Photos: Island City Stage Presents ROTTERDAM

Don't miss Island City Stage's poignant production of Rotterdam by Jon Brittain, a touching, yet modern comedy about gender, sexuality, and being a long way from home. Rotterdam runs through February 19.

This new play from Jon Brittain, co-creator of Margaret Thatcher, Queen of Soho, writer of What Would Spock Do? and The Sexual Awakening of Peter Mayo, is a sensitive exploration of gender identity and relationships. It shares the story of lesbian couple Alice, who is struggling to come out to her parents, and Fiona, who tells Alice that she has always identified as a man.

"Although politics and media seem focused on the trans community, we don't often hear personal stories about those who seek to transition and the effect that can have on those closest to them," said Andy Rogow, artistic director of Island City Stage. "Rotterdam is a bittersweet comedy whose characters are in transition in one way or another."

Directed by Michael Leeds and co-produced by Sue Wilder, Rotterdam stars Suzanne Ankrum as Alice and Autumn Kioti Horne as Fiona. It also features Abbie Fricke as Lelani and Robert Koutras as Josh. All actors are making their Island City Stage debut performances.

Suzanne Ankrum's recent regional credits include Palm Beach Dramaworks production of A Streetcar Named Desire, WAM Theatre's Emilie: La Marquise du Chatelet..., Majestic Theater's Crimes of the Heart, New Century Theatre's The How and the Why, Clarence Brown Theatre's Woyzeck, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Tartuffe, and A Christmas Carol, and Richmond Shakespeare Festival's Twelfth Night and Henry IV, Part 2. She's also appeared on Netflix's

Orange is the New Black and has performed in several workshop productions from Palm Beach Dramaworks, Theatre Lab, Hartford Stage, Ivoryton Playhouse and HartBeat Ensemble.

South Florida artist and actor Autumn Kioti Horne has performed with Theatre Lab, Zoetic Stage, GableStage, Florida Stage, Caldwell Theatre, and others. In NYC, they originated the roles of Cassandra in The Hive, Veronica in She Calls Me Firefly, and others. Their interdisciplinary art has been presented in galleries/spaces throughout the U.S. and abroad including La Mama, Dixon Place, The Queens Museum and Last Frontier, and more. They have also appeared in award-winning films at Lincoln Center, Art Basel, Sci-Fi London, Palm Springs Film Festival, and more. When not onstage, they run an environmental art/education/justice program Wildness is Necessary.

Creating quality professional theatrical experiences focused on the LGBT+ community for a universal audience, Island City Stage's 11th South Florida season offers thought-provoking productions that explore bittersweet longing, gender questions, loneliness, the ins and outs of friendship, the magic of random human connection and ethnic conflict within the generational divide. Upcoming shows include I Wanna F@#king Tear You Apart by Morgan Gould from March 2 - April 2; Tracy Jones by Stephen Kaplan from May 18 - June 18 and Springfield Pride Commissioned by Island City Stage from August 3 - September 3.

Rotterdam set sponsors are Doug Pew and Don Croxton, costume sponsors are Thomas Nichols and Dan Chadburn and lighting and sound sponsor is Scott Bennett.

Tickets for Rotterdam start at $40. A special Women's Night at the Theatre will take place on Friday, February 3 with a 7 p.m. reception with light bites and beverages followed by the show.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.islandcitystage.org, call (954) 928-9800 or email md@islandcitystage.org.