STRING AROUND MY FINGER Premieres at Portland Stage This April

Portland Stage Presents String Around My Finger by Brenda Withers, The Clauder Competition Gold Prize Winner, Apr 4 - Apr 23, 2017. Previews April 4-6, Opening Night Friday April 7.

Emma and Kip are preparing for their upcoming wedding when a medical emergency upends their plans. As they careen through the halls of the local hospital, they are joined by a bitingly funny nurse, a helpful relative who is eager to run their lives, and the mysterious Mrs. Rizzo who offers sage advice. In a swirl of medical bills, Sinatra tunes, and cell phones, Emma and Kip try to make sense of their new reality.

THE PLAY AND THE PLAYWRIGHT
Emma and Kip, a young, engaged couple read a condolence letter while awaiting test results in a hospital. Kip's sister, Lisa, wonders whether the couple should put on hold the upcoming wedding while dealing with their medical emergency, and Dave, the deadpan physician's assistant, is just trying to do his job. Emma and Kip find their relationship is put to the test as medical bills and questions of insurance are raised in this off-beat comedy about big choices, small kindnesses, and getting a grip on letting go.

String Around My Finger is an interesting and darkly comic look at a couple's relationship when the unexpected comes to pass. Following the miscarriage of an unexpected baby Kip and Emma realize Kip's insurance won't cover Emma's hospital bills. Lisa suggests that they postpone the wedding and put those funds into footing the bill. The couple finds themselves reconsidering their upcoming marriage: Was it just for the kid? Was it out of love for each other? This poignant play examines what we do when our plans unravel around us.

Brenda Withers (b. 1979) is an American playwright and actress, perhaps best known for her inventive off-Broadway play Matt & Ben that she co-wrote and co-starred with Mindy Kaling. Withers has appeared on stages around the country such as the Geva Theatre Center, Actors' Theatre of Louisville, the McCarter, and Hartford Stage. She's been seen on The Office and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Her plays include: Matt & Ben, The Ding Dongs, and the Clauder Competition-winning String Around My Finger.

String Around My Finger was awarded the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and an Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. String Around My Finger was workshopped in the 2016 Little Festival of the Unexpected at Portland Stage after winning the Clauder Competition for New England Playwrights. The play will make its premiere on our Mainstage April 2017.

THE CLAUDER COMPETITION

A new play competition for writers from New England produced by Portland Stage, that provides exposure, encouragement and critical feedback. Three winners are chosen from over two hundred submissions each cycle and their plays are included in that season's Little Festival of the Unexpected. The Grand Prize Winner has their play produced as a Mainstage Season Production at Portland Stage.

REMAINING 2016-17 SEASON

Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar
May 2 - 21

Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, a high-powered New York attorney Amir has climbed the corporate ladder, while distancing himself from his Muslim roots. When he and his wife Emily host an Upper East Side dinner party, what starts as a friendly conversation escalates, shattering their views on race, religion, and each other.