PICT Produces House And Garden June 23-July 17

Alan Ayckbourn's comic triumph House & Garden pits actors, directors and crew against the clock! The most clever duo ever written for the stage, House & Garden are two separate comedies that play in the Charity Randall and the Henry Heymann theatres simultaneously...with the SAME CAST! Actors run up and down a backstage stairwell that connects the two theatres, while audience members sit comfortably for two hours in one of the theatres and watch the play which is set in that location.

House is directed by Andrew S. Paul, and Garden is directed by Melissa Hill Grande. The plays can be seen singly, and in no particular order, and play June 23 through July 17. House will be performed in the Charity Randall, and Garden in the Henry Heymann theatre. Lighting design for House is by Christopher Popowich, and lighting design for Garden is by Cindy Limauro. Designing both shows are Gianni Downs (scenic), Jen Sturm and Steve Buechler (costumes), Zach Moore (sound and original music) and Ricardo Vila-Roger (properties).

The plays are both set in the household of Teddy Platt, a wealthy philanderer awaiting a visit from a Tory power-broker who can establish Platt's political career. Everything that can go wrong on this most important of days is destined to occur, as Platt's wife refuses to acknowledge his existence, his mistress (and best friend's wife) becomes increasingly unhinged as he breaks up with her, his daughter is seduced and discarded by the visiting politico, and his head is turned by a glamorous French actress who is the celebrity guest star for the community fete at the bottom of his garden. Further down the social scale, ongoing conflict is coming to a head between the gardener, the housekeeper and her promiscuous daughter, and the couple who've come to set up the fete is headed for marital disaster. Boozers and cuckolds, insanity and depravity all come together for one fantastic story told in two hilarious plays. House primarily concerns Teddy's pursuit of a political career and deteriorating marriage, while Garden primarily concerns the revelation of Teddy and Joanna's affair to their spouses and children, and preparations for the neighborhood fete.

Martin Giles stars as Teddy Platt, and Helena Ruoti plays his wife Trish. Giles' PICT credits include Pinter Celebration, What the Butler Saw, Synge Cycle, BeckettFest, Uncle Vanya and The Gigli Concert. Ruoti's PICT credits include Antony & Cleopatra, Rock 'n' Roll, and What the Butler Saw.

PICT 2011 Actor-in-Residence Leo Marks plays the author and politico Gavin Ryng-Mayne. The OBIE award-winning actor was company member in PICT's extraordinary Pinter Celebration last season, and he has appeared at some of the most respected theatres in the country, including South Coast Repertory, Actors Theater of Louisville, The Old Globe, and Intiman. He is a founding member of New York's acclaimed Elevator Repair Service.

Beth Hylton and Nike Doukas return to PICT to play respectively Teddy's jilted mistress Joanna Mace, and a glamorous French film star he becomes enamored of, Lucille Cadeau. Hylton's credits include productions with Woolly Mammoth, Ford's Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Delaware Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre, Olney Theater Center, Weston Playhouse, and PlayMakers Rep. Doukas was featured prominently in last season's Pinter Celebration. She has an MFA from The American Conservatory Theatre and is a regular presence at theatres throughout Southern California including South Coast Rep and The Old Globe in San Diego. House & Garden reunites Hylton and Doukas with Anwen Darcy (Rock 'n' Roll) and Mary Rawson (Copenhagen). The four last appeared together in PICT's 2008 production of Wilde's An Ideal Husband.

British-born actors Sarah Manton and David Bryan Jackson bring authentic stiff-upper-lip to Ayckbourn's comedies in their PICT debuts. Manton, a graduate of the Guildford School of Acting, London, plays the feisty young maid Pearl. Her credits include the world premiere of Tom Stoppard's Coast of Utopia (National Theatre), the role of Baby in the West End production of Dirty Dancing, and The National Theatre production of South Pacific. She was recently seen in the Pittsburgh Public Theatre production of Ayckbourn's Time of My Life. Jackson plays Giles Mace, Teddy's best friend and Joanna's husband. His credits include multiple productions with The Shakespeare Theatre, Folger Theatre, Studio Theatre, and Olney Theatre Center.

The Acting Company also features Jon Farris, Michael Fuller, Tressa Glover, Allison Scarlet Jaye, and Sean Mellott.

House director Andrew S. Paul is the co-founder and artistic director of PICT. Under his leadership, PICT has produced more than fifty main-stage productions and completed two successful international tours. His directing credits for PICT include the 2009 productions of The History Boys and Rock 'n'Roll. Other PICT directing credits include Shakespeare's Hamlet, Henry IV, and Julius Caesar; the world premiere of Thomas Kilroy's Henry (after Pirandello); and David Hare's Stuff Happens and Via Dolorosa. In 2008, Paul directed and collaborated with Hare on the non-English language premiere of
Stuff Happens at the Slaski Teatr in Katowice, Poland.

Garden director Melissa Hill Grande is the associate artistic director and director of marketing for PICT. Her Pittsburgh-area directing credits include "When the Moon Has Set" in PICT's acclaimed Synge Cycle, Love's Labour's Lost and Much Ado About Nothing for Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks, and multiple productions for Phase 3 Productions. She has also directed in Bricolage's B.U.S. 6, No Name Players' SWAN Day 2010 and 2011, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Festival in Black and White, and Pittsburgh PRIDE Theater Festival.

House & Garden play simultaneously June 23rd through July 17. House is in the Charity Randall Theatre and Garden is in the Henry Heymann Theatre. Both theatre spaces are located at the Stephen Foster Memorial, 4301 Forbes Avenue on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland. Tickets are $20 to $50 and are available by calling ProArtsTickets at 412.394.3353 or online at www.proartstickets.org.

Free preshow discussions are scheduled for Wednesday June 29th and Thursday June 30th at 7 p.m., and a post-show talk-back with the company is scheduled for Sunday, June 25th following the 2 p.m. matinee performance.

For more information, visit the PICT website at www.picttheatre.org.

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