Orbiter 3 presents THE BROWNINGS: A New Play by Sam Henderson

In just their first two years of producing work Orbiter 3, the theatre company helmed by some of Philadelphia's most renowned playwrights, has been nominated for 12 Barrymore Awards. Now the world premiere of Sam Henderson's The Brownings, marks the beginning of the end for Orbiter 3, as they complete their mission in mid-2018.

Henderson, who is well known in Philadelphia for his acclaimed performances in plays like The Arden's Three Sisters and Theatre Exile's The Aliens, will receive his professional debut as a playwright when The Brownings is presented by FringeArts this December. He is an alumnus of both the Foundry, a lab for emerging Philadelphia playwrights, and the InterAct Theatre Core Playwright's Program.

The Brownings is an immoderate re-telling of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's great love of the 19th century. This unconventional exploration depicts The Brownings as they love, hate, fight, and write the best ever sonnet, in an exploration of the purpose of art and the nature of love.

As Henderson puts it, "The Brownings is about the nature of love and of madness. It's a reverent depiction of the celebrated love between the finest poets of the Victorian era, and it's rude, comic deception of the dynamics of bipolar disorder, which I live with. It puts us in the room as the 19th century's greatest poets struggle to survive each other."

The Brownings will feature Charlotte Northeast, David Ingram, and Orbiter 3 co-founder James Ijames. With direction by Harriet Power, the production also features set design by Apollo Mark Weaver, lighting by Jerold Forsyth, sound by Chris Sannino, costumes by Marie Ann Chiment and props by Emily Schuman.

Following Mary Tuomanen's "stunning" A Peaceable Kingdom, The Brownings will be the sixth production of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia's playwrights producing collective dedicated to creating sustainable and radical theatre. Next year, when all seven productions have been completed, the collective will release their plays and documentation of their development as a resource for theatremakers. The collective will then dissolve.

Members of Orbiter 3 include Emily Acker, L Feldman, Emma Goidel, Sam Henderson, James Ijames, Mary Tuomanen and Douglas Williams, the collective is led by Artistic Director Maura Krause and Associate Producer Erin Washburn.