Theatreworks Premieres Rajiv Joseph's THE NORTH POOL, 3/9-4/3

Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph, one of America's hottest young playwrights, will celebrate the world premiere of his psychological drama THE NORTH POOL at TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley. The truth shifts constantly in this riveting new work by Joseph, whose hit play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo makes its Broadway debut in March featuring Robin Williams. THE NORTH POOL stars Bay Area favorite Remi Sandri alongside TheatreWorks newcomer Adam Poss, with Giovanna Sardelli at the helm, and plays March 9-April 3 (press opening March 12) at TheatreWorks at Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto.

A hit reading at TheatreWorks' 2009 New Works Festival, THE NORTH POOL traverses the minefields of ethnic profiling in a suburban community hyper-focused on political correctness. In this cat-and-mouse thriller, a Middle Eastern high school student is under constant scrutiny by his vice principal. Syria-born Khadim is new to this country with his parents traveling in Saudi Arabia, leaving him a teenager with complete freedom and ulterior motives. Vice Principal Danielson is a local "by-the-book" authoritarian who is keeping a close eye on Khadim. But secrets haunt them both at Sheffield High, tucked in hidden lockers and concealed on high-tech phones, waiting to spill out.

Playwright Rajiv Joseph is best known for his celebrated hit Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo for which he was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and received an Outstanding New American Play Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. With direction by Moisés Kaufman, Bengal Tiger was a sensational hit at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles in 2009 and moved to the Mark Taper Forum in 2010 where the New York Times described it as a "boldly imagined, harrowing and surprisingly funny drama." The show is scheduled to make its Broadway debut starring Robin Williams in March 2011. Joseph's other New York productions include Gruesome Playground Injuries, All This Intimacy, and Animals Out of Paper (all at Second Stage Theatre); The Leopard and the Fox (adaptation, Alter Ego); and Huck & Holden (Cherry Lane Theatre). His play The Monster At The Door (Alley Theatre) will premiere this spring in Houston. Of the Bay Area premiere of Animals Out of Paper at SF Playhouse, San Francisco Chronicle raved "Joseph's crisply observed dialogue and quirky characters are a treat." Joseph workshopped THE NORTH POOL as a part of TheatreWorks' 2009 New Works Festival. He received his BA in Creative Writing from Miami University and his MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He served for three years in the Peace Corps in Senegal.

TheatreWorks has assembled an outstanding cast including Bay Area favorite Remi Sandri as "Vice Principal Danielson" and TheatreWorks newcomer Adam Poss as "Khadim." The two performers reprise the roles they read at TheatreWorks' 2009 New Works Festival.

Remi Sandri has appeared previously at TheatreWorks in productions including Someone to Watch Over Me, Violet, and Under Milkwood. He has worked extensively in theatres throughout the country. Regional credits include The Kite Runner at Arizona Theatre Company, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, and Cleveland Playhouse, as well as Journey To The West at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Huntington Theatre. Other credits include roles at California Shakespeare Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Pacific Repertory Theatre, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Television credits include Law and Order, Deadline, and Conviction.

Adam Poss is a native of Chicago where his theatre credits include Silk Road Theatre Project, 16th Street Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, and the world premiere of Antebellum written and directed by Robert O'Hara at Athenaeum Theatre. He is also a member of Erasing The Distance, an organization dedicated to education about mental illness through theatre. Regionally he has worked at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC in The History Boys. Television work includes the upcoming FOX drama The Chicago Code.

In addition to The North Pool, Giovanna Sardelli directed the world premieres of Rajiv Joseph's Animals Out of Paper, for which she received a Joe A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Director, and All This Intimacy at Second Stage Theatre. A long-time collaborator of Joseph's, Sardelli directed The Leopard and The Fox with Alter EGo Productions and Huck & Holden at Cherry Lane Theatre. Other credits include The Whipping Man (Old Globe Theatre) and World Premieres of Christopher Wall's Dreams of the Washer King (Playwrights Realm), Lila Rose Kaplan's Wildflower (Second Stage), Zoe Kazan's Absalom (Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival) and Adriana Sevan's Taking Flight (developed: Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, world premiere: Center Theatre Group). Ms. Sardelli received her MFA from the Graduate Acting Program at NYU and graduated from its Director's Lab. She is on the faculty of the Graduate Acting Program and the Department of Dance at New York University.

For tickets and information, the public may call 650-463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

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