Bay Area Premiere of Norris' THE PAIN & THE ITCH at Custom Made Set for Now thru 2/9

Something's been gnawing at the avocados in Clay and Kelly's kitchen. This upper middle class American couple will go to any lengths to protect their children from whatever creature has invaded their domestic bliss, but the sense of invasion will not stop. As the story is gradually unfolded to their visitor, a Muslim cab driver, his relationship to the events becomes increasingly clear, as does the emptiness of the family's supposed benevolence and sensitivity.

Custom Made is thrilled to welcome director Dale Albright (Theatre Bay Area) to helm award-winning playwright Bruce Norris' scathing satire of the politics of class and race, in this controversial, painfully hysterical examination of denial and its consequences.

Cast of the Custom Made Theatre Production of The Pain and the Itch

Jean Forsman - Carol
Justin Gillman - Clay
Dorian Lockett - Mr. Hadid
Eden Neundorf - Kalina
Karen Offereins -Kelly
Peter Townley - Cash
Gabriella Jarvie - Kayla

Playwright Bruce Norris

Bruce Norris has always been associated with Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company. In 2011, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Clybourne Park (2010). The Prize committee citation described the play as "a powerful work whose memorable characters speak in witty and perceptive ways to America's sometimes toxic struggle with race and class consciousness." The Pain and the Itch is an earlier work (2004) and one of the dozen plays Norris has written since 1992. His latest play is Domesticated (2013), currently playing at Lincoln Center in New York. The Pain and the Itch won Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award as a Best New Work.

The Pain and the Itch. Bay Area Premiere. Claybourne Park playwright Bruce Norris offers another scathing satire of the upper class, in this painfully hysterical examination of denial and its consequences. Produced by Custom Made Theatre. Directed by Dale Albright. Previews Jan. 10-11 at 8:00 pm, Jan. 12 at 7:00 p.m. Opens Jan. 14 at 8:00 pm. Runs Thurs-Sat 8:00 pm; Sun 7:00 pm through Feb 9. Tickets are $15-35, with discounts for Students, Seniors, and TBA members with proper I.D. Gough Street Playhouse, 1620 Gough Street, San Francisco. (415) 798-CMTC, www.custommade.org.

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