Download TRIBES - SpeakEasy Stage Company

TRIBES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 19, 2013
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jim Torres - 617.529.1670
(BOSTON) – From September 13 through October 12, 2013, SpeakEasy Stage Company will
proudly present the New England premiere of TRIBES, the hit London and Off-Broadway
drama by Nina Raine.
A 2011 Olivier nominee for Best Play and winner of the 2012 Drama Desk and OffBroadway Alliance Awards for Best Play, TRIBES is a penetrating new work about belonging,
family, and the limitations of communication. Born deaf into a fiercely intellectual and
opinionated British family, Billy was pushed to assimilate into the hearing world as best he could
by reading lips and staying out of the way. But when a young woman introduces him to the Deaf
community, Billy decides it is time his family learns to communicate with him on his terms.
TRIBES was written by British playwright and director Nina Raine, daughter of poet
Craig Raine, and grand niece of Russian novelist Boris Pasternak. Ms. Raine’s debut play,
Rabbit, earned her the 2006 Charles Wintour Evening Standard Award as well as the 2006
(London) Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright. She is also the author of Tiger
Country, the premiere of which she also directed for London’s Hampstead Theatre in 2011.
Veteran Boston director M. Bevin O’Gara will helm the area premiere of TRIBES,
which will be her third directing project featuring deaf characters, the other two being Clybourne
Park for SpeakEasy Stage and Love Person for Company One.
James “Joey” Caverly, a graduate of Gallaudet University and a veteran actor with the
National Theatre of the Deaf, will play Billy. Also in the cast are Boston-area actors Adrianne
Krstansky, Kathryn Myles, Nael Nacer, Patrick Shea, and Erica Spyres.
The design team for the SpeakEasy production of TRIBES includes Cristina Todesco
(scenic); Mary Lauve (costumes); Annie Wiegand (lighting); Garrett Herzig (projections); and
Arshan Gailus (sound). Adele Nadine Traub is the Production Stage Manager.
TRIBES will run for five weeks, from September 13 through October 12, in the Roberts
Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527
Tremont Street in Boston’s South End. The show will be performed in the round.
There will be two ASL-interpreted performances: Sunday, October 6 at 7PM and
Friday, October 11 at 8PM.
Ticket prices range from $25-$60 with discounts for students, seniors, and persons age 25
and under. For tickets or more information, the public is invited to call 617.933.8600 or visit
www.SpeakEasyStage.com.
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SpeakEasy Stage Company
TRIBES
Page 2 of 4
Production History
TRIBES had its world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2010 where it was
nominated for an Oliver Award for Best Play. The show then premiered Off-Broadway in 2012
at New York’s Barrow Street Theatre in a production directed by David Cromer, who also
directed the New York and Boston productions of Our Town. TRIBES’ New York production
enjoyed an acclaimed 10-month run that earned it numerous awards, including the 2012 Drama
Desk Award for Outstanding Play, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign
Play, and the 2012 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Play.
Artist Information
NINA RAINE (Playwright) began her career as a trainee director at the Royal Court Theatre
after graduating from Oxford. She both directed and served as dramaturg for Unprotected at the
Liverpool Everyman Theatre (TMA Best Director Award, Amnesty International Freedom of
Expression Award). Her debut play, Rabbit, premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in 2006 and
transferred to the West End before going to New York. Rabbit won the Charles Wintour Evening
Standard and Critics Circle Award for most Promising Playwright. Ms. Raine also directed her
second play, Tiger Country, at Hampstead Theatre. She directed Jumpy at the Royal Court
Theatre, later transferring to the West End, and Shades (Critics Circle and Evening Standard
Awards for Most Promising Newcomer). TRIBES, her commission for the Royal Court Theatre,
won an Offie award, and was also nominated for both Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for
best new play. Ms. Raine recently directed Longing at Hampstead Theatre.
M. BEVIN O’GARA (Director) returns to SpeakEasy Stage after directing Clybourne Park last
season. Other local directing credits include You for Me For You, Love Person, and The Pain and
the Itch (Company One); Matt and Ben (Central Square Theater); Two Wives in India and Gary
(Boston Playwrights’ Theatre); 2.5 Minute Ride (Downstage @ New Rep); Othello and The
Crucible (New Rep On Tour); Melancholy Play (Holland Productions); Bat Boy: The
Musical (Metro Stage); Tattoo Girl, Painting You, and Artifacts (Williamstown Theatre Festival
Workshop); and ANTI-KISS (3 Monkeys Theatrical Productions). She has also worked with New
Repertory Theatre, the Gaiety Theatre of Dublin, and the Actors Centre of Australia. Ms. O’Gara
is an Associate Producer at the Huntington Theatre Company. She has a BFA from Boston
University in Theatre Studies.
JAMES CAVERLY (Billy) SpeakEasy: debut. James has been involved with the National
Theatre of the Deaf for two years appearing in Journey of Identity, Stories In My Pocket Too,
The W-5s: Stories Behind, and A Child's Christmas in Wales. In Washington DC, he appeared in
Faction of Fools' Tales of Courage and Poultry as well as Tales of Honor and Anchovies. At
Gallaudet University, James performed in L'Abbe de L'Eppe, UnContented Love, Spoon River
Anthology, Urinetown, and Agamemnon. His proudest accomplishment thus far, however, was
directing Noises Off, a production which was recognized by the Kennedy Center American
College Theater Festival at Region II in 2011.
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SpeakEasy Stage Company
TRIBES
Page 3 of 4
ADRIANNE KRSTANSKY* (Beth) returns to SpeakEasy after having appeared in Body
Awareness and Snakebit. New York and regional credits include appearances with The Public
Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, Steppenwolf Theatre, and LaJolla Playhouse. Locally, she
has performed with the American Repertory Theater, Commonwealth Shakespeare, New
Repertory Theatre, Lyric Stage Company, Boston Playwrights Theatre, and Gloucester Stage
Company among others. Film credits include Carol in The Company Men.
KATHRYN MYLES* (Ruth) SpeakEasy: debut. Recent Boston-area credits include: Our
Town (Huntington Theatre Company – 2013 Elliot Norton & IRNE Awards, Outstanding
Production); These Shining Lives (Stoneham Theatre); Pericles (Actors’ Shakespeare Project);
Trout Stanley (Exquisite Corps); A Feeble Mind (Brown Box Theatre Project); Enron (Zeitgeist
Stage); Melancholy Play (Holland Productions); and Macbeth, King Lear, Much Ado About
Nothing (Hampshire Shakespeare Company). Upcoming: Henry VIII (Actors’ Shakespeare
Project). Ms. Myles holds a degree in theater from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. www.kathrynmyles.com
NAEL NACER* (Daniel) is delighted to make his SpeakEasy debut. Area credits include: Our
Town (Huntington Theatre Company, IRNE award); Shear Madness (Charles Playhouse);
Distracted (Underground Railway Theater); The Kite Runner, Lungs (New Repertory
Theatre); The Temperamentals, Animal Crackers (Lyric Stage); Love Person, 1001, The
Aliens, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Company One); The Farm, Gary (Boston Playwrights'
Theatre); The Flu Season (Whistler in the Dark); Waters Rising, Shouting Theatre in a Crowded
Fire (National Theatre of Allston); A Number (Payomet PAC); and Polaroid Stories (Tinderbox
Stage). Off-Broadway credits: The Hiding Place (59E59) and Lemonade (NYC Fringe Festival).
PATRICK SHEA* (Christopher) is very happy to mark his first appearance with SpeakEasy
Stage. Mr. Shea began his career in the Acting Ensemble of the New York Shakespeare Festival
and in the Broadway production of Child’s Play. A veteran cast member of Shear Madness here
in Boston, he has also performed at New Rep, Merrimack Rep, Gloucester Stage, The Wilbur
Theatre, The Nickerson Theatres and Worcester Foothills. He’s also made several appearances as
an actor and narrator with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and Boston Lyric Opera. His film
credits include Infinitely Polar Bear, Ted, The Invention of Lying, Gone Baby Gone, Mystic
River, Killer Flood, and By the Sea.
ERICA SPYRES* (Sylvia) returns to SpeakEasy after having appeared in The Light in the
Piazza (IRNE Award). Recent credits include Master Class and Marry Me a Little (New Rep);
Of Mice & Men (Moonbox); Avenue Q (IRNE Award, Elliot Norton nomination), Time Stands
Still (Elliot Norton nomination), The Mikado (Lyric Stage); and Pirates! (Huntington Theatre).
Erica is a busy corporate spokesperson, radio/TV announcer, and can be seen and heard on
commercials throughout the US. She coaches for My College Audition and is a member of
Actors' Equity Association. www.ericaspyres.com
For tickets or more info on TRIBES, the public can call the BostonTheatreScene Box Office at
617.933.8600 or visit www.BostonTheatreScene.com.
Press inquiries should be directed to Marketing and Communications Director Jim Torres:
Office: 617.482.3279 Cell: 617.529.1670
Email: [email protected]
Calendar Listing Information
TRIBES
By Nina Raine
TRIBES is a penetrating new work about belonging, family, and the limitations of communication. Born
deaf into a fiercely intellectual and opinionated British family, Billy was pushed to assimilate into the
hearing world as best he could by reading lips and staying out of the way. But when a young woman
introduces him to the Deaf community, Billy decides it is time his family learns to communicate with him
on his terms.
Presented by: SpeakEasy Stage Company, the Calderwood Pavilion Resident Theatre Company at the Boston
Center for the Arts; Paul Daigneault, Producing Artistic Director
Cast:
James Caverly, Adrianne Krstansky, Kathryn Myles,
Nael Nacer, Patrick Shea, Erica Spyres
Director:
M. Bevin O’Gara
Production Stage Manager:
Adele Nadine Traub
Design Team:
Scenic: Cristina Todesco
Costumes: Mary Lauve
Lighting: Annie Wiegand
Projections: Garrett Herzig
Sound: Arshan Gailus
Performing at:
Roberts Studio Theatre
in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts,
527 Tremont Street in Boston's South End
Press Performance:
September 15, 2013 – 3pm
Performance Schedule:
September 13 - October 12, 2013
Wed. & Thurs. at 7:30PM; Fri. at 8PM; Sat. at 4PM & 8 PM; Sun. at 3PM
Added performance: Wednesday, October 9 at 2PM
ASL Performances:
Sunday, October 6 at 7PM and Friday, October 11 at 8PM.
Run Time:
2 hours, 15 minutes including intermission
Ticket Prices:
Tickets start at $25. Seniors: $5 off at all times except gallery seats.
Age 25 and under: $25 at all times
Student Rush:
$14 with valid college ID, at the box-office only, one hour
before curtain, subject to availability
Box Office:
617.933.8600; www.BostonTheatreScene.com
Press Contact Only:
Jim Torres – 617.529.1670 (cell)
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