A.C.T. To Present OBIE Award Winner O'Hara's 'Good Breeding'

A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program presents celebrated young playwright and OBIE Award winner Robert O'Hara's Good Breeding, directed by acclaimed director Timothy Douglas, and featuring the A.C.T. M.F.A. Program class of 2009. Sex, murder, revenge-it's all fair game in this extravagant new adaptation of the Greek Oresteia. In a wildly erotic staging, A.C.T. shifts the tale of the curse of the House of Atreus to a decadent, hypnotic world evoking New York's infamous Studio 54. Dangerously brutal and deftly feminist in its point of view, Good Breeding pits merciless gods against man in a searing vision of lust, love, and power. This production features nudity and strong language, and is suggested for mature audiences only. Good Breeding runs October 9–25, 2008, at Zeum Theater (Yerba Buena Gardens, Fourth and Howard streets, San Francisco). Tickets are $11.50–$20.50 and are available at www.act-sf.org or by calling A.C.T. Ticket Services at 415.749.2228 .

"Good Breeding is a deliciously mad play, as is all of Robert's work and I immediately thought of our third-year class when I read it," says Melissa Smith, conservatory director at A.C.T. "This class is filled with innate risk takers who are in touch with their visceral instincts, which this script requires. Good Breeding will allow them to make use of their classical training while working on a thoroughly contemporary piece." Of director Douglas she adds, "He has his directing roots here at A.C.T., so I think of this production as his homecoming. Maybe because he started out as an actor, he understands an actor's process and has the tools and sensitivity to get genuine, nuanced, and bold performances out of this wonderful ensemble."

O'Hara, an OBIE Award–winning writer and director who challenges and expands traditional theatrical forms, produced his groundbreaking play Insurrection: Holding History on the A.C.T. mainstage and was also commissioned to write the play American Ma(u)l for the A.C.T. M.F.A. Program class of 2000, which was produced by the program at San Francisco's Magic Theatre. "Carey Perloff and Melissa Smith at A.C.T. have always allowed me to explore big and bold themes in my work," says O'Hara. "Ancient Greece was one of the most brutally sexist cultures ever to exist, and Good Breeding examines a bloody myth by activating the female instinct inside a world fiendishly ruled by men and gods."

Timothy Douglas directed and taught at the A.C.T. Conservatory for many years before launching a nationally acclaimed directing career, which includes being selected by August Wilson to direct the world premiere of Radio Golf, the final installment of Wilson's 10-play cycle. Of Good Breeding Douglas says, "On a highly theatrical and entertaining canvas, Robert explores the conflict-dance between humans and gods. One of the essential aspects to our human condition has been the constant reconciling of our relationship to that which created us, and it's during these psychic wrestling matches where our most unconscious, extreme, and often violent behaviors occur."

Douglas's staging is inspired by the "acid-flashback" memories from his stint as a Studio 54 employee during its heyday in the '70s. The set and costumes, designed by Bay Area veterans Erik Flatmo and Callie Floor respectively, find their inspiration in the luxurious feel of the infamous Studio 54, creating a flexible environment for the script's outrageous series of events to unfold. Although the production elements for the show are inspired by a specific era and will give a clear context to the audience in encountering this ancient story, the action of the play will remain true to O'Hara's timeless adaptation.

The cast for Good Breeding features members of the A.C.T. M.F.A. Program class of 2009:  James Bigelow, Britannie Bond, Allison Brennan, Philip Dietz, Nick Gabriel, Rondrell McCormick, Lloyd Roberson II, Patrick Russell, Liz Sklar, Christopher Tocco, Mfoniso Udofia, Kelsey Venter, Cat Walleck, Erin Washington, and Weston Wilson.

The creative team for the show includes scenic designer Erik Flatmo (A.C.T.'s The Government Inspector and Imaginary Invalid), light designer Christopher Studley (Caucasian Chalk Circle for A.C.T. Conservatory), costume designer Callie Floor (A.C.T.'s A Number), sound designer Brendan West, and movement specialist James Donlon.

Ranked as one of the top programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program was the first theater training program in the country not affiliated with a college or university accredited to award the master of fine arts degree. The M.F.A. Program functions as the cornerstone of the A.C.T. Conservatory, which also includes the Summer Training Congress, Studio A.C.T., and the Young Conservatory. The third and final year of the program is designed to give students the opportunity to focus primarily on performing for a public audience. Past M.F.A. Program third-year productions have included works by Christopher Durang, Charles Busch, Marc Blitzstein, Georg Büchner, Caryl Churchill, George Farquhar, Henrik Ibsen, Robert O'Hara, Harold Pinter, William Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and Bertolt Brecht.

A.C.T.'s stage at Zeum Theater, a venue distinct from the American Conservatory Theater, is dedicated to the development of new works, new forms, and new artists. A.C.T. @ Zeum was launched in October 2001 with the A.C.T. M.F.A. Program's world premiere staging of Marc Blitzstein's No for an Answer, directed by A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff. This unprecedented community partnership gives A.C.T. an additional stage for readings, workshops, rehearsals, and other aspects of new play and production development.

A.C.T.'s production of Good Breeding is made possible by a generous grant from The Bernard Osher Foundation.

 TICKETS

Tickets for Good Breeding can be purchased by visiting A.C.T. Ticket Services, located at 405 Geary Street, by calling 415.749.2228, or via the A.C.T. website at www.act-sf.org. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for discounts; please call Edward Budworth at 415.439.2473.

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