"Downstage @ The Rep"

As part of its 2006-2007 season, New Repertory Theatre has announced “Downstage @ New Rep,” an ambitious series of productions that builds on the company’s long-standing innovative approach to incisive, intense writing.

The series will be comprised of three plays: Will Eno’s "Thom Pain (based on nothing)," Sept. 30 – Oct. 22, 2006; David Sedaris’ "The Santaland Diaries," Dec. 21 – 31, 2006; and J. T. Rogers’ "White People," March 10 – April 1, 2007. All performances will take place in the Black Box at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown.

Producing Artistic Director Rick Lombardo commented, “It has long been part of our dream to be able to create an alternative series of works – plays that are fundamentally different from the type of work we do on our main stage, yet are vital, compelling ‘New Rep’ plays. And now in our new home, with its multiple performance spaces, that dream is realized. New voices, new works, new artists, unusual forms, unexpected surprises – these will all be part of this new series in the future. What won’t be new is our commitment to exploring important, timely ideas in through electrifying theatre.”

"Thom Pain (based on nothing)"
September 30 - October 22, 2006
Dubbed “stand-up existentialism” by The New York Times, "Thom Pain (based on nothing)" is a wry, sardonic monologue by an ordinary man. The play, a surreal meditation on life’s unfulfilled promise, is ultimately optimistic, but not before Thom Pain muses on childhood, yearning, disappointment and loss. Cataloguing the eternal agonies of the human condition, he draws his audience into his last-ditch plea for empathy and enlightenment.

The work was first performed at the Soho Theatre in London as a Launch Pad reading, and then premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2004, where it won several awards. Its U.S. premiere was in January 2005 in New York.

New Rep is honored to be presenting the New England premiere of this important work. Lowell-born, Brooklyn based Will Eno, is a Guggenheim Fellow, Edward F. Albee Foundation Fellow, and an Oppenheimer Award winner. He has been called “a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation,” by The New York Times.

The “Downstage @ New Rep” production stars Diego Arciniegas, who is well known to Boston audiences, and has performed frequently with New Rep and other area theatres. He serves as Artistic Director for the Publick Theatre. The production is directed by Adrianne Hewlett.

"The Santaland Diaries"
December 21 - 31, 2006
John Kuntz will reprise his role as the wickedly funny Crumpet the Elf in "The Santaland Diaries," David Sedaris’ acerbic account of working as an elf at Macy’s at Christmas. Satirical master Sedaris made his comic debut on National Public Radio in 1992, reading his hilarious strange-but-true account of retail holiday adventures.

Kuntz previously performed with New Rep in "True West," "Scapin," "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" and "Waiting for Godot." He is a founding company member of The Actors’ Shakespeare Project. Other recent credits include twenty roles in "How I Got That Story" with the Nora Theatre Company, forty roles in "Fully Committed" with the Lyric Stage, and Guildenstern/Osric in Commonwealth Shakespeare’s production of "Hamlet." He is the recipient of an Elliot Norton, IRNE and New York International Fringe Festival Awards, and the author of twelve produced plays. His latest, "Jasper Lake," was the winner of both the Michael Kanin and Paula Vogel National Playwrighting Awards.

"White People"
March 10 - April 12, 2007
An unflinchingly honest, darkly funny examination of race and language in America, J. T. Rogers’ "White People" uses the interwoven monologues of three white people – a bitter former homecoming queen who is now a housewife with a special needs child; a New York college professor whose family was attacked by a group of black men, possibly injuring his unborn baby; and a smug conservative lawyer who moved from New York to St. Louis, so his family can be safer – to work through the blame, guilt and assumptions related to feelings about their own whiteness and the non-whiteness of others.

"White People" had its world premiere at the Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2000, and then received the L.A. Drama Critics Circle and John Barrymore Award nominations for Best Play of the Year.

J. T. Rogers is an award-winning American playwright who lives in Brooklyn. He was artist-in-residence at the Eugene O'Neill Center in 2004 and was selected as one of ten playwrights in the United States to receive a NEA/TCG Theatre Residency for 2004-2005. His other works include: "Madagascar," produced at the Summer Play Festival in New York in 2005 and received the American Theatre Critics Association' M. Elizabeth Osborne Award and the 2005 and Pinter Review Prize for Drama; and "Seeing the Elephant" which was nominated for the Kesserling Prize for Best New American Play. His most recent play, "The Overwhelming" is currently playing at the Royal National Theatre in London.

For tickets and information, call the box office at 617-923-8487 or visit www.newrep.org.

-- OnStage Boston

			Trio Of Plays Set For Inaugural "Downstage@New Rep" Series" As part of its 2006-2007 season, New Repertory Theatre has announced “Downstage @ New Rep,” an ambitious series of productions that builds on the company’s long-standing innovative approach to incisive, intense writing. The series will be comprised of three plays: Will Eno’s "Thom Pain (based on nothing)," Sept. 30 – Oct. 22, 2006; David Sedaris’ "The Santaland Diaries," Dec. 21 – 31, 2006; and J. T. Rogers’ "White People," March 10 – April 1, 2007. All performances will take place in the Black Box at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown. Producing Artistic Director Rick Lombardo commented, “It has long been part of our dream to be able to create an alternative series of works – plays that are fundamentally different from the type of work we do on our main stage, yet are vital, compelling ‘New Rep’ plays. And now in our new home, with its multiple performance spaces, that dream is realized. New voices, new works, new artists, unusual forms, unexpected surprises – these will all be part of this new series in the future. What won’t be new is our commitment to exploring important, timely ideas in through electrifying theatre.” "Thom Pain (based on nothing)" September 30 - October 22, 2006 Dubbed “stand-up existentialism” by The New York Times, "Thom Pain (based on nothing)" is a wry, sardonic monologue by an ordinary man. The play, a surreal meditation on life’s unfulfilled promise, is ultimately optimistic, but not before Thom Pain muses on childhood, yearning, disappointment and loss. Cataloguing the eternal agonies of the human condition, he draws his audience into his last-ditch plea for empathy and enlightenment. The work was first performed at the Soho Theatre in London as a Launch Pad reading, and then premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2004, where it won several awards. Its U.S. premiere was in January 2005 in New York. New Rep is honored to be presenting the New England premiere of this important work. Lowell-born, Brooklyn based Will Eno, is a Guggenheim Fellow, Edward F. Albee Foundation Fellow, and an Oppenheimer Award winner. He has been called “a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation,” by The New York Times. The “Downstage @ New Rep” production stars Diego Arciniegas, who is well known to Boston audiences, and has performed frequently with New Rep and other area theatres. He serves as Artistic Director for the Publick Theatre. The production is directed by Adrianne Hewlett. "The Santaland Diaries" December 21 - 31, 2006 John Kuntz will reprise his role as the wickedly funny Crumpet the Elf in "The Santaland Diaries," David Sedaris’ acerbic account of working as an elf at Macy’s at Christmas. Satirical master Sedaris made his comic debut on National Public Radio in 1992, reading his hilarious strange-but-true account of retail holiday adventures. Kuntz previously performed with New Rep in "True West," "Scapin," "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" and "Waiting for Godot." He is a founding company member of The Actors’ Shakespeare Project. Other recent credits include twenty roles in "How I Got That Story" with the Nora Theatre Company, forty roles in "Fully Committed" with the Lyric Stage, and Guildenstern/Osric in Commonwealth Shakespeare’s production of "Hamlet." He is the recipient of an Elliot Norton, IRNE and New York International Fringe Festival Awards, and the author of twelve produced plays. His latest, "Jasper Lake," was the winner of both the Michael Kanin and Paula Vogel National Playwrighting Awards. "White People" March 10 - April 12, 2007 An unflinchingly honest, darkly funny examination of race and language in America, J. T. Rogers’ "White People" uses the interwoven monologues of three white people – a bitter former homecoming queen who is now a housewife with a special needs child; a New York college professor whose family was attacked by a group of black men, possibly injuring his unborn baby; and a smug conservative lawyer who moved from New York to St. Louis, so his family can be safer – to work through the blame, guilt and assumptions related to feelings about their own whiteness and the non-whiteness of others. "White People" had its world premiere at the Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2000, and then received the L.A. Drama Critics Circle and John Barrymore Award nominations for Best Play of the Year. J. T. Rogers is an award-winning American playwright who lives in Brooklyn. He was artist-in-residence at the Eugene O'Neill Center in 2004 and was selected as one of ten playwrights in the United States to receive a NEA/TCG Theatre Residency for 2004-2005. His other works include: "Madagascar," produced at the Summer Play Festival in New York in 2005 and received the American Theatre Critics Association' M. Elizabeth Osborne Award and the 2005 and Pinter Review Prize for Drama; and "Seeing the Elephant" which was nominated for the Kesserling Prize for Best New American Play. His most recent play, "The Overwhelming" is currently playing at the Royal National Theatre in London. For tickets and information, call the box office at 617-923-8487 or visit www.newrep.org. -- OnStage Boston 09/03/06

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