THE NICETIES Comes to Portland Stage

Portland Stage presents The Niceties by award-winning playwright Eleanor Burgess, an exciting new voice in theater. In this riveting two-person drama Zoe, a black student, and Janine, her white professor, meet to discuss their differing views on Zoe's paper about slavery and the American Revolution. This polite clash of ideas soon landslides into an explosive discussion of race, history, privilege, and social justice.

In partnership with Pine Tree Society, Portland Stage is pleased to offer an ASL-interpreted performance of The Niceties on the evening of Thursday, April 19 at 7:30 pm.

Portland Stage's production of The Niceties has been generously supported by the Moser Family Foundation, the Dramatists Guild Foundation Writers Alliance Grant, and the Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust.

Zoe, a black student at a wealthy liberal arts college, and Janine, her white history professor with portraits of revolutionaries including George Washington hung over her desk, meet to discuss Zoe's paper about slavery and the American Revolution. The discussion quickly reveals differing perspectives on race, history, privilege, and social justice that poses the question: who is allowed to have a history? The answer is not simple. With crackling, whip-smart dialogue, Burgess reveals two characters who are seemingly similar on the surface. Both are smart and progressive, both are privileged intellectuals who believe in scholarship, and inclusiveness. Very quickly, however, Zoe and Janine verbally spar, and a great divide is revealed. The confrontation poses important questions and invites us on a journey with two vibrant and complicated women. Regardless of who you agree with at the top of the show, you'll find yourself reconsidering over the course of the play.

With this hard-hitting examination of the debates of contemporary academia, including race, liberal in-fighting, identity politics, social justice, PC-culture, and millennials vs baby boomers, Burgess examines the merits and flaws of each argument with an unflinching honesty. As she relates: "it was fun to write about two women who are both so firmly tied to their convictions that they will go down with the ship and bring a lot of other people with them...In our personal lives, we seldom follow a conversation all the way...we either have conversations with people we agree with, or we back out of a conversation the second it gets uncomfortable. The cathartic release of The Niceties is that neither of these characters will give up...they follow that conversation all the way through."

The Niceties was workshopped as part of the Portland Stage 2017 Little Festival of the Unexpected and had a developmental production in the summer of 2017 at Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, WV.

THE PLAYWRIGHT:

Eleanor Burgess' plays include The Niceties, Start Down, Chill, and These Dying Generations. Her work has been developed or produced at Manhattan Theatre Club, Ensemble Studio Theatre, ALLIANCE THEATRE, Huntington Theatre Company, the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Portland Stage Company, Centenary Stage Company, the Lark Play Development Center, the Kennedy Center/NNPN MFA Playwrights Workshop, Everyday Inferno, Ryder Farm and Luna Stage. She's been the recipient of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award, an EST/Sloan commission, a Keen Teens Commission, and the Susan Glaspell Award for Women Playwrights. She grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts, studied history at Yale College, and recently completed the M.F.A in Dramatic Writing at NYU/Tisch.

ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE:

In partnership with Pine Tree Society, Portland Stage is pleased to offer an ASL-interpreted performance of The Niceties on the evening of Thursday, April 19 at 7:30pm.

For over 80 years, Pine Tree Society has been transforming the lives of Maine people with disabilities and their families. Founded in 1936, Pine Tree Society has continuously assessed unmet needs and built partnerships to fill gaps that currently exist or may exist in the future for Maine people with disabilities. Pine Tree Society has become Maine's leader in providing opportunities for growth and development for people with differing abilities based on respect, creativity, and responsiveness to address the changing needs of clients, families, stakeholders, and employees.

Portland Stage is committed to providing access to our Mainstage productions for all audiences, and is proud to partner with Pine Tree Society in providing the Deaf community with greater access to the performing arts through ASL-interpreted performances as often as possible.

Seating for ASL-interpreted performances is located in the orchestra, house right. A limited number of complimentary tickets are available via Pine Tree Society, and advance reservations are required. Please contact Tim Wilbur at twilbur@pinetreesociety.org or 207-386-5974 to reserve seats.

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