Mixed Blood Theatre Opens ELEMENO PEA, 2/22

With panache and pedal-to-the-metal intensity, Molly Smith Metzler's Culture Clash comedy-of-bad-manners, ELEMENO PEA, squares off two sisters with a wealthy employer, unleashing a succession of secrets in a brutal dissection of significant moments and how they can launch or derail a life. Unfolding in real time, this hearty class system stew transitions fluidly from hilarity to poignancy and offers an amusing morality tale about the compromising consequences of money's seductive power. Mark Valdez (Learn to Be Latina) returns to Mixed Blood to direct the regional premiere, which opens February 22 and runs through March 17, 2013 at Mixed Blood's historic firehouse theatre on the West Bank, 1501 S. Fourth St. in Minneapolis.

In this 90-minute rapid-fire caustic social satire, set on Martha's Vineyard just after Labor Day, a high-end personal assistant (played by Grace Gealey) to the trophy wife of an ultra-rich (and often absent) New York ad man plans an end-of-summer sibs-fest. When her older sister-a social worker from blue collar Buffalo-comes to visit, lifestyles-and worlds-collide.

Laurine Price plays Michaela, the trophy wife, and Sun Mee Chomet plays Simone's older sister, Devon. Ron Menzel (Ethan) and Pedro Bayón (Jos-B) are also part of the keenly observed comedy. The creative team includes Mixed Blood veteran designers Garry Lennon (costumes), Dick Borgen (scenic), Laura Wilhelm (props), Karin Olson (lighting), and C. Andrew Mayer (sound).

"Elemeno Pea is definitive Mixed Blood - a 90-minute contemporary comedy tackling the stigmas of class, race, culture and disability with unrelenting sarcastic word play. Its ethics - intelligent and literate - align with Mixed Blood's world view beautifully," said Artistic Director Jack Reuler.

A preview of Elemeno Pea will be held Thursday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m.; the show opens Friday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m. and continues through Sunday, March 17. Performances are Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with 3:00 p.m. matinees on Sundays.

There are two ways to attend an Elemeno Pea performance: 1) No-cost admission: To access these free seats, audience members register in the lobby in exchange for admission (Box Office opens two hours prior to the show). 2) Guaranteed admission: Audience members can guarantee entry for an individual performance by paying a $20 fee online at www.mixedblood.com or by calling the box office at (612) 338-6131. Anyone self-identifying as a person with a disability may call the bosx office to arrange free round-trip cab rides to Mixed Blood performances. General admission seating begins 30 minutes before show time and is first-come, first-served. All performances are in the Alan Page Auditorium at Mixed Blood's historic firehouse theatre at 1501 S. 4th St., Minneapolis.