Actors Theatre Presents SECRET ORDER 3/5-21

Secret Order is the story of a brilliant young scientist who may have discovered the cure for cancer. Playwright Bob Clyman explores the impact of that discovery beyond the lab in Actors Theatre's production on Stage West at Herberger Theater Center from March 5-21.

Writing for nytheatre.com, Michael Criscuolo described Secret Order as "a taut, stimulating drama about the moral and ethical dilemmas involved in the high stakes world of medical research."
Broadway.com said that Secret Order is "a first-rate work of substance that is not afraid to turn over some pretty big rocks and examine what lies beneath. Medical ethics, power, and money are just a few of the specimens under his microscope. Throw in religion, fraud, and father-son relationships, and you begin to get a sense of the range of issues Clyman deals with."

Matthew Wiener will direct the fast-paced story of Dr. William Shumway, a 30-something cell biologist who may have found a way to get cancer cells to self-destruct. The discovery leads to a job offer at a prestigious cancer-research institute in New York led by the ambitious Dr. Robert Brock, who sees a Nobel Prize in the future. As news of Shumway's research spreads, a young Harvard University student, Alice Curiton, goes after a summer internship with Shumway.

Brock later tells Shumway, whose work is being sought for a piece in the New England Journal of Medicine, he's been offered a Friday slot for a presentation about his research at an esteemed conference in Tucson, but would rather he have a time on Saturday. Before the conference Shumway realizes there's an issue with his research, which sets up a scientific and moral quandary testing the will, desire and integrity of everyone.

Cale Epps appears as Dr. Shumway, Mark DeMichele as Robert Brock, ASU student Jessica Weaver is Alice Curiton and David Vining is Dr. Saul Roth, the 67-year old Chief of Toxicology at Hill-Matheson, who is both Brock's boss and biggest career obstacle.

For the production, Jeff Thomson is designing the sets; Paul Black the lighting; Lois Myers, costumes; and Christopher Neumeyer, sound.

Tickets, on sale now at www.actorstheatrephx.org, range from $10 for balcony seats to $41 for those in the orchestra. Group discounts also are available.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.actorstheatrephx.com or call the Herberger Box Office at (602) 252-8497, Monday - Friday, 10am - 5pm.