Old Globe Presents World Premiere of Itmar Moses' 'Back Back Back'

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe presents the world premiere of Back Back Back, by Globe Playwright-in-Residence Itamar Moses (The Four of Us, Bach at Leipzig), directed by Davis McCallum, to run in the Globe's Arena Stage at the San Diego Museum of Art's James S. Copley Auditorium September 19 - October 26 (press opening: Thursday, September 25 at 8pm). Tickets are available by calling (619) 23-GLOBE, online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, or by visiting the Globe Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

Before the headlines blazed with sporting steroid scandals comes Itamar Moses' funny yet insightful new work about the careers of three major players making their way in the world of professional baseball - a world too competitive to rely only on raw talent. The play examines how each individual deals with the stress of keeping up their stats while balancing their personal and professional lives. Moses - whose play, The Four of Us, had its world premiere at the Globe last year, winning the San Diego Critics' Circle "Best New Play" Award - brings the Globe another world-premiere production that takes audiences inside the locker room to witness how these teammates face each other and do battle - for their careers, their legacies, and the future of America's favorite pastime.

"While still in the Early Stages of his career, Itamar Moses has clearly demonstrated tremendous talent along with a willingness to tackle complex ideas in his plays," said Globe Executive Producer Lou Spisto. "By appointing Itamar as our newest Playwright-in-Residence, the Globe has been able to give this award-winning writer the space and time to develop his work, and these exciting residencies can assist playwrights in creating important works for theatres across America, while helping the Globe to establish a core group of playwrights who consider the Globe an artistic home base."

The cast of Back Back Back includes Brendan Griffin (HBO's Generation Kill) as "Kent," Joaquin Perez-Campbell as "Raul" and Nick Mills as "Adam."  The creative team includes Davis McCallum, director; Lee Savage, scenic design; Christal Weatherly, costume design; Russell Champa, lighting design; Paul Peterson, sound design; Tracy Skoczelas, stage manager.

Last June, Itamar Moses was named the newest participant in the Theatre's Playwright-in-Residence program.  The program was launched in April, 2006 as part of the Globe's ongoing efforts to deepen its relationships with playwrights, support the development of new work, as well as expand its artistic offerings. The program involves a 12-18 month residency, during which the playwright will work at the Globe during six two-week periods to develop new projects. Throughout the process, the Globe will assemble actors as needed for in-house readings of the works in progress. Past playwrights include Howard Korder (Sea of Tranquility) and Amy Freed (Restoration Comedy).

Back Back Back was recently awarded an Edgerton Foundation 2008 New American Plays Award. The funding supports an extension of the rehearsal period to help achieve a stronger first production, thereby increasing the chances of a continued life for the plays. For additional information about The Edgerton Awards, please visit the Theatre Communications Group's website at www.tcg.org.

Itamar Moses is the author of The Four of Us (world premiere produced at the Globe in 2007; winner of the San Diego Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Play), Outrage, Bach at Leipzig, Celebrity Row, Yellowjackets, and Completeness, and various short plays and one-acts. His work has appeared off- Broadway and elsewhere in New York, at regional theatres across the country and in Canada, and has been published by Faber & Faber, Heinemann Press, Playscripts Inc., and Vintage. He has received new play commissions from The McCarter Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Wilma Theater, and Manhattan Theatre Club. Itamar holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU and has taught playwriting at Yale and NYU. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, MCC Playwrights Coalition, Naked Angels Writers Group, and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect.

Davis McCallum's credits include The Belle's Stratagem at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Unbound: The Journals of Fanny Kemble at the Prospect Theatre Company, Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of The Turn of the Screw at The Acting Company, Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice at the New York Stage & Film, Cyrano de Bergerac at the Georgia Shakespeare Festival, Landscape of the Body for NYU's Graduate Acting Program, Twelfth Night for Shenandoah Shakespeare, Noah Haidle's The Dakota Project at HERE, and Chuck Mee's Big Love for Princeton University, where he is a member of the theater faculty. In 2003, he was the Killian Directing Fellow at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he directed Adam Bock's The Thugs. He is a Drama League Directing Fellow and a member of the Lincoln Center Directors' Lab. McCallum trained at LAMDA and studied at Princeton and Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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