LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC Runs Now thru 5/10 at Rubicon Theatre

Rubicon Theatre Company has just announced the director and cast for LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC, Arlene Hutton's funny, touching portrait of two young people whose lives become entwined after a chance meeting on a train. Rubicon's production is helmed by Katharine Farmer, the youngest director to helm a mainstage production at Rubicon. The role of Raleigh is played by Erik Odom, whose credits include Sons of the Prophet at the Blank and who played nomadic vampire Peter in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn." Lily Nicksay will play the role of May. Lily's credits include The Wild Duck at A Noise Within (Ovation nomination for Best Supporting Actress), although she is perhaps best known for her role as Morgan Matthews in the first two seasons of "Boy Meets World." Sets and lights are designed by Mike Billings, Marcy Froehlich serves as Costume Designer, and Austin Quan is Sound Designer. Julie Meyer is Production Stage Manager.

LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC begins in the winter of 1940 when Raleigh and May are forced to share a seat on a crowded train headed east - an event that changes the path of both of their lives forever. Raleigh, a recently discharged flyboy who dreams of becoming a writer, and May, a young woman set on becoming a missionary, meet and discover that they grew up mere miles from each other in Kentucky. The possibility of romance emerges, and the two imagine going to the Nibroc festival together in May's hometown. But they are thwarted by their own natures and by circumstances. This intimate and charming exploration of human relationships premiered at the New York Fringe Festival in 1998. The play quickly moved Off-Broadway, where it was nominated for Best Play by the New York Drama League. The Associated Press described the show as "a gently charming play reminiscent of Thornton Wilder in its look at rustic Americans who are to be treasured for their simplicity and directness." The reviewer from the Financial Times called the play "beautifully written," adding that "every line is a heartbeat."

The Rubicon production of LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC begins previews tonight, April 15 and continues through May 10 at the theatre, 1006 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA 93001. For information and tickets, call (805) 667-2900 or go to www.rubicontheatre.org.

Farmer, a 21-year-old who is a recent graduate of the University of Warwick in England, directs LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC. Says Rubicon Producing Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns, "Katharine is a wunderkind, and has experience and savvy well beyond her years. She has already acted, directed and produced her own shows in and around London. Her production of Noël Coward's Still Life (also Brief Encounter) was one of the top-grossing shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2012."

Farmer first came in contact with Rubicon when the company's production of Daddy Long Legs played the St. James Theatre in London, where she was to work the following summer (assisting renowned director Trevor Nunn on the highly acclaimed production of Scenes from a Marriage.)

Farmer began reading new plays for Rubicon and came to California during a spring break from university to co-produce three of the shows which she had read as part of the Plays-in-Progress series. One of the plays selected for the series, 23.5 (later retitled Conviction), was co-produced in 2014 by Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, Rubicon and Dead Posh. Farmer also served as Assistant Director for the production under Scott Schwartz and Katie Lindsay.

After graduating, Farmer came to work with Rubicon on a Cultural Vistas one-year internship, during which time she has been Assistant Director Off-Broadway for Wiesenthal and Lonesome Traveler (working closely with Jenny Sullivan and James O'Neil, respectively). She assisted director Stephanie Coltrin on Rubicon's recent mainstage production of The Last Five Years.

Continues Burns, "We are thrilled to give Katharine a well-earned opportunity to share her talents with our region on this mainstage production."

Farmer has a particular fondness for this play and the delicate and nuanced nature of the writing.

"As the lives of these characters become entwined," says Farmer, "they battle unfulfilled dreams, learn to take chances, and face their failures with courage. The growing inner strength of these two humble people living through an uneasy time steals our hearts and allows us to reflect on fundamental and universal human truths."