Everyman Announces Upcoming Salon Series

2019 marks the fifth year of Everyman Theatre's innovative and exciting Salon Series. These play parties showcase emerging female playwrights and are directed by women from Everyman's Resident Company over select Monday nights this fall.

The plays are performed as informal readings and are staged inside the Everyman Rehearsal Hall. The experience gives actors and directors opportunities to make gutsy choices and showcases each director from the Resident Company's aesthetic. Each play examines timely issues from provocative new perspectives.

This season's plays include Black Super Hero Magic Mama by Inda Craig Galván, where a grieving mother disappears into her son's vibrant comic book world, Tiny Beautiful Things, an adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's inspiring memoir, written by My Big Fat Greek Wedding star Nia Vardalos. Eleanor Burgess' The Niceties, the story of an older white professor and her young black student challenging norms behind the way we view history. Rounding out the season is Alabaster, by local playwright Audrey Cefaly, chronicling the relationship between two very different women... and their goats.

Attendees will enjoy cocktails and conversation on select Monday evenings: September 9, October 7, October 28, and December 9, 2019, starting at 6:00 PM. Tickets are $20, offering an accessible price point for all to attend.

"What we love most about our unique Salon Series is that it pulls back the curtain -literally!-and gives our audience a peek inside the theatre artists' process," says Resident Company Member Beth Hylton. "The work is immediate, off the cuff, often surprising and visceral--allowing the attendees to become part of the creation and discovery of exploring new works. We as actors and directors are exhilarated anew by our collaboration and discussion with a script, with our audience, and with each other."

Exploring deeper themes of social justice, responsibility, and healing- as well as characters' inner struggles and discoveries, the Salon Series offers an accessible, affordable approach to theatre. The plays in this series are sure to spark thoughtful conversation and introspection-audiences will have the opportunity to engage with each other as well as have direct access to actors and directors in pre and post-show cocktail receptions.

Cocktail hour starts at 6:00 PM. Readings begin promptly at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $20 per show. Purchase tickets online at EverymanTheatre.org.

2019 Salon Series:

THE NICETIES

by Eleanor Burgess
directed by Megan Anderson
September 9th

When Zoe, a black student at a liberal arts college, is called into her white professor's office to discuss her paper about slavery's effect on the American Revolution, a polite clash in perspectives explodes in this "bristling and proactive debate play about race and privilege in the United States." (The New York Times). The Niceties is presented here following productions at Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, and Contemporary American Theatre Festival.

TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS

by Nia Vardalos
directed by Deborah Hazlett
October 7th

A richly funny, uniquely uplifting new play from actor and author, Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) based on Cheryl Strayed's (author of best-seller Wild) book of the same title. Thousands of people have turned to Sugar, an anonymous online advice columnist. At first unsure of herself, Sugar finds a way to weave her own life experiences with the deep yearning and real problems of her readers helping others navigate love and loss.

BLACK SUPER HERO MAGIC MAMA

by Inda Craig-Galván
directed by Dawn Ursula
October 28th

When Sabrina Jackson's son is the victim of a police shooting, she retreats inward in this powerful and fantastical new play from Inda Craig-Galvan. Rather than herald the
Black Lives Matter Movement, Sabrina finds herself living out her son's comic book superhero fantasies. Will Sabrina stay in this dream world or return to reality and mourn her loss? Galvan's plays have been developed or produced at The Geffen Playhouse, Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference and The Old Globe and she has written for the hit series How To Get Away With Murder.

ALABASTER

by Audrey Cefaly
directed by Beth Hylton
December 9th

A noted photographer sets out to explore the topography of "scars." Her journey lands her in the mysterious realm of an undiscovered folk artist hiding away on a small farm in North Alabama with her two goats. This intimate and funny portrait explores the meaning and purpose of art and the struggle of the lost and tortured souls that seek to create it. Written by DC-based playwright, Audrey Cefaly, Alabaster will be produced in 10 cities in the 2019/2020 season as a Rolling World Premiere.

Cast and Production Team:

The cast for Proof includes Resident Company Members Bruce Randolph Nelson* (Robert), Megan Anderson* (Claire), and inaugural member Katie Kleiger * (Catherine). Jeremy Keith Hunter * (Hal) makes his Everyman debut.

The production team for Proof includes set designer Daniel Ettinger† ( Everything is Wonderful, The Importance of Being Earnest, Sweat ), costume designer David Burdick† (Dinner with Friends, The Importance of Being Earnest), lighting designer Martha Mountain (God of Carnage), sound designer Sarah O'Hallohan (Dinner with Friends), fights/intimacy coach Lewis Shaw† ( Dinner with Friends, Everything is Wonderful, The Importance of Being Earnest), and stage manager Cat Wallis*† (Queens Girl in the World, Dinner with Friends).

* indicates original cast and production team
† member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States