The Highwood Theatre Presents New Play THE REQUIEM

Discouraged by her failure to cement herself within the music industry, Maria, a young violinist, finds herself where she began: her parent's townhouse. When she arrives, however, the house is dim and her parents are not at home. Maria decides to settle in and unpack despite their absence. In that process, she discovers an old man with a passion for Mozart living in the attic. This strange guest forces Maria and her family to exorcise old demons and struggle with the reality of living with Alzheimer's.

The Requiem, presented by The Students' Theatre division of The Highwood Theatre, is a new play by Madison Middleton, which will continue Highwood's ongoing conversation about mental health awareness. Middleton, a high school student and budding playwright, was inspired to share The Requiem with Highwood after participating in their production of August: Osage County last spring which aimed to engage the community in an open dialogue about mental health issues through performing arts. "Knowing that we wanted to continue working with the theme of mental illness, I was ecstatic when the decision was made to pursue The Requiem and explore the horrific illness of Alzheimer's," explains Middleton. The subject is especially significant to Middleton, whose own family has been affected by the disease.

The Requiem, part of the Washington, DC area-wide Women's Voices Theater Festival, is the only festival production written and directed by female students and featuring an all-student cast. The festival will be the largest collaboration of theater companies working simultaneously to produce original works by female writers in history, with the goal of highlighting the scope of new plays being written by women, and the range of theatre being produced in the nation's capital. Matthew Nicola, Highwood's Artistic Director, says he is thrilled that Highwood is participating in the festival, "It's wonderful to see up and coming female playwrights of a variety of ages and backgrounds explore a wide range of topics. I'm excited to see women get a chance to really shine in the DC theatre community."

Other programming in conjunction with The Requiem includes participating in the Kennedy Center's annual Page-to-Stage Festival on Saturday, September 5th at 11:00 am and a Mental Health Awareness Workshop at The Highwood Theatre on September 21st at 7:30 pm. Both events are free of charge and open to the general public. This production is sponsored in part by funding from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Government.

The Requiem runs September 18th-2?7th and is part of Highwood's 2015-2016 Mainstage Season, "Underground Expression." It is being produced by the Students' Theatre division, which is dedicated to producing high-quality theatre productions created and led by students.

Directions to The Highwood Theatre in Silver Spring

The Highwood Theatre in Silver Spring is located at 914 Silver Spring Avenue, Suite 102. Street parking is available near the venue, and there is a county garage less than one block away. Parking is free on weekends. Arriving by metro? From the Silver Spring metro station (Red Line), head Northeast on Colesville Road toward Wayne Avenue. Turn right onto Wayne Avenue, Right onto Georgia Avenue, and left onto Silver Spring Avenue. The Highwood Theatre will be on your right. This route takes about ten minutes.Tickets are $20 and are on sale now. Visit www.thehighwoodtheatre.org for more information.

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