EVENT: SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY’S NEW PLAY SOUNDING SERIES PRESENTS A READING OF GRANT & TWAIN BY ELIZABETH DIGGS (2/25)

PRESS CONTACT: CYNTHIA FLEMING · 801 363 7522 · CYNTHIA@SALTLAKEACTINGCOMPANY.ORG

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY’S NEW PLAY SOUNDING SERIES PRESENTS

A READING OF GRANT & TWAIN BY ELIZABETH DIGGS

SLAC’s New Play Sounding Series presents a free reading of GRANT & TWAIN, by Elizabeth Diggs and directed by Justin Ivie, on Monday, February 25, 2013 at 7:00pm. The New Play Sounding Series offers Salt Lake City audiences the unique experience of being a part of new, exciting work and the chance to interact with playwrights, actors and directors on the forefront of contemporary theatre. We thank the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation for their support of this vital program.

Ulysses S. Grant was the hero of the Civil War. Mark Twain was the most famous writer in America. Twain had just broken a seven-year writer’s block to finish Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Grant had just been swindled out of all his money in a Ponzi scheme. In 1884 the two men forged an unlikely and unbreakable friendship. GRANT & TWAIN explores these two intriguing, complex characters in a story of friendship, courage, betrayal and triumph.

Playwright Elizabeth Diggs became fascinated with finding out who Ulysses S. Grant really was. She says, “….during his lifetime, Grant was revered. His heroic struggle to finish his book in the face of death was front-page news across the country.  North and South were united in paying homage. When Grant died, church bells tolled across the country in every city and hamlet.  But almost immediately, his reputation began to slide.  I learned in school that he was one of our worst presidents, he won the war because he had more troops and supplies, he was a drunk.  His reputation could hardly have been worse!  Earlier plays portrayed him as a cartoon, a drunk and a fool. But the facts of his life and character contradicted this terrible reputation.  I had to find an answer.  I found his story so compelling that I wanted to portray him on stage, to give audiences a chance to see him ‘in action’ and judge for themselves.”

GRANT & TWAIN not only delves into the intriguing character of Grant, but brings in the legendary and equally compelling character of Mark Twain. Diggs says, “…he was younger than Grant, and admired him as much as I did.  They were opposites.  I was amazed when I discovered that Twain had been blocked for 7 years trying to finish Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  He got ‘unblocked’ just as he was urging Grant to let him publish his book. I was astonished that Twain the egotist gave up a year of his life and went into dangerous debt to publish Grant’s book. The two most famous men in America working together to finish the story of the war in a race against death!”

The New Play Sounding Series is a part of SLAC’s outreach programming which provides an essential testing ground on which playwrights can see their work in progress and receive insightful feedback from the audience in a post-play discussion.

The reading will be followed by a post-play discussion with the playwright, the director and the cast. Audience members will be invited to ask questions and share insight regarding the development of the production.

FACT SHEET

SLAC NPSS reading GRANT & TWAIN           

PLAYWRIGHT                             
Elizabeth Diggs

DIRECTOR                                                  
Justin Ivie

CAST
Kathryn Atwood (Julia Dent Grant), Brien Jones (Harrison Terrell), Morgan Lund (Adam Badeau), Peder Melhuse (Ulysses S. Grant), Max Robinson (Mark Twain), Matthew Romriell (William Perkins Ungersoll)

DATE AND TIME
Monday, February 25, 2013 @ 7 PM

The audience does not need a ticket in advance to attend this reading. The building will open one hour prior to the performance when general admission tickets will be distributed, and the theatre will open half an hour before the performance.

NOW PLAYING

HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING by Shawn Fisher, with Lucas Bybee, Jayne Luke & Glenn Turner

             

DATES                      
Opened:           February 6, 2013

Closing:           March 3, 2013

TIMES                                           
Wed – Sat - 7:30 p.m.
Sun – 1:00 p.m. & 6:00 p.m.

Salt Lake Acting Company is located at 168 W 500 N, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84103.

For more information call 801- 363-7522 or visit www.saltlakeactingcompany.org

                                               

SLAC is a not-for-profit 501(c) 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.