Amphibian Stage Productions to Present Fort Worth Premiere of THE PLEASURE TRIALS

Amphibian Stage Productions presents its third and final staged reading of the 2016 season. In a vigorous effort to foster new work, this past year Amphibian has hosted three playwrights in residence to develop their unpublished plays.

The Pleasure Trials, written by Sarah Saltwick and directed by Jess Hutchinson, stars Dallas-Fort Worth area based actors Janielle Kastner, Mikaela Krantz, and Kenneisha Thompson. The staged reading will run Sunday, December 4 at 2:00 PM and Monday, December 5 at 7:00 PM at the Berlene T. and Jarrell R. Milburn Theatre at Amphibian Stage Productions.

Janielle Kastner was seen recently in the world-premiere of Lisa, My Friend in A Stain Upon the Silence: Beckett's Bequest at Kitchen Dog Theater. In addition to performing on the stage, both Mikaela Krantz and Kenneisha Thompson have appeared on television series and films. Mikaela's screen credits include Ronald Reagan: From Movie Star to President and Hillary's America. Kenneisha has been featured on TNT's Dallas and Investigation: Discovery Network, and she co-stars in the award-winning independent film Steps of Faith.

"Most theatre companies don't accept unsolicited scripts, so writers without agents or significant New York and regional credits have few opportunities to show their work. Amphibian is proud to have an open submission policy and thrilled to have discovered Sarah's brilliant play because of it," said Kathleen Culebro, Artistic Director of Amphibian Stage Productions.

Jess Hutchinson will direct; she is the Artistic Director of Chicago's New Leaf Theatre and was the 2015-16 NNPN Producer in Residence at Kitchen Dog Theater. Sarah Saltwick is a playwright based in Austin, TX, a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at UT Austin, and a past Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis.

When Rachel and Callie start clinical trials on their new female libido enhancement drug, willing participants come out of the woodwork looking for an internal revolution. Quickly after the first dose, the effectiveness of the medicine is undeniable, but the overwhelming pressure for its success may corrupt the experiment and everyone involved. The Pleasure Trials is an insightful and entertaining examination of women, sexual desire, and the burden of meeting expectations.

Tickets to The Pleasure Trials are $20, with additional discounts available for seniors, students, members of the theatre community, and groups of 10 or more. To purchase tickets, call 817-923-3012, email boxoffice@amphibianstage.com, or visit www.amphibianstage.com. The theater is located at 120 S. Main Street, Fort Worth, TX 76104.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Sarah Saltwick (Playwright)

Sarah Saltwick is a playwright based in Austin, TX, a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at UT Austin, and a past Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis. Her play, Tender Rough Rough Tender, was recently produced by groundswell theater and awarded the David Mark Cohen New Play Award by the Austin Critics Table. Upcoming work includes development of Europa at Playwrights Week at the Lark (New York, NY) and a production of A Perfect Robot at the Vortex Theater (Austin, TX), which was a finalist for the O'Neill Playwright Conference and a Kilroy Honorable Mention for 2014 and 2015.

Sarah's play, She Creatures/Of Myth and Mud, was produced by Barnyard Theater and Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, CA; Nouveau 47 in Dallas, TX; and Weber State University in Ogden, UT. Some additional developmental and production partners include groundswell theatre company, ScriptWorks, New Century Theater Company, Forward Flux, Kitchen Dog Theater, Swan Dive, the Navigators, The Exchange Artists, Red Theatre Collective, Phoenix Theatre, the Icicle Creek Theater Festival, WildClaw Horror Theater, Weber State University, Barnyard Theater. Her plays have been seen in theaters as well as in cars, backyards, dressing rooms, lobbies, and a swimming pool. You can find more about Sarah's work on www.sarahsaltwick.com or on the New Play Exchange.

Jess Hutchinson (Director)

Jess Hutchinson is a theatre director, dramaturg, and producer. Most recently, she directed Gavin Witt's adaptation of As You Like It for North Park University in Chicago. She earned her MFA at UT Austin, where she had the pleasure of collaborating with stellar writers on projects like 381 Bleecker, 'ratio, Lyla School, 70 Secrets of Marmalade Kittens, 100 Heartbreaks and Enter A Woman, Pretty Enough. As Artistic Director of Chicago's New Leaf Theatre, her favorite projects included Arcadia, The Dining Room, and world premieres of Burying Miss America, Lighthousekeeping, and The Man Who Was Thursday, as well as the world premiere of Hideous Progeny for LiveWire Chicago Theater. She was proud to be the 2015-16 NNPN Producer in Residence at Kitchen Dog Theater. More at www.jesshutchinson.com

Janielle Kastner (Callie)

Janielle Kastner is a Dallas-based actor and writer and was recently named Best New Playwright 2016 by the Dallas Observer. Janielle was seen recently in the world-premiere of Lisa, My Friend in A Stain Upon the Silence: Beckett's Bequest at Kitchen Dog Theater, as well as the rolling world-premiere of The Firestorm at Kitchen Dog Theater, and has appeared locally in Decline of Ballooning with The In-Laws, Uncle Vanya with Dallas Actors' Lab, Seminar at Theatre Three, Romeo y Julieta at Cara Mia Theatre, Pericles at Shakespeare Dallas, and Shakespeare in the Bar which she co-produces. Janielle was an inaugural member of the Dallas Playwrights' Workshop at Dallas Theater Center, and her plays have been produced by The Stella Adler Academy and The Tribe, of which she is a founding member and recipient of Dallas Observer's 2016 Mastermind Award. Janielle received her BFA from SMU Meadows School of the Arts.

Mikaela Krantz (Anne-Zora)

Mikaela's previous theater credits includes Richard III, Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare in the Bar); Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, The Real Thing, Jeeves in the Morning, Talking Pictures (Stage West); Grapes of Wrath, Hank Williams: Lost Hwy, Manicures & Monuments (WaterTower); Booth, Martyr (Second Thought); The Flick, Abe Zobell's: Home Movies (Undermain); Taming of the Shrew, Troilus & Cressida, Julius Caesar (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, NY); Tiny Disasters (Guthrie Theatre, MN); and Selected Scenes from Henry VI Part 2 (Globe Theatre, London).

Mikaela has also appeared in films including Joy Hodges in Ronald Reagan: From Movie Star to President; Young Hillary Clinton in Hillary's America; Alex in Restricted Intelligence (Seasons 2 & 3); and Begonia Moonbeam in Dead Air: The Series.

Kenneisha Thompson (Rachel)

Kenneisha's career began as a radio personality for Hampton University's WHOV 88.1 FM. After earning a BA in Journalism & Communications, she continued as a gospel DJ for Dallas's Heaven 97 KHVN. Her previous stage credits include: Two Trains Running, Company, Steel Magnolias, The Firestorm, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, for which she earned BroadwayWorld.com's 2014 Best Supporting Actress Award. Kenneisha was last seen on stage in WaterTower Theatre's Discovery Series production of Bright Half Life.

Her TV credits include: Conn's Home Plus, Top Golf, TXU Energy, Texas Lottery, JC Penney, MaryKay, and TNT's Dallas. She co-stars as in the award winning indie film Steps of Faith, and she is currently the National Spokesperson for Long John Silver's. She has also voiced several video games, including "Lady Hammerlock" in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and "Reyna" in Gearbox's 2016 release, Battleborn. In addition to performing, Kenneisha is an arts educator for Junior Players and has served in drama ministries for Friendship-West Baptist Church and The Potter's House Dallas. She is represented by The Horne Agency.

Amphibian Stage Productions is a non-profit theatre company founded in 2000 by three alumni of TCU's Department of Theatre who strive to produce innovative and engaging works of theatre that inspire new ideas, opens new doors, and increases our understanding of the vast world around us. Now in its seventeenth season, Amphibian has produced numerous groundbreaking and challenging plays (some regional premieres, others U.S. or world premieres) that foster a deeper understanding of ourselves as members of the global community. The company is widely recognized for its stylistically and thematically varied scripts.

Committed to nurturing young and diverse audiences, Amphibian has developed a strong internship program, a summer acting workshop for teens, and a dynamic outreach project, Tad-Poles, that is steadily increasing the company's visibility and following. The group travels to schools and community centers, performing and spreading a message of multicultural collaboration and tolerance.

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