DMT Presents Staged Reading of THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE Tonight

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre (DMT) is excited to announce the third production in the 2013-2014 "Bare Bones" staged reading series: The Language Archive by Julia Cho, a poignantly comic play about the nature of love and the limitations of words.

The play will have one performance, tonight, July 30, 2013, at 8:00pm, at the Douglas Morrisson Theatre, 22311 N. Third St. in Hayward, CA. Tickets are $10 (open seating), and are available through the Box Office at (510) 881-6777 or online at www.dmtonline.org.

The Language Archive tells the story of George, a linguist who focuses more on saving dying languages than his own languishing marriage. George's subjects in his latest language study are an elderly couple, perhaps the last two speakers of a native tongue. Unfortunately, they're not talking to each other. George's lab assistant carries a torch for him, but he's oblivious. As the play unfolds, unexpected discoveries are made in a whimsical blend of absurdism and sentimental comedy. The playwright has said that this play is about "language as a metaphor for love" and the resulting ability or inability to truly express one's feelings.

The Language Archive was commissioned by Roundabout Theatre Company in New York, and received its world premiere at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California. The play opened at the Roundabout in October 2010, directed by Mark Brokaw. The play's development was supported by the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Centre during a residency at the National Playwrights Conference in 2009.

Born in Los Angeles, Julia Cho is the daughter of Korean immigrants. She has long been fascinated with the concept of dying languages because she felt guilty at not being able to speak Korean, the language her parents speak. She attended Amherst College, UC Berkeley, New York University's Graduate Dramatic Writing Program and the Julliard School, where she was a Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow. She is the winner of the 2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, which honors works by female playwrights, for The Language Archive. While still in graduate school in New York, Ms. Cho was invited to have her play 99 Histories read at the Pacific Playwrights Festival, South Coast Repertory's annual showcase for new works. Thus began an ongoing relationship with South Coast Repertory, which has commissioned and produced five of her plays. Ms. Cho's other plays include BFE (Seattle Repertory Theatre), The Architecture of Loss (New York Theatre Workshop), Boy and the Spectacles of Doom (La Jolla Playhouse's POP Tour), Durango (Long Wharf Theatre & The Public Theater), The Winchester House (The Theatre@Boston Court), and The Piano Teacher (South Coast Repertory). Ms. Cho also currently writes for television, including episodes for the series Big Love and Fringe.

Diahanna Davidson is directing her first Bare Bones staged reading of The Language Archive for the Douglas Morrisson Theatre. Her most recent directing credits include The Christmas Witch at City Lights Theater Company and Keep the Yuletide Gay for Theatre Q. As an actress, some of her favorite roles include Barbara in August: Osage County at City Lights Theater Company, Emma in Betrayal with Only Connect Theatre, Elvira in Blithe Spirit at Jewel Theatre Company in Santa Cruz and the role of Alexa Vere de Vere in As Bees in Honey Drown, directed by Dale Albright. Music also plays a part in Diahanna's life and she writes and sings original rock music alongside her husband in their band, "Bad with People."

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre is located at 22311 N. Third St. in Hayward, next to the Senior Center and the Japanese Gardens. The Box Office is open Tuesday through Friday, 12:30 to 5:30 and can be reached at (510) 881-6777. Information is also available at www.dmtonline.org.

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre is owned and operated by the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District, and is funded by the property taxes of the people who live in the Hayward, Castro Valley, and San Lorenzo areas, as well as other portions of unincorporated Alameda County. First named "The Little Theatre" at its dedication on November of 1978, the theatre opened its doors in January of 1979 with a production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, The King and I. The theatre operated under The Little Theatre name until 2003 when it was renamed the Douglas Morrisson Theatre.

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