KRISPY CRITTERS IN THE SCARLETT NIGHT Plays Cutting Ball Theater, Now thru 6/16

Cutting Ball Theater concludes its 14th season with the World Premiere of KRISPY KRITTERS IN THE SCARLETT NIGHT, San Francisco playwright Andrew Saito's poetic portrayal of the heart of the city in the spirit of Alan Ginsburg's Howl, William S. Burroughs, and the plays of Suzan-Lori Parks. Directed by Cutting Ball Artistic Director Rob Melrose, KRISPY KRITTERS IN THE SCARLETT NIGHT dazzles with sublime, surreal language and images fit for a Dalí painting in a play about love and longing in the neglected neighborhoods of a fictional city.

At the center is Scarlett, a woman who takes care of her grandmother by pulling wild animals out of her ears and letting them loose in her backyard menagerie. She makes her living as best she can off of the dreams and desires of married men who are willing to sacrifice everything for her. Drumhead, a lowly morgue worker with a wild imagination, comes across a carnival poster boasting of the wonders of Scarlett and can't get her out of his head. He too has a relative to care for: his Navy veteran father, who lost his legs in a war and spends his days reenacting great battles in the bathtub. KRISPY KRITTERS IN THE SCARLETT NIGHT follows these seeming misfits on their journey to find each other.

KRISPY KRITTERS IN THE SCARLETT NIGHT was workshopped during Cutting Ball's 2011 RISK IS THIS...festival. Additionally, the company was recently awarded a grant for $166,000 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a three-year residency for resident playwright Andrew Saito. As part of Saito's residency, Cutting Ball Theater is able to present the World Premiere of KRISPY KRITTERS IN THE SCARLETT NIGHT. The grant will give Saito a full time salary and health benefits at Cutting Ball for the entire three years, with options to receive additional developmental funds. The grant is Cutting Ball's largest grant to date.

Co-founded in 1999 by theater artists Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal avant-garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. Cutting Ball Theater has partnered with Playwrights Foundation, and the Magic Theatre/Z Space New Plays Initiative to commission new experimental works. The company has produced a number of World Premieres, West Coast Premieres, and re-imagined various classics. Cutting Ball received the 2008 San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie award for outstanding talent in the performing arts, and was voted "Best Theater Company" in the 2010 San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay issue. The company also earned the Best of SF award in 2006 and "Best Experimental Theater Company" in 2012 from SF Weekly, and was selected by San Francisco magazine as Best Classic Theater in 2007. Cutting Ball Theater was featured in the February 2010 and 2012 issues of American Theatre Magazine.

The production runs in previews: Tonight, May 17, 18, 8pm; May 19, 5pm, with the press opening on May 23 at 7:30pm and the Gala opening set for May 24 at 8pm. The show runs through June 16, 2013. All performances Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday-Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm, and Sunday at 5pm (no performance June 8) at The Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor St., San Francisco, Calif. For tickets ($10-50) and more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205; student discounts available.

Pictured: Drumhead (r, Wiley Naman Strasser) lusts after Scarlett (c, Felicia Benefield), but Snowflake (l, Mimu Tsjuimura) is more available. Photo Credit: Laura Mason.

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