Davaron, Deverman, Jackson et al. Set for SF Playhouse's DEN OF THIEVES

The SF Playhouse (Bill English, Artistic Director; Susi Damilano, Producing Director) announces the casting for its Regional Premiere of Stephen Adly Guirgis's Den of Thieves.

From Stephen Adly Guirgis (Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train and Our Lady of 121st Street), comes the outrageous black comedy Den of Thieves. Maggie is a shoplifter looking to change her life. Paul is her sponsor in a twelve-step program. Flaco is her charismatic but jealous drug-dealing ex-boyfriend. Boochie, Flaco's girlfriend, is a topless dancer. When this unlikely squad ban together to steal $750,000 in unprotected drug money they become prisoners in a mob boss' basement. Told that they have until sunrise to choose one person to die and three to donate their thumbs, the four engage in verbal gymnastics as they struggle for self-awareness and self-acceptance in a high-octane battle for survival.

Susi Damilano will direct a local cast of favorites including: Ashkon Davaran, Chad Deverman*, Casey Jackson, Joe Madero, Corinne Proctor, Peter Ruocco and Katie Tkel. (*Appears courtesy of Actors Equity).

Stephen Adly Guirgis is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He has been a member of New York City's LAByrinth Company since 1994. His plays have been produced on five continents and throughout the United States. His most recent play, The Little Flower of East Orange, starring Ellen Burstyn and directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, just completed an extended run at The Public Theater. Other plays include Our Lady of 121st Street (10 best plays of 2003; Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Best Play Nominations), Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train (Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award, Laurence Olivier Nomination for London's Best New Play), In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings (2007 LA Drama Critics Best Play, Best Writing Award), and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (10 best Time Magazine & Entertainment Weekly), produced by LAByrinth in collaboration with The Public Theater in 2005. On May 10, 2008 Judas Iscariot completed a one-month run in London at the Almeida Theater[1]. All five plays were originally produced by LAByrinth and directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Television writing credits include NYPD Blue, The Sopranos, David Milch's CBS drama Big Apple, and Shane Salerno's NBC series UC: Undercover. Stephen was awarded a 2006 PEN/Laura Pels Award, a 2006 Whiting Award, and a 2004 TCG fellowship. He attended the 2004 Sundance Screenwriter's Lab, and was named one of 2004's 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine. He is the recipient of new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Center Theater Group, and South Coast Repertory, and is a member of New Dramatists, MCC's Playwright's Coalition, New River Dramatists, Primary Stages, and The Actor's Studio Playwright/Directors Unit. He developed and directed Liza Colón-Zayas' Sistah Supreme for Danny Hoch's Hip Hop Theater Festival, and Marco Greco's award-winning Behind the Counter with Mussolini in New York and Los Angeles.

As an actor, he appeared in Guinea Pig Solo, produced by LAByrinth at The Public Theatre, and has leading roles in Todd Solondz's Palindromes, Brett C. Leonard's Jailbait opposite Michael Pitt, and in Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret. Other film credits include Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York, Adam Rapp's Blackbird, Noah Buschel's Neal Cassady, as well as Meet Joe Black, Noise, and Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot. A former Violence Prevention Specialist/H.I.V. Educator, he has facilitated numerous workshops in New York City area prisons, schools, shelters, and hospitals. He is currently writing a screenplay based on the life of six-time world champion boxer Emile Griffith for Scott Rudin Productions.

Susi Damilano (Director) co-founded the SF Playhouse, where she has been the three-time recipient of the Bay Area Critic Circles Award for Best Female Performance in Bug, Six Degrees of Separation, and Reckless. She has also performed leading roles in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Landscape of the Body, First Person Shooter, Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, The Crucible, Kimberly Akimbo, Our Town, and The Smell of the Kill. Directing credits include the West Coast Premieres of Dead Man's Cell Phone, Coronado, The Mystery Plays and Roulette.

Founded by Bill English and Susi Damilano in 2003, The SF Playhouse is San Francisco's fastest growing and most awarded Theater Company and hailed as a "small delicacy" by SF Weekly, "eclectic" by the San Francisco Bay Guardian and "local theater's best kept secret" by San Francisco Magazine. Located in Union Square, The SF Playhouse offers intimate, professional theatre with top notch actors and world class design. It has received multiple awards for overall productions, acting and design including the SF Weekly Best Theatre Award, Bay Guardian's Best Off-Broadway Theatre Award. The San Francisco Chronicle raved, "One of the most meteoric rises [of the decade] has been that of SF Playhouse, Bill English and Susi Damilano's 7-year-old-start-up that has been attracting more top-notch actors, directors, and scripts every year." The SF Playhouse has become the intimate theatre alternative to the traditional Union Square theatre fare, providing a creative home and inspiring environment where actors, directors, writers, designers, and theatre lovers converge to create works that celebrate the human spirit.

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DEN OF THIEVES by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Directed by Susi Damilano

Press Night: Sat. March 13, 8 pm through April 17, 2010
Previews March 9-12, Opens Mar. 13

SHOWTIMES: Tuesday 7pm, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., plus Saturdays 3p.m.

The SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter Street (one block off Union Square, b/n Powell & Mason)

TICKETS: For tickets ($30 previews, $40 regular) or more information, the public may contact The SF Playhouse box office at 415-677-9596, or www.sfplayhouse.org.