QUAKE & ELEEMOSYNARY Staged At University Of The Arts 2/27

The quirk-fest "Quake" and the inter-generational study of three women "Eleemosynary" are being staged this weekend at The University of the Arts. Special guests in attendance will include "Quake" writer Melanie Marnich and "Eleemosynary" writer Lee Blessing, who just happen to be husband and wife. After taking in their plays, they will take center stage with an open forum and post-show discussions.

Marnich and Blessing will participate in an open forum with Amy Feinberg, who is directing "Quake," and University of the Arts senior Anya Anthony, who's directing "Eleemosynary," on Friday, February 27 from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. at the University's news Caplan Center for the Performing Arts (Terra Hall, 211 S. Broad St., Philadelphia). FREE and open to the public.

Later that evening, following the 8 p.m. performance of her "Quake" at the Arts Bank Theater (601 S. Broad St., Philadelphia), Marnich will participate in an audience question and answer session, moderated by Feinberg. Tickets are $18 for adults, $9 for students and seniors and can be purchased online (http://www.uarts.edu/sota).

The following afternoon, on February 28, Anthony will moderate a question and answer session with Blessing and the audience following the 2 p.m. matinee performance of "Eleemosynary." Staged at the Caplan Center, "Eleemosynary" is part of the University's Studio Series. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased online (http://www.uarts.edu/sota).

A writer for the HBO series "Big Love," Melanie Marnich has penned plays that include "Quake," "Blur," "Tallgrass Gothic," "Beautiful Again These Shining Lives" and "Cradle of Man," which will receive its world premiere at Florida Stage, and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award. "Blur" received its world premiere Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club and also won the Francesca Primus Prize from Denver Center Theatre. "Quake" and "Tallgrass Gothic" have premiered at the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays. Her awards include two McKnight Advancement Grants and two Jerome Fellowships from the Playwrights' Center, the Samuel Goldwyn Award, an Ohio Arts Council Grant and the Selma Melvoin Award from Northlight Theatre. Her plays have been produced and developed at New York's Public Theater, London's Royal Court Theatre, the Guthrie Theater, Arena Stage, The O'Neill Theatre Conference, Dallas Theater Center, Portland Center Stage, Geva Theatre, Hyde Park Theatre, American Theatre Company, HERE and Denver Center for the Arts. She has also received commissions from the Guthrie Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Children's Theatre of Cincinnati, Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis and Mixed Blood Theatre.

Lee Blessing has an international reputation as a playwright, with productions of his work in countries as far-flung as Japan, South Africa, France and Brazil. His play "A Walk in the Woods" was produced on Broadway and in London's West End. Off-Broadway productions include "A Body of Water" (Fall, 2008 at Primary Stages), "Going to St. Ives," "Thief River," "Cobb," "Chesapeake," "Down the Road," "Patient A," "Two Rooms," "Lake Street Extension," "Fortinbras" and "Eleemosynary." The Signature Theatre dedicated a season to Blessing's work. Recent major regional premieres include "Great Falls," "Lonesome Hollow," "A Body of Water," "The Scottish Play," "Flag Day" and "Whores." He is the author of the Perilous Night Trilogy, three plays about racism in America. Productions of Blessing's plays have earned numerous awards including an Obie, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, an L.A. Critics' Circle Award and the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Award. He has also received nominations for the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony and Olivier Awards. Blessing lives in New York and is head of the graduate playwriting department at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University.

 

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