Publick Theatre Boston Presents 9 CIRCLES 3/17-4/9

Publick Theatre Boston (http://www.publicktheatre.com), a resident company of the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA), presents the East Coast premiere of 9 Circles, the timely and dazzling new play by Bill Cain (Founder of Boston Shakespeare Company) March 17 - April 9, 2011 at the BCA Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont Street, South End Boston. Press performance Sunday, March 20 at 3pm. Performances are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Special Preview March 17 - 20 tickets are $20. Regular tickets $33 - $37.50. For more information and tickets, call 617-933-8600 or visit http://www.bostontheatrescene.com.

9 Circles stunned the San Francisco Bay Area, playing to sold-out houses in its world premiere last October. A psychological thriller based on actual events, 9 Circles tells the story of a young marine on trial for his life. In language by turns shocking, mesmerizing, and bitingly funny, 9 Circles speaks directly to a nation still at war.

Daniel Reeves (played by Jimi Stanton) is arrested for a crime allegedly committed in Iraq. Desperate to remain a soldier, he is forced to navigate a labyrinth of commanding officers, public defenders, lawyers, preachers and army psychiatrists (played by Will McGarrahan and Amanda Collins).

Directed by Eric Engel (Gloucester Stage Company; Artistic Director and director of the Elliot Norton Award winning Entertaining Mr. Sloane), the design team includes John Malinowski (sets/lights), Gail Buckley (costumes) and Dewey C. Dellay (sound).

9 Circles asks penetrating questions about the nature and consequences of all war; and of what it means to be human. "It's the journey of a young man who comes to understand who he is, and what he has done", says playwright Bill Cain, "...that he can be empathetic with what he once thought was his enemy. It's the story of a young man who achieves greatness by doing the one necessary thing, becoming himself".

Bill Cain's widely-produced play Stand-Up Tragedy earned six Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, including an award for Distinguished Writing, in its premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, and later garnered four Helen Hayes Awards at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. and the Joe A. Calloway Playwriting Award for its Broadway engagement. He wrote the television adaptation of the play for TNT, under the title "Thicker than Blood." He is the recipient of a George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Achievement in Television and a WGA Award for the series "Nothing Sacred," which he co-created and wrote for ABC. He has written numerous telefilms and Nightjohn, for Hallmark/Touchstone, was named best American film of the year by The New Yorker. The Laying on of Hands and 9 Circles were developed by the Ojai Playwriting Conference. His play, Equivocation, was developed at TheaterWorks in Palo Alto and at Ojai and was produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Bill Cain is the founder of the Boston Shakespeare Company where he was artistic director for seven seasons.

Publick Theatre Boston focuses on staging language-driven works - encouraging its audiences to "experience the power of the spoken word." Under the leadership of Producing Director Susanne Nitter and Artistic Director Diego Arciniegas, in Fall 2008 The Publick became A Resident Theatre Company at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA), producing a Fall and Spring show annually.

The Publick continues to expand and explore a deepening repertory of works with productions at the BCA of Noel Coward's Design For Living, Tom Stoppard's Travesties, Brien Friel's Faith Healer, and the New England Premiere of Charlotte Jones' Humble Boy. The 2009-2010 season featured Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane. Both productions received audience and critical praise with a total of six nominations and four awards including Outstanding Production for Sloane, Outstanding Actress-Sandra Shipley for Sloane, Outstanding Actor - Nigel Gore for Virginia Woolf from the Elliot Norton Awards. This past Fall, Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound broke all of company's box office records.

The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) is the not-for-profit performing and visual arts complex that supports working artists to create, perform and exhibit new works; develops new audiences; and connects the arts to community. Established in 1970 to serve as a hub for the visual and performing arts for the people of Boston, the BCA has fostered a stable, supportive and affordable environment for artists and audiences for 40 years. For more information, visit www.bcaonline.org.

 

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