For Immediate Release: February 8, 2005
Media Contact: Patricia Dill, Delaware Theatre Company, 302.594.1104 x228

Morgan always remembers. Angus always forgets. Angus is the lucky one. Delaware Theatre Company explores how in life, as in theatre, truth is sometimes what you make it in Michael Healey's The Drawer Boy. Previews begin February 23 and the play runs through March 13, 2005.

As the play opens, Miles, a young actor researching a role moves in with Angus and Morgan on the farm they share. While living in close quarters, Miles becomes privy to the secrets of the two lifelong friends. At once, he's cast into a drama like one he's never experienced on stage.

As the city boy who's utterly lost in the country, Miles provides many of the play's most inspired comic moments. But it is Miles who uncovers the mystery at the core of the play and forces the two old friends to face a past they had gone to great lengths to avoid confronting.

This moving and timely drama, which was named one of Time Magazine's 10 best plays of 2001, looks at how the events of the past conspire to shape the present. The question is, what truly were the events of the past? Told with bittersweet humor, this touching story shows that sometimes friendship, loyalty and caring are easier to cultivate than wheat.

In conjunction with their production of The Drawer Boy, Delaware Theatre Company is sponsoring a panel discussion, Wartime Realities: Veterans' Voices and Stories, Saturday, March 5 at 4:30PM, following the matinee performance. The panel will include local veterans and a psychologist specializing in combat-related trauma. The discussion will be moderated by McKay Jenkins, Tilghman Professor of English at the University of Delaware.

This event is free and open to the public.

Delaware Theatre Company's production of The Drawer Boy is directed by David Stradley. This is David's third season as the Artist in Residence in DTC's Education Department where he has coordianted the Delaware Young Playwrights Festival. David has worked positions ranging from actor, director, company manager, education coordinator, tour manager, and marketing officer with esteemed theatre companies throughout the U.S. and the U.K. Of particular relevance to this play, David spent three months in 1998 milking cows as part of the Working Farm Guest in Norway program. Surprisingly, he left the milking facilities completely intact.

Richard M. Davidson appears as Morgan, following up on his previous DTC performances in Tom Cole's Medal of Honor Rag and Arthur Miller's The Price. Born in Ontario, Canada, David trained at LAMDA in London, England and immigrated to the U.S. in 1978. Favorite productions include They Are Dying Out and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at Yale Rep, both American premieres, Ghetto and The Survivor on Broadway, Sleuth at Carnegie-Mellon, Cold Storage in Toronto, and The Rivals at The Manhattan Punch Line. His films include The Hurricane, Hustle and the newly released independent film, The Favor.

Playing the role of Miles is Richard Fromm, who's thrilled to be making his debut at Delaware Theatre Company. Richard received his MFA in Acting from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory in Sarasota, FL. Favorite regional credits include Orlando in As You Like It, Young Charlie in Da, Tom in Glass Menagerie and Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls. Richard also performs throughout New York City with his improv comedy troupe, Hooray for Everything!

The role of Angus is filled by a face very familiar to DTC audiences, John Grassilli, the theatre's Resident Director. John has been a professional actor and director for over 25 years. In recent years, John has played major roles in Talley's Folly, The Taming of the Shrew, Stinkin' Rich (World Premiere), Diva, As You Like It, A Christmas Memory, and Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol. For Delaware Theatre Company, John has directed A Moon for the Misbegotten, AlwaysPatsy Cline, Three Viewings, Born Yesterday, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Smell of the Kill, Proof, Dracula and earlier this season, The Glass Menagerie.

In addition to The Drawer Boy, playwright Michael Healey has written the plays Kreskinned, Plan B and Yodellers. Healey is a Toronto-based actor and writer who's been nominated for a Dora award for his performance in League of Nathans and has received acclaim for his solo play Kicked. The Drawer Boy, Healey's first full-length play, won the Dora Award for best new play, a Chalmers Canadian Playwriting Award and the Governor General's Literary Award. His latest play, Rune Arlidge, opened at the Tarragon Theatre last March. He is currently working on a new play, The Innocent Eye Test, a commission for Toronto's Mirvish Productions.

The set for the Drawer Boy was designed by Eric Schaeffer, now in his 22nd season with DTC, where he wears many hats, including Director of Production, Facility Manager, and IT Manager. Eric has designed over twenty-four sets for DTC, including Dracula, Diva, Our Town, and Dancing at Lughnasa.

Costume Designer, Mattie Ullrich, has designed over 70 plays, operas, films and musicals in venues including Manhattan Ensemble Theater, Manhattan Theater Club, N.J. Shakespeare Theater, New York Stage and Film, Juilliard, Philadelphia Theater Company, and The National Shakespeare Company. She is a recipient of The Tyro Award for Young Designers from Design Entertainment Magazine.

Lighting Designer, Rebecca G. Frederick, has worked on numerous shows at DTC including most recently, The Glass Menagerie, Talley's Folly and Dracula, She has also designed many pieces for the modern dance company Moving Target, and has assisted in lighting design at the Guthrie Theatre.

Shannon Zura, the Sound Designer for The Drawer Boy, has designed lighting and sound for numerous area theatres. Here at DTC, she designed the lighting and sound for Partners, sound for The Glass Menagerie, and will design sound for Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie. Shannon was nominated for a Barrymore Award for last season's Talley's Folly.

This is the third show Sara J. Tantillo has Stage Managed for DTC this season, the others being The Glass Menagerie and Looking Over the President's Shoulder. Previously, she worked at Trinity Repertory Company, and Center Stage in Baltimore.

DTC's Producing Director, Anne Marie Cammarato, has worked as producer, director, performer and arts administrator for many theatres across the U.S., including the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, where she was Associate Artistic Director from 2000-2004. Anne Marie has also worked at the McCarter Theatre, The Wilma Theatre, The Atlantic Theatre Company, American Folklore Theatre, Renaissance Theatreworks, the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and First Stage Children's Theatre. She has taught and developed community outreach programs at many theatres, arts centers and schools, and most recently helped to develop the Young Playwrights and High School Residency Programs at Madison Repertory Theatre. In 2000, Anne Marie was named "One of the Most Influential Women in Wisconsin" by Wisconsin Woman Magazine and was voted "One of the Fifteen Artists to Watch in the New Millennium" by Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Preview performances for The Drawer Boy are February 23, 24 and 25 at 8PM. The play opens Saturday, February 26 at 8PM and runs through March 13. Evening performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8PM, and matinee performances are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2PM. Ticket prices are $23, $33, $40, and $43, depending on the performance day and time, with special discounts for students, seniors, and groups of 10 or more.

To order tickets call (302) 594-1100 or online at http://www.delawaretheatre.org.

Delaware Theatre Company's season is sponsored by Bank One. This program is made possible, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency committed to promoting and supporting the arts in Delaware. The Delaware Division of the Arts provides technical and financial assistance to artists and arts programs and serves as a clearinghouse for information on the arts.

Delaware Theatre Company, 200 Water Street, Wilmington, is Delaware's only resident professional theatre company, located on Wilmington's exciting new Riverfront within walking distance from the Amtrak station. Delaware Theatre Company is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, Theatre Communications Group, Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, and the Arts Consortium of Delaware.

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