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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

NEWS: SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY PRESENTS ‘HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING’


SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY PRESENTS ‘HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING’
BY SHAWN FISHER

“I said to her, I ain’t that person no more. And she said, ‘part of you is’.”

Salt Lake Acting Company is producing the winner of the Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award, HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING by Shawn Fisher, February 6 – March 3, 2013. A 300 year old scarred oak tree inspires a story exploring who we are and who we once were, personalizing racial prejudice and its consequences.

When Delores Wright, the matriarchal former school principal selects Arthur “Bo” Wells, the longest serving African American custodian in the Oakbranch Public School System, to help name the new elementary school, a discussion wrought with reflection and angst erupts. Within the walls of the old decaying schoolhouse in Southern New Jersey secrets of their lives are unearthed that will forever change their views of the past and future. Some scars never go away. HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING is a beautiful and painful story of intolerance, love and forgiveness not to be missed by Utah audiences.

Adrianne Moore is excited to direct this World Premiere of Shawn Fisher’s work. She says, “The story that unfolds is just so unexpected, and painful and lyrical in its telling. The themes of loss and the search for redemption are there and the difficulty with assessing someone’s true nature, our desire to judge, to take the moral high ground. The stories told by the central characters highlight the racism of mid- century America and the struggles particularly around school integration.”

Playwright Shawn Fisher gives audiences a unique look at segregation and racism, he says, A little known fact is that in the early twentieth century, many in the African American community referred to this region ofSouth Jersey as ‘The Mississippi of the North’.” He thinks that Utah audiences will be interested to “explore race without setting it in Mississippi or Alabama like most ‘race’ plays tend to be. I didn't want it to be about a place we have all condemned as ‘racist’ but rather a place where racism is less overt yet ingrained in its own way.”

Salt Lake Acting Company is thrilled to have an amazing cast including Glenn Turner, an award winning and highly accomplished actor who has been seen on Broadway in such shows as FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE (original cast), A CHORUS LINE, MY ONE AND ONLY, GRAND HOTEL, THE MUSICAL (original cast), GREASE and HIGH SOCIETY (original cast). His work on and off Broadway, regionally and in film and television is numerous, nuanced and exceptional. Joining Mr. Turner is local favorite, Jayne Luke who has been seen on the SLAC stage in CHARM, BIG LOVE and KIMBERLY AKIMBO. She has performed in a myriad of shows at the Grand Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company, the Egyptian Theatre, Hale Theatre, Plan-B Theatre Company and many others. These two accomplished actors will be joined by the talented up-and-comer, Lucas Bybee who was last seen on SLAC’s stage in ANGELS IN AMERICA and DO NOT HIT GOLF BALLS INTO MEXICO. Lucas has performed in theatre across the Wasatch front and in films such as SHADES OF TREASON, which recently premiered at the Orlando Film Festival.

HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING has and will continue to have a rich life. The play had its first reading in October 2011 at Cape May Stage in New Jersey where it’s rolling world premiere will be produced in May. It also had a reading at Urban Stages off Broadway in New York City. The Salt Lake Acting Company presented a staged reading of HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING as a part of our New Play Sounding Series in February 2012.


FACT SHEET

SLAC PRODUCTION                                     HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING

WRITTEN BY                                                 Shawn Fisher

DIRECTOR                                                     Adrianne Moore

CAST                                                               Lucas Bybee, Jayne Luke, Glenn Turner

SET DESIGN                                                   Keven Myhre       

COSTUME DESIGN                                        K.L. Alberts

LIGHTING DESIGN                                       Jesse Portillo

SOUND DESIGN                                           Josh Martin

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER               Janice Jenson

DATE                                                              Opening: February 6, 2013
                                                                        Closing: March 3, 2013

COMING SOON:
Tony nominated Broadway, film and television actress, Alyson Reed, best known as the loveable loopy drama teacher Ms. Darbus in Disney’s HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL series will present a succession of theatre activities, including a family night, a master class and a weeklong succession of free educational and entertaining assemblies for Beverley Taylor Sorensen elementary schools.

FAMILY NIGHT WITH MS. DARBUS                   ACTOR’S WORKSHOP
January 31, 2013 @ 6:30pm                                      February 2, 2013 @ 11:00am
Clayton Middle School                                               Salt Lake Acting Company
1470 South 1900 East                                                 168 West 500 North
Salt Lake CityUtah 84108                                        Salt Lake CityUtah 84103
$5/person                                                                    $25/person

                                                                                               
For tickets call 801-363-SLAC(7522), visit www.saltlakeactingcompany.org, or come to the box office at 168 West 500 North, Salt Lake CityUtah 84103. Student, Under 30, Senior and Group discounts available.
                                               
SLAC is a not-for-profit 501(c) founded in 1970 and is dedicated to producing, commissioning and developing new works and to supporting a community of professional artists.  SLAC has been nationally recognized by the Shubert Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Edgerton Foundation, among others. SLAC operates under a STP Actors’ Equity Association contract. SLAC is a Constituent Member of Theatre Communications Group, a national organization for non-profit professional regional theatres, and the National New Play Network.

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