Rep Stage Presents Two by J. M. Barrie Begins 10/6

Rep Stage, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), continues its 18th season with "Two by J.M. Barrie: The New Word and The Old Lady Shows Her Medals," directed by Rep Stage Producing Artistic Director Michael Stebbins. Returning to Rep Stage are actors Christine Demuth ("The Glass Menagerie"), Maureen Kerrigan ("A Lie of the Mind"), Bill Largess ("Travels With My Aunt") and Valerie Lash ("A Moon for the Misbegotten"). Making their Rep Stage debuts are Marilyn Bennett, Natalia Leimkuhler and Jason Odell Williams. "Two by J.M. Barrie..." opens October 6 and runs through October 24, 2010 in the Smith Theatre of the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center (HVPA) on the HCC campus.

A post-show reception follows the Saturday, October 9 evening performance and free post-show discussions follow the October 15 and 22 performances.

Complementing "Two by J.M. Barrie..." will be a pre-show lecture by HCC faculty member FrEd Campbell on Sunday, October 24 at 12:30 p.M. Campbell will speak on "The Great War at Home and in London." Rep Stage's Reading Series will feature a play by "Two by J.M. Barrie..."

actor/playwright Jason Odell Williams on October 25 at 7 p.m. Both events are free and will take place in the Monteabaro RecitAl Hall. For more information on these events please visit www.repstage.org.

"I look forward to sharing these rarely performed pieces by J.M. Barrie with Rep Stage audiences," said Director Michael Stebbins. I think most people are familiar with Barrie because of 'Peter Pan,' but as a playwright, he had a gift for what one writer called the 'lightness of touch.' On the surface his writing is very accessible, familiar - ordinary almost - to the average theatre-goer, but then there is a realization of the depth, the intricacies, and the tenderness that Barrie is able to bring from the action on the stage directly into the hearts of the audience. So the ordinary is suddenly extraordinary; the preciousness of life and one's own thoughts of mortality rise to the surface. All this and Barrie's work remains highly entertaining!"

Dramatist and novelist Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) was born in Scotland, studied at the University of Edinburgh, then wrote prolifically for a Nottingham newspaper for two years. Determined to earn his living as a writer, he moved to London. With World War I in full force, Barrie wrote in a letter dated February 19, 1915, "I'm writing a little one-act thing ["The New Word"]...and as all my thoughts are with 2nd Lieutenants, it has to be about one. It is just a family talk between one and his people, chiefly his father, on his first appearance in uniform." "The New Word" opened on March 22, 1915 at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. Debuting in New York in 1917, Alexander Woollcott wrote in The New York Times, "'The New Word' was...a perfect thing written by a master craftsman. You witness it with such a persistent lump in your throat that you are unlikely to notice with what canny and thrifty skill, with what consummate art it has been written."

"The Old Lady Shows Her Medals," written in 1917, is about a London chairwoman and the surprising consequences of her lies to "keep up with the Joneses." After debuting in 1917, the play was revived on Broadway in 1928, in the 1930 film "Seven Days Leave" starring Gary Cooper, and on CBS television's "U.S. Steel Hour" in 1956. In 2004 both "The New Word" and "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals" were presented Off-Broadway at The Mint Theater under the title "Echoes of the War."

Michael Stebbins (Director) has been Rep Stage's producing artistic director since November of 2005. As an actor he has appeared on Rep's stages in "Fully Committed," "Stones in His Pockets," "Mrs. Warren's Profession," "The Santaland Diaries" and "Wittenberg." At Rep Stage he has directed "A Moon for the Misbegotten," "The Santaland Diaries," "A Dickens of a Carol" and "The Glass Menagerie." He is the recipient of a Helen Hayes Tribute award.

Meet the Cast:
"The New Word"
Christine Demuth (Emma Torrance) has appeared at Rep Stage in "The Glass Menagerie" and "A Dickens of a Carol." She has also performed at The Folger Theatre, Stanislavsky Theatre Studio, Single Carrot Theatre, Frances Merrick Performing Arts Center, Maryland Arts Festival, and in NYC's "Shakespeare IN THE RAW."

Bill Largess (Mr. Torrance) has appeared at Rep Stage in "Translations," "Da," "The Dazzle," "The Seagull," "St. Nicholas," "Two By Pinter: The Collection and The Lover," "Mrs. Warren's Profession," "Bach at Leipzig" and both the 1997 and 2010 version of "Travels With My Aunt." He is a founding company member and the artistic director of The Washington Stage Guild. He has been nominated for three Helen Hayes Awards, received the Theatre Lobby's Mary Goldwater Award twice (the only individual to have done so), and is a longtime member of the Washington/Baltimore Liaison Committee of Actors' Equity.

Valerie Lash's (Mrs. Torrance) Rep Stage credits include "The Italian Lesson," "A Moon for the Misbegotten," "Three Tall Women," "Dangerous Liaisons," "La Voix Humaine (The Human Voice)" and "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune." She has studied acting with renowned New York director and teacher, Walt Witcover, of Masterworks Laboratory Theatre. In 1993 she received the Howard County Arts Council's Howie Award as Arts Educator of the Year and in 2003 was inducted into the Howard County Women's Hall of Fame. Valerie is the founding artistic director of Rep Stage, chairperson of the Arts and Humanities Division of Howard Community College, as well as professor of theatre.
Jason Odell Williams (Roger Torrance) has performed Off-Broadway at The Pearl Theatre, The Aquila Theatre, Transport Group, La Mama ETC, The DR2 and The Actors Studio. Regionally, he's played leading roles at The Studio Theatre ("Fat Pig"), The Maryland Stage Company's production of "Tartuffe" at Center Stage, New Jersey Rep ("Yankee Tavern") and three seasons at Heritage Rep in Charlottesville, VA. He is also a playwright and will have three plays produced in New York this season. A Columbia, MD native and McDonogh School alum, Jason is making his Rep Stage debut.
"The Old Lady Shows Her Medals"
Maureen Kerrigan (Mrs. Dowey a.k.a The Old Lady) was last seen in Rep Stage's "A Lie of the Mind," Baltimore's "Menopause the Musical" and DC's "Shear Madness." New York credits include "The Gingerbread Lady," "Night," "Miss Lonely Hearts" and The Public Theatre's reading of "Monster." Regionally, she has appeared at Arena Stage, American Century Theatre, Signature Theater and Fords Theatre. She earned a Helen Hayes Award nomination for "Lady in the Dark." Screen credits include "The Accidental Tourist," "Homicide," MTV's "House of Cards," "Audrey's View" and "Mary/Mary." Ms. Kerrigan was honored with an Emmy for her performance in KYW TV's "Shattered Dreams."

Bill Largess (Mr. Willings), Valerie Lash (Mrs.Haggerty) and Jason Odell Williams (Kenneth Dowey) are also featured.

Also making their Rep Stage debut are Marilyn Bennett (Mrs. Twymley) and Natalia Leimkuhler (Mrs. Mickleham). Bennett was most recently seen in "Then and Again" at the Source Theatre Festival and Leimkuhler has performed on stage in and around the Baltimore region, including The Strand, The Vagabond Players, Spotlighters Theatre and Catonsville Theatre Company.

"Two by J.M. Barrie: The New Word and The Old Lady Shows Her Medals" Design Team includes:

Melanie Clark's (Costume Design) designs for Rep Stage include "Travels With My Aunt," "The Glass Menagerie," "Stones in His Pockets," "Mrs. Farnsworth," "Thom Pain (based on nothing)," "Trumbo: REd White and Blacklisted" and "Intelligence." She has also designed for Olney Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Washington Shakespeare Company.

Terry Cobb (Lighting Design) designed Rep Stage's "The Glass Menagerie" and "A Moon for the Misbegotten." Terry is the light/sound designer at UMBC, and before moving to Baltimore, designed for Summer Repertory Theatre and Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, CA.

Liza Davies (Properties Design) is a freelance scenic artist and props designer whose work was last seen at Rep Stage in "Travels With My Aunt," "Wittenberg" and "On the Verge or The Geography of Yearning." She is resident props designer for Everyman Theatre. She has worked for the Baltimore Opera Company, Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Pumpkin Theatre, Children's Playhouse of MD, Essex and Harford Community College, Towson University, University of Baltimore and Theatre Hopkins. Liza also teaches art at Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School.

Daniel Ettinger (Set Design) returns to Rep Stage having previously designed "The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?," "God's Ear," "Mrs. Warren's Profession," "Tintypes," "Fully Committed" and "A Moon for the Misbegotten." He is an associate professor of design in Towson University's Theatre Department, and resident scenic designer at Everyman Theatre. Daniel has also designed for Barter Theatre, State Theatre of Virginia, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Theatre J. In New York, he designed for such companies as The Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Julliard School and The York Theatre.

Nancy Krebs (Dialect/Vocal Coach) is a certified Master Lessac Teacher and has worked as a vocal/dialect coach for numerous professional and university productions in the region. She teaches voice production in the Theatre Department of the Baltimore School for the Arts, serving as musical director/vocal coach for most of their productions. Nancy has served as dialect/vocal coach at Olney Theatre Center, Everyman Theatre, Studio Theatre, and the Bay Theatre Company.
Ann Warren (Sound Design) has designed Rep Stage's "Two By Pinter: The Collection and The Lover," "The Santaland Diaries," "Intelligence," "CTC: The Roar of the Greasepaint" and "The Smell of the Crowd." Ann has also designed for New York City's The Flea, Theater for the New City, Lion Theatre, Masterworks Laboratory Theatre, Chocolate Factory, and WOW Café Theater. She is a member of Paris based Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM).

About Rep Stage
Rep Stage, a professional Equity theatre in residence at Howard Community College, is in its 18th season. The company is a member of both League of Washington Theatres and Baltimore Theatre Alliance. Performances are made possible by Howard County Arts Council, Howard County Government, and Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of Maryland and National Endowment for the Arts, as well as through generous individual contributions. Howard Bank is the Rep Stage 2010-11 season partner.

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