Curio Theatre Company Announces American Premiere Of THREE SISTERS

Curio Theatre Company is ready to rock in 2019 as it continues its season with the American premiere of the devised work from British Company RashDash. In this new work, Curio is tackling a well-worn Chekhov classic with a post-modern deconstructionist rock cabaret. Three Sisters, by RashDash, After Chekhov is set to run February 6 - March 2. The official press opening is Saturday, February 9 at 8 p.m. Industry Night is Monday, February 11 at 8 p.m. and there is a matinee performance Saturday February 23 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15-$30 and are available online at www.curiotheatre.org or by phone at 215-921-8243. All shows are performed at Curio's home theatre at the Calvary Center for Culture and Community, 4740 Baltimore Avenue.

This show is for mature audiences due to strong language and discussions of sexuality.

The American premiere of a play by UK artists RashDash, Three Sisters, by RashDash, after Chekhov is a wild, irrevrent spin on the well-trod classic that entertains with absurdist comedy and bombastic musical numbers while it asks vital questions. Are women forever doomed to recite the beautiful, brilliant words of dead white men? What does it mean to produce a play that is both one of the greatest tragedies of all time, and an unfortunate go-to choice when theatre companies decide they need a play that features women? Playing the three iconic women are the actresses who played three sisters in last season's Crimes of the Heart at Curio: long time Company members Colleen Hughes, Rachel Gluck, and Tessa Kuhn.

Curio company member Meg Trelease directs. Curio Artistic Director Paul Kuhn is designing a play space that will begin in a drawing room built in a life-size toy theatre and will transform as the evening goes on. Tim Martin, Curio company member, is the Lighting Designer. Damien Figueras is the Sound Designer and is composing original music for the show. Company member Aetna Gallagher is the Costume Designer and has created several genre and time bending looks for the show. Company member doug greene is the Props Designer and Company member Kathleen Soltan is the Stage Manager.

Curio discovered the work when Artistic Director Paul Kuhn was looking for new work by women that featured music. He found RashDash and after looking at their work and reading more about them, he wrote and asked for the script. The company read it and had to add it to their season.

"Once we did get our hands on the script, I felt like it was such a perfect response to the last year in terms of the #metoo movement and feminism in general. The piece is big, bold, brash, messy and does not offer easy solutions - I love that it does not try to tie up the ongoing struggle that women face in a neat little bow," said Trelease.

She adds, "We did a first table read of the script with the cast and company in July, and we laughed and cried and sat around discussing it for hours. I think the audience can expect to leave this show with amazing fodder for discussion - and I also hope that the audience will leave excited about those conversations. The cast members - Tessa Kuhn, Colleen Hughes, and Rachel Gluck - are all long-term Curio company members, and this piece also wrestles with their experience as women in theatre in Philadelphia. It is definitely NOT your typical Curio play, and therefore Curio audiences will have the chance to see these actors in a new way and perhaps in an even more authentic way. "