Coeurage Theatre Company Presents SLAUGHTER CITY By Naomi Wallace

Coeurage Theatre Company, LA's Pay What You Want theatre company, has announced the first production of its ninth season, Slaughter City by Naomi Wallace. Directed by Coeurage Artistic Director Jer Adrianne Lelliott, there will be one preview performance on Friday, June 22, at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, June 23, at 8pm. Slaughter City will play through July 14 at the Historic Lankershim Arts Center in North Hollywood.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Ted Barton, Katelyn Gault, Candace Hammer, Jamie Jung, Tarina Pouncy, Eric Ruff, and Ilia Volok. Scenic design is by Tim Vordtriede, lighting design is by Michelle Stann, Costume Design is by Alison Kawa, sound design is by Joseph V. Calarco, movement is by Donna Eshelman, and video design is by Marc Hampson. The stage manager is Eryn Bollin.

Slaughter City follows the lives of a group of workers laboring at a slaughterhouse. Tensions rise as the work gets tougher and more dangerous, their wages are cut, and their benefits reduced. The play was inspired by a number of labor-related incidents including the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 and the 1993 strike at Fischer's meat packing plant in Louisville, Kentucky. Said the New York Times, "Wallace serves a language, rich and poetic, associate and dreamlike, often surreal, and in every case haunted by history."

Naomi Wallace obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hampshire College. She then received two master's degrees from the University of Iowa. Currently, she divides her time between Kentucky and the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England (UK). Wallace has taught English literature, poetry, and playwriting at Yale University, UCLA, University of Iowa, Illinois State University, Merrimack College, Hampshire College, American University of Cairo, Vrije University of Amsterdam, and others. She has also worked with women in the criminal justice system, and is a member of SURJ, Showing up for Racial Justice. She has been called "a dedicated advocate for justice and human rights in the U.S. and abroad, and Palestinian rights in the Middle East." Her writing has been described as, "muscular, devastating, and unwavering."

Jer Adrianne Lelliott is the founding artistic director of Coeurage Theatre Company. Directing highlights include the world premiere of The Two Kids That Blow Shit Up for Artists at Play, Blackbird, and for Coeurage Vieux Carré, The Woodsman, and Andronicus. She has appeared in productions at The Pasadena Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Chance Theatre, Laguna Playhouse, La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, MainStreet Theatre Company, and Disney on Broadway.

Coeurage Theatre Company exists to make impassioned theatre accessible for all audiences through Pay What You Want admission and fresh, challenging productions. The company's name is inspired by a re-imagining of the word courage - coeur is French for heart, and rage, meaning fervor; on fire. Together, Coeurage (pronounced "courage") is a heart enflamed with passion, which the company strives to bring to every production.

There will be one preview performance of Slaughter City on Friday, June 22, at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, June 23, at 8pm. The regular running schedule is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm through July 14. All seats are available on a Pay What You Want basis and may be reserved online at www.coeurage.org/slaughtercity or by calling (323) 944-2165.

The Historic Lankershim Arts Center is located at 5108 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, 91601.

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