Contact: Brendan Ragan, Co-Artistic Director, Urbanite Theatre
www.urbanitetheatre.com
Urbanite Theatre presents regional premiere of Reborning by Zayd Dohrn
(Sarasota) – Urbanite Theatre, Sarasota’s newest downtown theatre, will present the regional premiere of Reborning, by Zayd Dohrn, between June 12 and July 5. Guest director, Brendon Fox, directs the production.
Reborning received its World Premiere at the 2009 Summer Play Festival at the Public Theatre in New York, directed by Kip Fagan, and it’s West Coast premiere at the San Francisco Playhouse in 2011.
Zayd Dohrn is a playwright and screenwriter whose work has been produced and developed at Manhattan Theatre Club, MCC, Naked Angels, Marin Theatre, The Public (SPF), South Coast Rep, Alliance Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Alchemy Theatre, Southern Rep, and Kitchen Dog Theater, among others. He won Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Prize, the Theatre Masters Visionary Playwrights Award, the Sky Cooper Prize, and the Jean Kennedy Smith Award, as well as residencies and/or commissions from Ars Nova, Dallas Theatre Center, Chautauqua, and the Royal Court Theatre of London. He earned his MFA from NYU and was a two-year Lila Acheson Wallace Fellow at Juilliard.
“Zayd is a tremendously important voice for American theatre today, and we think he’s on the verge of a major breakout,” says Co-Artistic Director Summer Wallace. “Reborning isn’t about dolls or a doll maker, it’s about loss, and how we deal with tragedy in the long term. Dohrn paints vivid, funny characters, and plants them in a minefield of trauma.”
Megan Rippey, a Los Angeles resident in town to play the leading role, has recently appeared in the world premiere of Pussy Valley by Katori Hall (Mixed Blood Theatre, Minnesota), Kurt Weill at the Cuttlefish Hotel (West End Theatre, LA), Prometheus Bound (Getty Villa, LA), and Tales of a Fourth Grade Lesbo (Pasadena Playhouse).
Urbanite Co-Artistic Director Brendan Ragan takes the stage as Daizy, after recent Gulf Coast appearances in Hamlet (New Stage Largo), AN ILIAD (Gorilla Theatre), Venus in Fur (Stageworks) and You Can’t Take it With You (Asolo Rep).
Local actress & playwright Natalie Symons rounds out the cast. Most recently appearing in Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Stageworks), Natalie also had her play The Buffalo Kings produced at freeFall Theater in St. Petersburg.
REBORNING FACT SHEET
Preview: June 11
Opening: June 12
Closing: July 5
Performances: Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm (Special Saturday matinee at 2pm on July 4th). Will not extend.
Tickets: $20 regular, $5 for students
Ticketing contact info: www.urbanitetheatre.com or 941-321-1397
Urbanite Theatre: 1487 Second Street, Sarasota FL 34236. Located in rear.
Cast
KELLY: Megan Rippey
DAIZY: Brendan Ragan
EMILY: Natalie Symons
Director: Brendon Fox
Synopsis: Art and life become disturbingly interchangeable when Kelly, a young sculptor of hyper-realistic baby dolls, meets Emily, a woman desperate to recreate her past. The dark comedy takes an unsettling look at motherhood, latex, and the power of creation.
Contains adult content and brief nudity, viewer discretion is advised.
About Urbanite Theatre
Urbanite Theatre brings compelling, intimate live theater experiences to downtown Sarasota. Our commitment to fresh works, burgeoning playwrights, and actor-driven productions will provide the region with exciting, contemporary play-going opportunities. Urbanite Theatre will be a lively new addition to a thriving Sarasota social scene.
