Florida Rep to Close 20th Season With World Premiere of GEORGE WASHINGTON'S TEETH

Florida Repertory Theatre continues its 20th Anniversary Season with the world premiere production of Mark St. Germain's, "George Washington's Teeth," which was chosen from the company's 4th Annual PlayLab Festival held last year.

The farce for five women will play in Florida Rep's Historic Arcade Theatre April 24 to May 13, 2018 with four nearly sold-out previews April 24-26. Priced at $55/$45 for regular performances and $35/$25 for previews, tickets are available at www.FloridaRep.org and through the box office at 239-332-4488.

"George Washington's Teeth" is a hilarious comedy that follows the exploits of the women of the beleaguered New Bunion Historical Society as they battle the male-dominated city council to keep the doors open. With time running out to renew their lease, the ladies must find creative ways to snare new members and lure visitors to their sleepy, New England town. When a set of George Washington's dentures turns up in the hands of an unexpected rival, the ladies of the Society brace themselves for all-out war. Heartfelt and historic, this new farce proves that our differences don't divide us, they make us strong.

Florida Rep audiences will recognize St. Germain from previous hits, "Camping with Henry and Tom," which opened the then newly-renovated ArtStage Studio Theatre in 2012, and "Best of Enemies" last fall. An accomplished playwright and screenwriter, his work also includes the Off Broadway sensation "Freud's Last Session" as well as last year's "Relativity" in Hartford, Conn. starring Richard Dreyfuss as Albert Einstein. Other works include "Dancing Lessons," "Becoming Dr. Ruth," and a number of musicals, television credits, and screenplays. St. Germain will join Florida Rep later this year for a developmental workshop before the play begins its rehearsals in March 2018.

"My first visit to [Florida Rep] was very impressive," St. Germain said of his experience in the 2017 PlayLab. "The audience is smart and excited. The Staff couldn't have been more helpful and the company was very talented. What's not to like?"

"George Washington's Teeth" features a cast of five women - something rare in the canon of American plays, and that was by design. "Once you grow past the ingenue stage, it is progressively more difficult to get a good role as an actress," St. Germain said. "It's only because the opportunities aren't always there - how many plays can you think of with an all-male cast, then count how many plays are made up of all women? I wanted to do a play where women from all ages powered the play."

Florida Rep ensemble members Viki Boyle ("The Miracle Worker") and Carrie Lund ("How the Other Half Loves") return to the Florida Rep stage for the farce, and are joined by familiar guest artist Liz Abbott ("Veronica's Room"), as well as award-winning TV and theatre veteran Patricia R. Floyd (Florida Rep debut), and Carbonell Award nominee Jackie Rivera (Florida Rep debut).

New York-based award-winning filmmaker and international theatre veteran, Abigail Zealey Bess, directs the production and comes to Florida Rep after numerous projects at Ensemble Studio Theatre, SoHo Repertory Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Edinburgh Festival, Young Vic, and Strand Theatre, London.

Bess is joined by ensemble set designer Jim Hunter ("The Miracle Worker"), costume designer Alice Neff ("The Last Night of Ballyhoo"), lighting designer Annmarie Duggan (Florida Rep debut), sound designer John Kiselica ("Cabaret"), and production stage manager Amy L. Massari ("Night and Day").

"George Washington's Teeth" will mark Florida Rep's fourth world premiere to come out of the PlayLab Festival. The others are "Doublewide" by Stephen Spotswood (2017; NNPN Rolling World Premiere), "Split in Three" by Daryl Lisa Fazio (2015), and the regional premiere of "The Dingdong" by Mark Shanahan (2016) - all of which have had subsequent productions since their runs at Florida Rep. The PlayLab has produced twenty new play readings, and is responsible for commissioning and premiering two works for young audiences by Christopher Parks, "Journey to Oz" and "A Dream Within a Dream: The Spirit of Poe."

Florida Repertory Theatre is a proud Associate Member of the National New Play Network (NNPN) in Washington, D.C., the country's alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays. Many of the plays submitted to the 2017 PlayLab Festival, were chosen from a call for submissions from NNPN member and alumni playwrights. Florida Rep is actively seeking partnerships with other NNPN affiliated theatres to produce this new play as part of the NNPN Rolling World Premiere program.

"George Washington's Teeth" is generously sponsored by WGCU Public Media.

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