InterAct Theatre Company Announces Cast of WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA

InterAct Theatre Company continues its long-time relationship with Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-nominated playwright, Lee Blessing, by producing the World Premiere his latest drama, WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA, which begins performances Friday, April 9, and has its official Opening Night on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA takes aim at an American populace that has grown strikingly complacent in the wake of extraordinary global challenges, exposing one of the world's most intriguing and influential conflicts: the battle between the elected leader of the free world and a democracy of millions.

Commissioned by InterAct in 2008 through its 20/20 New Play Commission program, WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA is a provocative new play by Tony Award nominee Lee Blessing, playwright of A WALK IN THE WOODS, WHORES, and GOING TO ST. IVES. Set in a high-end hotel room at The Hague, WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA imagines former President George W. Bush on the eve of his trial for international war crimes. Tended to by an inscrutable Dutch butler and an alluring masseuse, the President embarks on a long night of drinking, joking, and ruminating, taking the audience through a deep exploration of how we regard our leaders - loving them, fearing them, unintentionally deifying them. WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA examines an American populace that has grown strikingly complacent in the wake of extraordinary global challenges, exposing one of the world's most intriguing and influential conflicts: the battle between the elected leader of the free world and a democracy of millions.

Conan McCarty (playing George W. Bush) makes his InterAct Theatre debut in WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA. In New York, Mr. McCarty has appeared on Broadway in MACBETH with Christopher Plummer and Glenda Jackson, and A FEW GOOD MEN; and Off-Broadway in DARK RAPTURE, ROUNDING THIRD, BEYOND THERAPY, his own DROWNING IN LOCH NESS, and LAKE WATER with EST's Youngblood Program. Regionally, he has appeared in plays by Shakespeare, Shaw, Shepard, Chekhov, Athol Fugard, Steve Martin, Brendan Behan, John Steinbeck, Brian Friel, and J.M. Barrie at such notable theatres as Actors' Theatre of Louisville, Center Stage, The Old Globe, City Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, George Street Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, Pioneer Theater Company, and various nooks and crannies across the nation. Television audiences will remember him from "The Closer," "Nurse Jackie," "Rescue Me," and all members of the "Law & Order" family.

Kim Carson (playing Anna Lisa) makes here InterAct Theatre debut in WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA, but many theatre goers will recognize her from the many roles she's played in the Philadelphia area. Most recently, she played Dorothy in THE WIZARD OF OZ at Media Theatre, as well as reprising her 2008 Barrymore Award-winning role in Azuka's HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH. Other favorite credits include: GREY GARDENS at Philadelphia Theatre Co.; CINDERELLA and SIX SHARACTERS... at Peoples Light and Theatre Co.; and SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM at Walnut Street. She has also worked at Arden Theatre Co., New Jersey Rep, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Peter Schmitz (playing Peit) will be instantly recognizable to InterAct audiences as the soft-spoken yet unscrupulous movie director, Julius, in last season's JIHAD JONES & THE KALASHNIKOV BABES. Other recent credits include roles at Walnut Street Theatre (including HAIRSPRAY and LES MISERABLES), the Arden Theatre (THE DINOSAUR MUSICAL and WINESBURG, OHIO) and Act II Playhouse (ALMOST, MAINE). He has also worked at the Guthrie Theatre, the Minneapolis Children's Theatre, and the Penumbra Theatre, the Yale Repertory Theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre in D.C., the Portland Stage Company in Maine, Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, and the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. In New York, he has played on Broadway (MY FAIR LADY), off-Broadway, and in off-off Broadway (Suzan-Lori Parks' IMPERCEPTIBLE MUTABILITIES IN THE THIRD KINGDOM). Peter's on-camera credits include the Oscar-winning Coen Brothers' movie Fargo.

Paul Meshejian (Director) is the Founding Artistic Director of PlayPenn, a national new play development conference located in Philadelphia, which recently concluded its fifth season. WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA is his third directorial effort for InterAct, having previously directed LAST OF THE BOYS, and SINCE AFRICA. As an actor, Mr. Meshejian also appeared in InterAct's productions of HOUSE, DIVIDED, MASTERGATE and WHORES. Elsewhere, he directed Bill Corbett's HECKLER for 1812 Productions, Russell Davis and Jon Held's TALES OF LUNACY at Touchstone Theatre, Nancy Bagshaw-Reasoner's TOUGH LOVE at Cheltenham Theatre, and a number of short plays for People's Light and Theatre where he has been a company member since 1989. In addition to performing for most of Philadelphia's major theatres he can be seen on film in Equinox and Twelve Monkeys, and on television in "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "The Wire," among others. He has been a member of the faculties at University of the Arts and Arcadia University. In the 1980's he was the founding artistic director of Stage One: Collaboration, a professional theatre in Minneapolis/St. Paul devoted to new and rarely produced works. He has a long history of new play development work as both actor and director in his 14 year relationship with The Playwrights Center in Minneapolis. Mr. Meshejian currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the International Institute for Theatre Research, Freedom Train Productions, and Studio Roanaoke, and is a member of LMDA (Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas).

Lee Blessing (Playwright) is the author of two previous InterAct Theatre Company productions: WHORES and GOING TO ST. IVES. Broadway and London's West End: A WALK IN THE WOODS. Off-Broadway: A BODY OF WATER, GOING TO ST. IVES (Primary Stages), THIEF RIVER (Signature Theatre), CHESAPEAKE (New York Stage & Film at Second Stage), COBB (Lucille Lortel Theatre), DOWN THE ROAD (The Weissberger Group at Atlantic Theater), ELEEMOSYNARY (Manhattan Theatre Company), as well as the 1992-93 Signature Theatre season featuring FORTINBRAS, LAKE STREET EXTENSION, TWO ROOMS and the world premiere of PATIENT A. Recent regional premieres: HEAVEN'S MY DESTINATION (Cleveland Play House), GREAT FALLS (Humana New Play Festival of The Actors Theatre of Louisville), LONESOME HOLLOW, FLAG DAY and WHORES (Contemporary American Theatre Festival), and THE SCOTTISH PLAY (La Jolla Playhouse). Mr. Blessing's plays have received two awards and a citation from the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association as well as awards and nominations from the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, OBIE, Lucille Lortel Awards, L.A. Drama Critics Circle, Humanitas, Drama-Logue, Tony, Pulitzer and Olivier Awards. His work has been premiered by the Yale Repertory Theater, The Guthrie Theater, the Old Globe Theatre, Arena Stage, Steppenwolf, the Alliance Theatre, Florida Stage and A Contemporary Theater in Seattle among many others. Film and television: Cooperstown (for TNT) and episodes for "Homicide: Life On The Street," "Picket Fences" and "Nothing Sacred". He's received grants from the NEA and the Guggenheim, Bush, McKnight and Jerome Foundations. Mr. Blessing heads the graduate playwriting program at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. He is married to playwright/tv writer Melanie Marnich.

The World Premiere production of WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA runs for 29 performances, April 9 - May 9, 2010, on InterAct's home on the Mainstage of The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA. Preview performances will be April 9, 10, 11, and 13. Opening Night will be on Wednesday, April 14 at 7:00 p.m. Performances during InterAct Theatre Company's 2009/2010 Season are Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. New this season, InterAct will also offer a Saturday matinee preview performance on the first Saturday of each run. The Saturday matinee for WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA will be held on April 10 at 2:00 p.m.

2-show subscriptions are now available for the plays remaining in InterAct's 22nd Season. Preview performance subscriptions are $30.00 and "any performance" Flex Pass subscriptions are $48.00. Individual tickets for WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA are also on sale now. Preview performances are $16.00, performances Tuesday through Thursday are $25.00, and performances Friday through Sunday are $29.00. Discounts are available for groups (of 10 or more), seniors (65 and older), and students (with valid I.D.). Students with valid I.D. may also purchase Student Rush tickets for $10.00 five minutes before curtain (based on availability).

Subscriptions and tickets may be purchased by calling InterAct's box office at 215-568-8079, visiting InterAct's website at www.InterActTheatre.org or by dropping by InterAct's offices at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., Philadelphia.

Lee Blessing's WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA is the second play to come out of InterAct's 20/20 New Play Commission program and receive a full production in InterAct's main stage season. Established during InterAct's 2007/2008 20th Anniversary season, the 20/20 New Play Commission program is an ambitious initiative with the goal of awarding twenty new play commissions over a period of six seasons to playwrights who are addressing the issues society will face over the next twenty years. The program was developed to support the creation of new work that fits into InterAct's mission of producing plays that explore the social, political, and cultural issues of our time. Awards range from $2,500 developmental grants, which are given to works already in progress, to $5,000 - $10,000 new play commissions, which go to new, previously or substantially unwritten plays. In addition to WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA, the 2008 recipients of a 20/20 New Play Commission included Michael Whistler for LITTLE LAMB, which was produced by InterAct last season; Tom Coash for VEILS; Eric Pfeffinger for SOME OTHER KIND OF PERSON; and Elaine Romero for THE DALAI LAMA ISN'T WELCOME HERE. The 2009 recipients were Kara Lee Corthron for ETCHED IN SKIN; Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig for LIDLESS, who also won the 2009 Yale Drama Series award in playwriting; Peter Gil-Sheridan for RITU COMES HOME; and Sean Christopher Lewis for THE ROAD TO EDEN.

WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA was commissioned by the friends and family of Cari Feiler Bender, who is a former board member of and long-time friend to InterAct Theatre.

For more information about each of the commissioned plays or to find out how to make a donation in support of the 20/20 New Play Commission program, visit www.InterActTheatre.org.

InterAct's 2009/2010 season concludes with the Philadelphia premiere of BLACK PEARL SINGS!, Frank Higgins' play with music that follows the journey of two extraordinary women - one African American, one Caucasian - each of whom is dependent on the other to gain acceptance in society. In depression-era Texas, Susannah, a song collector for the Library of Congress, tracks down Pearl, a woman imprisoned for murder, hoping to record the treasure trove of spirituals and African folk songs that only Pearl knows. But after Susannah bargains for Pearl's parole and arranges for her to perform at several public events, the two find themselves walking a delicate line between exposure and exploitation. Featuring beautiful, live a capella renditions of little-known American folk songs, BLACK PEARL SINGS! chronicles a powerful story about being a woman in a man's world, being Black in a White world, and losing one's soul in a world where anyone can become a commodity. Directed by Seth Rozin, BLACK PEARL SINGS! runs May 28 through June 27, 2010.

Founded in 1988, InterAct is a theatre for today's world, producing new and contemporary plays that explore the social, political, and cultural issues of our time. InterAct's aim is to educate, as well as entertain, its audiences, by producing world-class, thought-provoking productions, and by using theatre as a tool to foster positive social change. Through its artistic and educational programs, InterAct seeks to make a significant contribution to the cultural life of Philadelphia and to the American theatre. To date, InterAct has presented 67 main stage productions, including 28 world premieres, 2 U.S. premieres, and more than 30 Philadelphia premieres. The company has received 39 Barrymore Award nominations and 13 Awards. InterAct's main stage productions have provided work for over 500 local artists.

In addition to the 4-play mainstage season, InterAct Theatre's major programming includes InterAction, a program of experiential workshops and residencies in area schools that utilize theatre as a tool to illuminate pressing social problems in the community; the 20/20 New Play Commissioning program, an ambitious new initiative that will award twenty new play commissions over six seasons; New Play Development, working closely with playwrights to develop plays that adhere to the company's mission; and the Kaki Marshall Arts and Community Award, an annual fundraising event that recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the lively arts in Philadelphia.