A.C.T. Announces RACE, 10/21-11/13

The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) 2011-12 season continues with David Mamet's newest play, Race, directed by former CENTERSTAGE Artistic Director Irene Lewis. Fresh from a triumphant run on Broadway, Mamet's wicked and scathing courtroom comedy makes its West Coast premiere at A.C.T. With his trademark verbal pyrotechnics, Mamet unleashes two attorneys and the firm's young associate as they scramble to decide if they want to represent a wealthy white man accused of assaulting a black woman.

Race lures us into an enthralling web where "the dialogue is tasty, the confrontations spiky, and the observations more than occasionally biting" (Variety). In signature Mamet style, the play pushes buttons, exposing the dark underbelly of sexual and racial politics in the American justice system. Lewis helms an accomplished cast of four, who will take on Mamet's fast-paced linguistic acrobatics, including Chris Butler (110 Degrees in the Shade on Broadway), A.C.T. core Acting Company member Anthony Fusco (November, Clybourne Park, and The Homecoming at A.C.T., Candida at CalShakes), Susan Heyward (Ruined at Manhattan Theatre Club, Sabrina Fair at Ford Theatre), and Kevin O'Rourke (Boardwalk Empire on HBO, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway). Race performs October 21-November 13, 2011, at the American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Press nights are Wednesday, October 26, 2011, at 8 p.m. and Thursday, October 27, 2011, at 8 p.m. Tickets (starting at $10) are available by calling the A.C.T. Box Office at 415.749.2228 or at act-sf.org.

"No one knows who is telling the truth in this play," says Lewis, who is making her A.C.T. directing debut. "It's very tricky with three lawyers, and one ‘master of the universe.' They all know how to manipulate and lie. I think it will be delicious and exciting to weave their intersecting and divergent points of view together."

"Race packs an incredible punch, and I can't wait to add it to the pantheon of great Mamet works that A.C.T. has produced," says A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff. Mamet is one of the most often performed playwrights in A.C.T.'s history: Race marks the eighth production of one of his plays under Perloff's tenure, including a brand-new adaptation of Harley Granville-Barker's The Voysey Inheritance that Mamet created for A.C.T. in 2005. Perloff adds: "Last season, we explored the complicated kaleidoscope of race in contemporary America with Tarell Alvin McCraney's Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet and Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park. Race will be a hilarious and unsettling addition to this conversation with our audience. I am particularly pleased that it will be directed by Irene Lewis, an enormously gifted artist who has contributed so richly to the Bay Area theatrical scene in the past and who relishes big ideas, strong characters, and powerful language."
The creative team for Race includes scenic designer Chris Barreca (Edward II at A.C.T., Marie Christine and Chronicle of a Death Foretold on Broadway), lighting designer Alexander V. Nichols (Once in a Lifetime, The Homecoming, Clybourne Park, and November at A.C.T), costume designer Candice Donnelly (Fences on Broadway, The Circle and Happy End at A.C.T.), sound designer Cliff Caruthers (Once in a Lifetime, The Homecoming, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, November, and Brainpeople at A.C.T.). Race is stage-managed by Kimberly Mark Webb.

A.C.T. will offer numerous InterACT events-many of which are presented free of charge-in association with Race that will give patrons opportunities to get closer to the action while making a whole night out of their evening at the theater:

• 10UP: World-Class Theater at Happy-Hour Prices: Oct. 21-30

Live it up with 10UP! Enjoy the Bay Area's best theater for only $10 a ticket for Balcony seats during select performances. The third-floor Sky Bar opens one hour before curtain time-show up early and mingle with other theatergoers while you enjoy happy-hour drinks and soak up the historic charm of one of the most beautiful theaters in the country.

• Audience Prologue Featuring Irene Lewis: Tue., Oct. 25, at 5:30 p.m.

Get the backstage perspective at this lively preshow discussion with the director and A.C.T. artistic team members. FREE and open to the public (no tickets required).

• Bring What You Can/Pay What You Wish: Thu., Oct. 27, at 8 p.m.

Pay any amount for your tickets when you bring nonperishable food donations for the San Francisco Food Bank (sffoodbank.org). Patrons are limited to two tickets per donated item, two tickets per person. Tickets go on sale at 6 p.m. the day of the performance. Sponsored by Bank of the West.

• Theater on the Couch: Fri., Oct. 28, following the 8 p.m. performance

Get psyched after the show as a panel of professional psychoanalysts explores the minds, motives, and behaviors of the characters.

• Audience Exchanges: Tue., Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. / Sun., Nov. 6, at 2 p.m. /
Wed. Nov. 9, at 2 p.m.

After the show, stick around for a lively Q&A session with the actors and artists who create the work onstage.

• OUT with A.C.T.: Wed., Nov. 2, following the 8 p.m. performance

The best LGBT party in town! Mingle with the cast and enjoy free cocktails and treats at these popular afterparties.

A.C.T.'s production of Race is made possible by associate producers The Ark Fund, Gayle and Steve Brugler, John and Paula Murphy, and David G. Steele. Additional support for Race provided by Hafner Vineyard. A.C.T. would also like to acknowledge its 2011-12 season company sponsors Ray and Dagmar Dolby, Frannie and Mort Fleishhacker, Ambassador James C. Hormel and Michael P. Nguyen, Koret Foundation, Fred M. Levin and Nancy Livingston, The Shenson Foundation, Burt and Deedee McMurtry, Patti and Rusty Rueff, Mary and Steven Swig, Doug Tilden, and Jeff and Laurie Ubben.
A.C.T.'s 2011-12 season continues with many other incredible productions. The holidays wouldn't be the same without A.C.T.'s annual holiday treat, A Christmas Carol (December 1-24, 2011), featuring Bay Area veteran James Carpenter as everyone's favorite curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge. The New Year welcomes acclaimed clown and actor Lorenzo Pisoni back to his hometown with his triumphant one-man show, Humor Abuse (January 12-February 5, 2012), which he created with Erica Schmidt. Presented in association with Seattle Repertory Theatre, Pisoni's stage memoir about growing up as the youngest member of the Pickle Family Circus is a love letter to the passionate, no-holds-barred life of the performer. February introduces a celebrated Middle Eastern voIce To the Bay Area with the West Coast premiere of Wajdi Mouawad's haunting play Scorched (February 16-March 11, 2012), starring Academy Award nominee David Strathairn. After receiving more than 100 productions (in several languages) worldwide, the Lebanese-Canadian writer's haunting new play will be directed at A.C.T. by Carey Perloff in a beautiful translation from the original French by distinguished Canadian author Linda Gaboriau. Also in February is the world premiere of Carey Perloff's Higher (February 1-19, 2012), a new play about the high-stakes drama of international architecture directed by Mark Rucker at The Theater at Children's Creative Museum (formerly Zeum Theater), the intimate 160-seat venue at Yerba Buena Gardens. The season continues with the West Coast premiere of a brand-new work that was the hit of this year's esteemed Humana Festival of New American Plays: JorDan Harrison's hilarious and touching Maple and Vine (March 29-April 22, 2012), directed by Mark Rucker. May will be filled with love and William Shakespeare at A.C.T. with a new production of Twelfth Night (May 10-June 6, 2012) directed by Carey Perloff-the first Shakespeare play to grace the American Conservatory Theater stage in 15 years. The 2011-12 season culminates with five-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman's (The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Contact on Broadway) production of The Scottsboro Boys (June 21-July 15, 2012), which received 12 Tony Award nominations this year, including Best Musical, Best Direction, and Best Choreography. The final collaboration between the legendary songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb (Chicago and Cabaret), The Scottsboro Boys features a book by Tony Award-nominated writer David Thompson (1996 revival of Chicago and Steel Pier on Broadway) and will showcase many of the original Broadway cast members in a coproduction with The Old Globe. To subscribe or to receive a season brochure, please call 415.749.2250 or visit act-sf.org.