The Tesseract Theatre Company Presents ADVERSE EFFECTS by Artistic Director Taylor Gruenloh
The Tesseract Theatre Company continues its fourth season with the St. Louis premiere of Artistic Director Taylor Gruenloh's ADVERSE EFFECTS. Moving in to its new home, the .ZACK Arts Incubator, Tesseract will present ADVERSE EFFECTS as the first performance in the space.
The Play: ADVERSE EFFECTS was first presented as a staged reading under the title Samantha's Field at the 2015 Hollins Playwrights Festival and was enormously popular. Dan Smith of the blog fromtheeditr said ADVERSE EFFECTS "...is meticulously researched and deliberately presented, building the drama of ordinary people facing wealthy giants who normally crush them," and "[Taylor] Gruenloh spares nobody in his script: the pharmaceutical companies, the marketers, the academic community, so eager to get in on the big money by signing off on drug tests, and, of course, Congress."
The Story: After the unexpected death of their daughter, Phil (Carl Overly Jr.) and Jessica (Musa Gurnis) must find a balance in their marriage while struggling with being middle class in the Midwest while battling against the interests of pharmaceutical reps, medical researchers, and a local journalist looking for the truth. Richard (Phil Leveling), a university scientist, is being paid by a pharmaceutical company to put his name on studies he didn't conduct. Allysa (JuliAnne King), the representative of the pharmaceutical company, wants a more lavish life. Maurice (Maurice Walters II), the local reporter for a small town online newspaper, wants to connect some dots.
The Playwright: Taylor Gruenloh is the Artistic Director at The Tesseract Theatre Company, an adjunct faculty member at St. Louis Community College, and a Lecturer at Missouri University of Science & Technology. He has had multiple plays produced around the country, including St. Louis, Chicago, New Orleans, Asheville, Denver, and New York City. He holds an MFA in Playwriting from the Playwright's Lab at Hollins University.
Opening Night: To celebrate the opening of ADVERSE EFFECTS as well as its new home at the .ZACK, Tesseract will host a small gathering after the performance on December 2.
Talk Back: On December 9, playwright Taylor Gruenloh and director Brittanie Gunn will discuss the research and process behind ADVERSE EFFECTS immediately following the performance.
The Company: Founded in 2010, The Tesseract Theatre Company would produce its first season in the spring of 2014. Tesseract aims to become an artistic home for a diverse ensemble of acting artists and a leader in new play development in the Midwest. Tesseract tells big stories small. Its mission is to produce contemporary, diverse Live Theatre and provide a creative home for St. Louis artists.
Find more information at www.tesseracttheatre.org
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