Ross Valley Players to Present OTHER DESERT CITIES, 5/15-6/15

Ross Valley Players presents the 2012 Pulitzer Prize nominee for Best Drama, Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz. Other Desert Cities begins with a preview on Thursday, May 15 and runs through Sunday, June 15. Opening night is Friday, May 16 at 8PM. For more information, visit www.rossvalleyplayers.com.

Conservative and liberal generations clash in this riveting play by the creator of TV's hit drama "Brothers & Sisters." At a holiday gathering in Palm Springs, parents still clinging to Reaganesque social status are threatened by a daughter's publication of a book focusing on politically explosive family secrets.

Other Desert Cities is the story of Brooke Wyeth (Jennifer Gregory), a once promising novelist who returns home after a six year absence to celebrate Christmas in Palm Springs with her parents, Polly (Ellen Brooks) and Lyman (Dick Martin) - former members of the Reagan inner-circle, her brother Trip (Peter Warden), and her eccentric liberal aunt Silda (Kristine Ann Lowry). When the novelist announces she is about to publish a memoir focusing on an explosive chapter in the family's history, a wound they would rather not reopen, the holiday reunion is thrown into turmoil as the family struggles to come to terms with their past. Perception and reality grapple with love and mercy as the Wyeth clan soon realize that some secrets cannot stay buried forever. Other Desert Cities is directed by Phoebe Moyer and produced by Maureen O'Donoghue.

Performances are Thursday, May 15, 2014 (Preview Night) through Sunday, June 15, with Opening Night on Friday, May 16 at 8PM. Regular Thursday performances are at 7:30PM; Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM; Sunday matinees at 2PM. (Please note there is no matinee on Sunday, May 18.) All performances take place at the Barn Theatre, home of the Ross Valley Players - 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Ross, CA 94957. Ticket prices are $22 for seniors 62+; $13 for children (under 18) and student with valid ID; $26 general admission. Preview night ticket prices are $10 for children and students; $15 general admission. Thursday night tickets prices are $13 for children and students with a high school or college ID, $20 for adults (does not include Thursday preview night.)

Audience members are invited to participate in "Talkback" with the director and actors after matinee performance on Sundays, June 1 and 15. Buzz at the Barn, a pre-show cocktail hour with hors d'oeuvres and wine, will take place on Saturday, May 17 at 7PM. To order tickets, call 415-456-9555, ext. 1 or visit www.rossvalleyplayers.com.

Now in its 84th year, Ross Valley Players, a non-profit arts organization, is the oldest continually operating community theater on the West Coast. Created in 1930 as a way to escape the hardships of the Depression, Ross Valley Players has introduced live theater to thousands of Marin residents over the years. Each year, RVP presents a regular season of six full productions, running a total of 30 weeks. RVP offers special events and short-term productions outside the regular season. Plays include recent Broadway material, popular plays, classic theater, and a selection of works by well-known playwrights from around the world. RVP features all genres: comedy, drama, mysteries, and musicals. Their Ross Alternative Works (RAW) program presents short run, minimal set productions of original scripts by Bay Area playwrights in two festivals each season.

Pictured: Polly (Ellen Brooks) and Silda (Kristine Ann Lowry) in Ross Valley Players 'Other Desert Cities'. Photo by Robin Jackson.