New Play TINY HOUSES Starts Tomorrow at Chautauqua Theater Company

Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC) continues its significant commitment to new play development under the co-leadership of Artistic Directors Vivienne Benesch and Andrew Borba with Signature Staged Readings of TINY HOUSES by Chelsea Marcantel, and directed by Joshua Kahan Brody, running tomorrow, July 14, through July 16 as part of the 2016 season's New Play Workshop. TINY HOUSES plays on the Bratton Theater stage at the Chautauqua Institution. Tickets are $20 and are currently on sale.

Continuing to build on the incredible momentum of new play development at the Chautauqua Institution, playwright Chelsea Marcantel brings us a timely comedy, TINY HOUSES, that begs the question: can tiny really equal happy? In a world where bigger is always better, Marcantel - an important new voice in the American Theater - explores what happens when the world shrinks.

The workshop cast includes Caroline Siewert as Cath, Leland Fowler as Bohdi, Anna Tullis as Jevne, David Samuel as Jeremiah, and AnDrew Richardson as Olli.

The creative team includes Bruno Pierre-Houle (Sets), Alexis Chaney (Costumes), Reza Behjat (Lights) and Josh Samuels (Sound).

Says Artistic Director Andrew Borba: "Chelsea is one of the most promising young playwrights in the country and with TINY HOUSES she shows us why: she uses the current, trendy Tiny House movement as a backdrop for a cast of oddball characters, and while we're laughing at their escapades, she stealthily asks some very real questions about how we should or shouldn't live in today's changing world."

Chelsea Marcantel (Playwright) Her first season at Chautauqua Theater Company, her playsEverything Is Wonderful, Ladyish, Devour, Airness, (a)Symmetry Circle, Blood Song: The Story of the Hatfields and the McCoys, and more - have had productions across the United States and Canada. Chelsea graduated from Louisiana State University, and has taught at Emory & Henry College and Virginia Intermont College. In 2016, she completed a Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Fellowship at The Juilliard School in New York City, where she now resides.

Joshua Kahan Brody (Director) His first season at Chautauqua Theater Company, his directing credits include The Last Tiger in Haiti (La Jolla Playhouse and Berkeley Repertory Theater), King of the Yees (Goodman Theatre), True Believer (Theaterlab), and Fourteen Flights (NY Fringe Festival). Joshua is a co-founder of THE TRIP, a San Diego based performance group and 2015 Princess Grace Award Winner. BA: Yale University. MFA: UC San Diego.

Tickets to TINY HOUSES are $20 and seating is reserved. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ctcompany.org or by calling (716) 357-6250. A single event ticket is required, which also serves as a Chautauqua Institution gate pass 4 hours before and 4 hours following the start time of the performance. Performances are Thursday, July 14th at 8PM, Friday, July 15th at 4PM, and Saturday, July 16th at 2:15PM.

Be a vital part of the process: participate in the post-show discussions following every performance and the relaTEd Brown Bag event on Thursday, July 14 at 12:15PM, an excellent opportunity to hear directly from CTC staff and creatives involved in the workshop. Brown Bags are free with the purchase of a Chautauqua Institution gate pass.

TINY HOUSES plays at the Bratton Theater located at the Chautauqua Institution. To get to the Bratton Theater from the Chautauqua Institution Main Gate go down the red brick walkway (Miller). Once at Bestor Plaza take a left on Pratt. Then go a few blocks and Bratton Theater will be on the left. For additional directions visit www.ctcompany.org. For parking information visit www.chqtickets.com.

The New Play Workshop Signature Staged Readings continue with Nick Gandiello's The Glow Overhead August 3 - 5.

Entering its 33rd Season, Chautauqua Theater Company is the resident professional theater and Conservatory of the Chautauqua Institution. Internationally known actors, directors, designers, and writers join 20 emerging artists drawn from the nation's top training programs to form a unique company that produces a vibrant summer of work in the historic Bratton Theater. Dedicated to the next generation of theater artists, the development of new work, first-rate productions of modern and contemporary classics, and fresh insight into Shakespeare's canon, CTC produces the best of a year-round regional theater within an eight week summer season.

The pre-eminent expression of lifelong learning in the United States, Chautauqua Institution is a 140-year-old community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities.

Pictured: Acting conservatory members Caroline Siewert, Anna Tullis, Bruno-Pierre Houle (Scenic Fellow), Chelsea Marcantel (Playwright, "TINY HOUSES"), Vivienne Benesch (CTC Artistic Director) watching the design presentations at the first rehearsal of TINY HOUSES. Photo by Peggy Ryan.