COCKTAILS AND TRAVAILS to Continue The Theater Project's 45th Season

As they continue their 45th Anniversary Season with original and Maine based playwrights, The Theater Project Professional Ensemble is pleased to present COCKTAILS AND TRAVAILS, running February 2 - 12, directed by Christopher Price.

This outrageous madcap farce was written by Maine playwright and actor Brent Askari, and was the winner of the 2015 New Play Contest at The Neil Simon Festival, receiving a staged reading at the 2015 Neil Simon Festival in Cedar City, Utah.

As COCKTAILS AND TRAVAILS opens, Greg has arranged a nice, quiet, intimate cocktail party with his wife, Emily, and his stuffy colleague, Professor Stilton. A perfect evening could mean Greg achieves tenure at the college. But when Professor Stilton arrives, Emily and the hors d'oeuvres are missing, Greg's mother-in-law insists on crashing the party, and Greg's deadbeat brother is convinced he can somehow help. And what on earth is in the punch? Things couldn't get any worse. Or could they?

Brent Askari is a company member of Mad Horse Theatre in Portland, working as an actor, writer, and director. His plays have been produced in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Connecticut, Maine, and Washington, DC. He was part of HBO's New Writers Project and has been a finalist in the Samuel French Short Play Festival, Boston Theatre Marathon, Louisville 10-Minute Play Competition, the Reva Shiner Comedy Award, and the Mountain Playhouse International Comedy Playwriting Contest.

The production features performances by Keith Anctil, Heather Perry Weafer, Lisa Muller-Jones, Kate O'Neill, and Mark Rubin. Technical direction and lighting design by by JP Gagnon, scenic design and construction by Christopher Price, costumes and props by Wendy Poole, and sound design by Colin Whitely.

Performance times for COCKTAILS AND TRAVAILS are Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm. All tickets (except 2/4) are Pay-What-You-Want, with a suggested price of $20. On Saturday, February 4, all tickets will be $40, as the Theater Project hosts a "Cocktail Party" evening. For tickets or more information, call the box office at 729-8584 or visit www.theaterproject.com. The Theater Project is located at 14 School Street in Brunswick.