Artists Rep to Present ITHAKA, 5/28-6/30

How long does the battle continue after a soldier returns home? Artists Repertory Theatre is honored to present Andrea Stolowitz's challenging new play, Ithaka, with extensive enrichment programming. Ithaka runs May 28 through June 30 on the Morrison Stage, 1515 SW Morrison, Portland, OR.

With this newly commissioned play, Oregon playwright Andrea Stolowitz examines the issues involved with coming home from war, for both soldiers and their families. Marine Captain Elaine Edwards has just returned from her latest tour in Afghanistan but this time things are different - home doesn't feel right and nothing makes sense. After a blow-up fight with her husband propels her to skip town, she undertakes an Odyssean journey through the American landscape battling her demons, trying to find her way home.

Ithaka is "about the intensity of human connections in a war zone and at home," says the playwright, Andrea Stolowitz. "[This is] a play for our times about war, friendships, guilt, being human and staying alive." Stolowitz's work draws from interviews with more than 20 veterans and their families.

"It took Homer's Odysseus 10 years of wandering to make it to his beloved home, Ithaka, after the Trojan War," says Director Gemma Whelan. "Lanie, a Marine Captain in Andrea Stolowitz's Ithaka has returned home from Afghanistan, but hasn't been able to leave the war behind; she still carries the conflict inside of her. This play is set on a large canvas against a backdrop of war, the desert, and even a hyper-coaster, but it is ultimately a very personal journey of how to begin to make peace with the past."

In early 2011, two longtime supporters of Artists Rep approached Artistic Director Allen Nause with a proposal to commission a new script to be produced and performed at the theatre. In January 2011, Artists Rep invited playwrights from across the county to submit their ideas for the now-named Fowler/Levin Prize. Of the 14 playwrights who submitted proposals, Stolowitz's play concept was the unanimous choice by the artistic leadership at the theatre.

Made possible thanks to the generosity and vision of commissioning donors Irving Levin and Stephanie Fowler, Stolowitz was awarded the phenomenal $25,000 Fowler/Levin Prize in the Fall of 2011. She has written and developed this timely piece as the final production of Artists Rep's 2012/13 season.

Message from Irving Levin and Stephanie Fowler: "Our hope for Ithaka is that it enlightens general audiences, provides deep meaning to returning veterans, and that it advances the aims of Artists Rep, Andrea, and the cast and production staff.....and maybe even inspires someone else to commission a new play!"

Ithaka, written by Andrea Stolowitz and directed by Gemma Whelan, features Dana Millican, Victor Mack, Paul Angelo, Danielle Purdy, Valerie Stevens, with scenic design by Tal Sanders.

Performance Dates: May 28-June 30, Tuesday through Sunday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:00pm; Wednesday matinee at 11:00am on June 19. Opening Night is Friday, May 31. All shows run at Artists Repertory Theatre's Morrison Stage (15th & Morrison St.)

Tickets: $25-$50. Box Office: 503.241.1278 or www.artistsrep.org. On the web: Website, Facebook, Twitter.

ENRICHMENT & EDUCATION: In an effort to provide a supportive experience for our patrons and to engage with military personnel and veterans groups in our community, Artists Rep has extensive outreach and educational events surrounding this production that will include the following:

· May 28: FREE preview for members of the military and their families @ 7:30pm

· May 29-June 2: two-for-one tickets with military ID or veteran's card

· June 2: post-show discussion with members of Returning Veterans Project; after 2pm matinee

· June 8: "A Conversation Between the Lens and the Stage" Photographer Jim Lommasson and playwright Andrea Stolowitz discuss their processes for creating works based on veteran interviews; 5:30-7pm. This program was made possible in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities, a statewide nonprofit organization and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds OH's grant program.

· June 9: post-show discussion; after 2pm matinee

· June 15: Jim Lommasson gives a guided tour of his lobby exhibit; 6:30-7:15pm

· June 16: post-show discussion; after 2pm matinee

· June 19: post-show discussion; after 11am matinee

· June 23: Education Panel with members of Oregon Psychoanalytic Center; after 2pm matinee

· June 23: Read/Watch/Talk Book Club; after 2pm matinee; The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya

May 28-June 30: Morrison Lobby

§ Education and support materials available in the lobby, including a Study Guide, a resource list for members of the military and their families.

§ Card-writing station for our patrons to send notes to our military serving overseas, at home or are injured and in the hospital through www.amillionthanks.org.

ART INSTALLATION - JIM LOMMASSON: In conjunction with Ithaka, our lobby will feature a visceral photography and first-person writing installation by Jim Lommasson, which draws from his extensive interaction with veterans. Lommasson has created this site-specific installation specifically for Ithaka thanks to a grant from Oregon Humanities. Lommasson is a freelance photographer and writer living in Portland, Oregon. He received the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize from The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University for his first book, Shadow Boxers: Sweat, Sacrifice & The Will To Survive In American Boxing Gyms. In 2009, Oregon State University Press published Lommasson's Oaks Park Pentimento: Portland's Lost and Found Carousel. He is currently working on a book and traveling exhibition about American Veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and their lives after their return from war, called Exit Wounds: Soldiers' Stories - Life After Iraq and Afghanistan. The book will include Lommasson's photographs, and photographs and writing by the participants. Lommasson received a 2008 Couture stipend from the New American Art Union for the Exit Wounds exhibition. He was awarded a Regional Arts and Culture Council Project Grant for What We Carried, and is a 2012 Oregon Humanities Conversation Grant Recipient for his public discussion "Life after War: Photography and Oral Histories of Coming Home." Lommasson's lobby installation will invite theatre patrons and the general public to explore the experiences of hundreds of veterans through photography and written narrative.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Andrea Stolowitz is a playwright living in Portland, Oregon and a proud member of Playwrights West. Her plays have been produced nationally and internationally. The LA Times calls her work "heartbreaking" and the Orange County Register characterizes her approach as a "brave refusal to sugarcoat...issues and tough decisions."

A recipient of Artists Repertory Theatre's $25,000 Fowler/Levin Prize, Andrea will premiere her newest work, Ithaka, at the theatre May 28 to June 30, 2013.

Her previous play Antarktikos premiered at Pittsburgh Playhouse in March, 2013 and won the Oregon Book Awards' Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama in April 2013. Andrea's screenwriting work includes Jonathan's War, a feature-length action film; the treatment for Code Name: Pelicano, which was sold to independent producers; and the upcoming web series Crackerjacks, which is currently in development.

A Walter E. Dakin Fellow at The Sewanee Writers' Conference, Andrea has also been awarded residencies at Ledig House, Soapstone and Hedgebrook; and arts grants from North Carolina, Oregon and private foundations. A MFA playwriting alumna of UC San Diego, Andrea teaches at Willamette University and the University of Portland and has served on the theatre studies faculty at Duke University and UC San Diego.www.andreastolowitz.com

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: Gemma Whelan is the founding Artistic Director of corrib theatre in Portland, and directed their inaugural production of Conor McPherson's St. Nicholas this spring. She was the founding Artistic Director of Wilde Irish Productions in the Bay Area, where she directed Michael Mac Liammoir's The Importance of Being Oscar (Dean Goodman Award for Direction); the U.S. Premiere of Ariel by Marina Carr, Frank McGuinness' Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, PaTricia Burke Brogan's Eclipsed and Samuel Beckett's Endgame. Other favorites include Jane Chamber's Last Summer at Bluefish Cove (Cable Car Nomination for

Outstanding Achievement) and Eileen Atkin's Vita and Virginia (Curve Magazine, Best Theatre of the Year Award), both at Theatre Rhinoceros; Tom Kempinski's Duet for One (Zephyr Theatre) and Caryl Churchill's Top Girls(Phoenix Theatre). Gemma has taught at numerous colleges and conservatories in the Bay Area, including UC Berkeley, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre and Mills College (Chair 2001-2004). She has also taught theatre and film in Singapore, and led theatre tours to Ireland and England. Since her move to Portland in 2008, she has taught at Pacific University, Portland Actors Conservatory, Portland State University, and Literary Arts (Delve), and served on the Drammy Committee for three years. She is a founding board member of Cerimon House, a sanctuary for the humanities in the Alberta Arts District. Gemma is an award-winning screenwriter and film director and had her first novel, Fiona: Stolen Child, published in October 2010. She is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society; earned a BA in English and French at Trinity College, Dublin and has graduate degrees in Theatre (University of California, Berkeley) and Film (San Francisco State University). www.gemmawhelan.com

Now celebrating its 30th season, Artists Repertory Theatre is the longest-running professional theatre company in Portland. Artists Rep strives to challenge artists and audiences with plays of depth and vibrancy in an intimate setting. Artists Rep explores the strengths, frailties and diversity of the human condition primarily through regional premieres, commissioned works and selected classics appropriate to contemporary issues.