People's Light & Theatre Company presents SPLITTIN' THE RAFT, running May 9 - June 10, 2007 on the Steinbright Stage. SPLITTIN' THE RAFT is directed by Jade King Carroll and was written by Scott Kaiser. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern. For tickets call 610-644-3500 or visit www.peopleslight.org.

SPLITTIN' THE RAFT is a new play by Scott Kaiser that premiered at the Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, California in 2005. In it, Mark Twain's groundbreaking novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn comes to life onstage in an evocative retelling. For the first time on the East Coast, four actors tell of Huck Finn's struggle with his conscience and his slave-friend Jim's struggle toward freedom. Traditional spirituals and the eloquent speeches of ex-slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass are juxtaposed with Huck's and Jim's story to create a galvanizing theatrical event. This production is highlighted with many different special events and panel discussions surrounding the performances for a more enriching experience.

SPLITTIN' THE RAFT previews on Wednesday May 9, and Thursday, May 10, 2007. Opening night is at 7:30pm on Friday, May 11, 2007. The show runs through June 10, 2007. Tickets are now on sale and range in price from $28-$48, with discounts available for groups of 10 or more.

KEY BIOS

Jade King Carroll (Director) is a directing fellow at Second Stage Theatre (NY). A few of her favorite directing credits include The Death of Bessie Smith, Poof, Equus, White Trash, Keely and Du, Anhedonia, No Exit, and Act Without Words. Most recently she has directed at The Chocolate Factory, Passage Theater, and Players Theatre. She has also directed for McCarter Theatre's Youth Ink Festival. Ms. Carroll has held artistic/producing/directing internships at McCarter Theater, Universal Studios (CA), and Women's Project. Some of her assistant directing credits include: Ruben Santiago Hudson's award-winning Seven Guitars (Signature Theatre), Michael Kahn's The Oedipus Plays (Shakespeare Theatre), Gary Griffin's Moon for the Misbegotten (McCarter Theatre), Rebecca Bayla Taichman's New York premiere of Teresa Rebeck's The Scene (Second Stage Theatre), Lisa Peterson's World Premiere of Beth Henley's Ridiculous Fraud (McCarter Theatre).

Susan McKey (Huck) has been at People's Light since 1988 and has been in over thirty productions, including The Crucible, Holes, Midons, Playhouse Creatures, Book of Days, The Memory of Water, Beauty and the Beast and The Skin of Our Teeth. She has also appeared in all three pantos: Sleeping Beauty, Jack & the Beanstalk, and Robin Hood. Other area credits include Lady From the Sea (Lantern Theatre) and Tooth and Claw (Arden Theatre). She is also a member of the Freedom Rising Company at the National Constitution Center. Susan is a Barrymore Award winner, mother to Griffen (8) and Ella Marie (4), and a native Cape Codder. She, like Huck, is most comfortable with her feet dangling off a raft in the water of her home lake at the end of Indian Hill.

Christopher Patrick Mullen (Pap/Mrs. Loftus/Tom Sawyer/Ensemble) is a graduate of DeSales University and a member of the Resident Ensemble of Artists here at PLTC, where he has appeared in Twelfth Night, Robin Hood, The Crucible, Jack & the Beanstalk, The Miser, Julius Caesar, and The Tempest, among other productions. Regional credits include: As You Like It, Around the World in 80 Days, The Imaginary Invalid, Hamlet, Richard III, The Glass Menagerie, Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, and Charlie's Aunt (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival), Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hamlet, Taming of the Shrew, Dracula: The Journal of Jonathan Harker, and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival). Other regional and NY credits include: The Pavilion, Hedda Gabler, The Stinky Cheese Man, Much Ado about Nothing, Hyde in the Shadows, The Seven Year Itch, and Doughboy. On television, he has played a couple of bad guys on NBC's Law & Order. Chris is a founding co-artistic director of QUINNOPOLIS, NY, a New York City based theatre company (quinnopolis.org ). He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, Erin.

Cathy Simpson (Widow Douglas/Judge Thatcher/Aunt Sally/Ensemble) has been a company member at People's Light since 1994 and was recently seen here in Something You Did, Fabulation, 30FEST, Jungalbook, and A Higher Place in Heaven. Other PLTC performances include Pretty Fire, Arthur's Stone, Merlin's Fire, The Little Prince, In the Blood, and He Held Me Grand-reprising her role in that production at Indiana Rep. Cathy has also performed with The Philadelphia Theatre Company, Interact Theatre, Freedom Theatre, Philadelphia Young Playwrights and Philly Shakes. Cathy's regional credits include the Studio Theatre, Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth, Olney Theatre Center, Source Theatre, Roundhouse Theatre, The St. Louis Black Repertory Company, and St. Louis Rep. She has received two nominations and one "special mention" for the Helen Hayes Award in Washington D.C., and is a 2002 Barrymore Award winner for her performance in Freedom Theatre's production of The Old Settler. Most recently, Cathy received a Barrymore nomination for her portrayal of the Welfare Lady in our production of In the Blood. Cathy is a member of the Freedom Rising Company at the National Constitution Center.

John Douglas Thompson (Jim/Frederick Douglass) was previously seen at People's Light as Antonio in The Tempest and the Lion in Hush. Broadway/International credits include: Julius Caesar with Denzel Washington, Hotspur in Henry IV (Royal Shakespeare Company). Off-Broadway credits include: Judge Brack in Hedda Gabler (New York Theatre Workshop), Edgar in King Lear (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Overtime u/s (Manhattan Theatre Club), Oroonoko (Mint Theatre), The Changeling (The Salon). Regional credits include: Lucius Jenkins in Jesus Hoped the A Train (Wilma Theatre-Barrymore Award Winner), Hotspur in Henry IV (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Bus Stop (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Othello, Preface to an Alien Garden, Measure for Measure (Trinity Rep Company), King Lear (Yale Rep), Mother Courage, Othello, Marat/Sade, The Winter's Tale, Antigone, Richard II, Full Circle (American Rep Theatre), Richard III (Shakespeare Theatre), All's Well That Ends Well, King Lear (Shakespeare and Company), Spunk (Portland Stage). Television credits include: Conviction, Law and Order, Law and Order SVU (NBC), All My Children (ABC). Film credits include: Micheal Clancy, Malcom X.

TICKET INFORMATION

For information or to purchase tickets, visit www.peopleslight.org or contact the Box Office, open daily from noon until 6pm, at 610-644-3500. Select 10am performances are available to school groups and include discounted tickets, supplemental materials, and a "talk back" with the artists. Group discounts for regular matinee and evening performances are available for parties of 10 or more. For more information on student performances or group tickets, call 610.647.1900, ext 134 or group@peopleslight.org.

Audiences are encouraged to join the artists after each Thursday night performance to discuss the production.

The remaining People's Light & Theatre company 2006/2007 Season includes Humble Boy, June 20 - July 15, 2007.