COMPLEAT FEMALE STAGE BEAUTY Opens at Pitt Rep Today, 11/8

Compleat Female Stage Beauty, written by Jeffrey Hatcher, directed by Dave Bisaha, will play the Henry Heymann Theatre, Stephen Foster Memorial, 4200 Fifth Ave in Pittsburgh, tonight, November 8 – November 18, 2012.

The show runs Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8PM, Sunday Matinees at 2PM. ASL Interpretation on November 10 at 8PM. For tickets, call (412) 624-PLAY or visit www.play.pitt.edu.

What do you do when your world falls apart? How far will you go to get back your friends, your audience, your lover, your royal favor? And who will you become in the process?

In 1661 the most famous portrayer of female roles was a man named Kynaston. When King Charles II amends English law to allow women on stage, Kynaston's world is shattered. With the stroke of a pen, he loses his livelihood, his lover, and his sense of self. Now, his former dresser brings down more applause than he ever did. As the light of his fame begins to fade, fate gives Kynaston one last chance to take the stage -- and reap his revenge.

Ken Bolden, a familiar face on the Pittsburgh stage, portrays Kynaston. Director Dave Bisaha employs the glamorous decadence of the court as well as sex, fashion, celebrity, and fame to evoke the feel of the Restoration theatre on a Contemporary Stage.

"The Restoration was one of the biggest, most sudden changes in history," Bisaha says. "In a time where it seems like everything is changing -- technology, politics, the environment – questions of who we were and who we will become resonate."

Compleat Female Stage Beauty saw its world premiere at City Theatre in 2000 and was soon followed by a motion picture adaptation. It returns to Pittsburgh this November.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Theatre Arts offers BA, MA, MFA and PhD degrees in Theatre Arts. All faculty members are active in teaching, research, and artistic projects. For more information about the University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre, visit www.play.pitt.edu.

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