Rattlestick Begins Lucy Thurber's THE HILL TOWN PLAYS Tonight

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long have announced that Lucy Thurber's The Hill Town Plays, a cycle of five plays--Scarcity, Ashville, Where We're Born, Killers and Other Family, and Stay--will begin previews tonight, August 14, 2013. The official opening night for all five plays is Thursday, September 5, 2013; the closing date is Saturday, September 28, 2013.

The Hill Town Plays will be produced simultaneously at five different West Village theaters, including Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Cherry Lane Theatre Mainstage, Cherry Lane Studio Theatre, Axis Theatre, and New Ohio Theatre. The plays comprise the inaugural Theater: Village festival, an annual theatrical event of five plays centered around one playwright or theme running simultaneously in five different West Village venues.

Each of The Hill Town Plays examine a pivotal stage in a woman's life--from a childhood of poverty, alcoholism, and abuse in a western Massachusetts mill town, through college and coming to terms with one's sexual identity, and onto adulthood and a successful writing career. The Hill Town Plays chronicle how we struggle to overcome our troubled pasts in order to build new lives, while investigating where we come from, what we dream of becoming, and who we are.

Two ticket options are available:

- Memberships, which allow access to all five shows, start at $30 for students, $50 for theater artists and patrons under 30 years old, and $125 for general admission.

- Individual tickets start at $10 for students, $15 for theater artists and patrons under 30 years old, and $55 for general admission.

Tickets may be purchased at www.theatervillage.com.

The Hill Town Plays, written by Lucy Thurber, are:

Scarcity
Presented by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and Cherry Lane Theatre
August 14 - September 28 at Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street)
Directed by Daniel Talbott
Featuring: Didi O'Connell, Natalie Gold, Izzy Hanson-Johnston, Will Pullen, Pamela Shaw, Michael Warner, Gordon Joseph Weiss
Designers: Raul Abrego (Set), Tristan Raines (Costume), Joel Moritz (Lighting), Janie Bullard (Sound)
Production Stage Manager: Devorah Jaffe

A young Rachel watches her dejected father and mother deal with the day-to-day drudgery of their lives in a small Western Massachusetts town, determined to hold the family together while her older brother Billy looks for an escape. Their lives are interrupted by the comings and goings of equally desperate friends, and a teacher whose own desires disrupt everything in an unexpected way.

Performance schedule: Wednesday at 7PM, Thursday at 6:30PM, Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 1PM and 8PM, Sunday at 1PM and 7PM

Ashville
World Premiere
Presented by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
August 21 - September 28 at Cherry Lane Theatre, Mainstage (38 Commerce Sttreet)
Directed by Karen Allen
Featuring: Aubrey Dollar, Andrew Garman, Tasha Lawrence, James McMenamin, Joe Tippett, Mia
Vallet, George West Carruth
Design: John McDermott (Set), Jessica Pabst (Costume), Matt Richards (Lighting), Bart Fasbender (Sound)
Production Stage Manager: Megan Schwarz Dickert

Sixteen year-old Celia longs for more than her small Western Massachusetts town, but finds herself trapped in an unhealthy vicious cycle with her alcoholic mother and her burnout boyfriend, Jake. When Jake proposes to her, Celia must decide what she wants from her life - especially as a friendship with a neighbor becomes complicated.

Performance schedule: Tuesday-Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 3PM and 8PM, Sunday at 3PM

Where We're Born
Presented by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
August 14 - September 28 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (244 Waverly Place)
Directed by Jackson Gay
Featuring: Christopher Abbott, Daniel Abeles, Betty Gilpin, Nick Winthrop Lawson, Mackenzie Meehan
Designers: John McDermott (Set), Katherine Roth (Costume), Paul Whitaker (Lighting), Broken Chord (Sound)
Production Stage Manager: Catherine Costanzo

Home after her first semester at a prestigious East Coast college, Lilly is confronted with her working class roots and the ties that bind her to her rural Massachusetts town. Seeking solace in the home of her cousin Tony and his girlfriend Franky, Lilly struggles to bridge the gap between the girl she was and the young woman she is becoming.

Performance schedule: Monday at 7PM, Wednesday at 8PM, Thursday at 9PM, Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 8PM, Sunday at 1PM and 7PM

Killers and Other Family
Presented by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and Axis Company
August 14 - September 28 at Axis Theater (One Sheridan Square)
Directed by Caitriona McLaughlin
Featuring: Aya Cash, Shane McRae, Samantha Soule, Chris Stack
Designers: John McDermott (Set), Emily Rebholz (Costume), David Zeffren (Lighting), Steve Fontaine (Sound),
Production Stage Manager: Michelle Scalpone

Trying to escape her painful past, Elizabeth has dedicated herself to finishing her dissertation and building a life with her partner, Claire. Their routine is disrupted by a visit from Elizabeth's brother and her troubled childhood lover, as they threaten to ruin all she's built and pull her back into a cycle of destruction.

Performance schedule: Monday at 7PM, Wednesday at 8PM, Thursday at 7PM, Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 2PM and 8PM, Sunday at 5PM

Stay
Presented by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in association with New Ohio Theatre
August 22 - September 28 at New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street)
Directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch
Featuring: McCaleb Burnett, Mikaela Feely-Lehmann, Hani Furstenberg, Brian Miskell, Jenny Seastone
Stern
Designers: Rachel Hauck (Set), Jessica Pabst (Costume), Burke Brown (Lighting), Leon Rothenberg (Sound)
Production Stage Manager: Samantha Watson

Years of hard work have finally paid off for Rachel, who now holds a coveted professorship and enjoys success as a published author. Her world is turned upside down when her degenerate brother appears on her doorstep and a brilliant but troubled student unleashes chaos in her life.

Performance schedule: Monday at 7PM, Tuesday at 7PM, Thursday at 7PM, Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 8PM, Sunday at 3PM and 8PM

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