Salt Lake Acting Company

Salt Lake Acting Company presents the regional premiere of SIX YEARS by Sharr White.

For mature audiences

SIX YEARS by Sharr White is a searing drama from the rarely told side of the "greatest generation". World War II soldier Phil Granger hasn't come home with the rest of the 'boys'. His wife Meredith knows he's not in hospital or among the casualties, but there's no word of where he might be. When he finally appears in town, a full four years after the war is over, word spreads he has been seen at a motel on the outskirts of town. A stunned Meredith runs through a rainstorm to see him, not sure what she'll find, or what she'll say. She discovers a very different man standing before her, transformed by the unspeakable horrors of war and his aversion to the noisy, brash and unreflective resurgence of post-war America. Where do they go from here? So begins SIX YEARS.

Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC) is pleased to present the regional premiere of SIX YEARS by Sharr White. SIX YEARS will have preview performances November 12th and 13th, with the Press Opening on Friday, November 14th at 8:00 PM at The Salt Lake Acting Company. SIX YEARS is scheduled to play Wednesdays through Sundays through December 7th, 2008.

Playwright Sharr White is scheduled to be in town for the opening and participate in the post-play discussion following the matinee performance Sunday, November 16th and have a new play read in the New Play Sounding Series Monday, November 17th at 7:00pm.

The artistic team for SIX YEARS is: Tracy Callahan- director. The cast includes SLAC returnees Michael Todd Behrens, Susan Dolan, Alexandra Harbold, Paul Kiernan, Robert Scott Smith and newcomer Leticia V'elez.

The design team will be Keven Myhre- Set; James M. Craig - Lights; Brenda Van der Wiel- Costume Design and Cynthia L. Kehr Rees- Sound.

Sarah Rae Mohr will be the Production Stage Manager.

SIX YEARS by Sharr White had its world premiere production at the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actor's Theatre of Louisville in 2006. It is scheduled for productions at the New Leaf Theatre in Chicago this month and the Dragon Theatre in Palo Alto in November.

SIX YEARS is a vivid personalization of three decades that changed the face of America. In the struggling love story of Phil and Meredith Granger, we are swept heart- first through quintessential milestones of our country's rapid, boisterous and convulsive growth following the Second World War. The play leaps ahead six years in each of five scenes, from Phil Granger's mysterious return from the war and the dramatic adjustment Meredith must make, to the booming "big idea" frenzy of the fifties, to the optimism of Kennedy's early sixties, to the shattered, turbulent seventies of the Vietnam War. SIX YEARS is a play about the "greatest generation", about hope in the face of struggle, about the chaotic, beautiful and increasingly relevant recent history of our country, and about the durability of caring. Caring for those closest to us and caring for our fellow travelers. In this time of national and global challenge, the generation that triumphed over the Depression, sacrificed as a nation and people during a world war, and experienced the greatest boom in technology and material gain in the history of the world, can certainly help to light our way through the next challenging epoch of America's history. Above all, SIX YEARS is a tough, hard-won love story about two people living through a remarkable time.

SHARR WHITE (Playwright) Sharr White's plays have been seen at a number of cramped, overheated and sometimes fantastic spaces in New York City, including Todo Con Nada (THE DREAM CANVAS); The Ohio Theatre (THE LAST ORANGE DYING); Raw Space (SAFE FROM THE FUTURE); HB Playwrights Foundation (THE THIRD TEMPLE, workshops of SIX YEARS); a hotel suite on the 38th floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel inTimes Square (HEAVEN AND ALL THINGS LOVELY); and Lincoln Center Theatre's Director's Lab (workshop of IRIS FIELDS). Sharr is a two-time finalist for the Princess Grace Award (SATELLITES OF THE SUN and THE ESCAPE VELOCITY OF SAVAGES); a winner of the Dr. Henry and Lillian Nesburn Award as part of the Julie Harris Award in Playwriting; and a recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship. He is a member of the Playwrights Unit at the Ensemble Studio Theatre and a member of Los Angeles' Apartment A Productions. Sharr's newest play, SUNLIGHT, was commissioned by South Coast Repertory, appeared as a workshop both at SCR's 2008 Pacific Playwrights Festival and at Marin Theatre Company's Nu Werkz series, and will premiere at MTC in the fall of 2009. SIX YEARS was first produced as part of Actors Theatre of Louisville's 30th Anniversary Humana Festival of New American Plays.

TRACY CALLAHAN (Director) is excited to be directing once again at SLAC. Previous productions here include HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE and SPEED THE PLAY in MERE MORTALS. Tracy is Head of the Acting and Directing program at Weber State University. She is a Full Professor and teaches Directing, Acting, Voice and Movement, and Script Analysis. Tracy was selected to direct MACBETH as part of The New Millennium Shakespeare in the Schools project, which was produced at The Kennedy Center and can be viewed on their web page. Other directing credits include: THE SERPENT, which was chosen to be produced at the National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Washington D.C., GRASMERE, AS YOU LIKE IT, THE SHAPE OF THINGS, ROAD, GOD'S COUNTRY and SIX DEGREES OF SEPARTION. Tracy will be directing THE LARAMIE PROJECT in the spring of 2009.

(Actors and Designers bios available upon request)

SLAC NOTES:

Sunday November 16th - Matinee Post Play discussion
With playwright Sharr White, moderated by Mike Dorrell (SLAC dramaturg)
Approximately 4:30 p.m., following the 2:00 p.m. matinee performance

Monday November 17th - New Play Sounding Series
Free reading, 7:00 pm
A new play by Sharr White

Saturday December 6th - Saturday Matinee Post Play Discussion
With Mike Dorrell and cast members. Approximately 4:30 pm

Salt Lake Acting Company
168 West 500 North, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103
Admin. (801)363-0526

FACT SHEET

SLAC PRODUCTION

SIX YEARS

PLAYWRIGHT

Sharr White

DIRECTOR

Tracy Callahan

CAST

Michael Todd Behrens, Susan Dolan, Alexandra Harbold,
Paul Kiernan, Robert Scott Smith, Leticia Velez

SET DESIGN

Keven Myhre

LIGHT DESIGN

James M. Craig

COSTUME DESIGN

Brenda Van der Wiel

SOUND DESIGN

Cynthia L. Kehr Rees

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER

Sarah Rae Mohr

DATES

Previews: Nov. 12 and 13, 2008
Opening: Nov. 14, 2008
Closing: Dec. 7, 2008

TIMES

Previews: Wed & Thurs- 7:30PM
Regular: Wed & Thurs- 7:30PM
Fri & Sat- 8:00PM
Sun- 2:00PM & 7:00PM
Sat. Matinee: Sat. Dec. 6, 2008 - 2:00PM

TICKETS

$13 - $34, students/30 & under/senior discounts available.

BOX OFFICE

(801) 363-SLAC (7522) (Mon-Fri- 10:00AM to 6:00PM) or
www.saltlakeactingcompany.org to buy online.

Salt Lake Acting Company
168 West 500 North
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
Admin- (801) 363-0526