Summer People

Written by Jenny Connell
Directed by Marie Brown

Performances: October 12, 14, 17 at 8:00 PM
October 19 at 2:00 PM
Oscar G. Brockett Theatre

Tickets: $20 adults, $17 UT faculty & staff, $15 students available online at www.utpac.org or by phone at 477–6060.

Media and Resources:

• Cast List
• Director Information
• Playwright Information
• Synopsis
• Press and Reviews

**Join dramaturgs Jill Inderstrodt and Shelley Manis after the performance on October 12th in the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre to discuss your emotional and/or intellectual responses to Summer People. As this is a new work, the playwright values your feedback and questions as integral to future iterations of the piece.**

Synopsis: “Summer People” is the story of one summer on the coast of Maine, and what happens when war and the homefront converge.

Playwright: Jenny Connell

Jenny Connell is currently a third-year student in UT's MFA Playwriting program. Her plays have been staged in New York, Chicago, Austin, Aspen, and Billings. Her works include Fire Escape, Chrysalis, The Lost Work of Samuel Beckett, Self Defense, and Above Below. She has also written two screenplays; Cinnamon Girl and Painting the Boys. Before she started writing, Ms. Connell received a B.A. in anthropology from The University of Chicago, and worked as an actor in Chicago with Steppenwolf Theatre, Court Theatre, and the Gift Theatre, where she is an ensemble member.

Director: Marie Brown

Originally from Massachusetts, Director Marie Brown received her B.A. from The University of Puget Sound, where she was a double major in Theatre Arts and Music. While in the Pacific Northwest, Marie was Co-founder/Artistic Director of The Infinite Monkeys Festival and worked as a teaching artist at Coyote Central a non–profit that serves children through the arts. She was also director of Tucker's Friends Foundation Summer Camp in Petrila, Romania for the summer of 2002. Marie's theatrical directing credits include Big Love by Charles Mee, The Spinning by Dashell Milligan, Medusa's Tale by Carol Lashoff, and Seeking Refuge by Kate Baker. Marie's work also includes, sound, costume, and set design for stage, composition for piano, and photography. Marie trained as an actor with the SOMA Theatre Ensemble, is the recipient of grants from the Ella Lyman Cabot Trust and the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation, and is the recipient of an endowed presidential scholarship in the theatre arts here at Texas. Since joining the MFA Directing program at The University of Texas at Austin, Marie has served as the assistant director on Maria Irene Fornes's Fefu and Her Friends, director for Diana Son's Stop Kiss, Erica Saleh's Split, cofounder of an interdisciplinary performing ensemble collaborating to create The Psyche Project, and director of Unmoored, a short film written by Jenny Connell and Erica Saleh and produced by Trillium Studios. Marie lives in Austin with her husband, Craig, and their daughter, Morgan.

Cast:

• Shea Wood as Kate
• Jessica Webb as Laura
• Jena Kirmse as Sam
• Chase Van Haselen as 54
• Rodney Richardson as Paul
• Kevin Beltz as Scotty
• Lakeisha Robinson as Young Iraqi Woman

Press and Reviews:

• Austinist Preview “New Plays at UT” – 10/15/08