MTC Extends THE WHIPPING MAN Through 4/28

Marin Theatre Company announced today that, due to enthusiastic audience response, strong ticket sales and unanimous critical acclaim, the company will extend Matthew Lopez's The Whipping Man by eight performances. Bay Area audiences now have the opportunity to experience this top rated Civil War drama through Sunday, April 28, at the 47-year-old professional nonprofit theater located in Mill Valley.

Receiving "wild applause" from San Francisco Chronicle and "five stars" from Marin IJ, The Whipping Man is currently one of the Bay Area's top rated plays. It has been heralded as a "must-see" by the Marinscope Community Newspapers, Mill Valley Patch and For All Events blog. "Small wonder [Matthew] Lopez's debut play is one of the most widely produced plays in the country: it's a concentrated dose of potent history as seen from a unique angle; he succeeds with a mix of humor and intense drama that [director Jasson] Minadakis exploits with the light touch," writes the Chronicle's critic Robert Hurwitt.

The production has also been receiving nightly standing ovations and a high level of audience engagement, with 33-50% of each performance's patrons staying after the nearly two-hour production to discuss the play with MTC's artistic staff. Audience members are saying, "I'm floored;" "I'm blown away;" "It took my breath away;" and "Besides being spellbound for the entire play, I was challenged to re-think some comfortable historical and cultural myths. Bravo!"

The Whipping Man takes place in Richmond, Virginia, in April 1865 - just days after the South surrendered to the Union. Two emancipated slaves find themselves caring for their former owner's son, a Confederate captain who was seriously wounded during the final battle of the Civil War. When the three Jewish men share an uneasy, improvised Seder to mark Passover, they discover that, though they are no longer tied by ownership, they remain bound by faith, history and explosive secrets.

MTC's artistic director Jasson Minadakis directs this "fresh and exciting; one-of-a-kind powerhouse." "The Whipping Man attacks with passion and muscle," writes the Marinscope Community Newspaper critic Woody Weingarten. "There's no question that it burned into my brain and resonated long after I left the theater... A rare theatrical must-see."

L. Peter Callender, Nicholas Pelczar and Tobie Windham, all local actors and MTC veterans, "are powerful. Together, they create a tour de force that sears into the mind and heart and remains in the memory long after the curtain has fallen," writes Footlight Reviews blogger Bonnie Weiss. An opinion echoed by Marin IJ critic Sam Hurwitt: "The cast brings the characters to life beautifully - you ache when they ache... It's impossible not to get caught up in it."

A co-production with Virginia Stage Company, The Whipping Man previously ran in Norfolk, Virginia, from February 26 to March 17, 2013.