Rep Stage Remembers 9/11 with Special Production of The Guys

Rep Stage, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), opens its new Salon Series with a staged reading of the play "The Guys" by Anne Nelson. Less than two weeks after the September 11 attacks, New Yorkers are still in shock. One of them, an editor named Joan, receives an unexpected phone call on behalf of Nick, a fire captain who has lost most of his men in the attack. He's looking for a writer to help him with the eulogies he must present at their memorial services. Nick and Joan spend a long afternoon together, recalling the fallen men through recounting their virtues and their foibles, and fashioning the stories into memorials of words. In the process, Nick and Joan discover the possibilities of friendship in each other and their shared love for the unconquerable spirit of the city. As they make their way through the emotional landscape of grief, they draw on humor, tango, the appreciation of craft in all its forms - and the enduring bonds of common humanity. Said the New York Times, "Nelson's play...gives credible and powerful voIce To a very specific kind of pain...perhaps the keenest message to emerge from ‘The Guys' is the assertion that writers-and actors-have a serious role to play in a grieving society." The New York Post called it "A generous, sad, touching play about the braveries of grief." The cast will include Yvonne Erickson as Joan and Michael Stebbins, Rep Stage's producing artistic director, as Nick.

"The Guys" will be presented in the Monteabaro Recital Hall of HCC's Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, September 9 to 11, 2011, for four performances only: Friday, September 9 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, September 10 at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, September 11 at 2 p.m. All tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased at the box office, by calling 443-518-1500, or visiting www.repstage.org.

Rep Stage's new Salon Series will also include productions of "The Poe Show," David Sedaris' "Holidays on Ice," and "Rep Stage Revue: Spotlighting YOU!". Visit www.repstage.org/Productions/SalonSeries for more information.
Meet the Playwright:

Anne Nelson is an award-winning author and playwright. Her 2001 play "The Guys" has been produced in all 50 states and at least 15 countries, often as a benefit for local fire companies and burn centers. It was published by Random House and Dramatists Play Service. The Audible.com version, starring Swoosie Kurtz and Bill Irwin, won the 2003 Audie Award for best recorded play. "Savages," Nelson's anti-war play, opened Off-Broadway in 2006 and was a finalist in the Humana Festival. The New Yorker called it "a work of lacerating beauty." Nelson won a Guggenheim Fellowship towards her research for "Red Orchestra," the story of an anti-Nazi resistance circle in Berlin. It was published by Random House in 2009 and named an Editor's Choice by the New York Times. Nelson recently completed a screenplay version and is currently at work on a sequel set in wartime Poland. Nelson is a graduate of Yale University and a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. She teaches at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.

Meet the Cast:

Yvonne Erickson's (Joan) DC/Baltimore area appearances include The Studio Theatre, Center Stage, American Century Theatre, Theatre J, The Kennedy Center and the Actors' Salon. Regional roles include "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Three Tall Women," "Shadowlands," "The Heiress" and more. Film work includes principal roles in "The Prince of Tides," "Lassie," "The Mothman Prophecies," and "Ladder 49." TV guest star roles include "Matlock," "American Gothic," "Hack," and "Homicide." Yvonne has also appeared in many national and regional TV and radio commercials and can be seen in the upcoming indie film, "The Henchman's War."
Michael Stebbins (Nick) 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 "Two by J.M. Barrie: The New Word and The Old Lady Shows Her Medals," "A Moon for the Misbegotten," "The Santaland Diaries," "A Dickens of a Carol," "The Glass Menagerie" and the currently running "Or,". He is the recipient of a Helen Hayes Tribute award.

About Rep Stage
Rep Stage, a professional Equity theatre in residence at Howard Community College, is in its 19th season. The company is a member of both League of Washington Theatres and Baltimore Theatre Alliance. Performances are made possible by the 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 2011-12 season partner.

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