HOT TRAGIC DEAD THING Makes World Premiere At The Blank Theatre

The Blank Theatre in Hollywood has announced the world premiere production of Hot Tragic Dead Thing by Ashley Rose Wellman, directed by Christopher James Raymond. There will be two preview performances on Wednesday, February 26, and Thursday, February 27 at 8pm, and opening is set for Friday, February 28, at 8pm. The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Max Banta, Reed Campbell, Nikki DeParis, Wes McGee, Marguerite Moreau, and Siete White. Daniel Henning and Bree Pavey are the producers.

In the play, two teenagers form an unlikely bond as their budding attraction and obsession to leave a mark on the world lead them to a dark, dangerous place.

Hot Tragic Dead Thing was first presented in The Blank's Living Room Series, a staged reading series of new plays. It was then presented in the Living Room Series Plus, where the process took the play further into development with more rehearsal time and performances in front of an audience in October and November of 2019.

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.

Following previews on Wednesday 2/26 and Thursday 2/27, the regular performance schedule will be Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Admission for previews is $15 and $10 for students and for regular performances is $25 and $15 for students. Tickets may be purchased online at 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.

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