Mad Horse Theatre Presents ALLIGATOR ROAD, Now thru 3/29

Mad Horse Theatre Company will present the world premiere of Alligator Road by Maine playwright Callie Kimball, directed by Reba Short.

Alligator Road is set in central Florida's oldest hardware store where Kathy, a recent widow, has yarn-bombed all the hammers, saws, and paint cans. It's a gesture of whimsy before she hands the store over to Lavinia as an act of reparations. But when Kathy's daughter Candace arrives on the scene, she'll do anything to stop her mother from throwing away the family store. First presented during the inaugural season of Mad Horse Theatre's popular BY LOCAL new play reading series, Alligator Road is a sly comedy that unravels ideas about entitlement and the price of freedom.

Local playwright Callie Kimball's plays have been produced to critical acclaim across the country. Her play MAY 39th will enjoy its fifth production in Los Angeles this summer, and her play Dreams of the Penny Gods, which is set in Biddeford, Maine, will be produced by Chicago's Halcyon Theatre next year. She teaches playwriting at Maine College of Art.

Playwright Kimball says, "The media often presents race issues as if there are only two sides, I suspect because an Us Against Them narrative is easier to create and consume. But who is Us and who is Them? Racism, both overt and casual, undermines our society as a whole. I will never understand what it is to be black in America, no matter how much I empathize or educate myself. But I understand what it is to want to do something about it."

Mad Horse Company member Reba Short, who is also Artistic Director of the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine, directs Alligator Road. "Directing new work is such an exciting process! Having Callie in the room for rehearsals has been a tremendous resource. This is a play that takes a political issue and makes it a personal family matter between four characters, each with a lot at stake. To me it's about the price of freedom."

Mad Horse Artistic Director Christine Louise Marshall plays Kathy, a woman who is driven in equal parts by the desire to rid herself of her old life and by the desire to make amends on the issue of race. Mad Horse Company member Mark Rubin plays Scott, and Company member Marie Stewart Harmon plays Kathy's daughter Candace, aka "Hurricane Candy." Bright newcomer Sarabeth Connelly, a pre-med sophomore at the University of Southern Maine, plays Chantay.

The design team includes Chris Sullivan, Corey Anderson, Scott Leland, Christine Louise Marshall, Matt Silverman, Jennifer Halm-Perazone, Nate Speckman, and Stacey Mancine Koloski. Props designer Megan Tripaldi is also leading a team of nearly a dozen knitters who, in a true community crowdsourcing effort, are creating the set dressing for the yarn-bombed hardware store during weekly knitting circles where they get to observe the play in process.

Mad Horse Theatre Company was founded in 1986 in Portland as a professional resident theater ensemble. The Company quickly developed a reputation for innovative interpretations of cutting-edge contemporary plays as well as the dramatic classics. Its mission has been the driving force behind a history of productions that have added to Maine's artistic enrichment and to the social discourse that is at the heart of a strong community.

Alligator Road runs tonight, March 12-29, 2015, at the Mad Horse Theater in the historic Hutchins School, 24 Mosher Street, South Portland.

Performance times are Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30, and Sunday afternoons at 2pm. There will be an Opening Night Reception immediately following the Friday, March 13 performance.

A post-show Talkback has been scheduled for Sunday, March 22, after the 2pm matinee. There is also a Pinterest board for the production that offers context and resources for the play's themes, including court cases, profiles of African-Americans, and Ta-Nehisi Coates's landmark article on Reparations from last summer: https://www.pinterest.com/alligatorroad/

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors/students. As always, Mad Horse offers Pay What You Can performances each Thursday during the run, as available at the door.

Reservations are strongly recommended. Purchase tickets online at www.madhorse.com or call 747-4148 for more information. Please call for Group Rates.