John Pierson News

St. Louis Actors' Studio continues its fourth season, themed Angels and Demons, with Patrick Marber's award winning play CLOSER. CLOSER follows four lives intertwine over the course of four and a half years in a densely plotted, stinging look at modern love and betrayal. Dan, an obituary writer, meets Alice, a stripper, after an accident in the street. Eighteen months later, they are a couple, and Dan has written a novel inspired by Alice. While posing for his book jacket cover, Dan meets Anna, a photographer. He pursues her, but she rejects his advances despite their mutual attraction. Larry, a dermatologist, 'meets' Dan in an Internet chat room. Dan, obsessing over Anna, pretends to be her and has cybersex with Larry. They arrange to meet the next day at an aquarium. Larry arrives and so too, coincidentally, does the real Anna. This sets up a series of pass-the-lover scenes in which this quartet struggle to find intimacy but can't seem to get closer.

On Monday, March 7, 2011, New Rep will be holding its very first Premiere Party at the historic Commander's Mansion. New Rep's Premiere Party 2011 is an exciting evening of entertainment to celebrate the announcement of New Rep's 2011-2012 Season.

Patrick Marber's play CLOSER is an intriguing examination of the way men and women interact with one another, particularly with regards to their vastly differing ideas as to what love and commitment actually mean. The story itself is fascinating and frustrating, in equal measure, as we watch four damaged, and generally unlikable and selfish, characters struggle with their wants and desires as they desperately search for happiness. What's absolutely certain is that Marber's play requires a quartet of actors who are firing on all cylinders in order for it to truly take hold of an audience. Fortunately, the St. Louis Actors' Studio has assembled a terrific cast for their current production, and they manage to make these (mostly) unsympathetic characters both engaging and compelling.

St. Louis Actors' Studio continues its fourth season, themed Angels and Demons, with Patrick Marber's award winning play CLOSER. CLOSER follows four lives intertwine over the course of four and a half years in a densely plotted, stinging look at modern love and betrayal. Dan, an obituary writer, meets Alice, a stripper, after an accident in the street. Eighteen months later, they are a couple, and Dan has written a novel inspired by Alice. While posing for his book jacket cover, Dan meets Anna, a photographer. He pursues her, but she rejects his advances despite their mutual attraction. Larry, a dermatologist, 'meets' Dan in an Internet chat room. Dan, obsessing over Anna, pretends to be her and has cybersex with Larry. They arrange to meet the next day at an aquarium. Larry arrives and so too, coincidentally, does the real Anna. This sets up a series of pass-the-lover scenes in which this quartet struggle to find intimacy but can't seem to get closer.

Strap on your moon boots for LAIKA DOG IN SPACE, opening Saturday, February 5, 2011 at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland.

Strap on your moon boots for LAIKA DOG IN SPACE, opening Saturday, February 5, 2011 at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland.

Strap on your moon boots for LAIKA DOG IN SPACE, opening Saturday, February 5, 2011 at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland.

St. Louis Actors' Studio continues its fourth season, themed Angels and Demons, with Patrick Marber's award winning play CLOSER. CLOSER follows four lives intertwine over the course of four and a half years in a densely plotted, stinging look at modern love and betrayal. Dan, an obituary writer, meets Alice, a stripper, after an accident in the street. Eighteen months later, they are a couple, and Dan has written a novel inspired by Alice. While posing for his book jacket cover, Dan meets Anna, a photographer. He pursues her, but she rejects his advances despite their mutual attraction. Larry, a dermatologist, 'meets' Dan in an Internet chat room. Dan, obsessing over Anna, pretends to be her and has cybersex with Larry. They arrange to meet the next day at an aquarium. Larry arrives and so too, coincidentally, does the real Anna. This sets up a series of pass-the-lover scenes in which this quartet struggle to find intimacy but can't seem to get closer.

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is excited to be a part of the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of afterlife: a ghost story. Steve Yockey's poetic play follows a young couple in the process of grieving, who tumble into an alternate reality, are forced to confront the ghosts that haunt them, and ultimately must decide what their afterlife will be. Directed by Kate Warner, afterlife: a ghost story will open for the press on Monday, January 17, 2011 and run through Sunday, February 6, 2011 in the Charles Mosesian Theater.

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is excited to be a part of the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of afterlife: a ghost story.

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is excited to be a part of the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of afterlife: a ghost story. Steve Yockey's poetic play follows a young couple in the process of grieving, who tumble into an alternate reality, are forced to confront the ghosts that haunt them, and ultimately must decide what their afterlife will be. Directed by Kate Warner, afterlife: a ghost story will open for the press on Monday, January 17, 2011 and run through Sunday, February 6, 2011 in the Charles Mosesian Theater.

Strap on your moon boots for LAIKA DOG IN SPACE, opening Saturday, February 5, 2011 at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland.

Strap on your moon boots for LAIKA DOG IN SPACE, opening Saturday, February 5, 2011 at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland.

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is spicing up this holiday season with New Rep's Darling Divas Deck the Holidays. This festive holiday cabaret is directed by Kate Warner and features New Rep favorites Michele A. DeLuca (Hot Mikado, Cabaret, The Wild Party, and Ragtime), Aimee Doherty (Hot Mikado, Speed-the-Plow, Cabaret, tick, tick... BOOM!, The Wild Party, Ragtime, and Into the Woods), Kami Rushell Smith (Dessa Rose), and Bobbie Steinbach (The Clean House, Romeo and Juliet, A Girl's War, The Waverly Gallery, and Stonewall Jackson's House).

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is spicing up this holiday season with New Rep's Darling Divas Deck the Holidays.

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is spicing up this holiday season with New Rep's Darling Divas Deck the Holidays. This festive holiday cabaret is directed by Kate Warner and features New Rep favorites Michele A. DeLuca (Hot Mikado, Cabaret, The Wild Party, and Ragtime), Aimee Doherty (Hot Mikado, Speed-the-Plow, Cabaret, tick, tick... BOOM!, The Wild Party, Ragtime, and Into the Woods), Kami Rushell Smith (Dessa Rose), and Bobbie Steinbach (The Clean House, Romeo and Juliet, A Girl's War, The Waverly Gallery, and Stonewall Jackson's House).

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is spicing up this holiday season with New Rep's Darling Divas Deck the Holidays.

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is spicing up this holiday season with New Rep's Darling Divas Deck the Holidays. This festive holiday cabaret is directed by Kate Warner and features New Rep favorites Michele A. DeLuca (Hot Mikado, Cabaret, The Wild Party, and Ragtime), Aimee Doherty (Hot Mikado, Speed-the-Plow, Cabaret, tick, tick... BOOM!, The Wild Party, Ragtime, and Into the Woods), Kami Rushell Smith (Dessa Rose), and Bobbie Steinbach (The Clean House, Romeo and Juliet, A Girl's War, The Waverly Gallery, and Stonewall Jackson's House).

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is excited to be a part of the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of afterlife: a ghost story.

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is spicing up this holiday season with New Rep's Darling Divas Deck the Holidays.