Opening Night of “I Will Be Gone”, one of six new plays being presented by Actors Theatre as part of the Humana Festival of New American Plays, was memorable for a couple of reasons. One was a rare technical glitch on the elaborate set that caused a short delay.
But the play is focused on a modern family dealing with tragedy, a mother’s death, and there’s a memorable exchange about masturbation. While there are plenty of funny moments, the play is really about the drama within the group as the various members reconcile how to continue and adapt to their changing circumstances.
From Actors….
March 13 – April 12, 2015
in the Bingham Theatre
Seventeen-year-old Penelope goes to live with her Aunt Josephine in a small town in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains after her mom dies. Everyone in this small town—built right next door to a ghost town—is haunted by something or someone, and no one knows how to behave. Filled with apparitions, earthquakes, and strange attempts to mourn, this play explores the beauty and awkwardness of living with the knowledge that everything ends.
About the Playwright
Erin Courtney’s A Map of Virtue was produced by 13P in New York City in 2012. Directed by Ken Rus Schmoll, the play won an Obie Award. She has co-written two musicals with Elizabeth Swados, Kaspar Hauser and The Nomad, both commissioned and produced by The Flea Theater. Ms. Courtney’s other plays include Honey Drop, Black Cat Lost, Alice the Magnet, Quiver and Twitch, and Demon Baby. Her work has been produced and developed by Clubbed Thumb, New York Stage and Film, Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep., The Vineyard, and The Flea. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Courtney is a member of New Dramatists and is an affiliated artist with Clubbed Thumb. She teaches playwriting at Brooklyn College.
Audience Warnings: Strong sexual language and content, and references to drug usage.
