US Premiere of THE FUNFAIR By Simon Stephens Opens At Cal Rep Next Week

California Repertory Company continues its 30th Season with the spectacle of The Funfair by Tony award-winning playwright Simon Stephens. In a world of brutality and banality audiences are immersed into the Funfair where the fun feels free. Power plays fueled by misogyny and capitalism push lovers Cash and Caroline onto an emotional high wire without a net. The United States premiere of The Funfair opens November 2nd in the Studio Theatre.

Director Will Detlefsen is a Drama League Fellow and New York theatre maker. Detlefsen was recently Associate Director with Tony Taccone's production of Angels in America at Berkeley Rep. His credits include directing at the historic Hanger Theatre in Ithaca, NY, Machinalia in Brooklyn, NY, The Pain of my Belligerence at Playwrights Horizons and numerous new works devised by his Theatre Company 'MultiPurposeRoom'.

Playwright Simon Stephens won the Tony Award for Best Play with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in 2015. In an interview for the original production of The Funfair at the HOME theater in Manchester, Stephens said that the play asks, "How do people live in times of poverty? How do people deal with the rise of the right wing? What do people do when they lose their jobs? How do people love each other when their money runs out?"

Tickets: http://web.csulb.edu/colleges/cota/theatre/on-stage-now/index.html

Prices: General Admission $23

Students (w/ID)/ CSULB Faculty & Staff/$18

Seniors (55+)/ Military: $20

Groups: Groups of 10 or more start at $15/ticket

Location: Studio Theater at CSULB, 7th Street and East Campus Drive

California Repertory Company is celebrating 30 years of risk-taking theatre. California Repertory Company (Cal Rep) is the producing arm of the Theatre Arts Department at CSULB. Over the past three decades, Cal Rep has a history of creating new work, devised theatre and adaptations of classics. In its 30th season it showcases the work of local artists and brings a range of World, West Coast, and Southern California Premieres to Long Beach. Jeff Janisheski says, "It's a season that celebrates community: those that are already in our orbit, the new voices we champion and the community partners and artists we want to work with. Cal Rep's 30th Anniversary Season is a celebration of what Cal Rep has been over the years: a destination for adventurous, daring theatre. Come join us!"