Know Theatre of Cincinnati presents GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES

by Rajiv Joseph, Pulitzer Prize finalist for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Know Theatre of Cincinnati presents GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES through Nov. 5.

Know Theatre is pleased to announce the first mainstage production of the 2011‐2012 Season, GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES by Rajiv Joseph. The production will feature the same award winning artistic and production team as last season’s opening production, SKIN TIGHT. GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES will be directed by Drew Fracher with Scenic and Lighting Design by Andrew Hungerford, Costume Design by Noelle Wedig, and Sound Design by Doug Borntrager. The production will star local actress Beth Harris and visiting actor Jens Rasmussen. GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES will show October 8 –November 5, 2011.

“I’m excited to be getting the cast back together for this production,” says Eric Vosmeier, Producing Artistic Director. “They already have a strong working relationship with one another and I’m excited to see what they’ll be able to do with Mr. Joseph’s incredible script.”

Kayleen and Doug’s eight year old lives collide in the nurse’s office when Doug rides his bike off the roof of the school and Kayleen can’t stop throwing up. Over the course of the next 30 years, the lives of these made‐for‐each‐other masochists continue to intersect, leading the two childhood friends to compare their physical and emotional scars. These two misfits may be continually drawn together, but being together may not be enough to heal each other’s wounds.

GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES will feature the same cast, design and production crew as last season’s SKIN TIGHT by Gary Henderson. SKIN TIGHT earned the team Acclaim Awards for Fight Choreography and Direction by Drew Fracher, Best Non‐Equity Lead Performance by Beth Harris, and Best Equity Lead Performance by Jens Rasmussen.

This season, tickets will be $15 in advance and $18 the week of the performance (beginning Mondays at noon). Season subscriptions five‐show flexible passes are available for $75 and can guarantee the user the advance ticket price all season long. Tickets can be purchased by visiting knowtheatre.com or by calling the box office at 513.300.KNOW (5669)

Cast
Kayleen ‐ Beth Harris
Doug ‐ Jens Rasmussen*
*Member of Actors Equity Association

Production Team
Director – Drew Fracher*
Scenic & Lighting Design – Andrew Hungerford
Costume Design – Noelle Wedig
Sound Design – Doug Borntrager
*Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

Production Dates
8pm: Oct 8, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, Nov 3, 4, 5
3pm: Oct 23, Nov 5

Additional Information
Rajiv Joseph (Playwright) ‐ Rajiv Joseph’s play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo has been awarded a grant for Outstanding New American Play by the National Endowment for the Arts. Rajiv’s New York productions include Animals Out Of Paper (Second Stage Theatre, summer 2008), The Leopard and the Fox (Alter Ego, fall 2007), Huck & Holden (Cherry Lane Theatre, 2006), and All This Intimacy (Second Stage Theatre, 2006). In Los Angeles Huck & Holden was produced by The Black Dahlia Theatre in 2006. Through the Lark Play Development Center, Rajiv has traveled to Mexico and Romania, where Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was translated into Spanish and Romanian, respectively, and performed in staged readings. Rajiv has been awarded the Paula Vogel Award by the Vineyard Theatre and the 2009 Kesselring Fellowship. Rajiv is a Founding Member of the new New York based theatre company The Fire Department and was a contributing writer on their first two theatrical events, Speakeasy and At War: American Playwrights Respond to the War in Iraq. He is a former Lark Playwriting Fellow and Dramatists Guild Fellow. His plays have been published by Samuel French, Dramatists Play Service, and Smith & Kraus. He received his B.A. in Creative Writing from Miami University in Oxford, OH and his M.F.A. in Playwriting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and he is currently a Language Lecturer at NYU with the School of Art and Public Policy and the Expository Writing Program. He served for three years in the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa.

Drew Fracher (Director) ‐ Drew is a freelance director, fight arranger and actor, serving as a Fight Master with the Society of American Fight Directors. As a director his work has been seen at Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Stage, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, New Stage Collective, Florida Stage and the Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Cincinnati Shakespeare Festivals. As a fight director his work has been seen for over 25 years at a wide variety of theatres throughout the U.S. At Know Theatre he has directed Skin Tight, boom, and Angels in America: Perestroika. Other recent directing projects include Much Ado About Nothing at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and A Christmas Story at GA Shakespeare. This summer he directed fights for KY Shakespeare Festival and God of Carnage at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

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