Annenberg Center Presents TRUTH VALUES, Now thru 10/5

Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has announced the award-winning Gioia De Cari's TRUTH VALUES: One Girl's Romp Through M.I.T.'s Male Math Maze, directed by Miriam Eusebio will play five performances at The Harold Prince Theatre, Annenberg Performing Arts Center (3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104), in addition to five other cities this Fall Season. Performances begin tonight, October 1 and continue through Saturday, October 5.

Nonbinary algorithms and sexism collide in TRUTH VALUES: One Girl's Romp Through M.I.T.'s Male Math Maze, a painfully funny show about one woman's struggle to navigate the elite boys club of higher mathematics. In 2005, Lawrence Summers, then president of Harvard University, suggested that women are less represented than men in the sciences because of innate gender differences. TRUTH VALUES is one woman's brilliant?and entertaining?response. Writer/performer and 'recovering mathematician' Gioia De Cari brings to life more than 30 characters in a true-life tale that offers a humorous, scathing, insightful, and ultimately uplifting look at the challenges of being a professional woman in a male-dominated field. TRUTH VALUESwon an Overall Excellence Award for Best Solo Show at the New York International Fringe Festival.

After winning best solo show at FringeNYC, TRUTH VALUES has had great national success. The numbers so far: 1 actor + 33 characters + 85 performances + 45 sold-out performances + 39 venues + 52 talkbacks + 13 states =
over 14,000 audience members nationwide. There have been sell-out performances in larger venues throughout the country, such as at The Barclay, Irvine, 750 seats and the La Jolla Playhouse Potiker Theatre, 400 seats.

The production features costumes by Corina Chase, sound engineering and production management by Tony Mayes and lighting design by Chris Dallos.

TRUTH VALUES plays the following schedule: Tuesday - Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20-$30 ($10 student rush) and are now available online at http://www.annenbergcenter.org/tickets/?id=316 or 215-898-3900. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the theatre's box office. Running Time: 75 minutes. Website: unexpectedtheatre.org

Truth Values Fall Season 2013:

September 25
Sharp Theater, Berrie Center for the Performing Arts, Mahwah, NJ

October 1-5
Harold Prince Theatre, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA

October 17
Memorial Auditorium, Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA

October 30
Rudder Theatre, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX

November 5
Stone Theatre, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA

November 13
Fowler Hall, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

BIOGRAPHIES:

GIOIA DE CARI (Playwright/Performer) passionately eclectic De Cari is an actress, playwright, classical singer and 'recovering mathematician.' She began her performance career in experimental opera while a teaching fellow in mathematical logic at Harvard University. Since then, she has played numerous leading acting roles in theater, commercials and films, including the multi-award winning film Lower East Side Stories, which screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Slamdance, and many festivals in the U.S. and internationally. Gioia's first solo play, The 9th Envelope, received a rave in the Off-Off-Broadway Review (OOBR): 'De Cari commanded the stage with energy, poise and range.'

Her second solo, Truth Values: One Girl's Romp Through M.I.T.'s Male Math Maze, an autobiographical story of her past life as a mathematician, has become a runaway national hit. After receiving aPuffin Foundation grant, Truth Values premiered in the New York International Fringe Festival in August 2009, winning an Overall Excellence Award for Best Solo Show and enthusiastic reviews,'[FOUR STARS] De Cari ... inhabits no fewer than 30 roles with gusto' (TimeOut New York). 'Funny and insightful ... replete with hilarious characters ... The story is riveting ... go see this show!' (CurtainUp). Truth Values continues to be in demand for touring engagements at universities and performing arts centers throughout the United States.

Gioia has studied acting with legendary teacher Wynn Handman and playwriting with the late Milan Stitt of Carnegie Mellon. After graduating summa cum laude from UC Berkeley, she earned a Master of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An accomplished singer as well, Gioia released her debut album, Quiet Songs, with her husband, classical guitarist John Olson, in 2006. They have toured throughout the United States. Gioia is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA and The Dramatists Guild.

MIRIAM EUSEBIO (Director) is an award-winning director, playwright and teacher. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Director's Lab and an Associate Member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Her work on classic theater has been lauded by critics, garnering her two OOBR Awards for Excellence: Pericles (Expanded Arts) and Taming of the Shrew (New Perspectives). Other classic work includes A Midsummer Night's Dream (New Perspectives) and Oedipus at Colonus (Brooklyn College).

Previous work includes The Hard Way by Gino DiIorio (New Jersey Rep), Where Have You Been by FIona Jones (Manhattan Theater Source), Schadenfreude! The Asshole Differential Explained by Moira Cutler (Dixon Place, Wow Cafe Theater), Mrs. Miller by Andrea Cirie and Joseph Collins (Sounding Theater), Private Eyes by Steven Dietz (Brooklyn College), The 9th Envelope by Gioia De Cari (Dumbo Theater Exchange) and Take Care of Yourself by Diana Fithian (Estrogenius). Miriam's playwriting work has also appeared at Estrogenius with her short play Avarice Fantasy, directed by Erin Brindley.

Under her own company, Intentional Theater, she produced an original one-act by Doreen Perrine, Faces . . . Voices mentioned in The Blade as 'Inspiring . . . well worth seeking out.' Intentional Theater presented Happy Days by Samuel Beckett in February of 2009, using Beckett's production notebook, having obtained permission to incorporate the changes to the text that Beckett made to his production in 1979. Miriam and Intentional Theater are members of Wow Cafe Theater, a collectively operated theater space for women and transgendered people.

Miriam studied Theater at California State University at Chico (BA Theater Arts), and Brooklyn College (MFA Directing), as well as Drama Studio London at Berkeley summer program and two intensive workshops with Joe Chaikin.

The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts: The University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has been the region's leading multi-disciplinary performance venue for theatre, dance, jazz, world music, new music and children's programming since its inception in 1971. The Annenberg Center's curatorial vision emphasizes four primary values: artistic integrity, cultural diversity, curatorial balance and a willingness to take risks. By presenting world-renowned and cutting edge artists and companies that express adventuresome perspectives on contemporary issues, timeless ideas and diverse cultures, the Annenberg Center promotes critical thinking and dialogue among its audiences, creating a uniquely rewarding arts experience.

The Annenberg Center has achieved national recognition for its outstanding Dance Celebration series (presented in partnership with Philadelphia's Dance Affiliates), touring theatre series and for its superior offerings for children, including both its Student Discovery Series and the acclaimed 30-year Philadelphia International Children's Festival, the oldest festival of its kind in the United States.

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