SISTER CALLING MY NAME to Have New York Premiere at The Sheen Center

Blackfriars Repertory Theatre and the Storm Theatre presents a new production of Buzz McLaughlin's Sister Calling My Name directed by Peter Dobbins (Ah, Wilderness!; The Rainmaker), it was announced today. Performances begin on January 24 for a run through February 16 in the Black Box Theater at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street, NYC). Opening night is set for January 30 and this marks the play's New York premiere.

Sister Calling My Name is about a brother's reluctant reunion with his developmentally disabled sister who has become an extraordinary artist. When he discovers his sister's guardian, a nun, is a woman he knew from his past, the three are all thrown into an emotionally charged encounter that leaves them forever changed.

The play deals with issues of love, loss, faith, doubt, family, and redemption.

The cast of Sister Calling My Names features Susie Duecker (As You Like It; The 12 Dates of Christmas), John Marshall (The Imbible; Apple Seed) and Gillian Todd (The F; Orestes 2.0).

Sister Calling My Name features scenic design by Daniel Prosky, costume design by Jake Poser, lighting design and production coordination by Michael Abrams, and sound design by Ian Werhle. Kellie Taylor is the stage manager and assistant director and Fleur Alys Dobbins is the associate artistic director of the Storm Theatre.

"Buzz McLaughlin's Sister Calling My Name takes us on the difficult journey home", said director Peter Dobbins. "It's a trip often avoided as there can be regrets and recriminations at every turn, but this gripping memory play takes us through the struggles of reconciliation to the most sublime of rebirths."

LISTING INFORMATION:

Sister Calling My Name plays at The Sheen Center in The Black Box Theater (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street, NYC). Performances are Thursday - Friday at 7:30pm and Saturdays at 2pm & 7:30pm. There is a special Sunday matinee added on February 17 at 2pm. Opening night is January 30. Tickets are $35. Tickets/reservations for all events at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture are available online at SheenCenter.org, by phone at 212-925-2812, and in-person at The Sheen Center box office (Monday through Friday 11:00am to 5:00pm and one hour before shows).

Buzz McLaughlin (playwright) is a playwright and screenwriter, theatre and film producer, script consultant, and teacher. His plays have been produced throughout the U.S. and Canada and have won numerous awards including the National Repertory Theatre Foundation's National Play Award for Sister Calling My Name. With his wife Kris he has written several screenplays and teleplays. He is co-founder/producing partner of the independent film company Either/Or Films (The Sensation of Sight), the Founding Director and former Artistic Director of Writers Theatre of New Jersey, and for many years was professor of Theatre Arts at Drew University. The author of The Playwright's Process: Learning the Craft from Today's Leading Dramatists, he holds a doctorate in theatre and dramatic literature from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Writers Guild of America. Currently he teaches playwriting and screenwriting in New England College's Creative Writing MFA program. "Writing this play was very personal for me," McLaughlin says. "It was inspired by my own mentally disabled sister and I think of it as a special tribute to her."

Peter Dobbins (director) is a cofounding member and Producing Artistic Director of the Storm Theatre Company since its inception. Recently he directed the Blackfriars Repertory Theatre and Storm Theatre's production of Ah, Wilderness! at the Sheen Center. Last spring he directed The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash, and the prior spring directed Death Comes For The War Poets by Joseph Pearce, both at The Sheen Center. Dobbins' other directing credits include: T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral; Dion Boucicault's The Shaughraun and Arrah~na~Pogue; Stewart Parker's Spokesong, George Lillo's The London Merchant; William Shakespeare's As You Like It, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night; Thomas Dekkers The Shoemakers Holiday; The Karol Wojtya (Pope John Paul II) Festival, including The Jeweler's Shop, Jeremiah, and Our God's Brother.

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (www.sheencenter.org) is a New York City arts center located in NoHo that presents a vibrant mix of theater, film, music, art and talk events. An initiative of the Archdiocese of New York, The Sheen Center serves all New Yorkers by presenting performances and artists that reflect the true, the good, and the beautiful. Named for the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, best remembered as an inspirational author, radio host and two-time Emmy Award-winning television personality, The Sheen Center reflects his modern-day approach to contemporary topics. The Sheen Center is a state-of-the-art theater complex that includes the 273-seat off-Broadway Loreto Theater, equipped with five-camera high-definition TV and live-stream capability and a multi-track recording studio; the 80-seat off-off-Broadway Black Box Theater; four rehearsal studios; and an art gallery.

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