FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BSC Press Director Charlie Siedenburg, 551-655-0968
Barrington Stage Company’s production of
Mark St. Germain’s THE BEST OF ENEMIES
To be presented at New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse
November 27 – December 23
Starring John Bedford Lloyd, Aisha Hinds, Don Guillory, and Susan Wands
Directed by Julianne Boyd
PITTSFIELD, MA – Barrington Stage Company, the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, is proud to announce that the acclaimed new play, The Best of Enemies, by Mark St. Germain (Dr. Ruth, All the Way and Freud’s Last Session), will be presented from November 27 through December 23 at New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ. For tickets call 732-246-7717 or purchase online at www.georgestplayhouse.org. Opening night is Friday, November 30 at 8pm.
“We’re thrilled to reunite the cast and creative team of The Best of Enemies at George Street Playhouse,” said Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. “And I am delighted to work once again with David Saint, the Artistic Director of George Street Playhouse, who directed Mark St. Germain’s The God Committee at BSC in 2004.”
The Best of Enemies received its world premiere at Barrington Stage on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage July 21-August 6, 2011. The production starred John Bedford Lloyd as C. P. Ellis, Aisha Hinds as Ann Atwater, Clifton Duncan as Bill Riddick, and Susan Wands as Mary Ellis and was directed by Julianne Boyd. Following its sold-out run in the summer, the production returned for a fall run October 5-16, Don Guillory joined the company as Bill Riddick. The Best of Enemies was BSC’s most attended Mainstage play in the history of the company.
The George Street Playhouse production will star John Bedford Lloyd, Aisha Hinds, Don Guillory, and Susan Wands.
Inspired by the best-selling book by Osha Gray Davidson, The Best of Enemies is the true story about the relationship between C.P. Ellis (a Grand Cyclops of the KKK) and Ann Atwater (an African-American civil rights activist) during the desegregation of the Durham, NC schools in 1971. The Best of Enemies exposes the poison of prejudice in the hearts of Atwater and Ellis who, by facing each other, are forced to face the worst, and best, in themselves.
The Best of Enemies is designed by David M. Barber (sets), Scott Pinkney (lights), Kristina Lucka (costumes), and Brad Berridge (sound). Tom Clewell is production stage manager.
About Barrington Stage Company
Barrington Stage Company, a professional award-winning Equity regional theatre located in the heart of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, MA, was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. Barrington Stage’s mission is three-fold: to present top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways to bringing new audiences into the theatre—especially young people. Barrington Stage garnered national attention in 2004 when it workshopped, and premiered William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin’s musical hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which later transferred to Broadway where it won two Tony Awards and played more than 1,000 performances. In 2009/2010 Barrington Stage produced the world premiere of Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session, which moved Off-Broadway and played for more than two years. Barrington Stage was voted “Best Live Theatre” by The Berkshire Eagle readers in 2011 and 2012 and was named “Best Theatre Company” in Metroland’s Best of the Capital Region 2009-2012.
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