely provocative."

"Signature Theatre is committed to presenting challenging new plays by some of the most exciting voices around the country," said Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer. "Laura Easton's Sex with Strangers captures the contemporary world of relationships and technology in a fresh, new way that is sure to resonate."

The creative team includes Scenic Design by JD Madsen; Costume Design by Katherine Fritz; Lighting Design by Andrew Cissna; Sound Design by James Bigbee Garver; and Production Stage Manager Julie Meyer.

A raging snowstorm traps strangers Olivia, an unsuccessful, yet gifted, thirty-nine-year-old writer, and Ethan, a tech-addicted and wildly successful young blogger, in a secluded cabin. Opposites instantly attract, undeniable chemistry ignites and sex is imminent. As the dawn rises, however, what could have just been a one-night-stand transforms into something more complicated when online exploits interfere with their real-life connection.

Sex with Strangers is a sexy, provocative and intimate exposé that playfully explores what happens when private lives become public domain.

Performances run Tuesday through Sunday evenings, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets start at $40. Single tickets go on sale July 1 and are available in person at the Signature Box Office at 4200 Campbell Avenue in Shirlington, by calling Ticketmaster at (703) 573-SEAT and online at www.signature-theatre.org.

BIOGRAPHIES:

Luigi Sottile - (Ethan) REGIONAL: Steppenwolf: Buena Vista (Noah); Arden Theatre: The Three Sisters (Andre), Cyrano (Christian); - Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival: The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Valentine); Wilma Theater: Angels in America (Joe), In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play (Leo), Macbeth (Malcolm), Leaving (Victor); Walnut Street Theatre: An Ideal Husband (Lord Goring); Milwaukee Rep: A Christmas Carol (Fred); Philadelphia Theatre Co.: Seminar (Douglas); People's Light and Theatre: Nathan the Wise (Templar); Act II Playhouse: The Mystery of Irma Vep; Lantern Theatre: The Lonesome West (Father Welsh), The Government Inspector (Khlestakov), Othello (Cassio). UPCOMING: People's Light and Theatre: The Cherry Orchard (Yasha).

Holly Twyford - (Olivia) SIGNATURE: A Fox on the Fairway, The Little Dog Laughed (Helen Hayes Award), Twentieth Century. DC AREA: Arena Stage: Long Day's Journey into Night, The Matchmaker, The Miser, Arcadia, An American Daughter; Folger Theatre: Mary Stuart (upcoming), Romeo and Juliet (Helen Hayes Award), Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, As You Like It, Othello, Twelfth Night, Melissa Arctic, All's Well That Ends Well, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Helen Hayes Award), Arcadia, Orestes: A Tragic Romp; Ford's Theatre: The Laramie Project; Round House Theatre: The Sisterhood, Living Out; Studio Theatre: Contractions, The Steward of Christendom, Desk Set, Betty's Summer Vacation, Shape of Things (Helen Hayes Award), Far Away, Black Milk, The Internationalist, The Road to Mecca; Theatre J: Life in Refusal, There Are No Strangers, Lost in Yonkers; Woolly Mammoth Theatre: We Are Proud to Present..., Goodnight, Desdemona (Good Morning, Juliet), Stop Kiss, Recent Tragic Events. REGIONAL: Arden Theatre: Private Lives, Candida. DIRECTING: Studio Theatre: Edgar & Anabel, Mary-Kate Olsen is in Love (upcoming).

ABOUT SIGNATURE - Recipient of the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Signature Theatre is a non-profit professional theater company in Arlington, Virginia dedicated to producing contemporary musicals and plays, reinventing classic musicals, and developing new work. Under the leadership of co-founder and Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland, Signature has presented 38 world premiere productions and is renowned for combining Broadway-quality productions with intimate playing spaces.

In addition to hosting the finest talent from the DC metropolitan area and New York, Signature has been home to such theatre luminaries as Chita Rivera, George Hearn, Hunter Foster, Emily Skinner, Ann Reinking, Marc Kudisch, Judy Kuhn, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Cameron Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, and the company's signature composer, Stephen Sondheim. Since its founding in 1989, Signature has won 90 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the Washington, DC region's professional theater and has been honored with 340 nominations.

Pictured: Holly Twyford in Signature Theatre's production of Sex with Strangers. Photo by Christopher Mueller. Design by Jessica Aimone.