WorkShop Theater Company Presents Giovannetti’s TARRAGONA, Now thru 10/27

WorkShop Theater Company is pleased to announce the world premiere production of Gary Giovannetti's TARRAGONA, directed by Elysa Marden. TARRAGONA will play a limited engagement on the Main Stage at WorkShop Theater (312 West 36th Street, 4th Floor). Performances begin tonight, October 4 and continue through Saturday, October 27. Opening Night is Saturday, October 6 (8 pm).

Greg has a miserable existence in New York City. He's unappreciated at work, unlucky in love, and he's never fully gotten over his brother's premature death. But one day he receives an e-mail from a mysterious Spanish woman and his life turns upside down! A story that ranges from The Big Apple to the Mediterranean coast, Tarragona serves as a passport to romance, fun, and the unexpected! Tarragona is a comedy about the joys, heartbreaks, and risks of living in an increasingly interconnected world.

The production features C.K. Allen as Nelson, Tom Berdik* as Greg,Lori Faiella* as Ana, Stephen Girasuolo* as Jaume, Cecily Benjamin Hughes* as Amy, Lidia Ornero as Cristina, and Jonathan Weber as Charles. *Performing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association. AEA approved showcase.

Tarragona, associate-produced by Amanda Sayle, features scenic design by Jay Ryan, costume design by Kimberly Jones, and lighting design by Deborah Constantine. Projections are designed by Chris Kateff, fight choreography by Diego Villada, and the dialect coach is Lidia Ornero. DeLisa M. White is the producing director and sound designer, and Caitlin Saporito is the stage manager.

TARRAGONA plays the following regular schedule through Saturday, October 27: Thursday at 7pm; Friday and Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 3pm. Special additional performance Monday, October 25 at 7pm. Ticket prices are $18 for general tickets and $15 Students/Seniors and are now available online at workshoptheater.org. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the theater 30 minutes prior to performance. The running Time is 90 minutes.

Gary Giovannetti (Playwright) Gary Giovannetti's plays have been performed in the U.S., China, and Australia. Previous plays seen at the WorkShop include Soundtrack to Cezanne, American Thighs and Down the Shaw. Gary's play Night by Michelangelo (developed at the WorkShop) was given a critically acclaimed production at Harvest Theatre in Toledo, Ohio, in 2005. American Thighs and The Canonization of Bill Buckner were semifinalists at the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival. Gary's short play The Tale of Saint Jude and the Donut Queen appears in the anthology Plays and Playwrights 2001. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Blue Roses Productions, and Write On!

Elysa Marden (Director) directs in New York City, regionally, and internationally. Off-Broadway, she directed the world premieres Esoterica, written and performed by Eric Walton (DR2), and I Hear (Oigo). Other NYC credits include The Sugar Mile (92nd Street Y), The Forever Waltz, Rattlesnake, Iphigenia, No Exit, Christopher Logue's The Husbands, Goethe's Persephone with A Phoenix Too Frequent, and The Cocktail Party. She has developed new plays with Liz Amberly, P. Seth Bauer, Mariana Carreño, Steven Fechter, Dana Leslie Goldstein, Henry Guzmán, Arlene Hutton, and Glyn Maxwell at such venues as New Dramatists, York Theater Co., Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, Verse Theater Manhattan, Mabou Mines, Women's Project, the A-Train Plays, and WorkShop Theater Co.

Elysa's regional credits include Dead Man's Cell Phone (Millbrook Playhouse, PA), Fuddy Meers (Capital Rep, Albany; Best of 2004, Troy Record); A Shayna Maidel, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and I'll Be Back Before Midnight (Brown Summer Theatre, RI); Blood Wedding and The Persians (Ancient Mask Rep, DC). University work includes Homebody/Kabul (University of Toledo; finalist for KCACTF), Ellen McLaughlin's Trojan Women and June Moon (Brooklyn College). Her work has been seen internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe (The Forever Waltz, 2005) and at Canadian Fringe Festivals (This Town, winner, 2002 Media Choice Award for Best Play at the Saskatoon Fringe).

She was a member of the Women's Project Directors Forum (2001–3) and the coordinator for the Ford Foundation–funded Women's Project Artistic Leadership Program. Her undergraduate studies at Brown University focused on Anthropology, and she also holds a Certificate in Film from NYU/SCPS. She participated in the La MaMa Third International Symposium for Directors, and served as Co-Artistic Director of WorkShop Theater Company during 2003–6. SDC.

Elysa is currently a Producing Director at Arts Brookfield, one of the largest privately funded public arts programs in the country. www.elysamarden.com

WorkShop Theater Company's mission is to provide a creative home for a diverse group of playwrights, directors and actors. The WorkShop has developed hundreds of plays, among them Eddie Antar's NY Times Critic's Pick, Drama Desk nominated and NY Innovative Theatre Award-winning hit, The Navigator, Ken Jaworowski's Interchange,  and Allan Knee's The Man Who Was Peter Pan, which became the Academy Award-nominated, Finding Neverland, produced by Nellie Bellflower and receiving an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay by David Magee, both of whom are WorkShop Theater Company alumni.