The Edge Theater to Premiere THE FAMILIARS, 12/5-28

Once again The Edge Theater has commissioned an original work written by a local playwright. This year the writer is Ellen K. Graham and the work is an original, family friendly holiday comedy entitled "The Familiars."

The Edge Theater presents "The Familiars" December 5 - 28 at 1560 Teller Street in Lakewood. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sunday, December 7, 14 and 21 at 6 p.m., Sunday, December 21and 28 at 2 p.m. and a $15 Industry Night on Monday, December 22 @ 8 p.m. Tickets are $18 - $24 ($15 on Dec. 22) and available online at www.theedgetheater.com or by calling 303-232-0363. Group rates are available and parking is free.

Honora Burdock is all about holiday traditions: the meticulously staged family photos, the cookie-baking marathons, even the turducken. But it's Christmas Eve, the family has gathered, and Honora just doesn't seem quite...herself. Who of her three children-dutiful but commitment-phobic Kath, people-pleaser/occasional huffer Dom, glamorous and inefficient Chris-will marshal the family festivities in her stead? A comedy about what traditions are worth keeping and what happens when we step off the holiday hamster wheel.

Playwright Ellen K. Graham says, "The Familiars" grew out a series of workshops where we (writer, director, and actors) discussed our personal experiences of the holidays. One theme that emerged was traditions: how they are created, perpetuated, and sometimes enforced against the will of seemingly everyone. What would happen if those dreaded rituals suddenly disappeared?"

Director Angela Astle has lined up a terrific cast that includes Carol Bloom (Honora), Paula Jayne Friedland (Kath), Patty Ionoff (Chris), Augustus Truhn (Dom), Suzanne Nepi (Fee), Missy Moore (Diana) and Jim Valone (Richard).

Ellen K. Graham is a Denver playwright. Her plays include "What the Good Man Does is Always Right," "Genius of Love," "The Night Season," "Crasher/Hostess" and "How We May Know Him." Her play "The Wave That Set the Fire" was a finalist for the 2014 O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference, a semifinalist for the Seven Devils Theatre Conference and a selection of the Last Frontier Theatre Conference. The A Room of Her Own Foundation recently named her a finalist for the Shakespeare's Sister Fellowship. She is the founder of the theatrical production company Feral Assembly, a co-founder of Shocking Beyond Belief! Films ("The Sword of Truth Behind the Shield of Entertainment") and a frequent contributor to the live storytelling shows The Narrators and Stories, Stories, Bring Your Stories. She is a University of Chicago graduate and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.