GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES By Rajiv Joseph Comes to The Assembly Theatre

Leroy Street Theatre will be kicking off the 2019 winter theatre season with a new production of Gruesome Playground Injuries by Pulitzer Prize finalist, Rajiv Joseph. This highly acclaimed, time-jumping modern masterpiece is a rough-edged and heart-wrenching play from one the most exciting contemporary voices in American theatre. Staged by core members of The Assembly Theatre's resident company, this new production of the timely and tender dark comedy is sure to be one of the most exciting events in the indie theatre scene this winter.

Gruesome Playground Injuries follows Kayleen and Doug over three decades, from their first meeting in a school nurse's office into an adulthood filled with scars, heartbreaks, and other wounds that never quite heal. The characters share a unique bond of friendship, viscera, blood, scar tissue, and unspoken love. Their often tenuous connection grows stronger through a lifetime of injuries, as they discover the only thing that can really heal them is each other.

The new production will be directed and designed by Leroy Street Theatre's resident designer, Chris Bretecher (The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?; set design The Parkdale Place Trilogy by George F Walker) and will feature Alice Lundy (MARRY ME MARRY ME MARRY ME, House + Body) and Anurag Choudhury (Becoming Banksy, Redwood Theatre). It will feature lighting design by the production's stage manager, Chin Palipane (Confessions of a Readheaded Coffee Shop Girl, Edinburgh Fringe), sound design by local musician Will Jarvis (Kill the Poor by George F Walker), and costumes by Dora Award-winning designer Lindsay Dagger Junkin (Tough Jews, Spadina Avenue Gang; Jerusalem, Outside the March). Special makeup effects will be designed by Rhonda Causton (founder, "Reel Twisted FX").

Leroy Street is the resident company at The Assembly Theatre. Its first production of 2019 will be staged with the support of LOFT Community Services. Through this community partnership, The Assembly Theatre will host introductory theatre workshops for LOFT Community members, and a gallery space to display members' visual art.

With a cast and creative team of some of the most daring, up-and-coming indie theatre artists in town, Leroy Street Theatre's new production of Rajiv Joseph's "modern masterpiece," is certain to be an unforgettable addition to this winter's theatre season.