Southern Rep to Extend Rising Water by John Biguenet
City Series production of It Girl cancelled to make room for extension
New Orleans—Southern Rep will extend Rising Water by local playwright and author John Biguenet through April 22 , with additional extension dates possible through early May. Originally scheduled to run March 14 through April 8, 2007, the show will continue with performances on Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.
In order to make room for the extension, Southern Rep has cancelled its upcoming City Series production of The It Girl by BBP Productions, which at this time has not been re-scheduled. “We regret that we have to cancel The It Girl by the always brilliant BBP Entertainment,” said Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette, “but we have a duty to our community to keep running Rising Water as long as there is audience demand for it. The response to this play so far has been tremendous. Our sold-out audiences have lingered in the theater long after the show to share not only their responses to the play but also their own personal experiences during the hurricane. The play has become an opportunity for those affected by the hurricane and its aftermath to connect with each other. It is doing what all great theater should do: opening a dialogue about issues that are most important to the community. We want to keep that dialogue open as long as possible.”
In Rising Water, a couple awakens in the middle of the night to find their pitch-dark house filling with water. Clambering into their attic, and then onto their rooftop, they struggle not only to survive but also to keep the guttering flame of their love from being extinguished. Rising Water already has been honored as the winner of the National New Play Network Commission Award, a National Showcase of New Plays selection, and a recipient of an Access to Artistic Excellence development and production grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The production is directed by Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette and stars Danny Bowen and Cristine McMurdo-Wallis, who was most recently seen as Norma Wallace in The Last Madam. Set design by Geoffrey Hall; lighting for the production by Bill Liotta; sound by J. Dan Stanley; and costume design by Michelle Bohn.
Rising Water is the first of two plays Southern Rep commissioned in response to Hurricane Katrina, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and Bell South. The second of those plays, The Breach, by Catherine Filloux, Tarell McCraney and Joe Sutton, will be staged at Southern Rep in September.
Tickets for Rising Water are on sale now and range from $16-$26. Call (504) 522-6545, or order online through a secure server at www.southernrep.com.
