Yearly Archives: 2013

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST GINA GIONFRIDDO’S NEW COMEDY
RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN PLAYS OCTOBER 9-27, 2013

(Cincinnati, OH) Is the grass really greener on the other side? Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati continues its 2013-2014 season with the regional premiere of Rapture, Blister, Burn, which the The New York Times described as “an intensely smart, immensely funny new play.” Obie Award-winning playwright Gina Gionfriddo’s offbeat and searing new comedy Rapture, Blister, Burn takes examines the psyches of two women in midlife as they ruefully question the differing choices they have made. Directed by D. Lynn Meyers, Rapture, Blister, Burn plays October 9-27. Premiere Sponsor is LPK.

A smash Off-Broadway hit and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and Kennedy Theatre Prize, Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn confronts a variety of post-feminist topics from the ongoing career versus family debate, male dominance in business and relationships, feminist implications of torture movies, and even takes on society’s acceptance and consumption of pornography. Described by the author as an unintentional homage to Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles, with a title inspired by the band Hole’s single, “Use Once and Destroy,” Rapture, Blister, Burn is a wickedly perceptive and surprisingly relevant take on cross-generational feminism.

Catherine’s got the sexy rockstar academic career every Ph.D. dreams about: another book out, a coveted spot amongst the pundit circuit, TV appearances, and an upcoming speaking engagement in Italy. So what’s she doing outside a bar, drunk-dialing her grad school ex-best friend, Gwen, now a stay-at-home mother and housewife? When Catherine returns home to care for her ailing mother, she reconnects with Gwen who is now married to Catherine’s old college flame, Don. Both women, who are dabbling in regret, embark on a dangerous game of musical chairs by exploring the road not taken, with hilarious and surprising results. Gionfriddo mixes love, emotion, envy, and academics in a play the New York Daily News called “a smart, funny, and lighting-paced look at feminism.”

About the Cast

Charlie Clark (Don Harper) returns to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, where he was last seen in Next to Normal as Doctor Madden. Now an Indianapolis-based actor, he played Dan this past winter in Phoenix Theatre’s production of Next to Normal and was just seen in this summer’s sold-out run of Church Girls at Commonwealth Dinner Theatre at NKU. Previous Cincinnati credits include Carousel, Oliver!, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Carnegie; and Next Fall, Grey Gardens, Don’t Make Me Pull This Show Over, The Frog Princess, Alice in Wonderland, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. His other local credits include The Full Monty, Sunday in the Park with George and Take Me Out, New Stage Collective; See What I Wanna See, Know Theatre; Hello Again, The Satori Group; and The Charlie Clark Show, 2008 Fringe Festival. His Chicago credits include Kiss of the Spider Woman, Apple Tree Theatre; The Hawkshaws, The Baum House; Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods and Company, Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago.

Jen Joplin (Gwen Harper) makes her Ensemble Theatre debut with Rapture, Blister, Burn. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity, a graduate of Wright State University, a resident artist with the Human Race Theatre in Dayton and Development Associate at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Originally from St. Louis, she has worked across the country as an actress, voiceover artist, producer and teacher. Some of her favorite roles include Annette in God of Carnage, Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra, Catherine in Proof, Maria in Twelfth Night, Lenny in Crimes of the Heart, Bun in The Love Talker and Harper in Angels in America.

Patricia Linhart (Alice Croll) returns to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, having previously participated in the readings of Orphan Train, Campaign, and River of Freedom. She comes to ETC from a successful run of Becky’s New Car at the Human Race Theatre of Dayton where she is a resident company member. Her other favorites at the Human Race include A Little Night Music, Harold and Maude, Closer Than Ever, and The Sisters Rosensweig. At Dayton’s Victoria Theatre, she has been seen in Quilters, I Hate Hamlet, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Green Gables. Her day job is Educator, Associate Professor of Musical Theatre Voice at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she received the Ernest N. Glover “Outstanding Teacher Award.”

Corinne Mohlenhoff (Catherine Croll) is thrilled to be returning to ETC, where she was last seen in Collected Stories. She is a native of New Jersey and has spent time training and working in theaters in Pennsylvania, California, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. She has had the pleasure of working for various local theatres including Human Race Theatre Company and Ovation Theatre Company. Ms. Mohlenhoff is onstage most often at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company where she was seen most recently in Les Liaisons Dangereuses and the world premiere of Joe Stollenwerk’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

Hannah Sawicki (Avery Willard) returns to Cincinnati after graduating cum laude from Butler University with a B.A. in Theatre and a minor in Digital Media Production. Her favorite roles have been Selena in the devised piece Lunar 2.0 with Butler University, Princess of Rhyme in The Phantom Tollbooth with NoExit Performance, and Violet in the independent horror movie, Coda. Ms. Sawicki graduated from Saint Ursula Academy in ’09 where she had the privilege to perform in Stepping Out at the Edinburg Fringe Festival in 2007, and also from CCM prep’s Acting Certificate Program in ’08.

Gina Gionfriddo (Playwright) was a 2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Rapture, Blister, Burn and a 2009 finalist for Becky Shaw. Becky Shaw had its world premiere at Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays and its New York premiere Off Broadway at Second Stage Theatre. Ms. Gionfriddo’s other plays include After Ashley (Humana Festival and Off Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre) and US Drag (produced Off-Broadway by Clubbed Thumb and the stageFARM). She has received an Obie Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, an Outer Critics Circle Award, The Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, and an American Theatre Critics Association/Steinberg citation. She has written for the television dramas “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Cold Case,” “Borgia,” and “House of Cards.” Ms. Gionfriddo has contributed essays on rock music to the literary journal The Believer and short fiction to Canteen. She attended the MFA playwriting program at Brown University where she studied with Paula Vogel. She is currently working on a new play commission from Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles.

Production team includes Brian c. Mehring (Resident Scenic & Lighting Designer), Aaron Clements (Technical Operations Director), Matthew Hollstegge (Production Coordinator & Master Electrician), Shannon Rae Lutz (Properties Master & Design Assistant), Fitz Patton (Sound Designer), and Reba Senske (Costume Designer). Production Stage Manager is Brandon T. Holmes.

Ticket Prices
Tickets are $39 for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday performances.
Tickets are $43 for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday performances.

Half-price rush tickets and $15 student rush tickets are available starting two hours prior to show time. Tickets and seating subject to availability.

Other Single Ticket Discounts
Military/Educator, Public Radio Perks Card, ArtsWave FunCard, AAA, Senior and Enjoy the Arts discounts available; tickets and seating are subject to availability. ETC accepts all major credit cards and Downtown Cincinnati gift cards. A full list of available discounts and performance calendar is available at www.ensemblecincinnati.org.

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is supported, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

2013-2014 Season Presenting Sponsor is the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation. Additional support provided by Garfield Suites Hotel, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts.

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is a professional theatre dedicated to producing world and regional premieres of works that often explore compelling social issues. We fulfill our mission through our stage productions and educational outreach programs that enlighten, enliven, enrich and inspire our audiences.