MARCUS at A.C.T. Completes THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS Trilogy 10/29-11/21

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2010-11 season with the West Coast premiere of Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet, directed by A.C.T. Associate Artistic Director Mark Rucker (A.C.T.'s The Rainmaker and the award-winning film Die, Mommy, Die!). In the final installment of McCraney's trilogy, The Brother/Sister Plays, which launched the first-time, three-theater partnership between A.C.T., Magic Theatre, and Marin Theatre Company (MTC), the barometer rises and the air below sea level closes in on a young black man, passionately seeking out his sexual and personal identity on a cultural landscape infused with mysterious family creeds. Set in a housing project days before Hurricane Katrina strikes, Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet is filled with warmth, myth, humor, and Louisiana argot. The New York Times calls McCraney's work "a new, authentically original vision. . . . It's what people must have felt during productions of the early works of Eugene O'Neill in the 1920s or of Sam Shepard in the 1960s." Because this is the first time that the trilogy is being presented by three different theaters (rather than in rotating repertory at one theater), McCraney was able to return Marcus to its original form as a two-act play, reintroducing scenes that showcase Marcus's prescient dreams. This is the first time that this expanded original version of the play will receive a production. Marcus plays October 29-November 21, 2010, at the American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Opening night is Wednesday, November 3, 2010, at 8 p.m. Tickets (starting at $10) are available by calling the A.C.T. Box Office at 415.749.2228 or at www.act-sf.org.

"Marcus is a play about coming of age. And for me coming of age is such a specific and singular moment," says McCraney, whose The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy was hailed as "the greatest piece of writing by an American playwright under 30 in a generation or more" by the Chicago Tribune. "It's a play, I know, we all can relate to, but I also know that the ride we go on in this play is specific to Marcus. And that's why I love him and the play." He adds: "Ever since I was young, I've been writing plays, sometimes little ones, that were basically about how you fit with people, how they fit with you, and how you fit in the world. These were questions that I always thought about growing up. And I'm still having a conversation with myself about them."

Marcus is the first show Rucker is directing at A.C.T. in his new position as associate artistic director. He says: "The world, the writing, the dialogue, and the characters of Marcus are so compelling. The story of a boy coming out is very moving to me, and telling it in the frame and context of the world Tarell has created is something that I am proud of."

A deeply personal play for McCraney, Marcus resonates beautifully on its own and also functions as a poetic and moving culmination of the trilogy. In the play, Marcus, one of the youngest members of the families that populate the first two plays of the trilogy, must come to terms with his own identity and, in McCraney's words, "explore his thread in the tapestry of his community." It is the largest in scope of the three plays that make up the trilogy and will receive an imaginative production on the beautiful American Conservatory Theater stage. The power of Marcus's dreams will come to life with evocative video projections (designed by Alex V. Nichols) that transform the very simple set created by OBIE Award-winning scenic designer Loy Arcenas (Curse of the Starving Class and The Invention of Love for A.C.T.). The creative team also includes costume designer Lydia Tanji (who designed the costumes for the other two plays in the Bay Area trilogy), lighting designer James F. Ingalls, and sound designer Andre Pluess.

The cast features A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) Program class of 2011 member Richard Prioleau in the title role, alongside many other members of the A.C.T. artistic family: A.C.T. core Acting Company member Gregory Wallace; A.C.T. M.F.A. Program class of 2011 student Shinelle Azoroh; A.C.T. M.F.A. Program recent graduates Omozé Idehenre (who played Grusche in last season's The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Nerine in this season's opener, Scapin) and Tobie L. Windham III (who is also part of the cast of The Brothers Size, the second part of the trilogy, at Magic Theatre). Completing the cast are acclaimed Bay Area actress Margo Hall and Jared McNeill (who plays Elegba, Marcus's father, in In the Red and Brown Water, the first part of the trilogy, at MTC).

A.C.T. offers numerous InterACT events in association with Marcus that give patrons opportunities to get closer to the action-and to save big-while making a whole night out of their evening at the theater:

• 10UP: World-Class Theater at Happy-Hour Prices: Oct. 29-Nov. 7.

Live it up with 10UP! Enjoy the Bay Area's best theater for only $10 a ticket for Balcony seats during select performances. The third-floor Sky Bar opens one hour before curtain time-show up early and mingle with other theatergoers while you enjoy happy-hour drinks and soak up the historic charm of one of the most beautiful theaters in the country.

• Audience Prologue Featuring Mark Rucker: Tue., Nov. 2, at 5:30 p.m.

Get inside the artistic process with a free half-hour preshow discussion with A.C.T. Associate Artistic Director Mark Rucker, director of Marcus. FREE and open to the public (no tickets required).

• Bring What You Can/Pay What You Wish: Thu., Nov. 4, at 8 p.m.

Pay any amount for your tickets when you bring nonperishable food donations for the San Francisco Food Bank (sffoodbank.org). Patrons are limited to two tickets per donated item, two tickets per person. Tickets go on sale at 6 p.m. the day of the performance. Sponsored by Bank of the West.

• Theater on the Couch: Fri., Nov. 5, at 8 p.m.

Join members of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis for an exciting post-performance discussion that explores the psychological aspects of the show and addresses audience questions.

• Audience Exchanges: Tue., Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. / Sun., Nov. 14, at 2 p.m. /
Wed., Nov. 17, at 2 p.m.

After the show, stick around for a lively Q&A session with the actors and artists who create the work onstage.

• OUT with A.C.T.: Wed., Nov. 10, following the 8 p.m. performance

Ten-year anniversary! Meet the cast and enjoy free cocktails and treats at these popular LGBT parties sponsored by SF Weekly. Visit www.act-sf.org/out for more information about subscribing to OUT nights.

A.C.T.'s production of Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet is sponsored by Koret Foundation. Marcus is also made possible by executive producers David and Susan Coulter and by producers Bert Steinberg and Lucia Brandon and Patrick S. Thompson. A.C.T. would also like to acknowledge its 2010-11 season company sponsors: Priscilla and Keith Geeslin; Ambassador James C. Hormel and Mr. Michael P. Nguyen; Nancy Livingston and Fred Levin, The Shenson Foundation; Burt and Deedee McMurtry; Patti and Rusty Rueff; Mr. and Mrs. Steven L. Swig; Lorenzo Thione and David Palmer; and Jeff and Laurie Ubben. Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet was originally produced at the McCarter Theatre Center with support from the NEA New Play Development Program hosted by Arena Stage.

Next up in the 2010-11 season is A.C.T.'s annual nonsubscription holiday treat, A Christmas Carol (December 2-24, 2010). The new year brings the West Coast premiere of Bruce Norris's razor-sharp comedy Clybourne Park (January 20-February 13, 2011), which Entertainment Weekly calls "a completely audacious, architecturally ingenious entertainment." Harold Pinter's most provocative play, The Homecoming (March 3-27, 2011), continues the season, directed by longtime Pinter collaborator A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff. And you haven't experienced Jean-Paul Sartre's existential masterpiece No Exit until you've seen the groundbreaking multimedia version by Canada's The Virtual Stage and Electric Theatre Company, which makes its U.S. premiere at A.C.T. April 7-May 1, 2011. The season culminates in the much-anticipated world premiere of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, a new musical based on Maupin's beloved books and created by writer Jeff Whitty and director Jason Moore (the team behind Avenue Q) and Jake Shears and John Garden (the musical minds behind the glam-rock band Scissor Sisters). A.C.T. brings the iconic saga to San Francisco live May 17-June 19, 2011. To subscribe or to receive a season brochure, please call 415.749.2250 or log on to www.act-sf.org.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Tarell Alvin McCraney's (Playwright) most widely performed plays include Wig Out! (developed at The Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and produced in New York by Vineyard Theatre and in London by The Royal Court Theatre) and The Brother/Sister Plays, which include The Brothers Size (which premiered simultaneously in New York at The Public Theater, in association with The Foundry Theatre, and in London at the Young Vic, where it was nominated for the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre); In the Red and Brown Water (winner of the ALLIANCE THEATRE's Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition, produced at the ALLIANCE THEATRE and the Young Vic); and Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet. His other plays include Without/Sin and Run, Mourner, Run (adapted from Randall Kenan's short story), both of which premiered at the Yale Cabaret. In the summer of 2006, McCraney, Catherine Filloux, and Joe Sutton wrote The Breach, commissioned by Southern Repertory Theatre, where it premiered in August 2007 to mark the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The Breach also played at Seattle Repertory Theatre in the winter of 2007. McCraney attended the New World School of the Arts High School in Miami, Florida, receiving the Exemplary Artist Award and the Dean's Award in Theater. He holds a B.F.A. in acting from DePaul University. McCraney is a graduate of Yale School of Drama's playwriting program, where he received the Cole Porter Playwriting Award upon graduation. He is the Royal Shakespeare Company's international writer in residence, the 2009 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University, and the recipient of Vineyard Theatre's 2007 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award and a 2007 Whiting Writers' Award. He is currently under commission at Manhattan Theatre Club and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and he is a member of New Dramatists and Teo Castellanos D-Projects in Miami. In 2008, McCraney was the recipient of London's Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright.

Mark Rucker (Director) has directed A.C.T.'s production of Luminescence Dating at Magic Theatre and The Rainmaker and The Beard of Avon at the American Conservatory Theater. He is an associate artist at South Coast Repertory Theatre, where he has directed more than 20 productions, including world premieres by Richard Greenberg, Christopher Shinn, Annie Weisman, and Culture Clash. Other regional theater credits include work at Yale Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Arena Stage, Intiman Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, The Old Globe, Ford's Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, The Acting Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Asolo Repertory Theatre. Rucker's feature film, Die, Mommie, Die! won a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

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