RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN Comes to Next Stage at Theatre Memphis, 4/3-19

A 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist fresh from off-Broadway, the regional premiere of Rapture, Blister, Burn, by Gina Gionfriddo ushers into the Next Stage at Theatre Memphis and runs April 3 - 19, 2105.

With blazing wit, this new comedy takes a tantalizing look at family, career, romance and the decisions made that may define one's life. Decades after college, friends Catherine (a single, successful author and TV personality) and Gwen (a home-bound, married mother of two) reconnect only to discover the career academic and the housewife want the other's life.

According to director Tony Isbell, Rapture, Blister, Burn is "about women who have reached a 'certain age' examining the choices they have made in their lives and comparing them with the choices other women have made. It has become a cliché, but it's really about the question: 'Can a woman have it all'?" Isbell is adamant that the comedy shines through the message and says, "...while it ponders some serious questions, it does so in a way filled with humor and good will and compassion for ALL women, no matter what they have chosen to do in their lives." Even though the issue-oriented scenes blur the lines of the "road map" of how to go through life, the humor comes in with the strong, female protagonists who have made choices about their lives and are now having second thoughts about some things. Both deal with this quest in a comedic way, while never denigrating the seriousness of the issues. Isbell laughingly relates, "Both (women) are very funny and very poignant at the same time. The grass is always greener on the other side of the picket fence ... or as the case may be, the skyscraper."

The cast is led by actors Erin Shelton and Tracie Hansom (Catherine and Gwen, respectively). They are supported by Ann Sharp as the aging mother needing assisted care, Jillian Barron as the young, inquisitive and direct babysitter and Steven Burke as the man (husband) in the middle. The interaction between all is part of the "tri-generational perspective" that Catherine's character wants.

Theatre Memphis Executive Producer Debbie Litch promotes Rapture, Blister, Burn as iconic to the purpose of the Next Stage. "Bringing new and exciting work to our patrons via the Next Stage enables us to produce more contemporary and cutting-edge work," she says. "In the more intimate space of the Next Stage we can take a higher risk to anticipate high artistic rewards. By engaging newer works we can attract the artistic community's interest and participation and an ever expanding and younger, more diverse audience."

Performances run at Theatre Memphis in the Next Stage, 630 Perkins Ext, Memphis, TN, 38117. Showtimes: Thursdays @ 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays @ 8pm with matinees @ 2pm on Sundays. Tickets: $25 adults, $15 students with valid ID. Box office: 901.682.8323 or online at www.theatrememphis.org.