Square Product Theatre Announces 12th Season Opener HOUSE OF GOLD

The character of JonBenét Ramsey, whose 1996 murder in Boulder spurred an international media obsession that continues to this day, is at the heart of the controversial, allegorical play "House of Gold," by Gregory S. Moss, which will open square product theatre's 12th season in a regional premiere July 29.

A funny, frightening and surreal allegory about childhood trauma, "House of Gold" explores American dreams of "whiteness," patriarchal failures and the cannibalistic nature of celebrity, all through the eyes of JonBenét Ramsey, whose story became a media obsession and enduring mystery after she was murdered in 1996 in Boulder.

A lost little girl is brought back to a house, very much like the one she grew up in, by a strange man and woman, who have recently lost (or misplaced) their own child. While interfacing with the bizarre characters now inhabiting the home, she meets a surly, lonely neighborhood boy. The children form an awkward friendship, in an attempt to survive the increasingly menacing forces threatening them from inside their own homes.

"We've thought long and hard about whether it was appropriate to present this play in Boulder," says Emily K. Harrison, square product theatre producing artistic director. "We understand that the subject matter is difficult for our community, and we in no way wish to further sensationalize the event or exploit the death of a child. We've sat with this play for a few years now, and ultimately decided to produce it because we believe it presents exactly the sorts of questions and challenges that our community needs in order to grow stronger, and it does so powerfully and unapologetically."

Los Angeles-based director and square product theatre Artistic Associate Gleason Bauer agrees.

"The death, investigation into and aftermath of JonBenét Ramsey's murder was a tragedy," Bauer says. "As a culture, we couldn't get enough of it. The unfinished story gnawed at us; we couldn't bear that gaping, unknown, unsatisfying ending. And yet it also titillated us; made us feel alive and purposeful as we tried to solve the crime for ourselves, searching for clues that would help us avoid such tragedy in our own lives. We were and are desperate for certainty."

The play, however, does not seek to solve the crime or propose answers.

"It's about something much larger than what happened in Boulder 20 years ago," Harrison says. "It's not a piece of realism; the characters serve as archetypes - they aren't meant to represent or fictionalize the real people involved in JonBenét's story. Instead, the play uses allegory to examine very real and pervasive problems within our culture, including the sexualization and objectification of girls and women, life in affluent, predominately white communities like Boulder, and our morbid, voyeuristic fascination with the sad and shocking stories of public and community figures."

"House of Gold" by Gregory S. Moss

produced by square product theatre

Directed by Gleason Bauer

Featuring Alexis Cooley, Jacob Dorr, Emily K. Harrison, John Hauser, Andrew Horsford, Moses Hunter, Michelle Moore, Mark Rudolph and Andrew Seracuse, with original compositions by Janet Feder and a live sound score performed by Todd Bilsborough

Previews:

7:30 p.m., Thursday, July 27 and Friday, July 28

Run dates and times:

7:30 p.m., Saturday, July 29; Thursday, Aug. 3; Friday, Aug. 4; Saturday, Aug. 5; Monday, Aug. 7; Thursday, Aug. 10; Friday, Aug. 11; Saturday, Aug. 12

6 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 6

Venue: The ATLAS Black Box Theater on the University of Boulder Colorado campus

1125 18th St., Boulder, Colo.

Tickets:

$22 general admission; $14 students; $16 seniors

2-for-1 tickets July 27, July 28, Aug. 3, and Aug. 10; all seats $15 Aug. 7.

Early Bird Discount for tickets purchased by noon, July 16!

Tickets available at http://houseofgold.brownpapertickets.com or 800-838-3006

About the playwright:

Gregory S. Moss is a writer, educator and performer from Newburyport, Mass. He holds an MFA in dramatic writing from Brown University's Literary Arts Program. His work has been produced at Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep, Steppenwolf, La Comédie-Française, EST-LA, Clubbed Thumb, Capital T Theatre and South Coast Rep (I would give the full name of each company), among others. His plays include Indian Summer, punkplay, I Promised Myself to Live Faster (with Pig Iron Theatre Company), Reunion, Billy Witch, House of Gold, sixsixsix (choose whether you want to italicize titles, or put in quotes as above; AP style, for newspapers, is quotes; modified CU AP style is italics), and others. He is currently working on commissions from Woolly Mammoth and, in collaboration with composer/lyricist Joe Iconis, creating a new musical based on the life and work of Hunter S. Thompson for La Jolla Playhouse.

Moss is a 2012 MacDowell Fellow, an affiliated artist (generally titles are l.c. in AP unless coming directly before a name) with Clubbed Thumb, a member of SPACE at Ryder Farm's inaugural Working Farm writers group, a Playwrights Center core member (ditto), and the recipient of a 2010-2011 Jerome Fellowship and a 2011-2012 McKnight Fellowship. gregorysmoss.com

square product theatre's mission: The mission of award-winning, Boulder-based square product theatre is to engage in radical acts of inquiry that leave an audience with just as many questions as answers. For more information, visit squareproducttheatre.org.