Burning Coal New Works 2012 Presents BLUE STRAGGLER, Opening 12/20

Burning Coal Theatre Company will present a staged reading of Blue Straggler by Rebecca Bossen on Thursday, December 20th at 7 pm at the Saint Mary's School's Ragland Auditorium, 900 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC. Tickets are FREE with a suggested donation of $5 at the door. Further information can be obtained by calling 919.834.4001 or by visiting our website at www.burningcoal.org.

Blue Straggler is the story of a Lisa, a gifted astrophysicist, and Clarissa, a rebellious chocolatier, who fall in love only to be separated by tragedy. Lisa abandons her astrophysics dissertation to solve an even larger problem: finding the mathematical formula that will bring Clarissa back to her. In their desperate search to find each other, are they willing to rip apart the fabric of the universe itself?

Rebecca Bossen is a Raleigh-based playwright, performer, and voice coach. Writing credits include Lady of the Lake (Kentucky Arts Festival), 27 (Emergence Theatre), and many staged readings with Chicago Dramatists (including Shards of Light, From the Forest, Blue Straggler), as well as several 10-minute play festivals. She received an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Grant for her play From the Forest (now titled The Deepest Dark). She collaborated with Inkwell Theatre on Blue Straggler in the Page to Stage festival at the Kennedy Center and in the Inkreading series at Woolly Mammoth (directed by Amber Jackson). She has recently appeared onstage at Burning Coal in Brigadoon and As You Like It. When not in a theatre, her alternate habitat is a yoga studio.

Amber Jackson is very excited to be back in her home state for this first collaboration with Burning Coal Theatre Co. Amber currently lives and works in the DC metro area, where she is a screenwriter and film director by day, and theatre director/ actor/ writer by night. In addition to her collaborations with theatres such as Rorschach, Faction of Fools, Active Cultures, First Stage, and the SourceFest, Amber is a company member at Constellation Theatre Co., where she often works as a director and choreographer. She is also a company member/producer at Inkwell Theatre, the venue where she was first introduced to Rebecca Bossen McHugh's beautiful play, Blue Straggler. She holds an MFA in Directing from Baylor University. Amber Jackson is very excited to be back in her home state for this first collaboration with Burning Coal Theatre Co. Amber currently lives and works in the DC metro area, where she is a screenwriter and film director by day, and theatre director/ actor/ writer by night. In addition to her collaborations with theatres such as Rorschach, Faction of Fools, Active Cultures, First Stage, and the SourceFest, Amber is a company member at Constellation Theatre Co., where she often works as a director and choreographer. She is also a company member/producer at Inkwell Theatre, the venue where she was first introduced to Rebecca Bossen McHugh's beautiful play, Blue Straggler. She holds an MFA in Directing from Baylor University. Amber Jackson is very excited to be back in her home state for this first collaboration with Burning Coal Theatre Co. Amber currently lives and works in the DC metro area, where she is a screenwriter and film director by day, and theatre director/ actor/ writer by night. In addition to her collaborations with theatres such as Rorschach, Faction of Fools, Active Cultures, First Stage, and the SourceFest, Amber is a company member at Constellation Theatre Co., where she often works as a director and choreographer. She is also a company member/producer at Inkwell Theatre, the venue where she was first introduced to Rebecca Bossen McHugh's beautiful play, Blue Straggler. She holds an MFA in Directing from Baylor UniversityAmber Jackson currently lives and works in the DC metro area, where she is a screenwriter and film director by day, and theatre director/ actor/ writer by night. In addition to her collaborations with theatres such as Rorschach, Faction of Fools, Active Cultures, First Stage, and the SourceFest, Amber is a company member at Constellation Theatre Co., where she often works as a director and choreographer. She is also a company member/producer at Inkwell Theatre, the venue where she was first introduced to Rebecca Bossen McHugh's beautiful play, Blue Straggler. She holds an MFA in Directing from Baylor University.

For more information, visit Burning Coal's Website at www.BurningCoal.org, the New Works Festival website at www.coalnewworks.wordpress.com or call 919-834-4001. Tickets are FREE at the door, with a $5 suggested donation.