Berkshire Playwrights Lab Presents Anna Ziegler's LIFE SCIENCE, Now thru 6/30

Berkshire Playwrights Lab will present its first full workshop production, Anna Ziegler's Life Science directed by Joe Cacaci, today, June 19 through June 30 (press opening June 21) at Bard College at Simon's Rock Daniel Arts Center (84 Alford Road, Great Barrington, Mass.). The production will run Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm, with the exception of the Saturday, June 22 performance, which will begin at 9:30pm.

The play examines the lives of four high school seniors living in the plush Washington, DC suburbs. Over the course of several months, the students make out, break up, discuss their plans for the future, and debate the role that being Jewish plays in their budding sense of themselves. The professional cast of young actors includes Jess Jacobs,David Kremenitzer, Julian Leong, and Arielle Lever, who will rehearse for four weeks vs. the four days traditionally allotted for Berkshire Playwrights Lab's staged readings, and the workshop production will also feature simple costumes, lighting, and sets.

"Life Science is one of those rare plays that is at times moving, touching, insightful, and uproariously funny, and that appeals to all age groups," said Cacaci. "For the 15 to 25 crowd, it zeroes in on a pivotal period in their lives that they've either just gone through, are about to, or are in the midst of. For the rest of us, it conjures memories, painful and joyous, of that time in our lives when our imminent future seemed at once rife with exciting possibility and fraught with downright uncertainty and foreboding."

Berkshire Playwrights Lab is a longtime supporter of Ziegler's work, having staged readings of two of her full-length plays, Variations on a Theme and An Incident, as well as three short plays at its annual galas. "It is fitting, indeed, that our first ever full workshop production be a play by Anna Ziegler. I'm looking forward to directing it and we're all looking forward to its premiere," said Cacaci. Ziegler's plays have been, or will be, produced at a wide range of theaters, including Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Magic Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Georges, Theater, The Cherry Lane (Playwrights Realm), Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep, Vermont Stage, Chester Theatre, and others. For more about her background, see annabziegler.net.

In addition to being co-artistic director of Berkshire Playwrights Lab, Joe Cacaci is the founding director of East Coast Arts, where he produced 20 world premiere plays over seven seasons, and he was the producing director, with Dan Lauria, of The Playwrights Kitchen Ensemble in Los Angeles, where over 500 new plays were given staged readings. He co-produced David Mamet's OBIE-winning play Edmond at the Provincetown Playhouse. His own plays have been produced at The Public Theater, The Coconut Grove Theatre, The Long Wharf Theater, and The Alley Theatre in Houston. He has directed at The Westport Playhouse and commercially in Los Angeles. He co-created the CBS prime time series The Trials of Rosie O'Neill and was executive producer of two prime time series: Showtime's The Hoop Life and CBS' The Education of Max Bickford, which starred Richard Dreyfuss and Marcia Gay Harden. He directed the PBS pilot Cop Shop, which starred Richard Dreyfuss and Blair Brown. Currently, Cacaci teaches television writing in the graduate program of the Film School at Columbia University.

Jess Jacobs studied acting at the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts at the Stella Adler Studio. Her credits include A Christmas Carol at The Century Club and the title role of a workshop piece, The Hostess, at Theatre for the New City in New York City, as well as appearances in various short and independent films. David Kremenitzer's recent credits include performing with the Drama Desk-nominated company Parallel Exit in I Heart Bob, featuring an original score by Tony-nominated Wayne Barker at the Joyce Soho and playing the role of Michael McCormick in the regional premiere of Lombardi at New Stage Theatre. Kremenitzer is also an opera singer (a graduate of the Hartt School of Music), and an advanced tap dancer who spent many years training with members of the New York City Ballet. Julian Leong earned a B.A. in Acting from UC Irvine. His recent credits include performing in TheaterC's DisOriented at Peter Jay Sharp Theater in New York City, and in the independent feature Kilimanjaro, which premiered at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival. A graduate of Syracuse University's B.F.A. Acting Program, Arielle Lever's recent New York credits include The Deconstructive Theatre Project's The Orpheus Variations and User 927at HERE Arts Center. She has also performed at Edinburgh Fringe, London's Cochrane Theatre, and at Syracuse Stage, and she is a founder of CO/LAB Theater Group, which is dedicated to providing individuals with developmental disabilities a creative and social outlet through theater arts.

Founded in 2007 by theatre professionals Joe Cacaci, Jim Frangione, Bob Jaffe, and Matthew Penn, the Berkshire Playwrights Lab is the area's only theater dedicated exclusively to encouraging, developing, and presenting new plays. Through readings-and this season, a full workshop production-the Lab provides emerging and established writers with a professional and creative environment, while offering audiences the engaging and provocative opportunity to share in the dramatic evolution of premiere works. For more information, see berkshireplaywrightslab.org.

Tickets to Berkshire Playwrights Lab's workshop production of Anna Ziegler's Life Science at Bard College at Simon's Rock Daniel Arts Center are $15 ($10 students) to the preview performances today, June 19 and 20 and $20 ($15 students) for the rest of the run. 20% discount available for groups 10 or more. Tickets are available via the Mahaiwe Box Office at 413.528.0100 or mahaiwe.org.