The Midnight Company will present ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCE, the World Premiere of a play by Company Artistic Director Joe Hanrahan, opening May 5 and running through May 21 at the .ZACK theatre, 3224 Locust. (The play was originally announced to run at the Kranzberg Black Box theatre, but the location has been switched to the .ZACK.) Performances will be Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with Sunday matinees May 8 and 15 at 2pm.Tickets will be $20 for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and $15 for Thursdays, and will go on sale at MetroTix.com on Monday, March 28.Inspired by true events, ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCE is designed as a public lecture from a respected psychiatrist. Hes been dealing with professional skepticism and even ridicule for his research into the phenomenon of Alien Abduction. In the course of the play, he will present two patients who, in very different ways, have been victims of their perceived abductions. While hes not exactly sure whats going on, the psychiatrist is convinced that something very real, something profound, is happening to these people and to our world. The presentation includes hypnotic regression scenes with abductees, as the psychiatrist tries to balance sensational elements of the events with a more thoughtful overview of the phenomenon. And the presentation is occurring in the timely context of the recent sightings of unknown aircraft by military pilots, and the subsequent investigations demanded by congress and the public.Hanrahan said, The long, hidden history of UFOs in our culture is reaching a tipping point -reported sightings are increasing daily, and disclosures from whistleblowers and other countries governments are pressing the point. This is a real mystery. A modern ghost story.ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCE will be directed by Morgan Maul-Smith. She recently directed ON GOLDEN POND at Kirkwood Theatre, and Shualee Cooks EARWORM at Tesseract, and shes also directed for Missoula Childrens Theater in Montana. The cast includes Joseph Garner (hes been seen recently in Cherokee Street Theatre Companys THE THING HOLIDAY PARODY, THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT with Cats Cradle Theatre, and TRANSLATIONS with Black Mirror Theatre Company), Payton Gillam (shes appeared in Cherokees THE THING and GREMLINS - LIVE: A PARODY, as well as in WINNIE & ALFRED in SATEs Aphra Behn Festival) and Hanrahan (hes appeared in several Midnight shows and many with other companies. His scripts for TINSEL TOWN and NOW PLAYING THIRD BASE FOR THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALSBOND, JAMES BOND were nominated for Outstanding New Play by the St. Louis Theatre Circle Critics for 20-21. They were two of 14 nominations Midnight received, others for Direction, Acting, Design and Outstanding Productions.)The crew for the show includes Miriam Whatley as Stage Manager, Kevin Bowman handling Production Design, Tony Anselmo designing Lights, and Ellie Schwetye designing Sound.ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCE is the first show in the 25th Anniversary Season for The Midnight Company. Coming up are RODNEYS WIFE, a complex family drama by Richard Nelson, at The Chapel July 7-23, and ST. LOUIS WOMAN, a play with music about the Songs and the Women of our City, written and directed by Hanrahan, performed by LAKA, playing at the .ZACK October 6-22.For more information, visit MidnightCompany.com
