12 Peers Presents World Premiere of EXISTENCE AND THE SINGLE GIRL, Now thru 2/21

12 Peers Theater announced the World Premiere production of Existence and the Single Girl by Matt Henderson, tonight, Feb. 5, through Feb. 21. The play was well-received as a reading in the 2013 Summer Scribes Series and will be directed by Todd Betker.

Ashley is a 12-year-old girl with a severe psychological problem: she can't stop pondering the meaning of life. Her long-suffering mother finally decides to call a psychologist for guidance, who provides her with the best treatment possible for a young girl with existential blues-she molds her into a pop culture phenomenon. Attempting to find her place in the world, Ashley adopts the various teen girl pop culture personas that are given to her, with the hope that she will discover the answer to the age-old question--can the secret to purpose and meaning in the universe be found in a Cosmo personality quiz?

Matt Henderson is a playwright and actor active in the Pittsburgh area and abroad. His plays have been seen throughout the U.S. as well as England, Scotland, Finland, and Canada. Some of his publicly performed plays include The Ghosts in Aisle 30 (12 Peers Theater, Fundamental Theater Project), Strutting and Fretting (Stage Right, Pittsburgh New Works Festival), Candy Likes Your Status (Theatre Westminster, Bite-Size Plays, Carnegie Screenwriters, Laugh/Riot Performing Arts Company, Hanover College Theatre), The Balancing of the Budget (Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company), The Dating Game (American Repertory Theater of Western New York), Shower Heads (Organic Theater Pittsburgh, Carnegie Screenwriters), A Long Walk on the Beach (Between Us Productions, Carnegie Screenwriters), and Virtual Reality Bytes (Terra Nova Theatre Group).

His work has been published in Smith & Kraus's "Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2014" and by Original Works Publishing. This February, you can also see his plays A Long Walk on the Beach in Stage Right's "(Yet Another) Evening of One-Acts" and The Roar of the Crowd in Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company's Theatre Festival in Black and White. The show will be performed at the Maker Theater in Shadyside from February 5-21, 2015. The show features Alyssa LaVacca as Ashley, Diana Ifft as the Nice Psychologist, Valentina Benrexi as Mommy and Ross Kobelak as Blaine. Existence and the Single Girl performs Feb. 5-21, 2015.

All shows at The Maker Theater, 5950 Ellsworth Ave., Pittsburgh. Thurs - Sat., 8 p.m.; Industry Night, Monday Feb. 9; Tickets $17 Online, $20 at the door / $15 with student ID. Tickets & Info: 12peerstheater.org About the Company 12 Peers Theater was founded in 2011. Taking the name from the Twelve Peers of Charlemagne, its mission is to provide challenging and engaging theater for Pittsburgh audiences. 12 Peers Theater highlights social, political, and ethical issues in classical and contemporary works exploring myth and cultural identity, endeavoring to open a dialogue with the audience.

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