Seacoast Rep to Present BACKGROUND CHECK

Have you ever wondered about your spouse's deepest, darkest secrets? What if they all came crashing through the door on a single night. And what if yours did too. And what if that night was the first night of your honeymoon. Seacoast Repertory Theater is very proud to present Background Check, the hit comedy by acclaimed playwright G. Matthew Gaskell. Directed by Jamie Bradley and featuring a professional all-star cast of regional favorites, Background Check is the "utterly hilarious, smart farce" you won't want to miss. "Background Check" runs Thursday May 26th - Sunday June 5th.

A farce in the most over-the top fashion, "Background Check" premiered at the Players Ring in 2014 to rave reviews. Director Jamie Bradley originated one of the lead roles. Now the show finds new life in a second production at Seacoast Rep with with a cast including Spotlight award nominees Kevin Mahaney (Oliver, Titanic, and South Pacific) and Jess Andra (Into the Woods, Oliver) as the lead roles.

The show constitutes an experiment for the new management of Seacoast Rep as they attempt to make room in their schedule for more original works. Background Check is scheduled between Seacoast Rep's Mainstage Productions of Titanic and Reefer Madness. Seacoast Rep hopes that this show will provide a model for successful second productions of local works in conjunction with the Player's Ring and other theatres that specialize in the production of original works, bringing to bear more resources and seating and bringing the works to a wider audience, and hopefully, giving them a greater shot at life beyond Seacoast stages.

"We have so much creative energy on the Seacoast and the best way we can serve the artistic and community aspects of our mission is to give space and time to those creations," says artistic director Miles Burns.

Seacoast Rep hopes audiences will embrace new works as well as they do the established works typically produced at the theatre. New works are a risk, but one worth taking says Burns.

"We tell people that we'll never show anything we don't think people will enjoy," said Burns. "We were big fans of the original production, and when I re-read the script I woke up my baby with my laughing."

Coincidentally "Hansel and Gretel", an original musical by Burns will be running at the Players Ring concurrently to "Background Check".

Background Check runs Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets run $15-20 with discounts for students and seniors. Background Check runs 5/26-6/5. Tickets can be purchased at seacoastrep.org/tickets or through the box office at 603-433-4472.