Little Fish Theatre presents the World Premiere of THE ITHACA LADIES READ MEDEA

Little Fish Theatre is proud to present The Ithaca Ladies Read Medea as the ninth production of its 2016 season. From Nicholl Fellowship and Seattle Off Broadway Playwrights Award-winning writer Arthur M. Jolly, this World Premiere production takes place during the Red Scare and examines how far friendships are stretched when one woman betrays her friends.

The Ithaca Ladies Read Medea takes place in a university town in 1953, where five faculty wives (and an observant maid) have met for a play reading of Medea by Euripides. It is the height of the House Un-American Activities Committee's power, and when it is revealed that one of the women has informed against the others to save her husband's position at the University, secrets are exposed that will change all of their lives forever.

Ithaca's cast is made up of a refreshing mix of new and familiar faces to Little Fish audiences. The newcomers include Kristin Carey who plays perfect hostess Alison, and Marti Hale* who plays the secretive Bridget, both of whom have husbands under investigation. Carey has appeared in over 60 national commercials and numerous TV Shows, including Newsroom, and CSI: Cyber and a recurring role on Scandal as Brooke Foster. Hale has worked at Knightsbridge Theatre and the National American Shakespeare Company where she performed in over 30 productions. LFT company member Tara Donovan, last seen in LFT's Ethan Claymore, plays Katie, the maid who knows more than the ladies realize. Other Ithaca ladies are played by Little Fish company members Mary-Margaret Lewis* (LFT's Rapture, Blister, Burn and The Gin Game), Shirley Hatton* (LFT's Domestic Tranquility and StageScene LA Award winner for Sweeney Todd), and Kathryn Farren (LFT's short play festival Pick of the Vine 2016). The cast is rounded out by company member and frequent director James Rice, last seen on stage in LFT's world premiere production of And The Stones Will Cry Out.

Director Danielle Ozymandias is collaborating with her husband, playwright Arthur M. Jolly on The Ithaca Ladies Read Medea, their eighth production together. Ozymandias last directed the powerful drama The How and The Why at LFT and is a Co-Artistic Director of SacRed Fools Theatre where she most recently directed A Gulag Mouse, also written by Jolly. "My inspiration for the play was my grandmother and her friends," says Jolly, "who were longtime members of an actual amateur drama club in Ithaca - a group of very intelligent, well-read faculty wives who met monthly for a play reading and to dish about the secrets they could never share in front of their husbands. When I started writing the play, it took a political twist I wasn't expecting. Given today's divisive political climate, I started seeing parallels now to the "Red Scare" of the fifties, and the way that outside politics can drive a wedge between long time friends. At its heart, it's a play about the things we never say out loud... sometimes to protect our friends, sometimes to conceal our own shame." Ozymandias states, "I hope the audience feels a deep connection to this time in history and sees the alarming parallels within the current political rhetoric."

The Ithaca Ladies Read Medea will run September 23 through October 22 on Fridays and Saturdays, with one Sunday matinee on October 16 at 2:00pm. The October 16 matinee features a special Talkback session where the creative team will be available for 10 to 15 minutes for a post-show discussion with the audience.

Founded in 2002, Little Fish Theatre presents classic and contemporary plays in an intimate setting on Centre Street in downtown San Pedro. Producing eleven plays each year in a one-room, 65-seat venue, Little Fish delivers the quintessential close-up theatrical experience, where audience and performers share space and sight lines, making for eruptive laughter, highly-charged action, and palpable emotion.

*This production is presented under the auspices of the Actors' Equity Los Angeles Membership Company Rule.