ABUNDANCE
Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company Tackles Beth Henley’s Twisting Tale of Fate and Fortune
Media Contact: Executive Director Jessica John
619.977.099 JessicaRJohn@Gmail.com
Press Opening is Saturday, March 18th, 2017 at 8:00pm. Show runs through April 2nd, 2017.
San Diego, CA – February 08, 2017 – Opening this March, Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company is proud to present Beth Henley’s Abundance. Theatre-goers are invited to the dark comedy (think Quentin Tarentino meets Thelma and Louise) starring some of San Diego’s favorite actors. Performances run March 16th through April 2nd and will be held at 6663 El Cajon Blvd., #N, San Diego, CA 92115 – home of Moxie Theatre.
Written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Beth Henley, Abundance follows the lives of two mail-order brides (Macon and Bess) in the 1860’s who have traveled West to Wyoming Territory, to say “I do” to men they’ve never seen. Macon, an adventurer, dreams of leaving her new, steady, one-eyed husband, while Bess is content to dodge her husband’s bullets and demeaning words. But a severe winter and starvation set life into motion and change is coming…
Known for her dark yet comedic approach to social issues, primarily centered on women, Henley was commissioned to write Abundance for South Coast Repertory Theatre (SCR) in 1989, when post-feminism was rarely explored on stage. The play has been widely produced, including a recent staging in New York and a revival at SCR. Henley was awarded the 1981 Pulitzer Prize in Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play for Crimes of the Heart; she also was nominated for an Academy Award for her screenplay adaptation of the play. Her other plays include The Miss Firecracker Contest, The Wake of Jamey Foster, The Lucky Spot, Signature, Control Freak, Laugh, The Debutante Ball and Ridiculous Fraud. She is on the theatre arts faculty at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
“This play is incredibly moving and frighteningly timely,” stated John. “We’re in the heart of so much political and social upset and I think women, in particular, feel like we’re looking out over an abyss, discovering this country all over again and trying to remember where we stand in it. Macon and Bess are exploring that very thing at a time when the country was brand new and it’s fascinating how little things have changed.”
ABUNDANCE runs March 16th through April 2nd (Thursdays through Sundays) with previews offered Thursday, March 16th and Friday, March 17th, Press Opening Saturday, March 18th and a special Industry Night Performance on Monday, March 27th at 7:00pm.
For more information regarding Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company, or to purchase tickets, please visit www.backyardrenaissance.com. Tickets can also be purchased in person on the day of the show (if available) beginning 1 hour before show time.
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WHAT: Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company presents ABUNDANCE
WHERE: 6663 El Cajon Blvd., #N, San Diego, CA 92115 (Home of Moxie Theatre)
WHO:
Written by: Beth Henley
Co-Directors: Francis Gercke and Anthony Methvin
CAST: Francis Gercke, Jessica John, Brian Mackey, Jacque Wilke and David Raines
DATES & PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
March 16th – April 2nd, 2017
(Thursdays – Fridays @ 8:00pm; Saturdays @ 2:00pm & 8:00pm; Sundays @ 2:00pm)
PREVIEWS: Thursday, March 16th & Friday, March 17th @ 8:00pm
OPENING: Saturday, March 18th @ 8:00pm (No 2:00pm performance on March 18th)
INDUSTRY NIGHT: Monday, March 27th @ 7:00pm
PRICES: Range from $15 – $30
(Discounts are available for artists, seniors, students, active-duty military and groups)
HOW:
Online: www.backyardrenaissance.com
In Person: call – 760-433-8900
Day of Show @ Moxie Theatre – 6663 El Cajon Blvd., #N, San Diego, CA 92115
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About Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company
Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company is a 501C3 organization with an “art to the gut” sensibility. Founded in 2015 in San Diego, Calif., Backyard Renaissance believes that exceptional storytelling is rooted in a sense of joyful play, human connection and gutsy intensity. For more information go to: www.backyardrenaissance.com.
THE DIRECTORS AND CAST
About Francis Gercke (BACKYARD RENAISSANCE ARTISTIC DIR. – ABUNDANCE CO-DIRECTOR/PLAYING Jack Flan)
Fran is a graduate of The Actors Studio Drama School at the New School for Social Research. In 2001, Gercke co-founded New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad and served as the artistic director until 2008. Recent roles include: Equivocation, Freud’s Last Session (Lambs Players); Stupid F***ing Bird, True West, Fool for Love (Cygnet Theatre); Parlour Song, The Elephant Man (Backyard Renaissance); The Behavior of Broadus (Capital Stage Company); In the Next Room, Honky (San Diego Rep); Accomplice, Suzette Who Set to Sea (La Jolla Playhouse WOW and POP Tour); A Life in the Theatre, Time Stands Still (NCRT); Hurlyburly, Grace, Shining City (ion theatre); The Pride (Diversionary Theatre); Orphans, Playboy of the Western World (New Village Arts); Oleanna, Macbeth, I Hate Hamlet (Intrepid Theatre Company). He is a resident artist with Cygnet Theatre and recipient of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award as an actor and a director, as well as a faculty member at Palomar College, University of San Diego, and California State University San Marcos and teaches privately through ActorsApproach..
About Anthony Methvin (BACKYARD RENAISSANCE PRODUCING DIR. – ABUNDANCE CO-DIRECTOR)
Anthony is proud to be the Producing Director for Backyard Renaissance where he has performed as Doug in Gutenberg! The Musical! and Lord John in The Elephant Man, was Director for the Backyard Unleashed readings of Assistance and Bachelorette, and both directed and adapted Showgirls: Live and Unleashed. He was Assistant Director on Buyer & Cellar and Sense & Sensibility (The Old Globe), Dogfight (Cygnet Theatre), Baby with the Bathwater (Diversionary Theatre), and Spring Awakening (Palomar College). Local performances include Roger in A New Brain, Kent in Harmony, Kansas, and Reed in Boys and Girls at Diversionary, where he’s also Artistic Associate. Other favorite roles include Leo Frank (Parade) and Prior (Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika). His play, Bleed Like Me, has been developed locally and at FSU, where he graduated with a BFA in Acting. You can follow him on Instagram @anthonymethvin.
About Jessica John (BACKYARD RENAISSANCE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – PLAYING Bess Johnson)
In 2001, Jessica co-founded Backyard Productions in San Diego and served as the executive artistic director until 2008. As an actor, she is an associate artist of Cygnet Theatre and has worked professionally in San Diego with such companies as the North Coast Repertory Theatre, ion theatre, Moonlight Stage Productions, New Village Arts Theatre, New Fortune Theatre Company, Moxie Theatre, Oceanside Theatre Company, Diversionary Theatre and Renaissance Theatre. Honors include: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (SD Playbill – Best Actress), Burn This (SD Critic’s Circle – Best Actress); New Village Arts: The Playboy of the Western World (Patte – Best Actress); and Renaissance Theatre: A View from the Bridge (SD Critic’s Circle – Best Actress). She was named one of the “Top 50 People to Watch” by San Diego Magazine.
About Brian Mackey (PLAYING Will Curtis)
Brian is thrilled to be making his Backyard Renaissance debut. Elsewhere: Equivocation, Dinner with Marlene, The Angel’s Arms, The Nerd, An American Christmas, Twelfth Night (Lamb’s Players Theater – Associate Artist); The Importance of Being Earnest, Travesties, The Glass Menagerie, History Boys, Christmas Carol (Cygnet – Resident Artist); In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play (San Diego Rep); The Pride, The Little Dog Laughed, Baby with the Bathwater, As Much As You Can, Corpus Christi (Diversionary – Associate Artist); All My Sons, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Musical, An Enemy of the People (Intrepid Theatre); A Christmas Carol, Little Women (North Coast Rep); In the Heat of the Night, The Woolgatherer, Bash: Latter-Day Plays, Jack Goes Boating, All in the Timing, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Grapes of Wrath (ion theatre); Born Yesterday (AVO Playhouse); Night Sky (Mo’olelo); The Heidi Chronicles, Julius Caesar (New Village Arts); Side Man (BANG!). Brian was awarded the 2011 Craig Noel Award for Actor of the Year and can next be seen in Silent Sky at Lamb’s Players.
About Jacque Wilke (PLAYING Macon Hill)
Jacque is thrilled to be making her Backyard Renaissance debut! Selected credits: Cygnet Theatre: Stupid F*cking Bird, The Importance of Being Earnest, Travesties, and Mistakes Were Made; San Diego Repertory Theater: Honky (Craig Noel Award); La Jolla Playhouse: Yoke, The Car Plays; Intrepid Theater: The Winter’s Tale, All My Sons; North Coast Repertory Theatre: Unnecessary Farce, Lend me a Tenor, Mistletoe, Music, and Mayhem, and Don’t Dress for Dinner; Moonlight at the Avo: Blithe Spirit; Diversionary Theater: The Divine Sister, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, Scrooge in Rouge, Next Fall, Fair Use, The New Century, Anita Bryant Died for your Sins; MOXIE: Or; New Village Arts: The Seven Year Itch, and The Heidi Chronicles; Circle Circle Dot Dot: Red Planet Respite, The Break-up Breakdown; Bang Productions: Side Man; Laterthanever Productions: He Said, She Said. Jacque is a proud member of Actors Equity and SAG-AFTRA.
About David Raine (PLAYING Professor Elmore Crome)
David is an actor/writer/director originally from Placerville, California. He has been acting in and around San Diego for the past two decades. His short film, Never to Heaven, a dark thriller based on Claudius’s soliloquy from Hamlet, was his directorial debut. When David isn’t directing, he is acting in short films and plays. He wrote and starred in the 48 Hour Film Project, Mug, which took third place for Best Film and for which he received a Best Writing nomination. He last appeared onstage as part of That 24 Hour Thing and prior to that as Bert Power in the stage production of Send Me No Flowers. He has a supporting role in the upcoming feature, Over Served.