ArtsWest Announces EXIT, PERSUED BY A BEAR for 4/18-5/13

Opening Wednesday, April 18, 2012, and playing through May 13, ArtsWest presents EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR. Part I Love Lucy, part Jacobean revenge tragedy, part feminist manifesto, part beautiful ballet, part nature special, and part 80’s power ballad, EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR is written by San Francisco based writer, Lauren Gunderson, and is in the midst of what's called a "rolling" World Premiere - with separate productions in Atlanta’s Synchronicity, San Francisco’s Crowded Fire Theater and here in Seattle at ArtsWest.

Nan Carter is a woman at wit’s end, married to underemployed deer-huntin’, Jack-guzzlin’ no-account husband Kyle, who at some point in their marriage began to take out his frustrations — with a slap here, a busted lip there — on his wife. With the unusual help from two motivated friends, the sassy and resourceful Nan demands redemption by teaching her spiteful husband a lesson once and for all.

Gunderson says, EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR “is mean and beautiful, uncalled for and giddy, feminine and burly . . . The first half is vicious and full of dread and injustice. The second half is a romantic-comedy. It’s this blending of tones (delightful and dreadful) and structure (drama and comedy) that Bear attempts to echo. The characters in Bear do not know that they’re in a comedy.”

EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR, is directed by Keri Healy; costumes by Meagan Gurdine; set and props designed by Dan Schuy; lighting by Josh Randall. The cast includes Sara Coates (Nan), Hannah Mootz (Sweetheart), Kyle Traver (Simon) and Jonah Von Spreecken (Kyle).

EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR, opens April 18h and runs through May 13th; Wednesday – Saturday at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm. Tickets available on-line at www.artswest.org, or through the ArtsWest Box Office: 206-938-0339, (Box Office Hours: Tuesday-Saturday Noon-7pm).