Curt Columbus, Artistic Director Michael Gennaro, Executive Director

201 Washington Street Providence

Rhode Island 02903 www.trinityrep.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 10, 2014 CONTACT: Corrie Ignagni, Marketing & PR Assistant (401) 521-1100 ext. 170

mintern@trinityrep.com

BROWN/TRINITY REP MFA PROGRAMS PRESENT THE TOOTH OF CRIME

AND STONE COLD DEAD SERIOUS IN REP WORKS BY SAM SHEPARD AND ADAM RAPP TO PLAY IN REP MAY 1-MAY 18

The Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Programs proudly present two raw and devastatingly

humanistic plays running in repertory this May. Sam Shepard’s poetic and psychedelic rock and

roll drama The Tooth of Crime, opens May 1st and is directed by Dan Rogers (Brown/Trinity Rep

MFA Programs ’15). Alternating with this Shepard play starting May 2nd is Adam Rapp’s surreal

and dark new-age comedy, Stone Cold Dead Serious, directed by Flordelino Lagundino

(Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs ’15). Performances of both plays run May 1 through May 18 in

the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire Street, Providence. General admission is $10,

with a $5 discounted ticket for students and seniors. Tickets are on sale now at the Trinity Rep

box office, by phone (401) 351-4242, and online at www.trinityrep.com. Audiences should note

that both of these productions contain mature subject matter and adult language.

Sam Shepard’s introspective play is a “down and dirty” battle of language, style, and - above all -

rock and roll. Hoss, an aging rock star must defend his territory against up-and-coming maverick,

Crow. This futuristic play promises to capture audiences in an epic musical battle for glory,

recognition and power. “If rock had a feud with roll and they decided to settle it with pistols, the

end result would be The Tooth of Crime,” explains director, Dan Rogers. Add in several high-

octane original rock songs, composed by cast members, and you have a play infused with the

emotionally driven language of poetry and music. “There’s never been a better time to take a look

at how we think of ourselves, and what we dream about,” states Rogers. “It just so happens that

a euphoric rock and roll play written in jive future-speak and set against a dystopian apocalypse is

a pretty awesome way to do that.”

Alternatively, Adam Rapp’s engaging and heartbreaking play, Stone Cold Dead Serious, teeters on

the verge of a shifted reality. Amidst the wastelands of American suburbia, live the Ledbetters,

your average everyday dysfunctional family. Meet Wynne, your typical teenage video game whiz.

His mother is a waitress working endless double-shifts while his father withers away on

workmen’s comp and his dropout junkie sister’s life continues to unravel at an alarming rate. But

our teenage hero has a plan to salvage his family from the brink of despair. Journeying to New

York City, Wynne embarks on a fight to the finish in a Tang Dynasty national video game contest

where the stakes are fatally high.

“This play is about salvation,” explains director Flordelino Lagundino. “It’s about the lengths that

Wynne will go to save his family and how, essentially, we all need to be saved.” Lagundino

recognizes the systematic relationship the play has to the struggles faced in today’s society. He

wants to leave audiences questioning their own decisions and to truly realize what it is that they

want from their own lives. “There are a lot of plays right now that deal with who we are as

people, as individuals,” states Lagundino, “Stone Cold Dead Serious asks those questions in a

context which is life or death.”

The cast of The Tooth of Crime features second-year MFA acting students Uche Elueze

(Cheyenne), Elise Hudson (Becky Lou), Ralph Adriel Johnson (Galactic Jack), Sophie Netanel (Star-

Man), Andrew Polec (Hoss), and Max Wolkowitz (Crow ). The cast of Stone Cold Dead Serious

features second-year MFA acting students Michael Jennings Mahoney (Wynne Ledbetter),

Marina Shay (Shaylee Ledbetter), Devon Caraway (Linda Ledbetter), and Ian McNeely (Cliff

Ledbetter).

Dan Rogers is a cofounder of AntiMatter, a Brooklyn-based theater collective dedicated to making

“badass theater that you will enjoy.” His directing credits include Twelfth Night or What You Will

(Brown/Trinity Rep), Bus Stop (Brown/Trinity Rep), sixsixsix (Magic Futurebox, Brooklyn), DEATH

VALLEY (Bushwick Star) and At the Hawk's Well (Mohawk Arts Collective, Maine). His radio play

version of sixsixsixis was published by n+1 Magazine. In New York he served as General Manager

of the Obie Award winning Vampire Cowboys Theater Company.

Flordelino Lagundino is a director, actor, theatre instructor, Artistic Director of Leviathan Lab in

New York City, and Artistic Director of Generator Theater Company in Juneau, Alaska. His

directing credits include Much Ado About Nothing (Brown/Trinity Rep), In the

Blood (Brown/Trinity Rep); Animals Out of Paper, Doubt, Yellowman, Topdog/Underdog, and the

world premieres of Cedar House and Brother (Perseverance Theatre); Flipzoids, True West,

Shakespeare’s R&J, [title of show], and the world premiere of The Reincarnation of

Stories (Generator Theater Company); Sweeney Todd (Juneau Symphony); Far Away (Yale

Cabaret); and a developmental reading of Indian School Stories (The Flashpoint’s Mead Theatre

Lab). As an actor, Flordelino has performed regionally at The Shakespeare Theatre Company

under the direction of Michael Kahn, The Kennedy Center, The Folger Theatre, Perseverance

Theatre, Imagination Stage, ZACH Theatre, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. He has been

the Allen Lee Hughes directing fellow at Arena Stage and a directing fellow at Oregon

Shakespeare Festival, where he assisted Ping Chong on the World Premiere stage adaptation of

Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood and continued with the production to BAM’s Next Wave

Festival. Flordelino holds an MFA in acting from the University of Texas at Austin.

Performances for The Tooth of Crime are Thursday, May 1 at 7:30pm; Saturday, May 3 at 7:30pm;

Sunday, May 4 at 2:00pm; Friday, May 9 at 7:30pm; Saturday, May 10 at 2:00pm; Friday, May 16

at 7:30pm; and Saturday, May 17 at 2:00pm. Performances for Stone Cold Dead Serious are

Friday, May 2 at 7:30pm; Saturday, May 3 at 2:00pm; Thursday, May 8 at 7:30pm; Saturday, May

10 at 7:30pm; Sunday, May 11 at 2:00pm; Saturday, May 17 at 7:30pm; and Sunday, May 18 at

2:00pm.

The Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Programs provides a three-year professional training

program for eighteen students under the auspices of an Ivy League University and Rhode Island’s

Tony Award-winning theater company. Brown University’s Department of Theatre, Speech and

Dance is internationally recognized for the quality of its faculty and instruction. Trinity Rep, with

its deep tradition of resident artists, provides powerful artistic assets and creates a firm

foundation for a new generation of theater artists.

DETAILS AT-A-GLANCE

The Tooth of Crime by Sam Shepard May 1-May 17, 2014; Running in repertory with Stone Cold Dead Serious For mature audiences An aging rock star must defend his territory against an up and coming maverick in a battle infused with the musical history of rock and roll.

Director: Dan Rogers (Brown/Trinity MFA Programs '15) Costume Design: Cait O’Connor Sound Design: Matt Otto Set Design: Deb O Lighting Design: Barbara Samuels Projection Design: Dr. Hans Vermy Original music composed by: Andrew Polec, Max Wolkowitz, Ralph Adriel Johnson Cast: Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Class of 2015 Actors Uche Elueze, Elise

Hudson, Ralph Adriel Johnson, Sophie Netanel, Andrew Polec, Max Wolkowitz

Performances: Thursday, May 1 at 7:30pm

Saturday, May 3 at 7:30pm Sunday, May 4 at 2:00pm Friday, May 9 at 7:30pm

Saturday, May 10 at 2:00pm Friday, May 16 at 7:30pm Saturday, May 17 at 2:00pm Stone Cold Dead Serious by Adam Rapp May 2-May 18, 2014; Running in repertory with The Tooth of Crime For mature audiences Wynne, a teenage video game wiz, journeys to New York City from post-nuclear suburbia to save his family from themselves in this biting comedy.

Director: Flordelino Lagundino (Brown/Trinity MFA Programs '15) Costume Design: Corina Chase Sound Design: Matt Otto Set Design: Deb O Lighting Design: Barbara Samuels Cast: Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Class of 2015 Actors Michael Jennings

Mahoney, Marina Shay, Devon Caraway, Ian McNeely

Performances: Friday, May 2 at 7:30pm Saturday, May 3 at 2:00pm Thursday, May 8 at 7:30pm Saturday, May 10 at 7:30pm

Sunday, May 11 at 2:00pm Saturday, May 17 at 7:30pm Sunday, May 18 at 2:00pm Venue: Citizens Bank Theater, Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire St., Providence Ticket Prices: $10 general admission, $5 student and seniors Web Site: www.trinityrep.com Box Office: (401) 351-4242; 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI 02903

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