Rajiv Joseph Returns to the Alley Theatre for The Monster at the Door

Immediately after the Broadway opening of his play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, named a Pulitzer Prize finalist last year, Alley Company Artist Rajiv Joseph returns to the Alley with the world premiere of his latest play, The Monster at the Door. This world premiere, like the premiere of Gruesome Playground Injuries in October 2009, is being produced as part of the Alley Theatre's New Play Initiative, which facilitates the creative collaboration between playwrights, directors, actors, designers and dramaturgs during all stages of a new play's development. In The Monster at the Door, the commissioning of a colossal art work for display in the lobby of a global corporation launches a surreal journey that explores the mythic power of attraction, seduction and transformation, and the events surrounding a mysterious woman whose healing touch leaves destruction and chaos. Profanity, violence, adult situations. Recommended for mature audiences.

Rajiv Joseph's recent premieres have been met with critical acclaim. The New York Times described the Broadway production of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad as a "smart, savagely funny and visionary new work of American theater" and the Hollywood Reporter called it "a provocative and hauntingly surrealistic play from a distinctive voice." The Houston Chronicle described Gruesome Playground Injuries and Rajiv Joseph as "an original voice....blending quirky humor and unexpected poignancy."

The Monster at the Door, by Rajiv Joseph and directed by Daniella Topol, begins previews Friday, April 29, opens Wednesday, May 4 and runs through Sunday, May 29, 2011 on the Neuhaus Stage.

The Monster at the Door features Rebecca Brooksher as Tonise, Adam Green as Jesse, Portia as Maya, Brian Reddy as Vince and James A. Stephens as Fergueson. All five actors are making their Alley Theatre debut.

The Monster at the Door will feature Scenic Design by Kevin Rigdon (Alley's August: Osage County, A Behanding in Spokane, Intelligence-Slave) with Costume Design by Amy Clark (Alley Theatre debut). Lighting Design is by Tyler Micoleau (Alley Theatre debut) and Sound Design is by Jill BC DuBoff (Alley's Gruesome Playground Injuries, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing) with Dramaturg Mark Bly (Alley's A Weekend with Pablo Picasso, Intelligence-Slave, Gruesome Playground Injuries) and Fight Direction by Brian Byrnes (Alley's August: Osage County, Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up, Intelligence-Slave).

Rajiv Joseph (Playwright) returns to the Alley Theatre after the world premiere of his play Gruesome Playground Injuries in 2009. His play, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, is currently on Broadway starring Robin Williams. His Off-Broadway credits include Gruesome Playground Injuries; Animals Out of Paper, which received a Lortel nomination for Outstanding Play, The Leopard and the Fox (adaptation); All This Intimacy and Huck & Holden. Joseph's regional credits include Gruesome Playground Injuries at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, D.C. and the world premiere of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo at Center Theatre Group. Rajiv was recently awarded a United States Artists Grant and is a former Whiting Award winner. He received his BA in Creative Writing from Miami University and his MFA in Playwriting from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He served for three years in the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa.

Daniella Topol (Director) is making her Alley Theatre debut. Recent productions include the world premieres of Janet Allard and Niko Tsakalakos' Pool Boy at Barrington Stage, Sheila Callaghan's Lascivious Something at Women's Project and Cherry Lane Theatre, Willy Holtzman's The Morini Strad at City Theatre, Caridad Svich's Instructions for Breathing at Passage Theatre, Judith Thompson's Palace of the End, Trista Baldwin's Sand at Women's Project and Productions, and Sheila Callaghan's Dead City at New Georges. Committed to supporting new writers and new plays, Daniella served as the New Works Program Director of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and the Artistic Program Director of the Lark Play Development Center. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon's Directing Program, Daniella has been a grants review panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NY State Council on the Arts and TCG. Upcoming world premiere productions include Adriana Sevahn's Nights Over Erzinga with Golden Thread Productions in partnership with the Lark and Silk Road Theatre Project in September 2011, Carla Ching's Sugar House at The Edge of the Wilderness at Ma-Yi Theatre in November 2011 and Catherine Treischmann's How the World Began at Women's Project in January 2012.

Mark Bly (Dramaturg) is the Senior Dramaturg and Director of New Play Development at the Alley Theatre. In addition to serving as dramaturg for select productions, Bly is responsible for the creation of the Alley's new play program, involving readings and workshops with established and emerging playwrights. He is a Distinguished Professor of Theater at the University of Houston where he teaches Playwriting and Dramaturgy. Prior to this he was the Senior Dramaturg at the Arena Stage and Director of Arena's New Play Development Series. Before joining Arena Stage, Mark served for 12 years as Chair of the Graduate Playwriting Program at the Yale School of Drama and as Associate Artistic Director for the Yale Repertory Theatre. Mark has dramaturged over 100 productions at major regional theaters and on Broadway. Highlights of his career include dramaturging the premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks's The America Play at the Yale Rep and Public Theater, dramaturging the premiere of Moises Kaufman's 33 Variations at the Arena Stage and on Broadway, and becoming the first Production Dramaturg to be credited on a Broadway production when he worked on Execution of Justice, written and directed by Emily Mann in 1986. He is listed in the Internet Broadway Data Base (IBDB). He has written for Dramaturgy in American Theater, Theater Forum, American Theatre and also Yale's Theater as Contributing and Advisory Editor. He wrote introductions for and edited volumes I and II of The Production Notebooks: Theatre in Process. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Bly was the Chair of the Board of Directors for Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas from 2001-2005. He recently received the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas G.E. Lessing Lifetime Achievement Award.

Rebecca Brooksher (Tonise) is a proud New Orleans native. Her New York credits include Dying City at Lincoln Center, for which she received a Lucille Lortel nomination for Best Actress; The Scariest at Bleeker Street Theatre and J.T. Rogers's White People at Atlantic Theatre. Brooksher's regional credits include Grisi in Terrence McNally's Golden Age at the Kennedy Center, with Director Walter Bobbie; Constance in She Stoops to Conquer with Director Nicholas Martin; Viola in Twelfth Night at The McCarter Theatre; Sarah in Sick with Director David Auburn at The Berkshire Theatre Festival and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. She has also worked at The Guthrie Theater, The Falcon Theater, Barrington Stage Company, Chester Theatre Company and more. Her TV credits include Love Monkey on CBS, Young American Heroes on PBS, One Life to Live on ABC and Canterbury's Law on FOX. This season Rebecca can be seen as Lana Timmerman on The Good Wife, and in the web series, The Confession, directed by Keifer Sutherland. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School.

Adam Green (Jesse) has appeared Off-Broadway in The Witch of Edmonton at Red Bull Theatre, Election Day, All this Intimacy at Second Stage, Dov and Ali with Playwrights Realm at Cherry Lane Theatre, None of the Above at Lion Theatre, The Last Word at Theater at St. Clement's, The Mines of Sulphur at New York City Opera and Bone Portraits at Walkerspace/ Soho Rep. His other New York credits includes workshops and readings at the Roundabout Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, New Georges, and the Cherry Lane Theatre. Green's regional appearances include All's Well that Ends Well; The Liar at Shakespeare Theatre Company, for which he received a Helen Hayes Award nomination; Peter and the Starcatchers at La Jolla Playhouse; Pride and Prejudice at Geva Theatre; The Chosen at Actors' Theatre of Louisville; Awake and Sing at Arena Stage; The Heart is a Lonely Hunter at ALLIANCE THEATRE and The Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare on the Sound. He is an Affiliated Artist with DC's Shakespeare Theatre. He holds a MFA in Acting from NYU and a BA in English from Harvard University.

Portia's (Maya) theatre credits include the role of Mama Nadi in the Pulitzer Prize-winning production of Ruined, Berniece Sadie Brown in the London production of The Member of The Wedding, Zooman and the Sign, McReele, The Treatment, No Child, Frankie & Johnny, Ride Down Mt. Morgan, Our Lady of 121st St., In Arabia We'd All Be Kings and Merchant of Venice. Her television credits include Ugly Betty, Lipstick Jungle, 30 Rock, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Rescue Me, Whoopie!. Portia's feature film credits include Silver Tongues, The Greatest, The Messenger, Please Give, Synecdoche, The Girl in the Park, Freedomland and World Trade Center. Portia is a member of the LAByrinth Theater Company and Actors Equity Association.

Brian Reddy (Vince) has appeared at Lincoln Center Theater in A Free Man of Color as Jonathan Sparks/Major Walter Reed, in Abe Lincoln in Illinois as Stephen Douglas and Dinner at Eight. His Broadway credits include Gypsy, Finian's Rainbow, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, The Crucible, Alice in Wonderland and the national company of Madame Butterfly. Reddy's Off-Broadway credits include Death Defying Acts, Othello as Iago, A Midsummer Night's Dream as Bottom, The Cradle Will Rock and Orchards. His regional appearances include Pygmalion as Doolittle at the Guthrie Theatre, Awake and Sing! at Arena Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, two seasons at the Shakespeare Theatre and The Acting Company as a company member. His film credits include O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Lost Souls, My Sassy Girl, Casino, Dante's Peak, The Birdcage, Primal Fear and What About Bob? among others. His numerous TV credits include The Good Wife, Numb3rs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Law & Order, Martin and Seinfeld.

James A. Stephens (Fergueson) has appeared on Broadway in 45 Seconds From Broadway and the international tour of Grand Hotel. His Off-Broadway credits include God Hates The Irish, Peg O'My Heart and Nightingale. His regional theatre credits include Shadowlands at Guthrie Theatre; A Christmas Carol and The Birthday Party at McCarter Theatre; The Importance of Being Earnest directed by Sir Peter Hall; Philadelphia Here I Come, The Hostage, Don Juan in Hell and The Country Boy at Irish Repertory Theatre; House and Garden at Manhattan Theatre Club; Ghosts at New Jersey Shakespeare Festival; Terra Nova at Huntington Theatre and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Real Thing at New Mexico Repertory Theatre. Productions in England include King Lear at Old Vic; Antonio and The Merchant of Venice at Nottingham Playhouse; Love on the Dole at Manchester Library; Blithe Spirit at Marlow Theatre; Man To Woman at The Zig Zag; Sell Out at The National Theatre; The Missing Links at The Kings Head; Conduct Unbecoming at Westcliff Theatre and Life of Marx at Alberry Theatre. His television credits include In Treatment on HBO, Law & Order on NBC, All My Children, Another World, General Hospital, She's the Sheriff, Wainwright's Law and The Gentle Touch. His film credits include Merlin in Sorcerer's Apprentice, The Missing Person, Calling It Quits, The Last International Playboy, Decent, The Little Black Dress, Bad Loser, Britannia Hospital and The Hard Way.

As part of the innovative partnership between the Alley Theatre and Ucross Foundation, last spring Rajiv Joseph was able to spend time at the Ucross Foundation writing The Monster at the Door. Ucross Foundation is a nonprofit organization which runs a prestigious retreat for writers, artists and composers in northern Wyoming.

The Monster at the Door is generously sponsored by Neuhaus Stage Season Sponsor Randall H. Jamail and Supporting Sponsor the National Endowment for the Arts. The Alley Theatre is supported by the 2010-2011 season sponsor United Airlines, the official airline of the Alley Theatre.

ABOUT THE Alley Theatre'S NEW PLAY INITIATIVE
The Alley Theatre's New Play Initiative facilitates the creative collaboration between playwrights, directors, actors, designers and dramaturgs during all stages of a new play's development. Central to this Initiative are readings, workshops, commissions, Affinity Series Symposiums and residencies. Three world premieres have been developed through this Initiative in the 2009-2010 season: Rajiv Joseph's Gruesome Playground Injuries, which ran October 16 to November 15, 2009, Jack Murphy, Gregory Boyd, and Frank Wildhorn's Wonderland, which ran January 15 to February 14, 2010, and Kenneth Lin's Intelligence-Slave, which ran May 23 to June 20, 2010. Along with The Monster at the Door, the Alley Theatre also produced the world premiere of Herbert Siguenza's A Weekend With Pablo Picasso as part of the 2010-2011 season. In producing these new plays, we intend to give each the fullest production values and support to bring forth and enhance the theatrical poetry and imagination that the playwright has poured into the play. This is the primary focal point and purpose of the entire New Play Initiative at the Alley Theatre - for the artists and audience to come together within the imagination of a living, working playwright and to help create a first production that will launch the new work to become what we all believe it will be - a play destined to become a classic for the future.

ABOUT Alley Theatre AND UCROSS FOUNDATION
The Alley Theatre and Ucross established an ongoing, innovative partnership in 2009. Each year they will create a writing residency for a playwright and a workshop that involves the playwright and the Alley Theatre artists to focus on a newly developed play. Playwright Rajiv Joseph spent time at Ucross residency in Spring 2010. Kenneth Lin, whose Intelligence-Slave had its world premiere at the Alley in May 2010, had a highly successful writing retreat at Ucross in August 2009.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets to The Monster at the Door start at $21. All tickets to The Monster at the Door are available for purchase at www.alleytheatre.org, at the Alley Theatre Box Office, 615 Texas Avenue, or by calling 713.220.5700. Groups of 10 or more can receive special concierge services and select discounts by calling 713.220.5700 and asking for the group sales department. The added convenience of reservations by phone or Internet is available for a nominal fee. Tickets purchased in person at the Alley Theatre Box Office have a $1 building restoration fee.

CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE
Sunday, May 1, 7:30 PM
The Alley Theatre is pleased to offer open captioning for many of our productions throughout the season. To ensure that your seats will accommodate your needs, please call the box office 713.220.5700 when ordering tickets to this performance. Discounted tickets are available for groups of ten or more.

TALKBACK
Tuesday, May 10, 7:30 PM
Members of the cast return to the stage following the performance to take questions from the audience. TalkBacks are led by a member of the Alley Artistic Staff.

AFFINITY SEREIS SYMPOSIUM
Saturday, April 30, immediately following the 2:30 PM performance
As part of the New Play Initiative, the Alley Theatre will present an Affinity Series Symposium for each world premiere this season featuring the playwright and dramaturg to discuss the genesis of the play, the Alley Theatre rehearsal process, and the larger societal issues raised by the play. The Affinity Series Symposium will occur in conjunction with the world premiere of Rajiv Joseph's The Monster at the Door on Saturday, April 30, immediately following the 2:30 PM performance and is open to those holding a ticket for this performance. For The Monster at the Door, the Affinity Series Symposium will feature Alley Theatre Senior Dramaturg and Director of New Play Development, Mark Bly.

Need more Houston Theatre News in your life? Sign up for all the news on the Winter season, discounts & more...