Son of Semele Ensemble Presents U.S. Premiere of THE CITY, 8/17

Award-winning theatre company Son of Semele Ensemble (SOSE) announces the U.S. premiere of The City, a new play by British playwright Martin Crimp, opening August 17 at the Son of Semele Theater in Silver Lake. The City is an elliptical play exploring the uncertainty of modern life through three characters who are trying to make sense of a surreal and collapsing world.

Clair, a translator, will not write stories of her own. Her characters feel lifeless just like the piano playing of her neighbor Jenny, a nurse whose husband is away fighting in a mysterious and secret war. Clair's husband Christopher fears that restructuring at work will cause him to lose his job and, to make matters worse, his marriage is deteriorating quickly. Nothing is as it seems and truth is stranger than fiction in this austere play about the abruptly shifting landscape of contemporary life.

Martin Crimp's most acclaimed play, Attempts On Her Life, premiered at London's Royal Court Theatre in 1997 and received a revival at the Royal National Theatre in 2007 directed by Katie Mitchell. Ms. Mitchell directed the world premiere of The City at The Royal Court Theatre in 2008. Crimp has written 16 plays and translated or adapted 11 others including Ionesco's The Chairs, Marivaux's The Triumph of Love and Chekhov's The Seagull. In addition to the London premiere, The City has received Australian productions at the Sydney Theatre Company in 2009 and The Bakehouse Theatre in April 2012, as well as a Canadian production in 2010 at The Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs in Toronto. Son of Semele's production marks the play's U.S. premiere.

The City will be directed by SOSE Founding Artistic Director Matthew McCray. The cast features Melina Bielefelt, Elise Ramacciotti, Sarah Rosenberg and Dan Via. The set is designed by Nick Benacerraf, with costumes by Gwyneth ConawayBennison, and lighting and sound by Ovation Award-winning designers Jeremy Pivnick and John Zalewski, respectively.

Over the past twelve years the company's work has received 17 regional awards and award nominations including the Ovation Award, the L.A. Weekly Theatre Award and the NAACP Theatre Award. In addition to producing theatre, SOSE also sponsors the work of like-minded theater artists, sharing resources for co-productions through SOSEhost, a curated guest-production program. For additional information on SOSE and SOSEhost visit www.sonofsemele.org.

Performances of The City begin August 17, playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 5:00 p.m. One "theatre community" performance will be offered on Monday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m. There are no performances September 7 through 9.

Admission ranges from $18-20. Discounted group tickets are available for groups of 6 or more. Unsold seats at the time of curtain will be sold to local residents of zip codes 90004 and 90026 for $10.00 (I.D. required). Tickets are available through the SOSE website at www.sonofsemele.org. The box office opens one half hour prior to curtain. Son of Semele Theater is located in Silver Lake at 3301 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. (one mile west of Alvarado).