Sunday, May 26, 2013

PICT's Thriller The Kreutzer Sonata Stars Martin Giles

Contact: Michelle Belan
Sales & Marketing Director
412-561-6000 x. 203
mbelan@picttheatre.org
www.picttheatre.org
For Immediate Release


Martin Giles Stars in PICT’s Thriller The Kreutzer Sonata
**Irish playwright Nancy Harris transforms Leo Tolstoy’s novella for the stage **
***Featuring the music of violinist Juan Jaramillo and pianist Alaine Fink***

Pittsburgh, PA – May 20, 2013. Noted Pittsburgh actor/director Martin Giles will premiere the role of Pozdynyshev in PICT’s production of The Kreutzer Sonata, a psychological thriller by Irish playwright Nancy Harris. This production opens in previews on May 30th. The play is based on Leo Tolstoy’s novella of the same name, which was censored by the Russian authorities when it was published in 1889. PICT’s Artistic Director Alan Stanford will direct.

Martin Giles is in his 12th season with PICT, with credits including The School for Lies, Ivanov, The Mask of Moriarty, House & Garden, The Importance of Being Earnest, The History Boys, What the Butler Saw and The Gigli Concert, which helped earned him a Post-Gazette Performer of the Year award. In the award announcement, critic Christopher Rawson called Giles one of “Pittsburgh’s busiest, most reliable actors,” and he has a daunting 2013 calendar to prove it. In addition to teaching at Point Park and Carnegie Mellon Universities, he recently earned acclaim for his role in Dream of Autumn and for directing John Gabriel Borkman, both for Quantum Theatre. In addition to his role in The Kreutzer Sonata, Giles will direct A Skull in Connemara for PICT in September, and he’ll reprise his role as Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes & The Crucifer of Blood.

This is Alan Stanford’s first opportunity to direct for PICT since taking leadership of the organization. He most recently directed The School for Scandal for Point Park Conservatory, and his previous directing credits include works by Shakespeare, Molière, Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde, Shaw, and Brecht. He directed PICT’s record-breaking production of the Sherlock Holmes’s mystery The Mask of Moriarty in 2011, and will direct Sherlock Holmes & the Crucifer of Blood this December. He will also direct his adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan in July, and Don Juan Comes Back from the War in August.

The Kreutzer Sonata is known as a very challenging piece to play, and PICT is pleased to have two accomplished musicians working with sound and music composer Elizabeth Atkinson to create the perfect soundscape for the play.  Violinist Juan Jaramillo, a native of Venezuela and a product of the internationally famous “El Sistema” orchestral program, has played with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Sarasota Opera, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He is currently a Principal Second of the Wheeling Symphony and first violinist for the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestras, as well as the Sarasota Opera. Pianist Alaine Fink is on the faculty at Pittsburgh 6-12 School for Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) and Duquesne University, where she serves as Coordinator of Accompanying Services and as a performance coach. She is the organist at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Allison Park. She is an active chamber musician and accompanist, having collaborated in recital with principal members of the Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra and vocalists from the Metropolitan Opera. She is featured on an album,Trumpet Masterworks, with Grammy-award-winning trumpet player George Vosburgh.
ABOUT THE PLAY:

The Kreutzer Sonata
When Leo Tolstoy published The Kreutzer Sonata, a novella in 1889, the Russian authorities censored the play, and its publication was limited internationally due to its very direct treatment of sexual relations and expressions of violence. Irish playwright Nancy Harris has transformed Tolstoy’s first person narrative for the stage, harnessing the power of the music that inspired Tolstoy to write it. We meet Pozdynyshev in a train car, where he is compelled to tell us his story  - a story of love, loss and betrayal, all brought about by music’s powerful influence. Was Beethoven’s sonata the soundtrack to an illicit affair between Pozdynyshev’s wife and his old friend – or has Pozdynyshev made a terrible mistake?
The first production of The Kreutzer Sonata was at the Gate Theatre, London, in 2009. Nancy Harris, who was born and raised in Dublin, is currently the Pearson Playwright in Residence at The Bush Theatre. Additional theatre credits include:  No Romance (Abbey Theatre), Little Dolls (The Bush Theatre), and  Love in A Glass Jar (The Abbey Theatre). She has been a writer on attachment at the Soho Theatre and National Theatre Studio respectively and has had work produced with Mind The Gap Theatre Company New York. Her radio credits include Love In A Glass Jar and the five-part woman's hour drama series Blood In The Bridal Shop co-written with Louise Ramsden, both for BBC Radio 4.

PICT Theatre (Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre)  was founded in 1996 to diversify the region’s theatrical offerings by providing Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania audiences with high-quality, text-driven, affordable productions of classical theatre and the works of classical and contemporary Irish playwrights and to significantly improve employment opportunities for local talent in all facets of theatrical presentation and production.  PICT is a Small Professional Theatre (SPT) affiliated with Actors’ Equity Association, and a constituent member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council. PICT is the Professional Theatre in Residence at the University of Pittsburgh and PICT productions at The Charity Randall and Henry Heymann Theatres are presented in cooperation with the University of Pittsburgh – Department of Theatre Arts.

FACT SHEET -  The Kreutzer Sonata by Nancy Harris
Based on the novella by Leo Tolstoy

Pittsburgh Premiere
Directed by Alan Stanford
The Henry Heymann Theatre in the Stephen Foster Memorial
4301 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Cast: Martin Giles

Design Team: Gianni Downs (scenic design); Lisa Lieberling (costume design); Jim French (lighting design); Elizabeth Atkinson (sound and music composition); Johnmichael Bohach (properties)

Performance Schedule:
Wednesdays – Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 2pm
Tuesday, June 18 at 7pm
Saturday, June 22 at 2pm and 8pm

First Week:         Thursday and Friday, May 30 & 31, 8:00 pm – Previews
                                Saturday, June 1, 8:00 pm – Opening Night
                                Sunday, June 2, 2:00 pm – Talkback following performance
Second Week:    Wednesday* – Saturday, June 5 – 8, 8:00 pm
                                Sunday, June 9, 2:00 pm
Third Week:       Thursday – Saturday, June 13-15, 8:00 pm
                                Sunday, June 16, 2:00 pm
Fourth Week:     Tuesday, June 18, 7:00 p.m. (Early Tuesday** performance)
                                Wednesday-Friday, June 19-21, 8:00 p.m.
                                Saturday, June 22, 2:00 pm - Matinee performance
Saturday, June 22, 8:00 pm – Final performance
*Pre-show lecture begins at 7:00 pm in the Henry Heymann Theatre
**Early Tuesday includes 6:00 pm happy hour – free food buffet + drink specials -- hosted at Joe Mama’s Restaurant, 3716 Forbes Ave. 15213)


PICT Special Events   (Free of Charge)

Talkback
Sunday, June 2, following the 2:00 p.m. performance includes director Alan Stanford and actor Martin Giles

Pre-Show Lecture
Wednesday, June 5, 7:00 p.m.


Subscription Packages:                            $222 - $258 (Standard prices; flex plans available)
Single Tickets:                                               $25-$48 ($20 under age 26 with valid ID)
                                                                                Handling fees may apply            

Pick, purchase and print your tickets online at www.picttheatre.org,
or call 412-561-6000

# # #


Michelle Belan
Sales & Marketing Director
PICT
Theatre You Can't Stop Talking About
412-561-6000 x. 203
mbelan@picttheatre.org
www.picttheatre.org

NEXT:
The Kreutzer Sonata by Nancy Harris
MAY 30-JUNE 22, 2013
A Pittsburgh Premiere starring Richard McMillan

Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde
JULY 11-27, 2013
Adapted and Directed by Alan Stanford

Don Juan Comes Back from the War by Odon von Horvath
in a new adaptation by Duncan MacMillan
AUGUST 8-31, 2013
A U.S. Premiere starring David Whalen as Don Juan

A Skull in Connemara by Martin McDonagh
SEPTEMBER 11-28, 2013
A Pittsburgh Premiere

Sherlock Holmes & The Crucifer of Blood
DECEMBER 4-21, 2013
David Whalen & Martin Giles return as Holmes & Watson!

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

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