by David Rabe, based on an Anton Chekhov story

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Undermain Theatre is pleased to announce its next show, The Black Monk by David Rabe, based on an Anton Chekhov story, will be performed April 4-May 2, 2009 at Undermain’s Dallas location in historic Deep Ellum. Previews are April 2-3. Katherine Owens will direct. Designed by John Arnone, Steve Woods and Bryan Wofford. Undermain Theatre performances are Wednesdays-Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Fridays-Saturdays at 8:15 p.m. Tickets are Thurs $15, Fri $20, and Sat $25. Undermain is located at 3200 Main Street at Murray Street in Deep Ellum.  Discounts are available for seniors, students and KERA members. Call 214.747.5515 or visit www.undermain.org.

David Rabe brings Anton Chekov’s spiritual mystery to vivid life.  Tony and Obie award winning writer David Rabe is the author of such classic American contemporary plays as Stick and Bones, Hurlyburly, Streamers, In the Boom Boom Room and more. He’s also written screenplays for films such as I’m Dancing as fast as I can, The Firm and Casualties of War. Undermain returns to Rabe’s work after the acclaimed productions of Rabe’s play Goose and Tom Tom, which Rabe attended in 1991.

Kovrin, a young scholar exhausted to the point of madness by his studies decides to visit his childhood friend Tanya on her father’s garden estate. The two fall in love and plan to marry. Kovrin tells Tanya the legend of the black monk whose image has been reflected in mirages for a thousand years and who will soon return in the flesh. One day in the garden, the black monk appears to the young man and holds the key to either enlightenment or total devastation.

The cast for The Black Monk is: Bruce DuBose as Yegor Semyonitch Pesotsky; Jonathan Brooks as Andrei Vasilich Kovrin; Shannon Kearns-Simmons as Tanya; Newton Pittman as The Black Monk; Stefanie Tovar as Nadia; Richard Rollin as Orlov; Maryam Baig-Lush as Varvara Nikolaevna; Ian Sinclair as Mikhail; Parker Hornsby as Yakov; Ryan Lescalleet as ensemble. Musicians will be Ariana Cook and Reynaldo Patiño.
“The late 19th-century storyteller and the contemporary playwright become one. The graceful flow from one to the other, and from the page to the stage, is remarkable. Mr. Rabe has heightened theatrical possibilities by extending descriptive passages into dramatic scenes that catch fire…The Black Monk is a heady event… Don’t miss it.” -Alvin Klein, The New York Times

ABOUT UNDERMAIN
Undermain Theatre, founded in 1984, is a company of artists that performs new and experimental works in Texas, New York, and Europe. The theater collaborates with playwrights, supports a theater archive and operates a theater under 3200 Main Street in Dallas’ legendary Deep Ellum. Call 214-747-2417 or visit www.undermain.org for more information.
Artistic Director: Katherine Owens. Executive Producer: Bruce DuBose. Associate Producer: Suzanne Thomas.