Stephanie Cunningham Directs THE FLICK for the Mendocino Theatre Company

Stephanie C. Cunningham, a theatre director and educator based in New York City, arrives this month to direct the Mendocino Theatre Company's production of Annie Baker's 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Flick, the third play of their 40th anniversary season. This will be her third collaboration with MTC; she previously directed the 2015's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and last year's production of Buyer & Cellar. "I am thrilled to be returning to Mendocino," she said in a recent interview. "This warm and fun community has felt like a home away from home for the last two seasons."

The Flick follows three employees of a dilapidated art-house movie theatre in Western Massachusetts as they go about their mundane job. Garnering praise from all corners (as well as numerous coveted awards), the play is unconventional in its hyper-realistic look at the lives of ordinary people. "Directing this play is a real treat for me", Cunningham says. "Baker's writing is stellar and I have been wanting to get my hands on the play since I first read it. Though tragic at times, it is a comedy that has genuine moments of laughter and an awkwardness that everyone can remember from their first job and relationships. This will be the only production playing in California for quite a while before the Bay Area can get the rights."

Ms. Cunningham holds a MFA in Directing from The New School for Drama, an MA in? Theater Education from Emerson College, and a Classical Theater Certificate? from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London. As a director, her work focuses her work focuses on heightened language in both classical texts and new work. She currently teaches at the New School of Performing Arts, where she is also program director for their Summer Acting Intensive, and she serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Wide Eyed Productions, a New York City company that focuses on new works by up-and-coming playwrights.

The Mendocino Theatre Company is thrilled to welcome back this talented, perceptive director, who will also be teaching two workshops for local actors while she is here. According to MTC executive director Pamela Allen, "Stephanie is a joy to work in every respect--she is warm, professional, insightful, discerning, and detail-oriented. Plus, she has an infectious sense of humor. I can't wait to see what she does with this beautiful play. Certainly, the Mendocino Coast is in for a special treat with this production."

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