Slate's 'Dear Prudence' Columnist Emily Yoffe Set for VELOCITY OF AUTUMN Post-Show Talk at Arena Stage, 10/12

Slate's Emily Yoffe, author of the advice column, "Dear Prudence," joins Laura Helmuth, Slate's science and health editor, as they take audience questions and discuss many of the personal and social implications presented in The Velocity of Autumn during Family Matters: A Conversation with Emily Yoffe and Laura Helmuth, Saturday, October 12 following the 2:00 p.m. matinee, at approximately 3:45 p.m. in the Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 Sixth St, SW). The event is free and open to the public, but subject to availability.

In Eric Coble's new play, Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons (Bonnie and Clyde, Roseanne) and two-time Tony Award winner Stephen Spinella (Angels in America,HBO's upcoming film The Normal Heart) play a mother and son grappling with profound and challenging issues surrounding aging. Whether you have an aging parent or you are one there are important conversations to be explored on this topic, and during this special post-show event Yoffe and Helmuth will reflect on how The Velocity of Autumnoffers a unique opportunity to spark the dialogue.

The Velocity of Autumn is currently playing to critical acclaim and must close October 20.

Laura Helmuth is Slate's science and health editor. She recently published a series of articles in Slate called "Two Lives" about why life expectancy has doubled in the past 150 years. She was previously an editor for Smithsonian magazine and Science magazine's news department. She has a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from the University of California at Berkeley.

Emily Yoffe writes Slate's "Dear Prudence" advice column, which appears twice weekly and offers advice on a wide range of human dilemmas from murderous mothers-in-law to bra-washing schedules. Formerly, she wrote a regular column at Slate called "Human Guinea Pig," in which she undertook unusual activities such as being the first patient to be examined by 23 medical students, being a street performer, and entering the Mrs. America pageant. Her work has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times; O, the Oprah Magazine; Esquire and The Washington Post.

The Velocity of Autumn by Eric Coble is directed by Molly Smith and produced by special arrangement with HOP Theatricals, LLC in the Kreeger Theater through October 20, 2013, starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella.

In a simple Brooklyn brownstone, 79-year-old Alexandra lives a solitary existence with her fleeting memories and enough explosives to take down most of the block. At an impasse with her family over how she should spend her autumn years, Alexandra's long-absent son enters as a most unlikely mediator, to try and save his mother's life as much as his own. Funny and dangerous, aching and revelatory, this perceptive play reveals both the fragility and ferocity of life. Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons (Bonnie and Clyde, Roseanne) and two-time Tony Award winner Stephen Spinella (Angels in America) make their Arena Stage debuts.

For more information, visit arenastage.org/shows-tickets/the-season/productions/the-velocity-of-autumn/.

Tickets for The Velocity of Autumn are $40-$90, subject to change and based on availability, plus applicable fees. For information on savings programs such as student discounts, Southwest Nights, Pay-Your-Age tickets, HOTTIX and Hero's Discounts, visit arenastage.org/shows-tickets/single-tickets/savings-programs/. Tickets may be purchased online at arenastage.org, by phone at 202-488-3300 or at the Sales Office at 1101 Sixth St., SW, D.C

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is a national center dedicated to the production, presentation, development and study of American theater. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie, Arena Stage is the largest company in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights. Arena Stage produces huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and ground-breaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Arena Stage is committed to commissioning and developing new plays through the American Voices New Play Institute. Now in its seventh decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000. arenastage.org

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