FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Cindy Moran, Public Relations Director, 414-224-1761

February 17, 2006

A Masterwork of Romantic Literature
A Month in the Country
After Turgenev
by Brian Friel

Directed by Ben Barnes

Quadracci Powerhouse Theater

Previews: March 1 & 2, 2006 Opens: March 3, 2006 Closes: April 2, 2006

Watch this intoxicating play unfold as a restless young woman finds herself caught in a whirlwind of love triangles and infidelity that transforms her household. A masterwork of romantic literature, A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, After Turgenev moves seamlessly between comedy and tragedy in a newly adapted version by Irish playwright Brian Friel. Purchase tickets for this Quadracci Powerhouse production in person at The Rep Ticket Office at 108 East Wells Street or by telephone at 414-224-9490.Tickets can also be purchased online 24/7 at milwaukeerep.com.

A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, After Turgenev is tucked away in the 19th-century Russian countryside as a young, enthusiastic tutor unknowingly creates havoc in his employer’s seemingly well-ordered, yet slightly listless household. The Islayev Estate is continuously caught up in a web of family, friends and visitors but life for the residents remains a tiresome routine. Natalya Petrovna, a beautiful young woman has become bored in both her marriage and ongoing affair with a family friend. She finds refuge from her empty bourgeois life in the temptation of yet another act of infidelity as she becomes increasingly fixated on her son’s young tutor. Simultaneously the tutor engages in a flirtation with her ward, Vera. Trapped between two love triangles, Natalya begins to see Vera not as her ward, but a threat to her happiness. Ruthless scheming and manipulations ensue and consequences become increasingly calamitous as the audience is left to wonder who will end up with whom in this dramatic comedy.

The play A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, After Turgenev was adapted by Irish playwright Brian Friel. One of Ireland’s most prominent playwrights, he has also written short stories, several pieces of non-fiction on the role of theater and the artist, screenplays and film, television and radio adaptations of his plays. He taught in various schools between 1950 and 1960 before he retired to write full-time. He was elected as a member of the Irish Academy of Letters in 1972, Aosdana – a national treasure of Irish Artists – in 1982 and the Irish Senate in 1987. Friel received an Honorary Doctorate of Literature from the National University of Ireland in 1983. The first living playwright to be so distinguished, Friel received a lifetime achievement award from The Irish Times in 1999. Milwaukee Repertory Theater produced Brian Friel’s production of DANCING AT LUGHNASA during the 1993/94 season.

Ivan Turgenev (1818–1883) was a Russian playwright born into a wealthy family in Oryol, in the Ukraine region of Russia. His father, a colonel of a cavalry regiment, died when Turgenev was 16, leaving him under the care of his emotionally abusive mother. His literary reputation was established with the publications of Parasha (1843), a romantic story written in verse, and the short-story cycle, A Sportsmean’s Sketches (1852). Turgenev wrote several plays, including A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY (1850), in which he made several dramatic innovations that Chekhov later developed, and A PROVINCIAL LADY (1851). His finely crafted novellas and short stories are considered his greatest works, including First Love (1870), A Lear of the Steppe  (1970) and Torrents of Spring (1872). Turgenev’s novel, Fathers and Sons, is regarded as a seminal work of 19th-century fiction.

Ben Barnes comes to The Rep for the first time to direct A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, After Turgenev. Arriving from Ireland where he most recently served as the Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre (2000 – 2005). He oversaw an extensive national and international program to celebrate the centenary year of the Abbey, Ireland’s national theater. This reflected Barnes’ overall mission to create a stronger European and international dimension to the theater’s work and to extend their platform for the development and presentation of new writing. The work of the Abbey during his tenure has been extensively honored at The Irish Times/ESB Awards, the Olivier Awards and the Tony Awards. Besides directing nearly 50 productions for the Abbey, Barnes directed extensively in opera. His work, which includes plays such as TRANSLATIONS, MEDEA, BARBARIC COMEDIES, HINTERLAND, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD and THE GIGLI CONCERT, has been seen in many major cities throughout the world. His production of THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS opened the Barbican international season in January of this year in London where it was a major critical and public success.

As a newcomer to The Rep, Barnes is looking forward to the experience, “I am particularly excited by this new association with Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Excited because a director can only be as good as the actors with whom he is working, and in the Resident Acting Company at The Rep, I believe that Joe Hanreddy has assembled some of the finest actors in America. . . . It is especially pleasing for me, therefore, to come to Turgenev’s astonishing drama, A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, through this beautifully rendered adaptation by Brian Friel. It is a fascinating balance of psychological subtlety and melodramatic mayhem that unfolds in a series of almost unbearably tense coils and occasional explosive releases.”

Included in the cast of A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, After Turgenev are Resident Acting Company Members Jim Baker (Bolshintsov), Jonathan Gillard Daly (Arkady), Laura Gordon (Lizaveta), Rose Pickering (Anna) and Deborah Staples (Natalya). Also included in the cast are Jason Bradley (Aleksey), James Fletcher (Matvey), Sam Nigbur (Koyla), Jonathan Smoots (Schaff), Sarah Sokolovic (Katya), Christopher Tarjan (Shpigelsky), Karissa Vacker (Vera) and Brian Vaughn (Rakitin).

(To learn more about our Resident Acting Company, Guest Actors or our Artistic Intern Company, please visit milwaukeerep.com.)

The production/design team for A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, After Turgenev includes Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Designer), Ana Kuzmanic (Costume Designer), Thomas C. Hase (Lighting Designer), Lindsay Jones (Sound Designer), Paul Kosidowski (Literary Director), Claire Simon (Casting Director), Briana J. Fahey (Stage Manager), Becky Merold (Assistant Stage Manager) and Brian Cichocki (Assistant Director).

Tickets to A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, After Turgenev range in price from $7.50 to $50.00. Students and senior citizens may purchase half-price RUSH TICKETS with proper identification 30 minutes before curtain time for all Quadracci Powerhouse performances at The Rep Ticket Office. For more information or to charge tickets, call 414-224-9490. Tickets can be purchased online 24/7 at milwaukeerep.com. For group sales of 20 or more, call The Rep Ticket Office at 414-224-9490.

Special Events for A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, After Turgenev 

• Join actor Jonathan Smoots for The Rep in Depth, which begins 45 minutes before curtain time before every performance in the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater.
• There will be low-priced preview performances at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1 and Thursday, March 2.
• Talkbacks – post-performance discussions with the cast of A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, After Turgenev will take place following the Tuesday evening performances on March 7, March 14, March 21 and March 28.
• On Thursday, March 2 and Tuesday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. there will be an Audio-Described Performance for patrons who are blind or have low vision.
• Captioned Theater will take place on Sunday, April 2 at 2:00 p.m. Lines from the script running concurrently with the actors’ lines will be projected on the house left wall of the theater.  This is a perfect way for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing to enjoy the performance.
• A performance interpreted in American Sign Language is scheduled for Thursday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m.

For more information about The Rep’s Access Services, please contact The Rep’s Ticket Office at 414-224-9490.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater
A Month in the Country
After Turgenev
by Brian Friel
Directed by Ben Barnes

FACT SHEET

THEATER: Quadracci Powerhouse Theater
DATES: March 1, 2006 – April 2, 2006

DESCRIPTION: Seeking relief from a mundane life on a family estate, a young woman is entwined in a passionate love triangle with her son’s young tutor. A masterwork of romantic literature, this intoxicating play moves seamlessly between comedy and tragedy in a newly adapted version by Irish playwright Brian Friel.

TICKET PRICES:
PREVIEWS: $7.50 – $33.50
WEEKDAY/SUNDAY: $10.00 – $40.00
FRIDAY/SATURDAY: $12.50 – $50.00

TICKETS/INFORMATION: 414-224-9490 or buy tickets online at milwaukeerep.com

NEW TICKET OFFICE HOURS:
Phone Hours: 12 pm – 6 pm
Window Hours: 12 p.m. – until Quadracci Powerhouse curtain time

TICKET OFFICE LOCATION:
108 East Wells Street in Milwaukee’s Downtown Theater District

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Open to the public before and after all evening performances, Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Stackner Cabaret, located on the second floor of the Milwaukee Center, is our own full-service bar and restaurant. Featuring delicious dinners, as well as late night cocktails, coffee, and desserts, the Cabaret is the ideal meeting place for patrons attending Rep performances. Reservations for dinner are recommended, call 414-224-9490.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater is a nationally recognized theater company that presents a critically-acclaimed selection of compelling dramas, powerful classics, award-winning contemporary works and lively Cabaret shows on three stages from September through May. The Rep also produces an annual production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. The Rep’s home, the Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex, accommodates the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, the Stiemke Theater and the Stackner Cabaret. The Rep is also “home” to a Resident Acting Company of 11 actors who perform with The Rep throughout the season.

The Rep is proud to be a member of the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF), which provides major annual financial support. The Rep is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), a management association of some of the nation’s largest non-profit professional theaters that collectively bargains with the unions that represent the actors, directors and designers that work at The Rep; a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the nonprofit professional theater; and a member of Theatre Wisconsin, the statewide association of non-profit professional theaters. This theater operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. The set, costume and lighting designers are members of United Scenic Artists, a national labor union. This theater is an equal opportunity employer. Except in plays where race itself is an issue, casting is decided based on ability, not race.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex
108 E Wells St Milwaukee, WI 53202
Ticket Office: 414-224-9490 Ticket Office Fax: 225-5490
Administrative: 414-224-1761 Fax: 414-224-9097

http://www.milwaukeerep.com