Local Playwright Kirsten Greenidge's MILK LIKE SUGAR to Begin Next Month at Huntington

The Huntington Theatre Company will present the Obie Award-winning drama MILK LIKE SUGAR by Huntington Playwriting Fellow Kirsten Greenidge (Luck of the Irish) and directed by Huntington Associate Producer M. Bevin O'Gara (Becoming Cuba). Performances begin Friday, January 29 and continue through February 27, 2016 in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.

"Kirsten Greenidge has a knack for telling stories that resonate with local audiences; her play Luck of the Irish provoked a major civic discussion about the legacy of segregation in our city that spilled over into newspapers and radio shows," says Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. "MILK LIKE SUGAR is a riveting look into the lives of three teenage girls sure to start its own rich conversation."

In MILK LIKE SUGAR, Annie and her teenage friends want the same things: the hottest new phones, cute boys, designer bags. But when they enter into a pregnancy pact, she wonders if there might be a different path and a brighter future. Kirsten Greenidge finds raw humor and gritty poetry in this provocative, ripped-from-the-headlines new play that explores what it means to acquire the status the world says you deserve when the opportunity and means to attain it are not afforded to you.

In 2008 teenage pregnancy rates spiked among students at Gloucester High School and rumors swirled of a "pregnancy pact" between the students. The story made national headlines and reporters emphasized the depressed economy of the town and speculated how economic stress may have led to increased pregnancy rates. The initial news coverage inspired Greenidge to start thinking about the dynamics of teen pregnancy and the interplay of opportunity and choice in young women's lives. "Since I am from Boston that story captured my imagination," says Playwright Kirsten Greenidge. "I got interested in why these girls would choose that for themselves and what choices they might think were closed to them."

"I have been an admirer of Kirsten's work for years and to have the chance to collaborate with her is beyond thrilling," says Director M. Bevin O'Gara. "The reality of the young women's lives Kirsten paints in MILK LIKE SUGAR is both shattering and heartwarming. She balances true humanity and beautiful poetic language in a way that makes you see the world anew."

The cast includes Jasmine Carmichael (Dance of the Holly Ghosts at Centerstage) as high school sophomore Annie, a hard-working student with ambition and big dreams. Her mother Myrna, who had her own children in her teens, is played by Ramona Lisa Alexander (Breath, Boom at the Huntington and A Moon for the Misbegotten at The Nora Theatre Company). Annie's best friends are tough-as-nails Talisha, played by Shazi Raja (Our Town at George Street Playhouse) and status obsessed Margie, played by Carolina Sanchez (Iowa at Playwrights Horizons). Annie receives additional life perspectives from her charismatic Christian classmate Keera, played by Shanae Burch (The Real Thing at Bad Habit Productions), college-bound senior Malik, played by Marc Pierre (Macbeth at Brown Box Theatre Project), and tattoo artist Antwoine, played by Mathew Harris (Wit and The Lieutenant of Inishmore at AstonRep Theatre Company).

Kirsten Greenidge is a Village Voice/Obie Award winner and a recent PEN/America Laura Pels Award recipient. She is the author of Luck of the Irish (premiered at the Huntington in 2011), Splendor, Bossa Nova, MILK LIKE SUGAR, Rust, Sans-Culottes in the Promised Land, 103 Within the Veil, and The Gibson Girl. She has developed her work at Sundance (Utah and Ucross), Magic Theatre, National New Play Network, Cardinal Stage, South Coast Repertory, Madison Repertory Theatre, Page 73 Productions, Hourglass Group, Bay Area Playwrights, Playwrights Horizons, New Dramatists, Mark Taper Forum, ASK, Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Guthrie Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, Humana Festival of New American Plays, Moxie Theatre, and New Georges. She is a Huntington Playwriting Fellow, a recipient of an NEA/TCG residency at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and was playwright-in-residence at Company One Theatre. She has also received Sundance's Time Warner Award for Bossa Nova. Ms. Greenidge attended Wesleyan University and the University of Iowa's Playwrights Workshop. A member of Rhombus and an alumna member of New Dramatists, she is currently working on commissions from LCT3, Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, ArtsEmerson, Big Ten, the Huntington's Education Department, and The Kennedy Center.

M. Bevin O'Gara is the Associate Producer at the Huntington Theatre Company and directed Melinda Lopez's Becoming Cuba. Other directing credits include A Future Perfect, Tribes, and Clybourne Park (SpeakEasy Stage Company); Brahman/i, Chronicles of Kalki, You for Me for You, Love Person, and The Pain and the Itch (Company One Theatre); Phedre (Actors' Shakespeare Project); Translations (Bad Habit Productions) Matt and Ben (Central Square Theater); Two Wives in India and Gary (Boston Playwrights' Theatre); 2.5 Minute Ride (New Repertory Theatre); Othello and The Crucible (New Rep On Tour); Melancholy Play (Holland Productions); Tattoo Girl, Painting You, and Artifacts (Williamstown Theatre Festival Workshop); and ANTI-KISS (3 Monkeys Theatrical Productions). She has also worked with New Repertory Theatre, the Gaiety Theatre of Dublin, and the Actors Centre of Australia, and is the recipient of the Lois Roach Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Boston Theatre Community from Company One Theatre. She has a BFA from Boston University in theatre studies. mbevinogara.com.

MILK LIKE SUGAR features scenic design by Cristina Todesco (Circle Mirror Transformation and The Atheist at the Huntington); costume design by Junghyun Georgia Lee (Smart People at the Huntington); lighting design by Wen-Ling Liao (Appropriate at SpeakEasy Stage Company); and sound design by M.L. Dogg (after all the terrible things I do and Smart People at the Huntington). Production stage manager is Kevin Schlagle.

Single tickets start at $25 and FlexPasses are on sale: online at huntingtontheatre.org; by phone at 617 266 0800; or in person at the BU Theatre Box Office, 264 Huntington Ave. and the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA Box Office, 527 Tremont St. in Boston's South End.

SPECIAL EVENTS IN CONJUNCTION WITH MILK LIKE SUGAR:

COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP RECEPTION

Tuesday, February 2 before the 7:30pm performance

A pre-show reception with refreshments for members of the Community Membership program. Community Membership is an initiative designed to reduce the cost barrier of attending live theatre for those with limited income and to diversify the Huntington's audience so it looks more like the city of Boston. Members can purchase best-available tickets to any performance without restriction for just $20. Membership is free and available through partnerships with agencies and organizations that serve limited-income populations. Santander is the Lead Supporter of the Huntington's Community Membership program.

STUDENT MATINEES

Thursday, February 11 at 10am

Friday, February 26 at 10am

For students in grades 9-12. Tickets: $15. Includes pre-show in-school visit, curriculum guide, post-show Actors Forum, and Dramatic Returns card for each student. Call 617 273 1558 for more information.

ACTORS FORUMS

Thursday, February 11 after the 10am performance (student matinee)

Thursday, February 18 after the 7:30pm performance

Wednesday, February 24 after the 2pm performance

Friday, February 26 at 10am

Meet participating members of the cast of MILK LIKE SUGAR and ask them your questions at the Actors Forum, following the performance.

HUMANITIES FORUM

Sunday, February 21 after the 2pm performance

Explore the context and significance of MILK LIKE SUGAR with a leading expert following the 2pm performance on February 21.

Recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award and named Best of Boston 2013 and 2014 by Boston magazine, the Huntington Theatre Company has developed into Boston's leading professional theatre and one of the region's premier cultural assets since its founding in 1982. Bringing together superb local and national talent, the Huntington produces a mix of groundbreaking new works and classics made current to create award-winning productions, runs nationally renowned programs in education and new play development, and serves the local theatre community through its operation of the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. Under the direction of Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Managing Director Michael Maso and in residence at Boston University, the Huntington cultivates, celebrates, and champions theatre as an art form. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.