Photos: First Look at Washington Stage Guild's PEN

The Washington Stage Guild begins its 2014-15 Season of Love and/or Marriage with the Washington area premiere of PEN by David Marshall Grant, playing October 30 through November 23. In the production directed by Kasi Campbell, a divorced couple wrangle over their college-bound son's future, and while the boy's life is about to change, he and his mother undergo perplexing changes themselves. It's 1969, the end of a turbulent decade, and the turmoil in the country is only one factor as Matt and his parents struggle to stay connected. The bonds of a family some would call broken, expressed in Grant's sharp and pointed dialogue, made this funny, touching play an off-Broadway hit.

Campbell's work is well known in the Washington area, having directed at the Kennedy Center, Rep Stage, Maryland Opera Studio, Theatre Alliance, WSC Avant Bard, Source Theatre, and Spooky Action Theatre. Her productions have garnered several Helen Hayes nominations including four for Outstanding Director (she received the award for The Dazzle), two for Outstanding Production, and two for Outstanding Ensemble. Previous productions at the Stage Guild include Tryst and Elling.

Chris Stinson makes his company debut as Matt, whose frustrations with suburban life and responsibilities perplex his parents. Other DC area acting credits include Hub Theatre's Abominable, Failure: A Love Story, and A Man, His Wife and His Hat; Quotidian Theatre's The Iceman Cometh; Scena Theatre's A Clockwork Orange; Forum Theatre's We Tiresias; 1st Stage's Parfumerie; and Theatre Lab's To Kill a Mockingbird. He is a company member of the Hub Theatre, and a graduate of Penn State University.

His mother Helen is played by Emily Townley, last seen at the Stage Guild in 2012's hit Tryst. She is a company member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre where she appeared in A Bright New Boise, House of Gold, Maria/Stuart, Spain, Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World and Watbanaland. Other area credits include Candida, Rock n' Roll, and The Bright and Bold Design at Studio Theatre; Rep Stage's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (directed by Kasi Campbell); Everyman Theatre's Our Town; The Real Inspector Hound at MetroStage; Round House Theatre's The Sisterhood; and The Tempest and The Gaming Table at Folger Theatre.

Matt's father Jerry is played by Michael Russotto who last appeared at the Stage Guild in Brian Friel's Aristocrats in 1992. Most recently, he played Orgon in the Franklin Stage Company's production of Tartuffe, and Monsignor Ryan in Arena Stage's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. He is a member of Woolly Mammoth's acting company, where he has performed in many productions, including A Bright New Boise and She Stoops to Comedy (both of which garnered him Helen Hayes Award nominations as Outstanding Lead Actor), and The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. Other DC credits include Rancho Mirage and Neville's Island at Olney Theatre Center; Signature Theatre's Art; The Comedy of Errors and Much Ado About Nothing at Folger Theatre; and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg at the Kennedy Center. He has also worked at Rep Stage, MetroStage, Theatre Alliance, Adventure Theatre, and Studio Theatre.

Photos by C. Stanley Photography