Malibu Playhouse to Continue Season with Craig Wright's THE PAVILION

Malibu Playhouse continues their 2016 season with another limited-run critically acclaimed production: The Pavilion written by Craig Wright, the creator and executive producer of the dramatic series, Greenleaf, the first original series produced by Oprah Winfrey, which will begin airing in June. The Pavilion is helmed by Jeremy Skidmore, world renowned theater director and current Guest Artistic Director of the Malibu Playhouse.

THE PAVILION: Peter returns to his twenty-year high school reunion with dreams of winning back Kari, the girl he left behind after an unexpected pregnancy ended their relationship. Standing in Peter's way is Kari's resentment, the mistakes of the past, an entire village of characters (all played by a single virtuosic Narrator), and the momentum of space and time all converging on a single moment in one small American town. Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

TICKETS: April 28 - May 22

Website: http://malibuplayhouse.org/the-pavilion/

Ticket prices: $10- $75
Previews - Thurs. April 28, Fri. April 29Opening with reception - Sat. April 30On Stage Dinner with Cast & Director - Sun. May 15Closing night with reception - Sun. May 22

Craig Wright (Playwright) creates for theater, film, and television. His plays include Grace, The Pavilion, Melissa Arctic, Orange Flower Water, Recent Tragic Events and The Unseen. He has received several awards for his writing, including the Helen Hayes/Charles MacArthur Award for Best New Play (for Melissa Arctic) and has been the recipient of fellowships from the McKnight Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For his work as a writer on Six Feet Under, he received an Emmy nomination, and a Writer's Guild of America award for his work on Lost. He created Dirty Sexy Money for ABC, Underemployed for MTV, worked with Howard Gordon to develop Tyrant for FX, and also wrote and produced episodes of Brothers and Sisters and United States of Tara. He is the creator and executive producer of Greenleaf, scheduled to premiere on Oprah Winfrey's OWN in June of 2016. Mr. Wright wrote Mr. Peabody and Sherman for Dreamworks Animation. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Sarah and daughter Evelyn and his grown son, Louis, is currently completing his studies in architecture at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

THE CAST:

Chris Payne Gilbert (Peter) is a graduate of Siena College where he played Division I soccer, and received a BA in English with a concentration in Theatre. He attended Ohio University's Professional Actor Training Program in Athens, Ohio, and subsequently spent the beginning of his career working in New York. He has appeared in many Off-Broadway productions including Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (Minetta Lane), Kilt (Directors Co), Through Fred (Playwrights Horizons), Walking off the Roof (Signature Theatre Co), as well as Freesailing, Lem, Experimental Actions (all Williamstown Theatre Festival). His Los Angeles credits include All My Sons (Geffen Playhouse), It's Just Sex (Two Roads Theatre), Larry Moss' production of Beggars in the House of Plenty, and Reid Scott's production of The Elephant Man. Chris is a founding member of the Obie Award winning experimental theatre company Mad Dog, whose work includes productions in New York, the Williamstown Theatre Festival & MASS MOCA, and at the Belgrade International Theatre Festival. He has appeared in numerous television series including Suits, Backstrom, Mistresses, Criminal Minds, Dexter, Burn Notice, Bones, The Shield, Friends, CSI, and Sex and the City, as a series regular on the TBS comedy 10 Items or Less and Lifetime's The Protector as well as the television movie Hollywood Vice. His film credits include Broken Hearts Club, Story of a Bad Boy, Brothers, and Refuge, written and directed by Tony Award winner Mark Medoff.

Jason Lott (Narrator) is thrilled to return to the Malibu Playhouse, previously appearing in his one-man holiday show Wonderful Life. An actor and writer recently transplanted from Washington, DC, Jason has worked with numerous regional theaters over the years, including productions with The Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, Studio Theatre, Theater Alliance, The Hub Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, and Everyman Theatre. He is a two-time Helen Hayes Award nominee, including a nomination for Wonderful Life for the 2012 Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Play or Musical, and a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.

Leslie Murphy (Kari) is so happy to be a part of this beautiful play, and to be performing for the first time on the Malibu Playhouse stage! She hails from Palm Springs, and received her theatre degree from UC Berkeley. She has appeared several television shows including "Criminal Minds," "House," and "Franklin and Bash". Her film work includes Acting Like Adults, Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World, White Irish Drinkers, and she wrote and performed a solo show last year called, Sincerely.

Jeremy Skidmore (Director/Producer) previously directed Mary's Wedding for the Malibu Playhouse where he is currently serving as Guest Artistic Director. In Washington, DC he co-founded and served as President of the Capital Talent Agency, as Artistic Producer of the Source Festival, and as Artistic Director of Theater Alliance. Jeremy has directed or taught all over North Carolina and in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Nebraska, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, London, Oslo, Galway, Kilimanjaro, Tokyo, Macau, and Tai Pei. He has as a BFA in directing from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and an MBA from American University

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