STAGE TUBE: Melissa James Gibson & Daniel Aukin Talk THIS

Melissa James Gibson's affecting and witty new play, "This," opens Sunday, August 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre. The new play, directed by Daniel Aukin, continues through August 28, 2011. 

Click below to watch an interivew with Melissa James Gibson and Daniel Aukin, the writer and director of THIS.

The cast of "This" features (in alphabetical order) Saffron Burrows, Eisa Davis, Glenn Fitzgerald, Gilles Marini and Darren Pettie. The scenic design is by Louisa Thompson, costume design by Jessica Pabst, lighting design by Matt Frey, original sound design by Matt Tierney and original music by Peter Eldridge. Original casting is by Alaine Alldaffer, casting is by Erika Sellin and the production stage manager is Elle Aghabala.

At the center of "This" is Jane (Burrows), a widow and single mom, who along with her circle of three friends, is warily approaching "middle age." As Jane's longtime friends -- a jazz singer and carpenter struggling as new parents and an eccentric mnemonist, attempt to help Jane come to terms with life without her husband, they begin to realize the unhappiness and lack of fulfillment in their own "This" was first presented by Playwrights Horizons in New York in December 2009 and was called by Charles Isherwood of The New York Times ". . . the best new play to open Off-Broadway this fall." Michael Kuchwara of A.P. said, "This" is ". . . a startling work, canny in the way it slowly draws you into the lives of five people creeping through middle-age. The writing is intellectually quirky yet emotionally satisfying. And if you think the subject matter sounds maudlin, don't worry. ‘This' is surprisingly tough-minded and funny, too."

Melissa James Gibson won the Obie Award and Kesserling Prize in 2002 for her show "[sic]." Her other works include "Suitcase, or those that resemble flies from a distance," "Brooklyn Bridge" and "Current Nobody." Gibson is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and has been a recipient of a Whiting Writers Award as well as a Jerome and MacDowell Colony Fellow. The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232. Ample free parking is available (weekends and after 6 p.m. on weekdays) at the City Hall, located behind the theatre on Culver Blvd. and Duquesne Ave.