Piven Theatre Oresents Two By Pinter: The Lover and The Collection Oct 10 - Nov 15

Piven Theatre Workshop kicks off its 2009-10 season with Two by Pinter: The Lover and The Collection, directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce Piven. The productions will run October 10 - November 15, 2009 at Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes Street in Evanston, IL. The press opening will be Monday, October 12, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

Is it all a game, or isn't it? Flirting between sexual fantasy and danger, acts of betrayal are turned upside down in these two short plays by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter. Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce Piven returns to the Piven stage to explore the ambiguity and sexual intrigue of The Lover and The Collection.

"We are thrilled to begin the season with Founder/Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce Piven directing two rarely-revived one acts by Nobel Prize-winning author Harold Pinter with an incredible ensemble boasting three Piven alums: Lawrence Grimm, Dana Black, and Jay Reed," says Artistic Director Jennifer Green. "Two by Pinter pairs two extraordinary plays The Lover and The Collection in a dark yet playful evening that explores marital fantasies, domestic games, sexual insecurities, and the modern marriage. Pinter turns his slyly comic eye and trademark intensity on the modern relationship: the lies that we tell and the truths that we choose to forget."

The cast of The Lover and The Collection features Piven alums Lawrence Grimm* (Richard/Harry), Dana Black (Sarah/Stella) and Jay Reed (James), with John Francisco (Bill).

The designers are Aaron Menninga (scenic design), Collin Warren (sound design), Seth Reinick (lighting design), Linda Laake (properties design), and Bill Morey (costume design). John Kearns* is the stage manager and Jodi Gottberg is the production manager. Brent Barnes is the dialect coach. (*Member, Actors Equity Association)

Harold Pinter (Playwright) was born October 10, 1930 in the London borough of Hackney, son of a Jewish dressmaker. Growing up, Pinter was met with the expressions of anti-Semitism, and has indicated its importance for his becoming a dramatist. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was evacuated from London at the age of nine, returning when twelve. He has said that the experience of wartime bombing has never lost its hold on him. Back in London, he attended Hackney Grammar School where he played Macbeth and Romeo among other characters in productions directed by Joseph Brearley. This prompted him to choose a career in acting. In 1948 he was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1950, he published his first poems. In 1951 he was accepted at the Central School of Speech and Drama. That same year, he won a place in Anew McMaster's famous Irish repertory company, renowned for its performances of Shakespeare. Pinter toured again between 1954 and 1957, using the stage name of David Baron. Between 1956 and 1980 he was married to actor Vivien Merchant. In 1980 he married the author and historian Lady Antonia Fraser.

Pinter made his playwriting debut in 1957 with The Room, presented in Bristol. Other early plays were The Birthday Party (1957), at first a fiasco of legendary dimensions but later one of his most performed plays, and The Dumb Waiter (1957). His conclusive breakthrough came with The Caretaker (1959), followed by The Homecoming (1964) and other plays. Harold Pinter is generally seen as the foremost representative of British drama in the second half of the 20th century. That he occupies a position as a modern classic is illustrated by his name entering the language as an adjective used to describe a particular atmosphere and environment in drama: "Pinteresque".

Since 1973, Pinter has won recognition as a fighter for human rights, alongside his writing. Pinter has also written radio plays and screenplays for film and television. Among his best-known screenplays are those for The Servant (1963), The Accident (1967), The Go-Between (1971) and The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981, based on the John Fowles novel). Pinter has also made a pioneering contribution as a director.

Joyce Piven (Director/Founder/Artistic Director Emeritus) was one of the founding members and leading actresses at Playwrights' Theatre, the group that spawned Compass Players and Second City. With Playwright's Theatre, Piven played leading roles in A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Seagull, The Dybukk, Round Dance and Caucasian Chalk Circle and studied extensively with Uta Hagen and Mira Rostova. Returning to Chicago, she and husband Byrne Piven helped Paul Sills form the Second City Repertory with Bernie Sahlins and Joyce Sloane, as well as (with Sills) the original Story Theatre Company. Ms. Piven played Lady Macbeth in the Piven Theatre's futuristic Macbeth, Bessie in Wisdom Bridge's production of Awake and Sing, Lillian Hellman in The Julia Project directed by Shira Piven at New York's Greenwich Theatre, and most recently appeared in Great Expectations at Piven Theatre and in Lookingglass Theatre's Hard Times. Ms. Piven is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of the Piven Theatre Workshop and founding director of the Piven Theatre Workshop's famed Young People's Company. Ms. Piven has directed Lili Taylor in the revival of Maria Irene Fornes' Mud at Victory Gardens and directed the remounting of Orlando at the Actors Gang in Los Angeles.

At Piven Theatre, she has directed Rochelle Distelheim's Sadie In Love, Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, Brilliant Traces by Cindy Lou Johnson, Speed-The-Plow by David Mamet, Collected Stories by Donald Margulies, Chekhov's Three Sisters, Chekhov: The Stories, Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, Festival of Jewish Stories, Chekhov Stories: The Emerging Woman, and What Dreams May Come: American Visions Through Jewish Eyes. She recently directed Suffragette Koan by Linda Carson in Los Angeles.

Lawrence Grimm (Richard/Harry) returns to the Piven Theater Workshop where he last appeared in the Jeff Award-winning Because They Have No Words directed by Emilie Beck, and King Lear directed by Shira Piven and starring Byrne Piven. Grimm is a founding Ensemble Member of A Red Orchid Theater where his recent credits include: Pumpgirl, The Meek, and

Mr. Kolpert. Other Chicago credits include: 1984 and The Brothers Karamazov at Lookingglass Theater; A Fair Country, I Never Sang For My Father, and Wolf Lullabye at Steppenwolf; Ghetto and Hellcab at Famous Door; The Balcony at New Crime Productions; Collaboraction; and The Glass Menagerie (Jeff Recipient for Supporting Actor) at Raven. Grimm has taught at Second City, The Acting Studio, Steppenwolf for Young Adults, the teen conservatory and adult professional classes at Piven, and currently serves as a part-time instructor for the new Chicago Public High School for the Arts: Chi-Arts.

Dana Black (Sarah/Stella) returns to Piven Theatre having taken Workshop classes over ten years ago. This past fall, Dana appeared as Tirtzah in Silk Road Theatre's production of Pangs of the Messiah directed by Piven Theatre's Artistic Director Jen Green. She has also performed in the Chicago Premiere of BackStage Theater Company's Beauty on the Vine. Other credits include understudying Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone at Steppenwolf Theatre, as well as her Pulitzer Prize-nominated The Clean House at the Goodman Theatre. She appeared as Queenie in TimeLine Theatre's Jeff Award-winning This Happy Breed, which won 8 awards including Best Production and Best Ensemble. She has also worked with Collaboraction, Victory Gardens, Famous Door, New Leaf Theatre, and is an Artistic Associate of Caffeine Theatre. She received her BS in Theatre from Skidmore College in upstate New York and has since studied with the British Academy of Dramatic Arts, the School at Steppenwolf and Act One Studio in Chicago. Dana is also a voiceover artist with Naked Voices, Inc.

Jay Reed (James) was recently seen in Disappearing Acts at Piven. Other credits include: Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Le Cat Show, Orphans, and Blood Wedding.

John Francisco (Bill) makes his Piven debut in The Collection. He has worked with many local theatre companies including Victory Gardens, ShawChicago, Peninsula Players, AppleTree Theatre, House Theatre, Noble Fool and Pegasus Players. His latest production, Ghosts with ShawChicago, went to Konya, Turkey in spring 2009. His favorite work is with Chicago Children's Theatre, where he collaborates with Artistic Director Jacqui Russell in creating theatre pieces for children with autism. John is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf.

Previews are October 10 & October 11, 2009. The opening press performance is on Monday, October 12, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays.

Ticket prices are $15 for preview performances and $25 for regular run performances. Tickets are available at the Box Office, 927 Noyes Street, Evanston; (847) 866-8049 or online at www.piventheatre.org. Student, Senior and group rates are available by calling the box office at 847-866-8049 or visiting the website at www.piventheatre.org.

About The Piven Theatre

For over 35 years, the Piven Theatre Workshop has remained a nationally respected acting school and professional Equity theatre. Within recent history, Piven Theatre has received a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Sound Design, and an After Dark Award for Outstanding Ensemble. The theatre has also received several Joseph Jefferson Recommendations, a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Adaptation, and Jeff nominations for Best Original Score, and Best Ensemble. Co-Founders Byrne & Joyce Piven have trained countless theatre artists such as John and Joan Cusack, Kate Walsh, Aidan Quinn, Lili Taylor and Jeremy Piven, to name only a few. Stagebill honored the Pivens with the designation "Chicago's first family of acting." The Pivens have been awarded the Evanston Mayors Award for the Arts, Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Chicago Improv Festival, and the University of Chicago's Glorious Gargoyle Award for lifetime contribution to the theatre. They were named 1996 Artists of the Year by the Chicago Tribune and were recipients of the Chicago Drama League's 1998 Crystal Award. In 2000, they were awarded a Joseph Jefferson Lifetime Achievement Award. For more information, please visit www.piventheatre.org.