media contact:
erica lewis-finein
brightbutterfly pr
brightbutterfly[at]hotmail.com
CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENTS
BAY AREA PREMIERE OF WILL ENO’S
“LADY GREY (in ever lower light) and other plays”
March 11-April 10, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO (February 11, 2011) – San Francisco’s cutting-edge Cutting Ball Theater
welcomes the spring with the Bay Area Premiere of LADY GREY (in ever lower light) and other
plays by Will Eno, hailed by The New York Times as “a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart
generation.” LADY GREY (in ever lower light) and other plays, featuring Danielle O'Hare,
Galen Murphy-Hoffman, Gwyneth Richards, and David Sinaiko, runs March 11-April 10 (Press
opening: March 17) at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street) in
San Francisco. For tickets ($15-50) and more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or
call 800-838-3006.
In Lady Grey, a young woman relives a painful memory of show-and-tell in the classroom when she
was a little girl. Intermission is a meta-theatrical wonder. Like looking in a mirror, the Cutting Ball
audience watches another audience during the intermission of a mysterious play. Finally, in his brief
time on the world’s stage, Mr. Theatre lives out the seven ages of man in a playful manner that
echoes Shakespeare as much as it does Beckett in Mr. Theatre Comes Home Different. An intimate,
hilarious, and ultimately searing confrontation of actor and audience, LADY GREY (in ever lower
light) and other plays is the perfect follow-up to Cutting Ball’s 2009 hit production of Will Eno’s
Thom Pain (based on nothing).
“Cutting Ball Theater is honored to produce the Bay Area Premieres of Will Eno’s Lady Grey,
Intermission, and Mr. Theatre Comes Home Different,” says Cutting Ball Artistic Director Rob
Melrose. “What makes Eno ‘a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation’ is that he is so much
of our time. Just as Beckett exploited the forms of slapstick comedy, vaudeville, and silent movies,
Eno puts his profound ideas in the forms of stand-up comedy and the 24-hour news cycle. The fact
CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENTS “LADY GREY”
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that he is able to tackle such weighty themes in these forms is exactly what makes his work so
surprising and catches us off guard. He is one of the most exciting playwrights alive today and
having him in residence at Cutting Ball this March is an extraordinary treat.”
Continues Melrose, “Cutting Ball prides itself on producing playwrights who push the boundaries of
what theater can be. In these meta-theatrical plays, Eno looks at theater from many peculiar angles –
from the view of a child doing show and tell, from the view of actors looking at the audience, and
from the view of a character who embodies the very idea of theater itself. LADY GREY (in ever
lower light) and other plays is a refreshing reminder of what makes this art form alive, vulnerable,
comical, and mysterious.”
Playwright Will Eno lives in New York. His play The Flu Season debuted at the Gate Theatre in
London and won the Oppenheimer Award for the best New York debut by an American playwright
in 2004. Thom Pain (based on nothing) ran for a year in New York and was a finalist for the 2005
Pulitzer Prize in Drama; it was produced by Cutting Ball Theater in 2009. Eno’s collection of short
plays Oh, the Humanity and other good intentions was produced at the Flea Theater in 2007, starring
Marisa Tomei and Brian Hutchison. TRAGEDY: a tragedy received its U.S. premiere at Berkeley
Repertory Theater in 2008; an excerpt of the play appeared in the June 2006 issue of Harper’s
Magazine. Eno’s most recent play, Middletown, premiered at the Vineyard Theatre in New York in
2010 and will appear at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2011; the play made Eno the
first recipient of the inaugural Horton Foote Prize.
In addition to LADY GREY (in ever lower light) and other plays, Rob Melrose, Artistic Director
and co-founder of Cutting Ball Theater, has directed numerous productions for the company,
including this season’s productions of Eugenie Chan’s Bone to Pick and Diadem (World Premiere),
and The Tempest. Other Cutting Ball credits include Krapp’s Last Tape, The Bald Soprano, Victims
of Duty, Avant GardARAMA!, Endgame, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Hamletmachine, The
Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Mayakovsky: A Tragedy, Roberto Zucco,
The Vomit Talk of Ghosts (World Premiere), The Sandalwood Box, Pickling, Ajax, for Instance,
Helen of Troy (World Premiere), and Drowning Room (World Premiere). Additionally, Melrose
translated No Exit, Woyzeck, Pelléas and Mélisande, and Ubu Roi. Other directing credits include
productions at the Magic Theatre (An Accident), Guthrie Theater (Happy Days, Pen), California
Shakespeare Theater (Villains, Fools, and Lovers), and Crowded Fire (The Train Play), among
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CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENTS “LADY GREY”
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others. He has assistant directed productions at The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival
(Hamlet, Oskar Eustis, director), Berkeley Repertory Theatre (The Pillowman, Les Waters, director),
American Conservatory Theater (Indian Ink, Carey Perloff, director), Guthrie Theater (Othello, Joe
Dowling, director), and Yale Repertory Theatre (Twelfth Night, Mark Rucker, director). Melrose was
a 2007 recipient of the NEA / TCG Career Development Program for Directors; last spring, he was
the Public Theater’s artist in residence at Stanford University, where he directed a production of
Troilus and Cressida.
Cutting Ball Theater has assembled a talented ensemble for LADY GREY (in ever lower light) and
other plays. Cutting Ball Associate Artist Danielle O’Hare (Lady Grey/Jill) returns to Cutting Ball,
having appeared in the company’s productions of No Exit, Helen of Troy, Fighter Airplanes, The
Sandalwood Box, the evolutionists club, Mr. Fujiyama’s Electric Beach, and The Hidden Classics
Reading Series. Additionally, she has performed with theatre Q, Unidentified Theatre Company,
Minnesota Fringe Festival, and Theater in the Round, and has appeared in numerous commercials
and independent films. Galen Murphy-Hoffman (Jack) makes his Cutting Ball debut in Lady Grey
(in ever lower light) and other plays. A recent transplant from Chicago, credits include productions
with American Theater Company, Vintage Theater Collective, Drury Lane Oakbrook, The 16th St.
Theater, and LiveWire Chicago, among others. Upcoming productions include roles at California
Shakespeare Theater and San Francisco Shakespeare Festival.
Also returning to Cutting Ball are Gwyneth Richards (Intermission/Mrs. Smith) and David Sinaiko
(Mr. Theatre / Mr. Smith). Richards has appeared in Cutting Ball’s productions of The Taming of the
Shrew, The Train Play, Trojan Barbie, Snakewoman, and Pelleas and Melisande. She is the recipient
of a Bay Area Critics Circle Award and has numerous Bay Area stage credits, including her onewoman show, Born Again through Shakespeare, and the title roles in Ruth and the Sea and The
Widow West for Wily West Productions, with whom she is a company member. Additionally,
Richards has taught classes on Shakespeare for over 25 years at venues including California
Shakespeare Theater, American Conservatory Theater, and the College of Marin. An Associate
Artist, Sinaiko most recently appeared in Cutting Ball’s productions of The Tempest, Krapp’s Last
Tape, …and Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, The Bald Soprano, Victims of Duty, and Endgame.
Other Cutting Ball credits include The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, The Sandalwood Box,
Ajax for Instance, Macbeth, 365 Plays/365 Days, Woyzeck, Chain Reactions, and Risk is This…The
Cutting Ball New Experimental Plays Festival. Additional credits include Golden Thread’s Jihad
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CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENTS “LADY GREY”
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Jones & the Kalashnikov Babes, Crowded Fire’s Wreckage, and SF Playhouse’s One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest. Sinaiko has been seen at the Goodman Theatre, The Actor’s Gang, and in the popular
Bay Area one-man production of David Sedaris’s SantaLand Diaries. He is a founding member of
Chicago’s New Crime Productions.
Co-founded in 1999 by theater artists Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents
avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal
avant-garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. Cutting Ball Theater has partnered with
Playwrights Foundation, the Magic Theatre, and Z Space New Plays Initiative to commission new
experimental works. The company has produced a number of World Premieres, West Coast
Premieres, and re-imagined various classics. Voted “Best Theater Company” in the 2010 San
Francisco Bay Guardian Best of The Bay issue, Cutting Ball Theater also earned the Best of SF
award in 2006 from SF Weekly, was selected by San Francisco Magazine as Best Classic Theater in
2007, and received the 2008 San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie award for outstanding talent in the
performing arts. Cutting Ball Theater was featured in the February 2010 issue of American Theatre
Magazine.
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CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENTS “LADY GREY”
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FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:
WHAT:
Cutting Ball Theater welcomes the spring with the Bay Area Premiere of LADY GREY (in ever
lower light) and other plays, three short plays by acclaimed contemporary playwright Will Eno.
Hailed by The New York Times as “a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation,” Eno is the
inaugural recipient of the Horton Foote Prize for Promising New American Play. In Lady Grey, an
ordinary young woman relives a painful childhood memory of show-and-tell in this vividly revealing
monologue. Intermission is a meta-theatrical wonder. The fourth wall is broken as Cutting Ball
audiences watch the actions of another audience during the intermission of a mysterious play.
Finally, in his brief time on the world’s stage, Mr. Theatre lives out the seven ages of man in a
playful manner that echoes Shakespeare as much as it does Beckett in Mr. Theatre Comes Home
Different. An intimate, hilarious, and ultimately searing confrontation of actor and audience, LADY
GREY (in ever lower light) and other plays is the perfect follow-up to Cutting Ball’s 2009 hit
production of Eno’s Thom Pain.
WHEN:
Previews: March 11, 12 at 8pm, March 13 at 5pm
Opens: March 17, 8pm
(Press opening: Thurs., March 17, 8pm; Gala Opening: Fri., March 18, 8pm)
Closes: April 10
All performances Thursday-Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 5pm
WHERE:
The Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor St., San Francisco
TICKETS:
For tickets ($15-50) and more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call
800-838-3006; discounts available for students, seniors and groups.
PHOTOS:
High –resolution photos for LADY GREY (in ever lower light) and other plays are available at
http://cuttingball.com/press or are available by emailing brightbutterfly[at]hotmail.com
The Cutting Ball Theater’s 2010 - 11 season is made possible in part by The Compton Foundation, The W.A. Gerbode Foundation, Grants for the
Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Magic Theatre / Z Space New Works Initiative, Mental
Insight Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Kenneth Rainin Foundation, The San Francisco Arts Commission, The San
Francisco Foundation, Theatre Bay Area New Works Fund, United Business Media LLC, The Zellerbach Family Foundation, and by individual
donors.
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media contact: erica lewis-finein · brightbutterfly pr · brightbutterfly[at]hotmail.com