HOT TRAGIC DEAD THING Announced For Blank Theatre Living Room PLUS

The Blank Theatre in Hollywood has announced a Living Room Series Plus presentation of Hot Tragic Dead Thing by Ashley Rose Wellman, directed by Christopher James Raymond. There will be six performances only beginning November 14.

The Blank is committed to developing new plays and new artists. This presentation of Hot Tragic Dead Thing is the culmination of its new play development program. This play was first presented in The Blank's Living Room Series, a staged reading series of new plays. In the Living Room Series Plus, the process has taken the play further into development with more rehearsal time and performances in front of an audience.

Bekah, a teenage social outcast recovering from a failed suicide attempt, and Miles, a golden boy with a hidden thirst for violence, are thrust into the same house when their parents try to blend their families after disastrous marriages. Bekah and Miles express their budding attraction and increasing obsession with leaving a mark on the world by plotting a mass shooting at their high school.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Max Banta, Brea bee, Nikki DeParis, Max Pescherine, Sebastian Siegel, and Sisi Turcotte. Lighting and sound design are by Tor Brown and the stage manager is Britt Crisp. Shelagh McFadden serves as dramaturg. Bree Pavey is producer for The Blank and the associate producer is Madison Kirkpatrick.

Ashley Rose Wellman is a Los Angeles playwright with an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the University of Southern California's School of Dramatic Arts. Her plays have been read and/or produced at Pasadena Playhouse, Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST/LA), The Blank Theatre, Rogue Machine Theatre, TossPot Productions, Midnight Summit Ensemble, Red Cup Theatre Company, the Last Frontier Theatre Conference PlayLab and Mainstage, and the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Her play You Are the Blood was a finalist for the 2017 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Blue Ink Playwriting Award, and a semi-finalist for the 2017 Princess Grace/New Dramatists Award. Hot Tragic Dead Thing was a finalist for the 2018 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, and That Long Damn Dark was a semi-finalist for the 2016 O'Neill NPC. She is a member of the New West Writers Group at EST/LA and a founding member of the Barelight Writers Project.

Christopher James Raymond is the associate artistic director of The Blank Theatre and executive director of its new play development program. For The Blank, he directed the world premiere of A Singular They (Stage Raw Award, LADCC Award for Best New Play.) He directed Doomsday Cabaret-An Apocalyptic Rock Opera (Hollywood Fringe Festival/Best Musical/Top of Fringe). He served as assistant director on the Blank's productions of Stephen Karam's Speech & Debate and Christopher Durang's Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them. He has worked at The Pearl, The Public, NADA, Walnut Street Theatre, EST/LA, Moving Arts, Theater of NOTE, and more. He is a graduate fellow of AFI, attended CalArts, Yale, National Shakespeare Conservatory, and he studied with Wynn Handman in NYC.

The performance schedule is Thursday-Saturday, November 14, 15, and 16, and Thursday-Saturday, November 21, 22, and 23, at 8pm. Tickets are $18 and may be obtained online at tix@theblank.com or by calling (323) 871-8018.

The Blank's 2nd Stage Theatre is located at 6500 Santa Monica Boulevard (on Theatre Row at Wilcox), in Hollywood, 90038.