By Deborah Zoe Laufer
July 8 – August 2, 2009

People’s Light & Theatre Company presents END DAYS, by Deborah Zoe Laufer. END DAYS runs from July 8 – August 2, 2009, on the Steinbright Stage. Jackson Gay directs. People’s Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern. For tickets call 610-644-3500 or visit www.peopleslight.org.

In END DAYS, Sylvia Stein, formerly Jewish and now a born-again Christian, busily awaits the Rapture. Her husband, Arthur, is depressed, lives in his pajamas and hasn’t showered for weeks. Their 16-year-old daughter, a “goth” atheist of convenience, is courted by their neighbor, a newly-Jewish science nerd who has an Elvis fixation. And now the Rapture is coming on Wednesday. An outrageous comedy about acceptance and the importance of family ties, with “guest appearances” by Jesus and Stephen Hawking.

END DAYS previews on Wednesday, July 8th and Thursday, July 9th at 7:30pm. The show opens on Friday, July 10th at 8pm and runs through August 2nd. Tickets are now on sale and cost $29-$48, with special discounts available for youth, seniors, and groups of 10 or more.

Special performances and discounts, in addition to discount meal packages and talk-backs with the artists, are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information or to purchase group tickets, call 610.647.1900, ext. 134 or email group@peopleslight.org.

KEY BIOS

Jackson Gay (Director) has directed numerous productions, including Fabulation (Baltimore CENTERSTAGE); Made In Poland (The Play Company); Jason Grote's Box Americana (Eugene O'Neill); 10 things to do before I die, by Zakiyyah Alexander (Second Stage Uptown); Len, Asleep in Vinyl, by Carly Mensch (Second Stage Uptown/Juilliard); workshops of David Adjmi’s Marie Antoinette (inaugural Sundance Institute Theatre Lab in Residence at the Public Theater, Goodman Theater, JAW/West); Guggenheim Museum Works & Process with Jennifer Tipton; Lucy Thurber’s Scarcity, Kia Corthron’s Master Disaster, Rolin Jones’ The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow—2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist (Atlantic Theater Company). Her production of Jenny Chow (Yale Rep) won the Best Production Connecticut Critic’s Award. Jackson is the founder of the film production company YARN, whose current projects include Tiny Dancer (Jayce Bartok), GJBJ (Rachel Shukert), Croatia (Ryan O'Nan), Thank You For Listening (Keith Reddin and Dickson Musslewhite), and the children's feature animation Going South (Sean Cunningham). She is the recipient of the Jonathan Alper Directing Fellowship at Manhattan Theatre Club, the Williamstown Theater Festival Directing Fellowship and the Drama League's New Directors/New Works Fellowship. She received her BFA at the University of the Arts (2008 University of the Arts Silver Star Alumni Award) and her MFA in Directing at the Yale School of Drama.

Deborah Zoe Laufer (Playwright) has received many awards for her play End Days, including The ATCA Steinberg citation in 2008. This March it received its NYC premiere at Ensemble Studio Theatre through an Alfred P. Sloan Grant. It received its world premiere in 2007 at Florida Stage through NNPN, and will have had nine productions by year’s end. End Days is listed in The Burns Mantle Yearbook as one of the best regional plays of 2008. She is also the author of The Last Schwartz published by Smith and Kraus in Women Playwrights, the Best Plays of 2003. It premiered at Florida Stage where it was nominated for a Carbonell Award and enjoyed a six-month run at The Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. Other plays include: Out of Sterno, which premiered at Portland Stage in Maine in March with grants from The Edgerton Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts, The Gulf of Westchester (Florida Stage/NNPN commission), Fortune, Random Acts and Miniatures. Her newest play, Sirens, was part of Florida Stage’s 1st Look Festival in March and was workshopped at Geva in June. Deborah is a two-time recipient of the LeCompte du Nouy grant from The Lincoln Center Foundation, a graduate of The Juilliard School and a member of The Dramatists Guild.

Ross Beschler (Jesus/Stephen Hawking) is making his People’s Light debut with this production. He was most recently seen on the Philadelphia professional stage as Valene in The Lonesome West at the Lantern Theater, and as the Masked Man in EgoPo's Spring Awakening. In New York, he is a frequent collaborator with Brooklyn-based performance group Object Collection, and has performed with The Flea, Vital Theater, Polybe & Seats, Verse Theater Manhattan, and many others. Ross has written plays for young audiences that have toured the U.S. and England. He has a BA in Theater from Columbia University, and is a graduate of the MFA acting program at Temple University.

David Ingram (Arthur Stein) last appeared at People's Light in I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda. Before that, he played Mitch in Tuesdays with Morrie, the Knight/Falconer in Midons, or The Object of Desire, Jerry in Once in a Lifetime, Antrobus in The Skin of Our Teeth, and Dodo/Chandebise in A Flea in Her Ear. David has also directed here, most recently The Foreigner, and The Yellow Line and July 7, 1994 as part of 30Fest. Elsewhere, he was seen in The Government Inspector at the Lantern Theater, The Rant and It's All True at Interact, and Rounding Third at Theatre Exile, among others. David is part of the Theater Department of Temple University, where he produces New Voices, Temple's collaboration with Philadelphia Young Playwrights, and Shakespeare Live!, Temple's touring show.

Claire Inie-Richards (Rachel Stein) is returning to the Steinbright after appearing as Primrose in Eggs. She is wrapping up her third year as a home schooler and junior year at the Center for Performing and Fine Arts in West Chester. In addition, Claire is serving as an apprentice at PLTC, which includes projects in the office and work as a Production Assistant.

Susan McKey (Sylvia Stein) has played many characters at People’s Light, including Lillie Langtry in last season’s Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Jersey Lily, Huck Finn in Splittin’ the Raft, Kissing Kate Barlow in Holes, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible, and Ruth in Book of Days, to name a few. Susan was last seen at Philadelphia Theatre Company in Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo. Other regional credits include The Arden Theatre, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, The Lantern Theatre, The International Theatre Festival for Children, and Het Waterhuis of the Netherlands. Susan is also a member of the Freedom Rising Ensemble at the National Constitution Center. She is a Barrymore Award Winner, mother of Griffen (10) and Ella Marie (6), wife to Benjamin Lloyd, and a native Cape Codder.

Aubie Merrylees (Nelson Steinberg) is returning to People’s Light, where he was last seen as Frisky in A Higher Place in Heaven; other PLTC performances include Arthur’s Stone, Merlin’s Fire, A Christmas Carol, and The Secret Garden. This fall Aubie will begin his final year at Brown University, where he concentrates in Religious Studies and Theatre.

PRODUCTION TEAM:
Playwright: Deborah Zoe Laufer
Director: Jackson Gay
Set Designer: Adrian W. Jones
Costume Designer: Jessica Ford
Lighting Designer: Dennis Parichy
Sound Designer: Broken Chord Collective
Dramaturg: Elizabeth Pool
Stage Manager: Thomas E. Shotkin
Production Manager: Charles T. Brastow

CAST
Sylvia Stein: Susan McKey
Arthur Stein: David Ingram
Rachel Stein: Claire Inie-Richards
Nelson Steinberg: Aubie Merrylees
Jesus/Stephen Hawking: Ross Beschler

QUICK FACTS

WHAT: END DAYS by Deborah Zoe Laufer

WHEN: July 8 – August 2, 2009 on the Steinbright Stage

WHERE: People’s Light & Theatre Company
39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355

PRICES: Tickets range in price from $29-$48, with special discounts available for youth, seniors, and groups of 10 or more.

GROUPS: Meal and ticket packages available for groups of 10 or more at Places! Bistro, our on site restaurant. Call Adria Charles for more information at 610.647.1900, ext. 134 or email group@peopleslight.org.

CONTACT: For tickets or information call the Box Office at 610.644.3500 or visit www.peopleslight.org.