Theatre Exile Announces Their 2009-2010 Season

Theatre Exile is pleased to announce its 13th season: a year of provocative playwrights partnered with Philadelphia's most exciting performers. We at Theatre Exile are committed to bringing cutting-edge plays that challenge the expectations of commercial theater, bringing our audiences into a deeper dialogue about the complexities of the human spirit in an ever-evolving society. We are proud to present another explosive season with two Philadelphia premieres, one world premiere and an exciting new play development series.

Theatre Exile's season opener is the Philadelphia premiere of Hunter Gatherers by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. Richard, Pam, Wendy and Tom have been the "Fab Four" since prom night 17 years ago. Even through the bedlam of being 30-something, successful urban professionals, the two married couples still find time between the Reiki sessions, novel writing and organic food shopping to gather for a yearly dinner of remembering their Glory Days. As the smell of their freshly killed dinner fills the room, their culturally savvy world is threatened by the animal instincts that lurk inside every sophisticated scenester. A pack must have its leader, and only the strongest will survive. "Nachtrieb's bitingly hilarious black comedy spares neither savages nor saints" (LA Times). Armed with razor-sharp language, complex characters and a stunning sense of the theatrical, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb takes the world of Edward Albee to the next level.

Theatre Exile has gathered a gifted ensemble for our season opener, featuring Barrymore Award winner Amanda Schoonover, star of Exile's Mr. Marmalade and Killer Joe, as the sensitive software specialist Pam. Exile's own associate artistic director, Matt Pfeiffer, returns to the stage as the embittered doctor Tom. Exile is pleased to welcome Sarah Sanford, member of the award-winning Pig Iron ensemble and nominee for 2009 F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Theatre Artist, as the voracious masseuse Wendy and Ross Beschler, last seen in End Days at People's Light and Theater Company, as the testosterone-driven artist Richard. Exile's co-artistic director Deborah Block directs this uproarious and surprising look at two couples teetering between virility and middle-aged panic.

Theatre Exile's Philadelphia premiere of Hunter Gatherers will run at the Adrienne Theatre, where another of Nachtrieb's caustic comedies will receive its Philadelphia premiere. Flashpoint Theatre Company will be producing Nachtrieb's Boom upstairs in the 2nd Stage at the Adrienne as Exile premieres Hunter Gatherers downstairs. It will be a rare opportunity for Philadelphia audiences to be fully submerged in the voice of one of America's rising star playwrights.

Theatre Exile is proud to present the world premiere of Any Given Monday by Bruce Graham, the "dean of Philadelphia dramatists" (Philadelphia Inquirer). Lenny is not having a good Monday. His wife left him for a jerk who builds Wal-Marts, his two least favorite football teams are playing on the TV and his college-aged daughter, Sarah, is having a crisis of faith. But when his best friend Mickey has the perfect solution to fix his marital problems, Lenny has to decide what he is willing to stand up for and whom he is willing to stand up to. In a world where political correctness, religious faith, class discrimination and social injustices just don't add up anymore, how can we personally define right and wrong? Bruce Graham is "considered to be this town's people-pleasing David Mamet, builder of stories that suck you in and make you want to stay" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Theatre Exile's world premiere is a co-production with Act II Playhouse, with Harriet Power directing an all-star cast of Barrymore favorites. American Buffalo's Pete Pryor and Exile's artistic director Joe Canuso team up again as the crass Mick and sensitive Lenny. Catharine Slusar, who has received scores of Barrymore nominations and awards, joins Exile for the first time as Lenny's sophisticated if not chilly wife, Risa. Exile is also pleased to welcome Genevieve Perrier, winner of the 2008 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Leading Actress, as Sarah, Lenny's scholarly daughter. Bruce Graham is also a Barrymore Award regular, most recently having his Something Intangible receive a nomination for Outstanding New Play. Bruce's third world premiere with Theatre Exile promises to deliver the sort of sharp-tongued, scathing comedy that made the Philly Fan such an Exile favorite.

Theatre Exile will close the season with the Philadelphia premiere of Shining City by Conor McPherson, the award-winning playwright of The Weir and The Seafarer. Two men meet as doctor and patient in a small office in Dublin. The patient, John, is being haunted by visions of his wife for whose accidental death he feels inexplicably responsible. The psychiatrist, Ian, has his own ghosts since leaving first the church and then his new family. Both men move through their sense of guilt and culpability, looking to find redemption in the most unlikely places. A hauntingly beautiful piece, Shining City is "as close to perfection as modern playwriting gets" (New York Times). Conor McPherson is a modern master storyteller, creating arias that reveal character through unfinished thoughts, silences and raw human emotion.

Philadelphia veteran Scott Greer makes his Theatre Exile debut as Tom, the haunted widower. Scott has received multiple Barrymore Awards for his work across the city and was named the 2002 F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Theatre Artist. Scott earned two Barrymore nominations this past season, for Something Intangible by Bruce Graham and for Candide. Shining City is directed by Exile's associate artistic director, Matt Pfeiffer. Matt recently directed Exile's American Buffalo, Glengarry GLen Ross and Bug, for which he was nominated for Outstanding Direction of a play in 2008.

Theatre Exile is also pleased to announce our inaugural new play development series, Studio X-hibition. Exile has long been known as the place where Philadelphia's top actors and designers can take their biggest risks. Starting this season, Exile will also become a hotbed of new play development. We will nurture the talents of five of Philly's most exciting play-crafters and bring their unique voices to life with five staged readings in our new Studio X performance space at 1340 S. 13th Street. Our X-hibition series is the perfect addition to a season that celebrates the grittiest, funniest and most celebrated playwrights currently putting their pens to paper.

TICKET INFO:
Call 215.218.4022 or on the web at www.theatreexile.org.
Ticket prices are $15-$40, call for specific prices and dates.
Student tickets and group rates are available, please call for details.

 

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