Interrobang and Strand Theatre's KERRMOOR Opens Friday

The Interrobang Theatre Company and The Strand Theater Company proudly present a world premiere co-production of Kerrmoor, by renowned Baltimore playwright and educator, Susan McCully. In an isolated Appalachian town, the hard-hewn folk return to their backwoods rituals to ward off threats from an increasingly hostile modern world. Will Lorna convince her mother to make the necessary sacrifice and prevent social and ecological disaster? Will the chilling Rite at Kerrmoor be repeated? The production will preview on October 29, open the following night, and run Thursdays - Sundays through November 15.

"I set out to write an Appalachian Greek Tragedy", says McCully, "-- a play that presents an intimate family portrait of isolated, white rural America. The play is about where I grew up surrounded by people who exude nobility and strength mixed with a dangerous dose of fear. It's a little like a Sam Shepard play written by a middle-aged lesbian living in Baltimore."

Susan McCully is a scholar of feminist theatre and a dramaturg, as well as a playwright and performer. She is the Artistic Director for GRRL Parts, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's (UMBC) festival of new plays by women. Her plays Cyber Becomes Electra, Inexcusable Fantasies and Leah's Dybbuk have played at colleges, universities and fringe festivals across the U.S. and abroad, including University of Toronto, University of Exeter, and the Kolibri Pince in Budapest. Inexcusable Fantasies premiered at the Strand in November 2012 to rave reviews, and was later featured at the Prague and the New York Fringe Festivals in 2013. Her play Voracious will premiere at UMBC in November of this year.

Strand, known for championing challenging and provocative theater that celebrates women's diverse voices and perspectives, is thrilled to once again collaborate with Susan McCully and director Eve Muson, and to partner with The Interrobang Theatre Company to bring Kerrmoor to life. "It is a joy to welcome Susan and Eve back to the Strand," says Strand Managing Director, Elena Kostakis. "They are true champions of women's theater and bring inspiration and integrity to every project. In partnership with the vibrant young company like Interrobang, we are sure to have a very special treat for the Baltimore audiences!"

The Interrobang Theatre Company was founded just two years ago by David Brasington, Katie Hileman (Artistic Director), Kiirstn Pagan (Managing Director), and Jessie Poole. Though relatively new to the theatre scene, the company members know playwright/directing team McCully and Muson very well, having learned from and worked with the professors while students of the department of theatre at UMBC. "We are so glad that these relationships with our UMBC professors continue to foster our artistic growth beyond graduation," says Kiirstn Pagan, Interrobang Managing Director, who graduated from UMBC in 2011. "With the support of the UMBC theatre community and in partnership with a more established theatre company like the Strand, Kerrmoor is sure to be Interrobang's largest show to date."

Kerrmoor is a proud participant in the D.C. Women's Voices Theater Festival,Baltimore's Charm City Fringe, and Free Fall Baltimore. More than 50 of the Washington, D.C. region's professional theaters are joining together to produce, in the fall of 2015, the Women's Voices Theater Festival. The companies will each present a world premiere production of a work by one or more female playwrights, highlighting both the scope of plays being written by women, and the range of professional theater being produced in and around the nation's capital. Charm City Fringe, Baltimore's annual theatre festival for up-and-coming theatre companies and artists, will enter its fourth year of the festival this November. Charm City Fringe challenges traditional theatre audiences expectations' of the performing arts, attracting non-traditional theatre-goers and helping to cultivate Baltimore as a hub for theatre. Free Fall Baltimore developed by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, is a city-wide festival of free arts and cultural events, designed to increase access, interest and attendance in the city's many cultural organizations, especially for families and young adults, who are the creative community's future patrons.

Kerrmoor is made possible with the generous support of the UMBC College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (Scott Casper, Chair) and an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council.