By Adam Hetrick
16 Oct 2009
Hartford Stage's Brand:NEW play festival, featuring works by Daisy Foote and Michael Elyanow, begins performances Oct. 16.
Brand:NEW will also host a playwrights panel, featuring Romulus Linney, Christopher Shinn and Regina Taylor on Oct. 19 at 11 AM; and will culminate in Write On!, a performance of the winning plays in Hartford Stage's teen playwrighting competition on Oct. 20 at 7 PM.
Details for the 2009 Brand:NEW follow:
Sharif's The Rise and Fall of Day, under the direction of Eric Ting, features Paul DeBoy, Enid Graham, Greg Keller and Ronica Reddick (Oct. 16 at 7:30 PM).
"Through the eyes of Sam," press notes state, "a celebrated yet dispassionate artist, we witness the threadbare marriage of his parents and the complicated ties that bind his family together. As the only child in a family consumed with secret and silence, Sam methodically strips away the masks to reveal the truths that lie just beneath the surface of their lives."
Lou Jacob directs Ken Weitzman's account of baseball history, The Catch, which includes Rich Topol, Jack Davidson, Makela Spielman, Pun Bandhu, Wai Ching Ho and Seth Gilliam (Oct. 17 at 8 PM).
"In 2001, when Barry Bonds broke the single-season home run record in San Francisco, two fans both claimed to have retrieved record-breaking ball, estimated to be worth up to three million dollars at auction. The Catch, inspired by these true events, tells the hilarious and heartbreaking stories of these two fans, their legal battle, and the country at a precarious moment in history."
Daisy Foote's Him, directed by Evan Yionoulis, features Lisa Emery, David Lansbury, Adam LeFevre and Liz Morton (Oct. 18 at 2 PM).
"Pauline and Henry are siblings struggling to keep the family store afloat amidst debt, competition from large chain stores, and their father’s recent stroke. Their salvation lies in tracts of land kept hidden by their father, but they must decide what is a priority—their now-deceased father’s final wishes, or financial stability—a choice that may ultimately tear them apart."
Michael Elyanow's A Lasting Mark, staged by Jonathan Silverstein, includes cast members Lucy DeVito, Clifton Duncan, Ben Graney, Lori Wilner, Ron Cephas Jones and Bruce MacVittie (Oct. 18 at 5 PM).
"On April 4, 1968, the night of Martin Luther King’s assassination, two families of neighbors – one Jewish, one African-American – face impending riots in Hartford's north end. On April 4, 2008, the same families, now living in the suburbs, face another crisis: an impending death in the family. A Lasting Mark alternates between two time periods to weave a personal story about the intersection between civil rights and the Holocaust, escape and survival, and hope and sacrifice."
Jeremy B. Cohen directs Laura Eason's stage adaptation of Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, featuring Ben Hollandsworth, Blake Lowell, Chelsea Farthing, Kate Forbes, Robert Montano, Brock Harris, Tobias Segal and Charles Borland (Oct. 19 at 7:30 PM).
"Eason’s fanciful re-imagination of Mark Twain’s novel puts the classic work in a vibrant new light. Tom’s escapades, full of adventures with favorites like Huckleberry Finn and Becky Thatcher, are vividly brought to life by a cast of eight, who create a world full of Twain’s unforgettable characters. This beloved story conjures memories of childhood playfulness that will delight audiences of all ages."
Hartford Stage is located at 50 Church Street in downtown Hartford, CT. For more information visit www.hartfordstage.org.
