Aris Theatre to Present FIGHTING WORDS By Sunil Kuruvilla

"Fighting Words" by Sunil Kuruvilla will run for three weeks beginning April 10th at 7 Stages Theatre Back Stage, 1105 Euclid Avenue NE Atlanta Georgia 30307. (Preview on April 9th)

Tickets can be purchased at www.artful.ly/aris, or at the door, and are $15-$25, with discounts for Seniors and Students.

In 1980, Welsh boxer Johnny Owen traveled from the small Welsh mining town of Merthyr Tydfil to Los Angeles to challenge Lupe Pintor for the world bantamweight title, a fight which ultimately ended in tragedy. One hundred men from the town accompanied Owen to watch the fight at ringside.

"Fighting Words" is the story of three women who stayed behind in Merthyr with their hopes, fears and circumscribed lives. These women are all fighters too. But they must fight with words.

Fighting Words was first performed at the Factory Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, November 2001. The American premiere was at the Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT in November 2002.

About the Playwright:

Sunil Kuruvilla is a Canadian born playwright of East Indian descent. He has developed his plays at various places including New York Theatre Workshop, Williamstown Theatre Festival and The Sundance Institute. He has received commissions from the Joseph Papp Public Theatre, The Wilma Theatre and South Coast Repertory. He has written screenplays for Showtime and CTV. Former instructors include Alistair MacLeod, Anthony Minghella and Mac Wellman. The Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council have steadily supported his work. He won two duMaurier Arts awards recognizing Canada's best one-act plays. Kuruvilla has a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Windsor and a master's degree in playwriting from the Yale School of Drama. He has been a staff writer at 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles since 2013.

About The Production:

"Fighting Words" is directed by Mary Saville and features Lauren Boyd, Kristin Storla and Joanna Daniel.

Set Designer: Barrett Doyle (2019 Suzi Award Winner for Catalyst's production of K-2)

Lighting Designer: Elizabeth Cooper

Sound Designer: Kacie Willis

Costume Designer: Mallory Champlin

Props Designer: Courtney Loner

Movement & Fight Coach: Mary Ruth Ralston

Mary Saville (Director) Mary Saville has been directing for more than 20 years now, from high schoolers to professionals and everything in between. She's a big fan of Arís; she directed The Plough and the Stars and Ramallah, appeared in Philadelphia, Here I Come! and The Dark Lady, worked on some other projects, and is very happy to be here. She's also directed for Academy Theatre, The Atlanta History Center, History Alive!, and several schools. Atlanta acting credits: Actor's Express, Stage Door Players, Shakespeare Tavern, GET, Synchronicity, and Atlanta History Center, among others. Mary earned her master's degree in Theatre Education from Emerson College.

Lauren Boyd (Nia) is thrilled to be working with Arís Theatre. Atlanta credits include Sheltered, Tall Girls, Courage, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Alice Between (Alliance Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatre Buford), Singles in Agriculture (Aurora Theatre), Evr'y Tongue Confess (Horizon Theatre). TV/Film: Hindsight, Gone, Dwight in Shining Armor, Sextuplets, Office Christmas Party, and American Made. Lauren holds an M.F.A. In Acting from the New School for Drama. Love and thanks to my parents and my teammate Bobby Labartino.

Kristin Storla (Peg) is an actor, director, fight and intimacy choreography thrilled to be back with Arís. She is passionate about advocating and training artists to use not only their bodies, but voices to progress the industry forward. Her work has been seen at Actor's Express, Shakespeare Tavern, OnStage Atlanta, Capitol City Opera, Synchronicity, Out of Box, and more. Kristin is a company member with Havoc Movement. When not in theatre, find her as a Culinary Storyteller with Atlanta Food Walks. Storla's done some stuff, but she's doing more; keep up at www.KristinStorla.com

Joanna Daniel (Mrs Davies) Since arriving in Atlanta from the UK in 1991, Joanna has performed at 7 Stages, Actors Express, Arís, Aurora Theatre, Fern Theatre, Georgia Ensemble Theatre, Impulse Rep, Shakespeare Tavern, Stage Door Players, Synchronicity Theatre, Theatre Emory and Theatre Gael. She recently appeared in Night Must Fall at Georgia Ensemble Theatre and in Theatre Buford's production of The Importance of Being Earnest. She is also a founding member of Arís and appeared in their production of The Artist Man & The Mother Woman in 2015. Pleased as punch to be doing this play with such an extraordinary team of women (and man!).

For more information: please visit www.aristheatre.org