Dark Horse Theater Company Presents OLEANNA

Who's the "good guy," and who's the "bad guy" here? He said it was a lesson. She said it was sexual harassment. What side will you choose; whose side will you be on? These are the questions raised in Pulitzer Prize winning (Glengarry GLen Ross) playwright, David Mamet's controversial and provocative drama, Oleanna, which opens a three weekend run at the DC Arts Center in Adams Morgan Fridays and Saturdays June 4th-19th at 7:30pm.

Oleanna centers on the relationship between a student, Carol (Arianne' Warner) and a university professor, John (Doug Mattingly). She goes to him for extra help in his class-but she may be just trying to set him up for a sexual harassment lawsuit. He tries to help her with her studies-but he may be trying to dominate and have inappropriate relations with her. As the relationship turns into a struggle, playgoers will find themselves switching sides early and often. The tension building on stage becomes the viewer's tension-tension and suspense that will escalate to a fever pitch in the play's shattering finale.

Directed by Dark Horse Theatre Company's Managing Artistic Director, Natasha Parnian, the drama's appropriate tagline is, "Whichever side you take, you're wrong." Oleanna, also made into a motion picture, is a seething investigation of "political correctness" and "civil rights," and has been accused of being anti-feminist, lauded for being pro-feminist, hated for being anti-establishment, pro-establishment, sexist, etc. In reality, it is all and none of these things; Oleanna serves as a mirror that forces us to examine and discuss our own convictions. In its 1992 review, the NY Times declared, "Oleanna is likely to provoke more arguments than any play this year." What side will you choose?

The Dark Horse Theatre Company is a fledgling Washington D.C. based collective of performers, directors, designers, writers, visual artists, and other specialists that have come together out of a mutual desire and compulsion to develop theatrical work through the collaboration and exploration of varied mediums. The company's mission is to produce collaborative works of theatre in an affordable and accessible way in order to both entertain and educate on both sides of the stage. We will achieve this through quality and provocative productions of classical, contemporary, and new works.

The show will be performed in the DC Arts Center 46 seat black box theatre. The limited seating means early reservations are a must. Oleanna plays Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30pm, from June 4th-June19th. The DC Arts Center is located at 2438 18th St NW in Washington DC. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for DCAC members/students/seniors. For additional information visit www.darkhorsetheatrecompany.com and for reservations call 202-462-7833. Contains strong language, for mature audiences 16+.