RISK IS THIS...THE CUTTING BALL NEW EXPERIMENTAL PLAYS FESTIVAL to Run 2/28-3/29

Cutting Ball Theater continues its 15th season with the adventurous RISK IS THIS...THE CUTTING BALL NEW EXPERIMENTAL PLAYS FESTIVAL, one of the only play festivals in America solely dedicated to experimental works for the stage.

Pushing the boundaries of what theater can be, this year's festival features five new works in staged readings, including two new plays from Cutting Ball resident playwright Andrew Saito. RISK IS THIS... offers a unique opportunity for audiences to see plays in development, alongside the artists creating them, as the works find their theatrical voice.

The schedule for the 2014 RISK IS THIS...THE CUTTING BALL NEW EXPERIMENTAL PLAYS FESTIVAL is as follows:

STEGOSAURUS

By Andrew Saito

Directed by Rob Melrose

February 28 - March 1, 2014

Earth currently faces its fastest rate of extinction for all species since the death of the dinosaurs. In STEGOSAURUS, Cutting Ball resident playwright Andrew Saito's satirical meditation on the environmental crisis, a young man earns his living by dressing up as a lovable dinosaur who entertains children at birthday parties. However, in his spare time, he feeds his community's insatiable appetite for acquisition by commodifying preserved bald eagles, dogs, and other loveable sacred American icons.

ONDINE

By Katherine Sherman

Directed by Rob Melrose

March 7 - 8, 2014

What is the relationship between matter and form? Body and soul? Trapped together on a bare stage, two lovers, Ondine and Hildebrand, begin to tell themselves, and each other, a story. The narrative they frame comes to life until layers of reality and time collapse in on one another and dissolve. Subtle, lyrical, and daring, ONDINE is a journey that is heartbreaking, haunting, and hypnotic.

MT. MISERY

By Andrew Saito

Directed by Rob Melrose

March 14 - 15, 2014

Cutting Ball's resident playwright Andrew Saito examines the United States' inconsistent progress on issues of power and race through the colliding histories of two prominent American figures on one shared tract of land. On a plantation in a small Maryland town, a teenaged slave named Frederick Douglass once fought and triumphed against an overseer named Edward Covey. The moment would permanently alter the course of Douglass's life, freeing him from fear and building a new sense of agency. In 2003 Covey's home, "Mount Misery," was purchased by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for $1.5 million. In MT. MISERY, Saito imagines Rumsfeld and Douglass' interactions across time.

WINK

By Jen Silverman

Directed by Amy Mueller

March 21 - 22, 2014

Sofie is distressed about her missing cat, Wink. When Wink returns inexorably changed, Sofie and her husband, Gregory, also undergo a strange series of transformations. Hilarious and unsettling, WINK is a dark comedy about metamorphosis, marriage, revenge, therapy, and the thin line between savagery and civilization.

EX MACHINA

By David Jacobi

Directed by Evren Odcikin

March 28 - 29, 2014

Set in a super-phone factory on The Edge of a trash-filled ravine, two assembly workers, a disheartened veteran and a plucky newcomer, struggle to endure the workday, each other, and the temptations of a mysterious woman with supernatural abilities. Frightening, subversive, and irreverent, EX MACHINA explores the search for a shared humanity in a mechanized world.

Co-founded in 1999 by theater artists Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal avant-garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. The company has commissioned, developed, and produced new experimental plays, and has partnered with Playwrights Foundation, and the Magic Theatre/Z Space New Plays Initiative to commission new experimental works. In addition to producing West Coast Premieres and re-imaging various classics, Cutting Ball Theater has produced nine World Premieres and seven World Premiere translations. Cutting Ball received the 2008 San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie award for outstanding talent in the performing arts, and was voted "Best Theater Company" in the 2010 San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay issue. The company also earned the Best of SF award in 2006 and "Best Experimental Theater Company" in 2012 from SF Weekly, and was selected by San Francisco magazine as Best Classic Theater in 2007. Cutting Ball Theater was featured in the February 2010 and 2012 issues of American Theatre Magazine. In 2012, Cutting Ball was awarded a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a three-year residency for resident playwright Andrew Saito. The American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards, awarded the company with a 2013 National Theatre Company grant.

All performances Friday-Saturday at 8pm at The Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor St., San Francisco. General seating. Free and open to the public. $20 donation for reserved seating; $50 donation for 5-play reserved seating festival pass. For more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205