Capital Stage Presents Sacramento Premiere of MISS BENNET: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY

Capital Stage presents the Special Holiday Production and Sacramento Premiere of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon. This instant holiday classic continues the story of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and has delighted audiences since its premiere in 2016. Miss Bennet will be directed by Capital Stage Co-Founder Peter Mohrmann and is a special production in addition to the 2017/18 Season. Performances will run from December 6 - 30, 2017 with a Press Opening on Saturday, December 9, 2017 at 8:00 pm.

In this charmingly imagined sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennet is growing tired of her role as dutiful middle sister in the face of her siblings' romantic escapades. When the family gathers for Christmas at Pemberley, an unexpected guest sparks Mary's hopes for independence, an intellectual match, and possibly even love. This romantic comedy picks up two years after Jane Austen's beloved tale ended, with a clever and captivating style that will delight Austen aficionados and newcomers alike!

Margot Melcon & Lauren Gunderson Lauren M. Gunderson is the most produced playwright in America of 2017, the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award, the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, she is also a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and John Gassner Award for Playwriting, and a recipient of the Mellon Foundation's 3-Year Residency with Marin Theatre Company. She studied Southern Literature and Drama at Emory University, and Dramatic Writing at NYU's Tisch School where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her work has been commissioned, produced and developed at companies across the US including South Cost Rep (Emilie, Silent Sky), The Kennedy Center (The Amazing Adventures of Dr. Wonderful And Her Dog!), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The O'Neill, The Denver Center, San Francisco Playhouse, Marin Theatre, Synchronicity, Berkeley Rep, Shotgun Players, TheatreWorks, Crowded Fire and more. She co-authored Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley with Margot Melcon, which was one of the most produced plays in America in 2017. Her work is published at Playscripts (I and You, Exit Pursued By A Bear, The Taming, and Toil And Trouble), Dramatists (The Revolutionists, The Book of Will, Silent Sky, Bauer, Miss Bennet) and Samuel French (Emilie). Her picture book Dr Wonderful: Blast Off to the Moon was released from Two Lions / Amazon in May 2017. LaurenGunderson.com and @LalaTellsAStory.

Margot Melcon is the literary manager and dramaturg at Marin Theatre Company where she produces the New Works Reading Series and administers two annual new play prize competitions in addition to acting as production dramaturg on all shows. She also freelances for American Theatre magazine.

Peter Mohrmann Peter is a co-founder, board member and associate artist with Capital Stage where he has directed The Totalitarians, Maple and Vine, The North Plan, In The Next Room, Fiction, Or, Dinner With Friends, Three Days of Rain, Relatively Speaking, and Jack and Jill. Peter has appeared at Capital Stage in Ideation, Hedda Gabler, Every Christmas Story Ever Told, American Buffalo, The Typographer's Dream, Humble Boy and Boy Gets Girl. Regionally he has performed with Sacramento Theatre Company, the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival, Foothill Theatre Company, City Theatre, Synergy Stage, River Stage and the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. Peter received his MFA in acting from the Theatre School/DePaul University, and is an adjunct professor in the theatre arts and film departments at Folsom Lake College and Sacramento City College. He is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association.

Miss Bennet will be directed by Capital Stage Co-Founder Peter Mohrmann and will feature Capital Stage Apprentice Alumna Elyse Sharp (The Real Thing), Kevin Gish (Capital Stage debut), Aaron Kitchin (Capital Stage debut), Brittni Barger (Tribes, A Doll's House, Stupid F##king Bird), Andrea J. Love (Capital Stage debut), J.R. Yancher (Capital Stage debut), Sarah Braizer (Capital Stage debut), and Lyndsy Kail (Capital Stage debut). The production design team will include Eric Broadwater (Scenic design), Maggie Morgan (Costume design), Jessica Bertine (Lighting design), and Ed Lee (Sound design).

Performances for Miss Bennet will begin with three previews on Wednesday, Dec. 6th & Thursday, Dec. 7th at 7:00 pm, and Friday, Dec. 8th at 8:00 pm. The production will open Saturday, Dec. 9th at 8:00 pm. Performances will continue through Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. Showtimes will be Tuesdays at 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm, Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:00 pm, Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Regular ticket prices range from $25-42. Discount tickets are available as follows: Student Rush tickets are half priced with valid student ID within 1 hour of performance; Senior tickets are $5 off regular priced tickets; Military personnel tickets are $10 off regular priced tickets with valid ID; and Group Rate tickets are $5 off each for parties of 12 or more. Tickets are currently available at the Capital Stage Box Office, by phone at 916-995-5464, or online at capstage.org.