Suffolk University Theatre Stages THE SAINT PLAYS at the Modern Theatre, Now thru 11/16

The Suffolk University Theatre Department presents the Boston premiere of a selection of short plays by Erik Ehn, from his collection The Saint Plays, tonight, November 13-16 at the Modern Theatre.

Wesley Savick directs the production, which features 32 student actors in a fast-paced 90-minute performance that is surprising, innovative and profound. The Saint Plays explore the mysteries of spiritual yearning, human desire and the eternal quest for the divine. Ehn describes the collection of hundreds of short plays as "contemporary fairy tales for the sage inspired by the lives of saints, biblical characters and angels."

The Suffolk University Theatre Department selected six plays to include in the production, including two world premieres: Burnt Siena, a story of St. Catherine of Siena set in Oklahoma in the 1930s; and Five More, a poetic play inspired by the five sorrowful mysteries. The other plays are The Imp of Simplicity, based on the story of St. Thomas à Kempis; Wholly Joan, celebrating Joan of Arc; 16670, about Maximilian Mary Kolbe, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger at Auschwitz; and The Freak, a piece filled with acrobatics commemorating St. George of dragon-slaying fame.

While the plays are secular in nature, the playwright's own Catholicism inspired these evocative pieces. Ehn, the head of playwriting and chair of Theatre Studies and Performance Studies at Brown University and former dean of Theatre at the California Institute of the Arts, is a seminal figure in contemporary theater.

Savick is a director, writer and professor in the Suffolk University Theatre Department specializing in new work, play development, the avant-garde, intercultural performance and post-modern interpretations of classical theatre. He is joined by Associate Directors Marina Silva (Suffolk '14), Sydney Grant (Suffolk '15) and Raya Malcolm (Suffolk '16) in directing this production.

The design team includes Sara L. Brown, scenic designer; Paula Peasley-Ninestein, costume designer; Stephanie Yackovetsky (Suffolk '15), sound designer; and Bozkurt Karasu, lighting designer. Anthony Schiavo (Suffolk '13) is production stage manager. Performances will include live, original music written by Brian Bernhard, (Suffolk '14) lead singer of the band Rich People Food.

The Saint Plays opens tonight, Nov. 13, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014. Tickets are $15 for the general public and are available online at www.moderntheatre.com. Discounted $10 tickets are available for students and seniors. The Modern Theatre is located at 525 Washington St. in Boston's Theater District.

The Modern Theatre at Suffolk University is the newest performance space in the Washington Street Theater District. The grand facade of the historic theater, Boston's first designed specifically for showing movies, has been painstakingly restored and reconstructed as part of the Modern Theatre and residence hall development. Inside, an intimate jewel-box theater showcases central design elements that are a modernization of some of the most distinctive historic features of the 1914 theater. The state-of-the-art, 185-seat venue is ideal for live performances, conversations, readings and film screenings and promotes excellence and innovation through all of its programming. For more about these and other programs at the Modern visit www.moderntheatre.com. The Modern Theatre is managed and programmed by the Theatre Department at Suffolk University.

Suffolk University, located in historic downtown Boston, with an international campus in Madrid, is a student-centered institution distinguished by excellence in education and scholarship. Suffolk University offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs in more than 90 areas of study. Its mission is to empower graduates to be successful locally, regionally, and globally.