Strange Sun Theater Stages THE ORCHARD and ANGEL FOOD CAKE in Rep

Strange Sun Theater - under the direction of Artistic Director Jessica Bashline - concludes its fourth season with productions of two works, THE ORCHARD, a new adaptation of the Chekhov classic, and ANGEL FOOD CAKE. Performances will begin October 20th in The Flamboyan Theater at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk Street, Manhattan.

In THE ORCHARD, a mother returns home as the family estate is to be sold. At the brink of uncertainty the family revisits the past while hoping for a future. This new adaptation is a contemporary take on Chekhov's classic play about family and the changes they must endure.

After Nashville crushes her country music dreams, Jean returns home to win back the man she left behind. When she discovers he's engaged, she nearly suffers a breakdown that her family can't repair. Set in a trailer on the lot of a drive-in theater, one family wrestles with faith, doubt, obsession, and the lies they'd rather live. ANGEL FOOD CAKE has spent 18 months in development as part of the Strange Sun Theater Greenhouse Project.

Scheduled tonight, October 20, through October 29, Schedules for each show are as follows...

The Orchard: 10/20 & 10/22 @8PM, 10/23 @2PM, 10/25 & 10/26 @7PM, 10/29 @8PM
Angel Food Cake: 10/21 @ 8PM, 10/22 @2PM, 10/23 & 10/24 @7PM, 10/27& 28 @8PM, 10/29 @2PM

Performances at The Flamboyan Theater at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center in Manhattan. All Tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at www.strangesuntheater.com.

For more information on THE ORCHARD, ANGEL FOOD CAKE or Strange Sun Theater, visit www.strangesuntheater.com.

THE ORCHARD and ANGEL FOOD CAKE both explore families in denial and on the brink. They speak to each other across 100 years-- from Russia to the American South.

Born and raised in Kentucky, Kelli Lynn Burton (ANGEL FOOD CAKE: Playwright) has written scripts for Emmy Award-winning documentaries for History Channel and PBS. She is employed by a renowned puppet workshop where she works with the Muppets and Sesame Studios. Her

short plays have been produced by Grex Group Theater (New York), Fort Point Theatre (Boston), and Fusion Theater Company (Albuquerque).

The creative team for THE ORCHARD & ANGEL FOOD CAKE includes; Jonathan Cottle, Scenic Design and Michelle Tobias, Lighting Design; Marissa Shadburn, AD THE ORCHARD; Kat Gavornik, Production Stage Manager.

This is world premiere of both THE ORCHARD and ANGEL FOOD CAKE. ANGEL FOOD CAKE was developed over the course of the past 18 months in Strange Sun Theater's Greenhouse Program.

Strange Sun Theater's mission is to tell stories that illuminate our humanity through a shared experience of the magic of theater. We are compelled to be of service to artists exploring new work that shares this vision. We are committed to developing work that focuses on this shared humanity, releases us from the ordinary and ignites within us the power of possibility.

Directed by Erin Gorski (Infinity Theatre Company, Berkshire Theatre Festival) the cast of ANGEL FOOD CAKE features a dynamic group of performers including; Lisa Kitchens (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater/The Cherry Lane, ACT), Geraldine Leer (New Ohio, Roundabout, La Jolla), Barbra Wengerd (The Old Globe, National Shakespeare Co.), Brandon Burton and Dillon Heape (ACT, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival).

Sean B. Leo (THE ORCHARD: adaptation & direction) is a Brooklyn based Director and Media Designer for theater and performance, his designs have been seen off-Broadway at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Middle-Voice Theater Company, as well as numerous shows at The Richard B. Fisher Center. He has worked at the Lincoln Center Director's Lab, Second Stage Theater. Sean is the Associate Artistic Director of Strange Sun Theater and also works with Performance Space 122, CATCH performance series and a theatrical consulting group developing new arts spaces in New York City. THE ORCHARD features the work of a phenomenal ensemble of actors, Hadley Boyd, Paul Albe, Michael Donaldson, Cesar J. Rosado, Jade' Davis, Varvara Ilchenko, and Alec Silberblatt.