FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25 2008
STONEHAM THEATRE PRESENTS
THE U.S. PREMIERE OF MAUREEN O'BRIEN'S THE CUTTING
Award Winning Play Peers Inside The Mind Of A Killer
February 28 - March 16 2008
Stoneham Theatre presents the U. S. Premiere of British actress and mystery novelist Maureen O’Brien’s The Cutting February 28 through March 16 2008. O’Brien’s luminous first play explores the tragedy of a woman lost in silence. The story that is brought to light is of a descent into terrible darkness, and the extraordinary recovery of the human spirit.
Judith (Eve Kagan) is in prison, on remand, accused of killing her mother. She has not spoken for six months. A child psychiatrist, Alex (Rachel Harker), is called in as a last resort to make a psychiatric assessment. Her job is to unlock her tongue. A relationship is forged, and an extraordinary story is revealed.
Directed by Producing Artistic Director Weylin Symes, the creative design team includes Gianni Downs (Set Designer), Christopher Ostrom (Lighting Designer), Rachel Padula-Shufelt (Costumer Designer) and David Wilson (Sound Designer).
The London Theatre Record describes The Cutting as "A gem of inner discovery... gripping theatre... uncompromisingly intelligent and unsentimentally moving". The Cutting was first produced at the Bush Theatre London in 1992. It was nominated for the London Fringe Awards (Best New Play) and the London Evening Standard Awards (Best Newcomer). The following year it entered the repertoire of the National Theatre of Finland in Helsinki where it ran for a year, and had a separate production at the Kemi City Theatre in the north west of Finland in 1994. In 1996 there was an acclaimed Italian production at the Taormina Theatre Festival in Sicily and in 1997 another at Teatro Per L'Europa in Rome. The most recent production of The Cutting was in Austria at the Vienna Theatre Project in January 2004. The play has recently been optioned for an English-speaking feature film, script by Arend Agthe (Karakum).
Maureen O’Brien is an actress and writer. She was born in Liverpool, trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and was a founder member of the Liverpool Everyman Theatre. She continues enjoying a thriving career as an actor on prestigious stages and on screen. her roles range from Vicki in Dr Who to Elektra in the Oresteia. She has twice won the Sony Best Actress award for her work on radio and also has awards for audiobooks of which she continues to record a huge range. In 1987, encouraged by the production of a radio play Going On, she wrote her first novel Close Up on Death, and since then she has combined both careers. O'Brien is the author of seven crime novels, Close-up on Death, Deadly Reflection, which she has also adapted to a screenplay, Mask of Betrayal, Dead Inncocent, Revenge, Unauthorized Departure, Every Step You Take, all featuring Detective Inspector John Bright.
Rachel Harker was last seen at Stoneham Theatre in The Odd Couple with Sherman Hemsley. Last year she appeared Off-Broadway in Bill W. and Dr. Bob. Earlier this season she worked at New Repertory Theatre as Blanche in Streetcar Named Desire, and in The Lover and Ashes to Ashes. Other New Rep productions include Quills and King Lear with Austin Pendleton, The Pillowman, Romeo and Juliet, Bill W. and Dr. Bob, Approaching Moomtaj, Tartuffe, Kindertransport, and Twelfth Night. She has appeared at the Lyric Stage Company in Kong's Night Out, Living Out, and Lend Me Tenor, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre in The Lover, Ashes to Ashes, and Woman Who Steal, as Amanda in Private Lives at the Public Theatre in Maine, and Don't Dress for Dinner at Northern Stage Company. She has also worked at American Stage Festival, Worcester Foothills Theatre, and Boston Playwrights' Theatre. Film credits include The Legend of Lucy Keyes and Disney's The Game Plan.
Eve Kagan is returns to Stoneham Theatre where she played Louise in the Fall production of Gypsy and Aouda in the 2006 production of Around the World in 80 Days. Before graduating high school, she apprenticed at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and completed the Shakespeare intensive at LAMDA. A graduate of Wesleyan University, she has also trained in New York City, Los Angeles, and London. Last season she was nominated for an IRNE Award for Best Supporting Actress in the critically acclaimed Talking to Terrorists with the Sugan Theatre. Her theatre credits include leading roles in The Scarlet Letter, The Miracle Worker, Equus, The House of Yes, The Little Foxes, The Sisters Rosensweig, Women and Wallace, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, and the premiers of Crazy Eyes, Hello Herman, Lift and Home Safe. Her recent film credits include Nick Cassavetes’ The Notebook, with television appearances on Alias, The L Word, The Parkers, and Colombo Likes the Nightlife.