March 21, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Lara Hoyt, Coordinator for Public Relations and Alumni Affairs
Samuel Brett Williams' 'living room' is the stage in 'Derby Day' debut New Brunswick, NJ – Student playwright Samuel Brett Williams said he doesn’t remember sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner while growing up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, but he remembers going to Oaklawn Racetrack with his father and his father’s two brothers.
“I had seen my family at the track my whole life,” he said. “It was like our living room.”
That “living room” is the setting for Williams’ “Derby Day,” which premieres at Rutgers Theater Company’s New Theater on Saturday, April 21. Charles Maryan will direct this dark comedy, in which three brothers reunite at the Arkansas Derby upon their father’s death. Over the course of one long day the Ballard boys destroy everything and everyone in their way—drinking, swearing, and revealing family secrets that might just tear them apart forever.
Williams graduates with a master of fine arts in playwriting from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts this May. While in the program, Williams has written five other plays, all of which have been honored or produced. The most notable is “The Woodpecker,” which is a finalist this year for The O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference, the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Firehouse Theatre Festival of New American Plays, and Aurora Theatre’s Global Age Project, as well as a semi-finalist for the PlayPENN New Play Development Conference. It was selected for the 2006 Hatchery Play Festival at District of Columbia Arts Center and has received multiple staged readings.
Williams’ plays have also placed second and third in the New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest, been selected for the Philadelphia New Play Festival, been a finalist for the Tennessee Williams One Act Contest, and been produced by New Orleans Theater Experiment in New Orleans and Mile Square Theater in Hoboken, New Jersey.
What is most astounding is that Williams had never even seen a play before he arrived at Mason Gross.
“I applied to the program with what was basically a movie on a stage,” he said. “I knew I wanted to be some sort of writer but didn’t know much else. I didn’t know who Lee Blessing [head of the playwriting program] was, but I saw that he had been nominated for a Pulitzer and a Tony. Everything I’ve done in playwriting has come from Mason Gross.”
Performances are April 21, 22, 25, 26 and 27 at 8 p.m. and April 28 and 29 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 for the general public, $20 for Rutgers alumni and employees and seniors and only $15 for students with valid ID. New Theater is in the Mason Gross Performing Arts Center, 85 George Street (between Route 18 and Ryders Lane), on the Douglass campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
For more information on any Mason Gross event, visit www.masongross.rutgers.edu or call the Mason Gross Performing Arts Center ticket office at 732-932-7511.
About Rutgers Theater Company Jon Deliz (Johnny - MFA I) was born in Bronx, New York. He received his BA in drama and sociology from Vassar College. His previous Mason Gross School of the Arts credit is Daniel Rocket in The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket (Jameson Project). Credits include Benardo (West Side Story) and Isadore (Tango Palace).
Helen Farmer (Becky - MFA II) was born and raised in Calgary, Canada. Helen earned a BA in theater at the University of Guelph in Ontario. Rutgers credits include Approaching Lavender (Abigail), Venus (Chorus Member), Cloud Nine (Maud/Victoria), and The Swan (Dora). Favorite roles include Lady Anne in Richard III and Beatrice Johanna in The Changling.
Nick Farco (Frank - MFA II) is from Brooklyn, NY. He received a BFA in acting from Ithaca College. Rutgers Theater Company credits: Our Lady of 121st Street, Peace Prize, Cloud 9, and The Country Wife. Additional credits: The Importance of Being Earnest, Born Yesterday (Findlay Playhouse), Owed to My First Love (Premiere Stages).
Edwin Spiegel (Announcer), a communications graduate from NYU, has worked in TV and radio as a performer and manager. He hosted and produced TV shows in the 60’s and 70’s. He also voiced many commercials. Theatrical credits include No Exit and a six-month tour of A Thousand Clowns. He lives in North Brunswick.
Joesph Tisa (Ned - MFA I) is from Seattle, Washington. He received his BA in Philosophy and English from the University of Washington. His recent credits include Stanley in The Birthday Party and Clark in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. Rutgers credits include Quack in The Country Wife.
Samuel Brett Williams (Playwright – MFA III) hails from Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he was raised by strict Southern Baptist parents. His plays use Arkansas as a background to explore issues of global importance—religion, racism, war, and family. He received his B.A. in English and Political Science from Ouachita Baptist University. He won the 2003 Best New Playwright Award (Arkansas), came in third place for the 2005 Playwright of Merit Award (New York), and then came in second place for the 2006 Playwright of Merit Award (New York). He was a finalist in the 2006 Tennessee Williams One Act Play Competition, and his play Arkadelphia was selected to the 2007 Philadelphia New Play Festival. He has received staged readings at Rorschach Theatre (Washington, D.C.), Flashpoint Theatre (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 13th Street Repertory Theatre (New York, New York), and Working Man’s Clothes Productions (New York, New York). His work has been produced at Mile Square Theatre (Hoboken, New Jersey), New Orleans Theatre Experiment (New Orleans, Louisiana), and the District of Columbia Arts Center (Washington, D.C.). Brett’s play The Woodpecker is currently a finalist for the 2007 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, the 2007 Seven Devils Playwrights’ Conference, and the 2007 PlayPenn New Play Development Conference. He teaches Screenwriting and Expository Writing for Rutgers University.
Charles Maryan (Director) Off-Broadway credits include: Cantorial by Ira Levin; New York 1937 by Jose Yjlesias; Mercy Street by Anne Sexton; Last Girl Singer by Deborah Grace Winer; The Aunts by Gary Bonasorte; The World of Wallowitch, conceived with John Wallowitch and Algonquin Sampler, a literary review conceived with Fred Voelpel. For the Center for Contemporary Opera (NYC) he has directed: Vera of Las Vegas; Summer; The Bald Soprano; Markheim; KAFKA: Letter to My Father; The Postman Always Rings Twice; Tale for a Deaf Ear; Transformations; The Medium; The Telephone; Sorry, Wrong Number and The Angel Levine.
Jonathan Wentz (Set Design - MFA II) has a BFA in graphic design from Rochester Institute of Technology. At Mason Gross he designed The House of Bernarda Alba and the 2006 Jameson Plawright Festival, and assisted on As You Like It and The Lonesome West. He will return to Berkshire Theatre Festival (MA) this summer. He resides in Whippany (NJ).
Elizabeth Kochanik (Costume Designer - BFA III) is from Marlton, New Jersey. Mason Gross School of the Arts costume design credits include My Sister in This House for Jameson Theater Spring 2006, and assistant costume designer for Peace Prize.
Shawn E. Boyle (Lighting Design) Originally from Arlington Massachusetts, Shawn earned his BFA in the design program at Mason Gross School of the Arts. Design work for Rutgers’ Theater Company includes Peace Prize, The Lonesome West, Death in Venice, Two Fools, The Death of One Good Dog, Protest #1, and In the Absence of Providence. Since graduating in 2006, Shawn has served as the assistant projection designer on the L.A. production of Wicked and the Las Vegas production of Spamalot. Shawn was also the assistant lighting designer for the 2007 season at Sarasota Opera.
Krystyna Capra (Sound Designer – BFA III) is from Clifton, New Jersey. Derby Day is Krystyna’s first sound design project. Her Mason Gross School of the Arts credits include: Jesus Hopped the A Train (master electrician) Cloud 9 (assistant master electrician), Peace Prize, Mud, and Death in Venice.
Emily M. Wharton, (Stage Manager - MFA I) originally from Austin, Texas, graduated from Tufts University with a BA in mathematics. Professional credits include A Piece of My Heart, the world premiere of Kalu ka Baksa, and three seasons of Farcefest at Harvard University. Mason Gross credits include assistant stage manager on The House of Bernarda Alba.
The Mason Gross School of the Arts’ Department of Theater Arts combines rigorous studio class work with a demanding production schedule to provide students with in-depth training and practice in theater. The Rutgers Theater Company is the resident company of student actors, designers, directors, playwrights, stage managers and technicians whose work is guided by master teachers and accomplished professionals. These conservatory students are enrolled in the three-year Master of Fine Arts (MFA) and four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) programs. The department also offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) theater major through the undergraduate colleges of Rutgers University. About Mason Gross School of the Arts Founded in 1976, Mason Gross School of the Arts is the arts conservatory of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and is home to the departments of dance, music, theater arts, and visual arts. Its faculty and alumni rosters include arts professionals recognized nationally and internationally. The school's enrollment of 625 undergraduates across four departments and 250 graduate students across three departments, combined with a faculty of 140, assures students the opportunity to work closely with accomplished artists within their fields.
About Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey A comprehensive research institution with more than 50,000 students on three main campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden, Rutgers comprises one of the major state university systems in the nation. Chartered in 1766 in New Brunswick as Queen's College, Rutgers is the eighth oldest institution of higher learning in the nation and now comprises 29 degree- granting divisions, including 16 offering graduate programs of study.
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