Download sinners - New Repertory Theatre

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Friday, March 10, 2017
MEDIA CONTACT – Michael Duncan Smith | 617-923-7060 x8205 | [email protected]
NEW REPERTORY THEATRE AND
BOSTON CENTER FOR AMERICAN PERFORMANCE PRESENT
GREENSBORO ARTS ALLIANCE AND RESIDENCY/MIRROR THEATER’S
SINNERS
BY JOSHUA SOBOL
DIRECTED BY BRIAN COX
FEATURING NICOLE ANSARI AND BEN GETZ
**LIMITED ENGAGEMENT: MARCH 23-APRIL 2, 2017**
[BOSTON] New Repertory Theatre and Boston Center for American Performance present Greensboro Arts
Alliance & Residency/Mirror Theater’s Sinners by Joshua Sobol, March 23-April 2, 2017 in the
TheatreLab@855, Boston University, 855 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA. Tickets are $20-$35 and may
be purchased by calling the New Rep Box Office at 617-923-8487 or visiting newrep.org.
The press opening will be on Thursday, March 23 at 7:30pm.
In Sinners, Layla, a married English professor, has an affair with one of her married students, Nur. Out of fear
that the oppressing authorities would find out and kill them both, Nur decides to confess, claiming that Layla
seduced him. A fully staged production directed by Olivier- and Emmy Award-winner Brian Cox, the play
examines issues of women’s rights, societal constraints, and what choices one makes for love.
About NEW REP PRESENTS
New Rep Presents continues the conversations we explore during our season, channeling our mission to
speak powerfully to the vital ideas of our time, expanding the discussion, and delving into topics that have
become the cornerstone of the New Rep experience.
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About NEW REPERTORY THEATRE
New Repertory Theatre is the award-winning, professional theatre company in residence at the Mosesian
Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA. For over 30 years, New Rep has been a leader of self-produced
theatre in greater Boston, producing contemporary and classic dramas, comedies, and musicals in both the
340-seat MainStage Theater and the 90-seat BlackBox Theater. Annually, New Rep serves over 40,000
patrons, including 2,000 season subscribers. In addition to its mainstage productions, New Rep produces
Next Voices, a program dedicated to developing new plays with playwrights through staged readings and
world premiere productions. Under its Lifelong Enrichment Arts Programs (LEAP), New Rep also produces its
Classic Repertory Company, Page to Stage, Insider Experiences, and Spotlight Symposium Series.
About BOSTON CENTER FOR AMERICAN PERFORMANCE
Boston Center for American Performance serves as the professional production extension of the Boston
University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre. Expanding the definition of the College as an “artistic
home,” BCAP is designed to foster significant interaction between members of the professional performing
arts world and the College. BCAP employs professional artists to collaborate directly with student artists in a
way that encourages intergenerational learning not only through the forging of strong teacher/student
relationships, but through the creation of artistic collaborations between artists of differing levels of
experience. It is the College’s conviction that such collaborations will have a profound impact on the
College’s educational mission, become a significant source of inspiration for the creation of new work and/or
new approaches to existing work, and provide the College with a professional extension of its expanding and
diverse aesthetic.
About GREENSBORO ARTS ALLIANCE & RESIDENCY/MIRROR THEATER LTD
Mirror Theater Ltd, originally founded in 1983 by Sabra Jones, is the spiritual successor to Harold Clurman's
Group Theatre and Eva Le Gallienne’s Civic Repertory. The founding initiative was spearheaded by the
legendary philanthropist, Laurance S. Rockefeller, and received additional endowments from Dustin
Hoffman, Al Pacino, Dina Merrill, Kitty Carlisle Hart, and Paul Newman, as well as NYSCA, ATT, the Astor
Foundation, The Lilah Acheson Wallace Foundation, and a host of others. The Mirror Theater
Ltd's Greensboro Arts Alliance & Residency (GAAR) strives to benefit the community of Greensboro by
providing year-round cultural and artistic opportunities to the residents of Greensboro and its surrounding
areas. Founded in 2005, GAAR operates year-round, employs Greensboro-based staff, and its events have
brought together the thousands of people who come to Greensboro every year. GAAR to date has
produced over 60 plays in Vermont, as well as beginning an Opera Company and a much lauded Children’s
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Musical Comedy Professional Training Camp. GAAR also works in the public school system to offer the full
canon of Shakespeare as well as training. The Mirror is proud to have produced over 172 plays on Broadway,
off-Broadway, in London, regionally, and on television. The Mirror has been nominated for a Tony as well as
numerous awards including Outer Critics Best Overall Excellence and Best Acting Ensemble and the Brown
and Williamson Award for their Arts & Education program, which has been a recipient of multi-year funding
from the Department of Cultural Affairs.
Artistic Bios
NICOLE ANSARI* (LAYLA) Broadway: Rock N’ Roll directed by Trevor Nunn; Off-Broadway: Shakespeare’s
Sister directed by Irina Brook at La Mama; Regional: Island of Slaves at Shakespeare and Company, MA. In
Europe: World Premiere of Tom Stoppard’s Rock N’ Roll at the Royal Court Theatre in London and in the
West End. Company Member of the famed Theatre du Soleil, directed by Ariane Mnouchkine, in Paris and
on tour for two years. Founding Member of the Shakespeare Company Berlin. At the Public Theatre in
Vienna, Austria: Berenice in Berenice, Roxanne in Cyrano de Bergerac, Irma in the Musical Irma La Douce,
Hero in Much Ado About Nothing, and Romy Schneider in the play Romy, which she also co-wrote. Nicole
started her Theatrical Career in Switzerland in Repertory in Zurich doing Shakespeare, Karge, Jelinek, Goetz
and Brecht, amongst others. Film/TV includes: Side Effects by Steven Soderbergh; Blumenthal and As Good
as Dead (both of which she also co-produced); Maggie Black; I Was There; NBC’s Mysteries of Laura; HBO’s
Deadwood (recurring role); NBC’s The Blacklist; Current: Einstein for SAT1 (Germany); TV’s Bar Karma; CBS’
As The World Turns. Nicole studied with the late Uta Hagen at HB Studios in NYC for Scene Study and the
Shakespeare Masterclass and with Susan Batson at the Actor’s Studio NY, as well as at the Stage school of
Dance and Drama. Nicole is also the proud Mama of Orson and Torin and lives with her husband, the actor
Brian Cox, and her children in NYC.
BEN GETZ* (Nur) is happy to be working on his first production with the Mirror Theater. Ben is a graduate of
NYU Tisch’s New Studio. Some of his favorite roles from college include Diomedes in Troilus and Cressida,
Phil in Hurlyburly, Joe in Bachelorette, and Duke Senior in As You Like It. Film/TV credits include Blue Bloods,
Uncaged and the soon to be released series Play by Play on Verizon Go90.
BRIAN COX (Director) is an award-winning actor of the stage, screen and television. He has appeared in
dozens of plays on the stages of London, New York, and Scotland. Cox earned AFI and Independent Spirit
Award nominations for his work in the critically hailed independent film L.I.E. and also shared a Screen Actors
Guild Award nomination as part of the ensemble cast of Spike Jonze’s Adaptation. His most recent film
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credits include roles in The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Red 2, Coriolanus, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The
Campaign, and Blood. Additionally, he has appeared in The Good Heart, Tell-Tale, The Escapist, Troy, X2,
Zodiac, 25th Hour, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Ring, Red, The Rookie, The Affair of the
Necklace, For the Love of the Game, Rushmore, Desperate Measures, The Boxer, Kiss the Girls, Braveheart,
Rob Roy, Manhunter, Hidden Agenda, and Nicholas and Alexandra. Repeatedly honored for his work in the
theatre, Cox won two Olivier Awards for his performances in Rat in the Skull and Titus Andronicus; British
Theatre Association Drama Awards for Best Actor for his work in The Taming of the Shrew and Strange
Interlude; and the Lucille Lortel Award, as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations, for St.
Nicholas. He spent eight months in London’s West End, starring as Max in Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n Roll, a
role he reprised on Broadway. Cox was also seen on Broadway in The Championship Season. Cox has also
helmed stage productions of I Love My Life, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, The Philanderer, The Master Builder,
and Richard III. In 2003, Cox’s contributions to the arts were honored by Queen Elizabeth II, who named him
a Commander of the British Empire. In 2006, Empire Magazine honored his film achievements with the
Empire Icon Award and, in 2007, the UK Film Council named him one of the Top 10 powerful British film
stars in Hollywood today.
JOSHUA SOBOL (Playwright) is a playwright, director, and author. Sobol has written over 75 plays and
directed productions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Israel, and the United States. He is currently the
playwright in residence at Israeli Stage. His most famous play, Ghetto, has been performed in 24 countries,
and his plays have garnered many awards including The Evening Standard Award for Best Play of the
Year; The Critics’ Circle London Theatre Awards – Best New Play 1989; Laurence Olivier
Award Nomination for Best Play; Mainichi Art Prize – Best Play of the Year; Yumiuri Shimbun Grand
Prize for Best Play of the Year. Sobol won five David’s Harp awards for Best Israeli Play and won the Israeli
Theatre Award for Lifetime Achievement. Sobol was awarded The Golden Medal of the City of Vienna for
Excellent Achievement in 2014.
—
SINNERS at a glance
Company:
New Repertory Theatre and Boston Center for American Performance
Present Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency/Mirror Theater
Production:
Sinners
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Venue:
TheatreLab@855 | Boston University | 855 Commonwealth Ave. | Boston
Playwright:
Joshua Sobol
Director:
Brian Cox
Cast:
Nicole Ansari*
Layla
Ben Getz*
Nur
* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)
Performance Schedule:
Thursday, March 23, 7:30pm
Press Opening
Friday, March 24, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 25, 8:00pm
Sunday, March 26, 2:00pm
Thursday, March 30, 7:30pm
Friday, March 31, 7:30pm
Saturday, April 1, 8:00pm
Sunday, April 2, 2:00pm
Tickets:
$20-$35. Telephone: 617-923-8487, Online: newrep.org
Parking:
Agganis Arena Parking Garage, 925 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
More information at agganisarena.com/plan-your-visit/parking
Public Transportation:
Green Line B to Boston University West
57/57A bus inbound to St. Paul Street, outbound to Buick Street
Accessibility:
Wheelchair Accessible
For Media Inquiries:
Michael Duncan Smith | Marketing & PR Director
617-923-7060 x8205 | [email protected]
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