For Immediate Release: November 4, 2005
Media Contact: Susanne Sulby, Sanctuary Theater, 215.369.9878

Susanne Sulby's solo performance piece 'Sanctuary' exposes the connection of fear, bigotry, power and religion to war throughout history. Using multiple characters, Film projection, movement and sound, Sulby explores the human tragedy of war as well as the roles and responsibilities of individuals in the conflict of nations. Sanctuary makes immediate on the stage some of the most pertinent issues of our time.

Sulby was inspired to create 'Sanctuary' after years of watching television coverage of the myriad wars and 'conflicts' in our world. Particularly moved by the Serbo-Croation conflict of 1990 - 1995 and then the tragedy in our own country on on 9-11-2005she began to write and examine her relationship to the television and the people it brought into her home. She watched, from her comfort of her suburban home, as its horrors unfolded. "I was compelled to watch but struggled to understand the bleak absurdity of this slaughter. Although I was mesmerized by the news coverage, I initially felt impotent to respond. I searched so I could find my path to sanctuary," says Sulby.

Through the play's three main characters - the housewife, the reporter, and the prisoner of war - Sanctuary struggles with the inevitable sufferings of war and how individuals are moved to action. The main character, the housewife, is flanked by two focal characters, Donya Namdar, the reporter and the prisoner of war. We watch as the characters struggle with the realties of war and the images or war. Unable to keep a distance from the pain around and in them, they are changed by the futility and brutality of war each to find their own sort of sanctuary..

An established actor, designated Linklater voice instructor and frequently requested voiceover artist, Ms. Sulby has performed in the greater Philadelphia region for 20 years and taught with nearly every major acting company in the city. For seven seasons, she was a senior company member of the Philadelphia Area Repertory Theater. She appeared in InterAct Theatre's world premiere production of Thomas Gibbons' Black Russian, directed by Seth Rozin, and as Molly Bloom in the staged reading of a new play based on James Joyce's Ulysses at the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Theatre, directed by Gregory Doran of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her most recent performance was with Billy Crudup in the award-winning 2000 Evenstar feature film, Jesus' Son. Following a hiatus devoted to home and family, she returns to the stage in Sanctuary.

Sanctuary Theater, the fledgling theater company producing this new play, will present two performances, on November 18th and November 19th, both beginning at 7:30 pm. These performances will be followed by a discussion of the questions the play uncovers, moderated by Ms. Sulby.

Performance Summary

Artist/Show Title: SANCTUARY
Location: Society Hill Playhouse, 507 S. 8th Street, Philadelphia
Dates: November 18th and November 19th at 7:30 p.m.
Running Time: 60 minutes
Admission: $20.00, $15.00 for students and seniors
For tickets, call 215-923-0210
Written, performed and directed by Susanne Sulby
Lighting design by Gregory G DeCandia
Technical direction by Brendan Schraider
Film production by Glenoe Media
Stage management by Tim Martin

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