STUDIO PARTNERS WITH NEW NEIGHBORHOOD TO STAGE CHEKHOV'S THREE SISTERS

CONTACT: Amy Horan Marketing and Publicity Supervisor 202.232.7267 x106 ahoran@studiotheatre.org DATE: February 15, 2017 STUDIO PARTNERS WITH NEW NEIGHBORHOOD TO STAGE CHEKHOV'S THREE SISTERS AND SIMULTANEOUS PRODUCTION OF ITS CONTEMPORARY COUSIN, THE WORLD PREMIERE OF AARON POSNER'S NO SISTERS THREE SISTERS by Anton Chekhov directed by Jackson Gay begins March 8, 2017 in association with New Neighborhood NO SISTERS written and directed by Aaron Posner begins March 16, 2017 World Premiere commissioned as a part of Studio R&D, Studio Theatre's new works initiative in association with New Neighborhood This winter, Studio Theatre, in association with New Neighborhood, will produce a theatrical event of unparalleled ambition. Jackson Gay will direct Chekhov s tragicomic masterpiece Three Sisters in the Main Series, running concurrently with Aaron Posner's latest Chekhovian adaptation No Sisters, commissioned by Studio and produced as a part of Studio X. The two plays share a company of actors, seven of whom will be performing in both plays at the same time. Chekhov s dramas of everyday life forged the tradition of realism that underpins much of Studio s work, says Artistic Director Muse. It's a great pleasure to produce Chekhov's masterpiece alongside a new play that finds provocation in his experiments in subtext and performance style." The simultaneous shows are made possible by Studio's unique architecture the staircase that connects the Mead and Milton theaters will allow the shared actors to run back and forth between the two plays. No Sisters marks a new mode for Aaron s ongoing experiment with radically re-envisioning Chekhov s work for the contemporary stage one that interweaves with the Russian original," says Muse. "His madcap refraction of Chekhov s characters and themes in No Sisters becomes even funnier, and more poignant, in direct conversation with a production of Three Sisters downstairs.

About Three Sisters Stuck in a backwater town, three sisters and their brother search for meaning amidst missed opportunities and misplaced dreams in the everyday clutter of lackluster birthday presents, pushy in-laws, and underwhelming suitors. Three Sisters Chekhov s tragicomic masterpiece about life s heartbreak and absurdity pitches the sublime against the ridiculous, the romanticized past against an idealized future, and the individual against the unknowability of life itself. About No Sisters Aaron Posner has crafted his latest re-imagined Chekhov to radically intersect with its Russian progenitor while Three Sisters plays out in one theatre, half the cast is also performing upstairs in another: Same building, different theatre... No Sisters! Olga, Masha, and Irina yearn for Moscow while the rest of the household and its hangers-on grapple with their own heartache and longing, bit players in a world whose focus is elsewhere. No Sisters explores the screwed up, endlessly fascinating psyches of Chekhov s lovelorn, world-weary misfits in a wildly funny play about wildly unhappy people. About New Neighborhood New Neighborhood is a theater/tv/music company whose sincerity and authenticity are so combustible they cannot be housed under one roof for too long without doing severe structural damage. With new work, bruised work, all-singing, all-dancing, foul-mouthed musical work, New Neighborhood finds a show, produces the sh*t outta it, and disappears into a cloud of train smoke. Recent projects include the world premiere of Suzanne Heathcote s I Saw My Neighbor on the Train and I Didn t Even Smile (co-produced with Berkshire Theatre Group), the West Coast and New York premieres of Rolin Jones s These Paper Bullets! (produced in association with Geffen Playhouse and Atlantic Theater Company), Season One of Fox Television s The Exorcist (produced in association with Morgan Creek Productions and 20th Century Fox Television), and the debut album of Honus Honus, Use Your Delusion. About Jackson Gay Jackson Gay (Director, Three Sisters) is a founding member of New Neighborhood and the Director of Artistic Programming for Fuller Road Artist Residency. Her upcoming projects include Lisa Lampanelli's Stuffed (off-broadway commercial run 2017), Mat Smart's Kill Local (La Jolla Playhouse 2017), Transfers by Lucy Thurber (MCC 2018) and the world premiere of Suzanne Vega's Lover, Beloved, An Evening with Carson McCullers with music by Vega and Duncan Sheik (Alley Theatre 2018). Recent projects include Lucy Thurber's Transfers at New York Stage & Film; Much Ado About Nothing adapted with Kenneth Lin at Cal Shakes; Jen Silverman's The Moors at Yale Rep; These Paper Bullets! - Rolin Jones' adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing with music by Billie Joe Armstrong - at the Atlantic Theater, Geffen Playhouse, and Yale Rep; Lucy Thurber's The Insurgents at Labyrinth; David Adjmi's 3C at Rattlestick; and Rolin Jones' The Jammer (Atlantic Theater Company) and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (Atlantic and Yale Rep). Ms. Gay has taught directing and acting at Columbia, Yale, ESPA, Sarah

Lawrence, and Fordham. She received her BFA from University of the Arts and MFA from Yale School of Drama. About Aaron Posner Aaron Posner (Playwright and Director, No Sisters) is a playwright, director, and teacher. He returns to Studio after previously directing Lungs. Mr. Posner has written two other Chekhov reinventions, Stupid Fucking Bird and Life Sucks. Other plays include District Merchants; My Name Is Asher Lev; The Chosen; Who Am I This Time? & Other Conundrum; Sometimes a Great Notion; Cyrano and many more. He has directed at major regional theaters from coast to coast and won numerous awards as both director and playwright. Mr. Posner is currently an artistic associate at the Folger Theatre. He is a founder and former Artistic Director of Philadelphia's Arden Theatre and directed more than 35 productions there. Mr. Posner graduated from Northwestern University and is an Eisenhower Fellow. About the Cast Bridget Flanery (Olga) is an Los Angeles-based actor making her Studio debut. Partial Los Angeles credits include The Road to Appomattox at The Colony Theatre, Onion Creek at the Son of Semele Theatre, The Psychic at The Falcon Theatre, The Taming of the Shrew at The Odyssey Theatre, The Rainmaker at A Noise Within, Twelfth Night at Los Angeles Shakespeare Center, Loves & Hours (directed by Jack O Brien) at The Old Globe, and Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare Santa Monica. New York credits include Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine at Manhattan Theatre Club, Chekhov s Rifle at Christopher Street Theatre, The Play About Rosemary s Baby at Soho Repertory Theatre, and Spring Awakening at Prospect Theatre Company. Television and film credits include Hart of Dixie, Two and a Half Men, Desperate Housewives, Will & Grace, Out of Practice, Without a Trace, All My Children, General Hospital, Guiding Light, Babylon 5, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, 7th Heaven, Something Blue, and The Outsider. Ms. Flanery also teaches acting at The Relativity School in Los Angeles. She is a member of New Neighborhood and holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama. Caroline Hewitt (Masha) most recently appeared on Broadway in The Front Page with Nathan Lane and John Slattery. She played Mary Lou in David Bowie's Lazarus in London and Off- Broadway in New York, where she also did Tamburlaine at Theater for a New Audience. Select regional credits include City of Conversation at Arena Stage, Warrior Class at The Alley Theatre, The Caucasian Chalk Circle at American Conservatory Theatre, Twelfth Night and The Rivals at Baltimore Centerstage, and Arcadia and The Winter's Tale at Chautauqua Theatre Company. Ms. Hewitt studied French at Vassar College and received her MFA in Acting from The American Conservatory Theater. Emilie Krause (Irina) is a Philadelphia-based actor, where she has performed with the Arden Theatre, the Wilma Theater, People's Light and Theatre, and many others. Recent work includes Radiant Vermin at Inis Nua Theatre Company, Funnyman at Arden Theatre Company, The

Children's Hour at EgoPo Classic Theater, Circle Mirror Transformation at Theater Horizon, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Theatre Exile, which earned her a Barrymore Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Ms. Krause is a proud company member with the Obie Award-winning experimental theater company New Paradise Laboratories, and is a recipient of the 2017 Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts. Ryan Rilette (Andrey) makes his Studio debut. He has acted and directed at theaters throughout the country, and has been featured in a handful of television shows and films. Mr. Rilette has been the Artistic Director of Round House Theater since 2012, and was previously the Producing Director of Marin Theatre Company in the Bay Area, Producing Artistic Director of Southern Rep in New Orleans, Founding Artistic Director of Rude Mechanicals in New York, President of the National New Play Network, and a professor at Loyola University New Orleans and Tulane University. Greg Stuhr (Vershinin) has appeared on Broadway in Larry David s Fish In the Dark, David Mamet s November, Elaine May s Taller Than a Dwarf, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Off Broadway, Mr. Stuhr performs regularly with the Atlantic Theatre Company, and regionally, he has worked at the Geffen Playhouse, Yale Rep, Steppenwolf, and South Coast Rep in new works by Rolin Jones, Bruce Norris, and Keith Reddin. He stars in and co-wrote with director Jenna Ricker the indie film The American Side. Mr. Stuhr is co-creator of the comedy series Luba s Lot for Fox Television Studios and a member of New Neighborhood. Kimberly Gilbert (Natasha) returns to Studio after last appearing in Jumpers for Goalposts. Most recent credits include Charm at Mosaic Theatre and Angels In America, Parts 1 and 2, a co-production of Round House and Olney Theatres. A DC artist since the year 2000, she has been gratefully playing on the stages of The Kennedy Center, Ford s Theatre, Folger Theatre, Forum Theatre, Theater J, Source Theatre, Round House Theatre, and most frequently Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Taffety Punk Theatre Company, where she is a company member. Ms. Gilbert received a Helen Hayes Award in 2015 for her portrayal of the ill-fated queen in Woolly Mammoth s production of Marie Antoinette. She holds her MFA with the inaugural class of Shakespeare Theatre Company s Academy For Classical Acting. Todd Scofield (Kulygin) makes his Studio debut. Over the past 14 years in DC, Mr. Scofield has appeared in numerous shows at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, and Round House Theatre, as well as productions at Theater J, Ford s Theatre, Adventure Theatre, Imagination Stage, and Olney Theatre. Regional credits include productions at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, Arden Theatre, PlayMakers Theatre, Charlotte Repertory Theatre, and four seasons at North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. Television credits include a recurring role in seasons 3 and 5 of The Wire. Ro Boddie (Tuzenbach) returns to Studio after performing in Dirt. Regional credits include The Mountaintop at Cleveland Playhouse, Blueprints to Freedom at La Jolla Playhouse, Stupid Fucking Bird at Cygnet Theatre, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at Baltimore Centerstage, Seven

Guitars at No Rules Theatre (Helen Hayes nomination for Best Actor), and Angels in America at Forum Theatre. Television credits include Elementary, The Good Wife, Person Of Interest, and Unforgettable. Mr. Boddie received the Craig Noel Award for Actor of the Year 2016 and is a graduate of the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Biko Eisen-Martin (Solyony) makes his Studio debut. Credits include Lift at Crossroads and Off- Broadway at the 59E59 Theatres; Fences at Pioneer Theatre Company; All The Way at Cleveland Playhouse; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at Folger Theatre; Stick Fly and Under The Skin at Arden Theatre Company; The Ashes Under Gait City at Contemporary American Theatre Festival; The Whipping Man at Syracuse Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Gulfshore Playhouse; Topdog/ Underdog at Marin Theatre Company; and Brother Size, Love s Labours Lost, and Three Sisters at Chautauqua Theatre Company. Other credits include performances at Denver Center Theatre Company, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, TheatreWorks, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, People's Light, and Campo Santo. Mr. Eisen- Martin holds an MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory and a BA and MAT from Brown University. Craig Wallace (Chebutykin) returns to Studio after making his debut in Fucking A. Mr. Wallace has performed in numerous productions around the country. In the DC area, he has appeared at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Folger Theater, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and Round House Theatre. He holds a BFA from Howard University and an MFA from Penn State University. Nancy Robinette (Anfisa) has been affiliated with Studio since the late 1970s, first as a student and then performing in The Woolgatherer, Camino Real, Tribes, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Play About the Baby, Three Sisters, Ivanov, The Seagull, Afterplay, Frozen, Souvenir, Slavs!, The New Electric Ballroom, and Laughing Wild. Ms. Robinette most recently performed on Broadway in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. She has also performed on most of the DC stages, and at the McCarter Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Roundabout Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Globe Theatre, as well as in Key West and the former Yugoslavia. Film and television credits include Louie, Serial Mom, Soldier Jack, and the upcoming Three Christs. Ms. Robinette is a Woolly Mammoth Theatre Alumna and an Associated Artist with Shakespeare Theatre Company. William Vaughan (Fedotik) has performed at regional theatres along the East Coast including A Tale Told by an Idiot produced by Psittacus Productions through Lincoln Center Education; District Merchants, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, and Romeo and Juliet (u/s) at Folger Theatre; Miss Bennet and Ironbound at Round House Theatre; The Flick and Tender Napalm (u/s) at Signature Theatre; Abominable at The Hub Theatre; Romeo and Juliet and The Winter s Tale at We Happy Few; The Lost Colony at Waterside Theatre; and The Three Musketeers at Theatre Carolina. His film credits include Dreadful Sorry and Colonizing the New World.

Nick Torres (Ferapont/Musician) makes his Studio debut after understudying The Big Meal, Cock, Red Speedo, Sweet and Sad, Sorry, That Hopey Changey Thing, and Regular Singing at Studio Theatre. Other credits include Superior Donuts at Silver Spring Stage (Watch Award Nomination: Outstanding Lead Actor). Mr. Torres was trained at The Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory. Josh Thomas (Rhode / Musician) makes his Studio debut. He is a local actor/musician, originally from Mississippi. About the Creative Team Daniel Conway (Set Designer) returns to Studio after designing over two dozen productions, including Hand to God and The Aliens. Regional credits include Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Love in Afghanistan, and At Wit's End at Arena Stage; and Company, Chess, and Jelly's Last Jam directed by Matthew Gardiner at Signature Theatre. His recent production of The Tempest directed by Aaron Posner and Teller with music by Tom Waits and choreography by Pilobolus was produced by American Repertory Theatre, South Coast Repertory, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater and was nominated for Outstanding Set Design by the Boston and Los Angeles Theatre Critics Associations. Mr. Conway is currently at work on a new play Queens for a Year at Hartford Stage and District Merchants by long-time collaborator Aaron Posner for South Coast Repertory Theatre. A 14-time nominee for the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Set Design, he received the award three times, most recently in 2014. Jesse Belsky (Lighting Designer) returns to Studio after designing Animal. His DC credits include Who s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Ford s Theater, The Year of Magical Thinking at Arena Stage, The Mystery of Love & Sex at Signature Theatre, and Sense & Sensibility and A Midsummer Night s Dream at Folger Theatre. Regional credits include The Roommate, Deathtrap, Blithe Spirit, and Outside Mullingar at Everyman Theatre; The 39 Steps, Pump Boys & Dinettes, Shipwrecked, and Kingdom of Earth at Triad Stage; Lydia and Rough Crossing at Yale Repertory Theatre; and The Year of Magical Thinking at Playmakers Repertory Theater. Mr. Belsky holds a BA from Duke University and an MFA from Yale School of Drama. He has taught lighting design at Connecticut College and UNC Greensboro. Jessica Ford (Costume Designer) makes her Studio Theatre debut. Recent projects in D.C. include The Gaming Table and Orestes: A Tragic Romp at Folger Theatre, and The Fantasticks at Arena Stage. Jessica has designed for numerous NYC and regional theatres and companies across the USA, including The Rattlestick Theatre Company, The Debate Society, The Long Wharf Theatre, Syracuse Stage and Baltimore CenterStage. She received LA and CT Critics Circle awards and a Drama Desk nomination for These Paper Bullets! at Geffen Playhouse, Yale Repertory Theatre, and Atlantic Theatre Company. She holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama.

Christopher Baine (Sound Designer) returns to Studio after designing Cloud 9 and Water by the Spoonful. He recently composed the music for When She Had Wings (Helen Hayes Award) and The BFG with Imagination Stage (Helen Hayes Award nomination). Some recent designs include The Critic & The Real Inspector Hound and Heir Apparent with Shakespeare Theater Company and Guthrie Theater, Colossal with Olney Theatre Center (Helen Hayes Award), Wonderful World of Dissocia at Theatre Alliance (Helen Hayes Award), Fetch Clay, Make Man at Marin Theater Company, Detroit at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and Romeo and Juliet (Helen Hayes Award nomination) and Taming of the Shrew (Helen Hayes Award nomination) at the Folger Theatre. He also designed The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Helen Hayes Award nomination), Gruesome Playground Injuries and A Bright New Boise (Helen Hayes Award) with Woolly Mammoth Theater Company, and Gift of Nothing and Jason Invisible at The Kennedy Center Theatre For Young Audiences. Other regional credits include Everyman Theatre, Forum Theatre, dog & pony dc, Adventure Theatre MTC, Children s Theater Charlotte, Synetic Theater, and Theater Alliance. He has been a guest artist with The University of Maryland, Catholic University, UMBC and American University. Mr. Baine has been the Resident Sound Designer for Imagination Stage since 2009, and was a Kenan Fellow at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2012. James Barry (Composer) makes his Studio debut as well as his debut as a theatrical composer. As a performer, Mr. Barry has played Carl Perkins in the first national tour and in several regional productions of Million Dollar Quartet. Mr. Barry originated the role of Pedro in These Paper Bullets! at Yale Repertory Theatre and then at The Geffen Playhouse and Atlantic Theater Company, in association with New Neighborhood, of which he is a member. He was in the original cast of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at The Public Theater and on Broadway. His album of original rock music, Embrace Yourself Tonight, is available on itunes, Spotify, and on pink vinyl LP through Etsy. Lauren Halvorsen (Dramaturg, Three Sisters) is in her sixth season as Associate Literary Director of Studio Theatre. Her dramaturgy credits at Studio include The Hard Problem, Hand to God, Between Riverside and Crazy, Chimerica, The Wolfe Twins, Belleville, Water by the Spoonful, Tribes, The Real Thing, The Motherfucker with the Hat, The Aliens, Bachelorette, The Big Meal, and Time Stands Still. Previously, Ms. Halvorsen spent three seasons as Literary Manager of the Alley Theatre. She was the Artistic Associate of the WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory for six years and has worked in various artistic capacities for City Theatre Company, O Neill Playwrights Conference, First Person Arts Festival, and The Wilma Theater. Ms. Halvorsen is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College. Adrien-Alice Hansel (Dramaturg, No Sisters) is Studio Theatre s Literary Director. At Studio, she has dramaturged the world premieres of Animal, Laugh, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, The History of Kisses, and I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart as well as productions of Straight White Men, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Constellations, Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews (twice), The Apple Family Plays, Cock, Moth, Edgar & Annabel, Invisible Man, Sucker Punch, The Golden Dragon, and The

New Electric Ballroom, among others. Prior to joining Studio, she spent eight seasons at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she headed the literary department and coordinated project scouting, selection, and development for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She also served as production dramaturg on roughly 50 new, contemporary, and classic plays there, including premieres by Naomi Wallace, Gina Gionfriddo, Kirk Lynn and Rude Mechs, Rinne Groff, The Civilians, Charles Mee, Anne Bogart and SITI Company, Jordan Harrison, and John Belluso. She is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of six editions of plays through Studio. Ms. Hansel holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. INFORMATION Three Sisters Where: Studio Theatre s Mead Theatre, 1501 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005 Dates: March 8 April 23 Performances: studiotheatre.org/tickets/calendar Matinees: Saturday and Sunday, 2pm Ticket Prices: Tickets start at $57 Press Performance: Sunday, March 19, 2:30pm No Sisters Where: Studio Theatre s Milton Theatre, 1501 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005 Dates: March 16 April 23 Performances: studiotheatre.org/tickets/calendar Matinees: Saturday and Sunday, 2pm Ticket Prices: Tickets start at $45 Press Performance: Sunday, March 19, 7:30pm About Studio X Now in its second season, Studio X is a home for work that breaks new ground in its style or content. Complementing the work of the Main Series, Studio X features innovative or immersive productions, inventive work by international artists and ensembles, and bold world premiere projects. Studio X represents the unknown an opportunity to connect Washington DC audiences with work unlike any they ve seen before. STUDIO THEATRE Now in its seventh season under the leadership of Artistic Director David Muse, Studio Theatre produces exceptional contemporary theatre in deliberately intimate spaces, fostering a more thoughtful, more empathetic, and more connected community, in Washington DC and beyond. Studio s Main Series is the core of our programming, offering a repertoire of provocative new and contemporary writing from around the world and inventive stagings of contemporary classics. Studio X is our home for particularly innovative, immersive, or experimental projects.

Throughout the Theatre s 38-year history, the quality of its work has been recognized by sustained community support as well as with 363 nominations and 64 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in professional theatre. GENERAL INFORMATION Location: 1501 14th Street NW (northeast corner of 14th and P Streets). Parking: Studio has a parking partnership with Washington Plaza Hotel at 10 Thomas Circle NW, three blocks south of Studio; patrons who park at the hotel s parking garage can purchase a $13 voucher at concessions. Street parking is extremely limited; arrive early to increase your options. Metro Stops: Red Line: Dupont Circle, Orange/Blue Lines: McPherson Square, and Green/ Yellow Lines: U Street/Cardozo. Accessibility: Studio s theatres are all wheelchair accessible; seats are available by reservation. Assistive listening devices are available for all shows at concessions. Call the Box Office at 202.332.3300 for more information. Contact Information: Tickets and Subscriptions: 202.332.3300 Administration: 202.232.7267 Website: studiotheatre.org E-mail: info@studiotheatre.org ###