Sacred Fools Presents The World Premiere Of GIFTED

The Sacred Fools Theater Company is kicking off the new year with the World Premiere of Gifted by Bob DeRosa, directed by Rebecca Larsen. Opening Friday, January 24 and running through February 29 in the Broadwater Black Box, the show will run Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with Sunday performances on January 26, February 2 and 16 at 4pm and one performance on Monday, February 17 at 8pm.

What if your gift was also your curse?

Ashlyn has a special power - she can tell the romantic fate of any couple she sees, but cannot tell the same for herself. Enter a world of love and longing, humor and heartbreak, with a touch of magical realism. There is no fear we can't face in this world, because we are all gifted.

"Gifted feels like a breath of fresh air," says Sacred Fools Co-Artistic Director Aviva Pressman. "This is a world where people share small gifts, and you might not notice them if you weren't looking. Or they might change your life forever."

Playwright Bob DeRosa is a Sacred Fools company member and has written many pieces for various Fools off-and-late-night shows such as Crime Scene, Fast-N-Loose, We The People and Serial Killers. His storyline All The Best Killers Are Librarians won the Serial Killers Season 10 Playoffs and was adapted for a successful run in the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival. His screenwriting credits include Killers, The Air I Breathe, White Collar, 20 Seconds To Live, and Video Palace, the first original podcast from SHUDDER. Gifted is his first full-length play at Sacred Fools.

While Gifted is Rebecca Larsen's mainstage debut as a director at Sacred Fools, she's been a company member for nearly 15 years, having served terms as an Artistic Director, Managing Director and co-curator of the New Works Development Workshop. She's also directed for The Box: Los Angeles for Fools and The Joe and Joshua Show for the Hollywood Fringe. Larsen has performed in over a dozen Sacred Fools productions and countless appearances on the late night stage in Serial Killers, where she has written and directed multiple storylines.

Producer Bruno Oliver has also worn many hats over the years at Sacred Fools. He is the President of the Board of Directors for the company and is also the Associate Director and helping produce the remount of 2018's The Art Couple by Brendan Hunt for this season's Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Other Sacred Fools shows he has produced include the aforementioned premiere run of The Art Couple, The Rose and the Rime and A Gulag Mouse. Most recently, he starred in Waiting for Waiting for Godot.

The design team consists of Madilyn Sweeten Durrie (Production Design), Matt Richter (Lighting), Jennifer Christina DeRosa (Costumes), Jaime Robledo (Sound) and Tavi Stutz (Choreography). The production team is rounded out by Associate Producers Joe Hernandez-Kolski and J. Bailey Burcham, Assistant Director Nikki Muller and Stage Manager Sofija Dutcher.

Gifted features Kacie Rogers, Marc Forget, Jason Jin, Ross Philips, John Ellsworth Phillips, Madeleine Heil, Alessandra Mañon, Libby Baker and Carrie Keranen. Understudies are Sydney Hawes, Marc Antonio Pritchett, J. Bailey Burcham, Cameron Ley, Madeleine Hernandez, Ellie Bensinger, Jennifer Christina DeRosa and Bree Pavey. NOTE: An understudy will be stepping in on the performance on Friday, February 21. Our preference is that critics attend full-cast performances on other dates.

For more information visit www.sacredfools.org.