FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Barrington Stage Press Director, Charlie Siedenburg 551-655-0968

Barrington Stage Company to present a Staged Reading of
Christopher Demos-Brown’s AMERICAN SON
Natalie Venetia Balcon, Joe Delafield, Keith Randolph Smith and Kohl Suddoth star
Directed by Julianne Boyd
August 21 at 3pm and 7pm

(PITTSFIELD, MA)  Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, will present a staged reading of American Son, by playwright Christopher Demos-Brown, on Friday, August 21 at 3pm at the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center (36 Linden Street) and at 7pm at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge (444 North Street).

Directed by Julianne Boyd, this captivating new work is a timely and important play on race in present-day America.

American Son stars Natalie Venetia Belcon (Matilda, Avenue Q), Joe Delafield (Roundabout Tartuffe), Keith Randolph Smith (Fences), and Kohl Sudduth (Take Me Out).

An estranged bi-racial couple must confront their feelings about race and bias after their son is detained by the local police following a traffic stop incident. Their disparate histories and backgrounds inform their assumptions as they try to find out what happened to their son.

The staged reading of American Son is sponsored by Roz and Charles Stuzin. American Son was also commissioned through the generosity of the Stuzins and is part of BSC’s New Works Initiative.

Tickets to the staged reading are $15 and on sale now. Please note there is reserved seating for the 3pm reading at the Blatt Center.

The American Son staged reading is produced by Megan Nussle. Stage Manager is Merrick A.B. Williams. Casting by Pat McCorkle, CSA.

There will be a post-play talkback following the 7pm reading at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, 444 North Street. General admission. Panelists include playwright Christopher Demos-Brown, Pittsfield Chief of Police Michael Wynn, and Shirley Edgerton, Community Leader and Activist.

Christopher Demos-Brown (Playwright) Chris’s playwriting credits include the full-length play, Fear Up Harsh, which, among others, received a Steinberg Award Citation from the American Theatre Critics Association last year.  The Steinberg, one of the most prestigious awards in American drama, is given to the top three plays premiering outside of New York City each calendar year. Chris’s other credits include  Captiva, Our Lady of Allapattah, and When The Sun Shone Brighter which  received the 2011 Carbonell Award for Best New Work, the 2010 Silver Palm Award for Outstanding New Work, was nominated for both The American Theatre Critics’ Association’s Steinberg Award, and was a finalist for the National New Play Network’s Smith Prize. In 2010 Chris and his wife co-founded Zoetic Stage, an award-winning theatre in residence at Miami-Dade County Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, which will premiere his newest play, Stripped, this November. Chris holds a B.A. in Russian Language and History from Dartmouth College, a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School, and a diplôme d’études supéreures en relations internationales from the University of Geneva.  He is also a practicing lawyer.  He thanks Barrington Stage Company, and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs for their help developing American Son.  www.DemosBrown.com.

For more information, call the Barrington Stage Box Office at 413-236-8888 or visit www.barringtonstageco.org.

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. In 2009/2010 Barrington Stage produced the world premiere of Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session, which later moved Off-Broadway and played for two years. St. Germain’s Becoming Dr. Ruth (which premiered at BSC asDr. Ruth, All the Way in 2012) played Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre in fall 2013. 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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