Sam Shepard's Obie Award-winning tragicomedy, Curse of the Starving Class will be presented Feb. 3 - 26 by the Yale Repertory Theatre, located at the corner of Chapel and York Streets in New Haven, Connecticut.
Directed by Jim Simpson, Curse of the Starving Class features original live rock, blues, jazz, punk, and latin-style music composed and arranged by Steve Bargonetti and Diane Gioia.
Curse of the Starving Class is described as " mordantly funny, openhearted and raw" by Yale Repertory Theatre's artistic director and dean of Yale School of Drama, Stan Wojewodski, Jr.
"Under the direction of Jim Simpson," Wojewodski said in a statement, "Sam Shepard's prescient vision of the fate of the small family farm and, indeed, the family itself becomes truly powerful."
Curse tells the story of a failing family farm and shady real estate deals as each member of the family plots his or her own fight for freedom and security in the face of infidelity, brutal sibling rivalry and neglect. Curse of the Starving Class opened in New York in 1978. Playwright Shepard is the recipient of numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize, Outer Critics Circle Award, the Gold Medal for Drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Theater Hall of Fame. Eleven of his plays have won Obie Awards.
Director Simpson returns to Yale Repertory Theatre, having previously directed Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke in 1989, Chopin in Space in 1984, and The Resurrection of Lady Lester in 1981. He founded Bat Theater Inc. and built Flea Theater in Tribeca, where he serves as artistic director and president of the board. Simpson is a graduate of Boston University School for the Arts and Yale School of Drama.
The cast for Curse of the Starving Class includes Kristine Nielsen, Guy Boyd, Mandy Siegfried, Danny Seckel, Paul Boocock, Ron Faber, Steve Mellor, Dan Moran and Chime Serra.
The production team for Curse of the Starving Class includes scenic designer Heesoo Kim, costume designer Miguel Angel Huidor, lighting designer Thomas Dunn, sound designer Vincent Olivieri and production dramaturgs Amy Rogoway and Katharine Spencer.
Tickets for Curse of the Starving Class range in price from $10 - $34. For information call the Yale Repertory Theatre box office at (203) 432-1234.
-- By Murdoch McBride
