Photo Coverage: Twisted Take on Faust LIANA AND BEN Makes World Premiere in LA

Circle X Theatre Co. is thrilled to announce the world premiere of a new play, LIANA AND BEN, written by Susan Rubin and directed by Mark Bringelson. LIANA AND BEN will preview on Thursday, February 16 & Friday, February 17 at 8pm and will open on Saturday, February 18 at 8pm and run through Saturday, March 26 at Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. in Los Angeles, 90039.

LIANA AND BEN is a twisted, sexy, modern take on Faust. Our story begins with a not-so-chance encounter between a beautiful young woman and a dark, enigmatic stranger. Ben makes Liana an offer: he will keep her young and beautiful for 250 years if she can prove to him that humanity is worth saving. Now, Liana's time is almost up and Ben demands his proof. They travel forward and backward through history in search of hope - questioning their very existence, the nature of their own mythology and the foundations of good & evil.

MARK BRINGELSON (Director) has directed world premieres of Susan Rubin's plays Bitch, Above The Line, and eve2, all at the Bootleg Theater. Other world premieres among many include three plays by Tom Jacobson (The Friendly Hour and Bunbury at The Road Theatre Company, and Cyberqueer at Celebration Theatre); Swimmer's Ear by Tony Foster at Skylight Theatre; Michael Kearns' Bang Bang at Highways, and Stanley Ann: The Untold Story Of Barack Obama's Mother by Mike Kindle at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, after directing developmental workshops of it in Washington DC and Chicago. He'll direct a film, "My Brother's Beautiful Face," later this year.

Susan Rubin (Playwright) has had her work produced at New York Theatre Workshop, Baltimore Center Stage, Los Angeles Theatre Center (where she had a five year residency), Padua Hills Playwright's Festival, Bootleg Theater and now Circle X. She has received nominations and awards from the Garlands to the LA Weeklys to the Ovations, as well as online awards, including the Ticket Holder Award for Best Play, Production, and actor, for Bitch. Her musical play, club termina, which told the story of the playwright's early bout with breast cancer, was presented in staged musical readings by organizations to raise money for breast cancer awareness. Rubin has written 20 documentary shorts for Ms Magazine. These cover early child marriage, the Taliban, the rise of the radical right, campus rape, voter suppression, the rise of domestic violence, the threat to Roe v Wade, and several pieces that explained what elections can mean to the LGBT community, women, people of color, working Americans and children. She has written about the Re-Virginization Movement, (yes, you read that right) Purity Balls, and the nationwide effort to suppress the use of birth control. The documentaries are presented to organizations dealing with these problems, and her pieces on the international plight of women and the LGBT community have been brought to the United Nations for use in their committees on these issues. Her documentary on campus rape was taken to the White House Commission on the Status of Women. Additionally, the documentaries are distributed through the educational wing of Ms Magazine and are seen by tens of thousands of college students. Her six part series, "Vagina Dialogues" has been on the Funny side of "Funny or Die" for five years.

The cast of LIANA AND BEN will feature (in alphabetical order): Kimberly Alexander, Darrell Larson, Mara Marini, Jonathan Medina and Tim Wright.

LIANA AND BEN is produced by Camille Schenkkan and features the following design team: Set Design is by Alan Muraoka, Lighting Design is by Dan Weingarten. Sound Design is by Chris Moscatiello. Costume Design is by Dianne K. Graebner. Projection Design is by Jason H. Thompson. The Production Stage Manager is Deena Tovar.

LIANA AND BEN will preview on Thursday, February 16 & Friday, February 17 at 8pm and will open on Saturday, February 18 at 8pm and run through Saturday, March 26 at Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. in Los Angeles, 90039.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm

Sundays at 7:00pm

ATWATER Village Theatre

3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039.

Tickets are $25. Students and Seniors are $20. Previews are Pay-What-You-Can at the door. For tickets, buy online at www.circlextheatre.org.

Photo Credit: Tim Wright

Tim Wright and Kimberly Alexander
Kimberly Alexander and Jonathan Medina
Tim Wright and Mara Marini
Jonathan Medina and Kimberly Alexander
Darrell Larson
Jonathan Medina and Kimberly Alexander
Mara Marini and Kimberly Alexander; Photo Credit: Tim Wright