ALIAS GRACE Stage Adaptation Begins 2/26 at Ball State

Jennifer Blackmer's adaptation of MARGARET ATWOOD'S novel ALIAS GRACE will begin February 26th at Strother Theatre at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

In 1859 Canada, Grace Marks, a notorious murderess serving a life sentence, meets Dr. Simon Jordan, a young psychologist and up-and-coming expert on memory loss. As they together unlock the enigmatic details of Grace's past and the grisly murders of her two employers, the real truth of her guilt or innocence eludes them both, and leads Simon on a complex journey into his own psyche. Based on a true story and adapted from the novel by Margaret Atwood, ALIAS GRACE is mystery and revelation, a tantalizing exploration of memory, desire, and the darkest places of the human mind.

JENNIFER BLACKMER is the 2015 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theatre Award winner for Emerging American Playwright. Her plays have been seen in New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Berkeley and St. Louis, and her work has been developed by Seven Devils, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, The Playwrights' Center and The Lark. Her plays include Human Terrain (Mustard Seed Theatre, 5th Wall Theatre, IAMA Theatre Company), Unraveled (Theatre Unbound, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Tennessee Repertory Theatre Ingram New Works Lab), Alias Grace (Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Ball State University) and Delicate Particle Logic (Indra's Net, CUNY Graduate Center). Human Terrain was recently honored with the award for Best Play by the Richmond Theatre Critics Circle, and is being developed as a motion picture with B Powered Films in Los Angeles. Jennifer has been a finalist for the David Charles Horn Prize for Emerging Playwrights (Yale Drama Competition), the Fratti-Newman Political Play Contest, the Firehouse Festival of New American Theatre, and The O'Neill National Playwrights' Conference, and her work has been short-listed for both the Princess Grace Award and the Shakespeare's Sister Fellowship. Recent directing credits include the American premiere of Lost: A Memoir at Indiana Repertory Theatre, and numerous productions at Ball State University.

The production will feature faculty member MARC DEVINE as Dr. Simon Jordan, ABBY CARTER as Grace Marks, KELSEY SKOMER as Mrs. Humphrey, ASHLEY GREENWOOD as Mary Whitney, ALEXANDRIA HUDSON as Nancy Montgomery, ISAAC BEAUCHAMP as Jeremiah/Dr. Jerome Dupont, JORDAN ROWE as Thomas Kinnear, and DAKOTA REED as James McDermott.

ALIAS GRACE is directed by KAREN KESSLER and features scenic design by JOHN STARK, costume design by SARAH CARMAN, lighting design by STUART WILSON, sound design by BRANDON REED, hair and make-up design by SHELIA MEDCALF-WILSON, and fight choreography by JOHN TOVAR.

Adapted and produced with permission of MARGARET ATWOOD and presented through special arrangement with producer BRIAN NITZKIN.

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