TWO THINGS YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT AT DINNER, by Lisa Loomer, will play The Space Theatre January 20 – February 19 (opening night Thursday, January 26). Tickets may be purchased now, by calling 303.893.4100 or visiting www.denvercenter.org.
TWO THINGS YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT AT DINNER is the story of Myriam’s annual Passover Seder, a multicultural mix of family and friends, which threatens to explode as politics and religion hijack the conversation, severely testing the ties that bind. Is peace not possible — even at the dinner table?
The cast of TWO THINGS YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT AT DINNER includes debuting actors Mimi Lieber as Myriam, Lenny Wolpe as Jack, Karen Pittman as Nikki, Ben Morrow as Christopher, Sala Iwamatsu as Kimiko, Shana Dowdeswell as Rachelle and Sophia Espinosa as Mable. Ginny is Catherine E. Coulson (New Play Summit, 2011), Josh is John Hutton (20 seasons/To Kill a Mockingbird, Superior Donuts, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Dan is Sam Gregory (36 productions/American Night: The Ballad of Juan José, Ruined, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Alice is Caitlin O’Connell (The Clean House, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball), Lupe is Gabriella Cavallero (19 seasons/Living Out, Mama Hated Diesels), and Sam is Nasser Faris (Inana).
TWO THINGS YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT AT DINNER is by Lisa Loomer and directed by Wendy C. Goldberg. Scenic design is by Kevin Depinet (debut) while costume design is by Anne Kennedy (The Clean House, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball). Lighting design is by Charles R. MacLeod (279 productions/29 seasons, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Liar), sound design is by Jason Ducat (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Liar) and dramaturgy is by Doug Langworthy (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, American Night: The Ballad of Juan José).
About the playwright: Lisa Loomer’s play, TWO THINGS YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT AT DINNER, is having its world premiere at The Denver Center this winter. Her new play, Homefree (a DCTC commission), will be part of the 2012 Colorado New Play Summit. Another new play, Café Vida, will open The Cornerstone Theater’s new cycle of plays on hunger in Los Angeles this spring. Her play, Distracted, had its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum and was subsequently produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The play was produced in Spring 2009 at the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York in a production starring Cynthia Nixon and has subsequently been produced in theatres throughout the US. Living Out had its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum and was produced at Second Stage in New York in 2003. It has been produced at such theaters as Seattle Rep, Milwaukee Rep, the Denver Center Theatre Company, and Theaterworks, often in bi-lingual productions, as well as in Israel, Europe, and Mexico. Her play The Waiting Room went from Williamstown Theater Festival to the Mark Taper Forum to highly successful productions at Arena Stage and Trinity Rep, and then on to the Vineyard Theatre in New York. It has been produced nationally and in Europe and Egypt. Her play Expecting Isabel had its world premiere at Arena Stage and its west coast premiere at the Taper. Bocon!, a political fable for young audiences, began at the Taper and has been seen throughout the country, from the Kennedy Center, to Seattle’s Group Theater, Stage Left in Chicago and the La Jolla Playhouse, as well as in Germany, Alaska, and Mexico. For the Cornerstone Theatre Company, she wrote Broken Hearts, produced at the Los Angeles Theater Center. Ms. Loomer’s first work for theater was a collaboration entitled A Crowd of Two at the American Place Theatre. This was followed by a one-woman show, All By Herselves, at Westside Arts. She began writing plays at the Intar Playwrights Lab, under the direction of Maria Irene Fornes. Her first play, Birds, was produced by South Coast Rep. Subsequent works include Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria!; Accelerando; Looking For Angels; Cuts and Chain Of Life, which have been produced at such theatres as The Public Theater, Intar, and Mixed Blood.
Ms. Loomer is an alumna of New Dramatists and the recipient of two grants from the NEA and a grant from the NYFA. Awards include the Jane Chambers Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, a Garland Award, a Lurie Foundation Award, and the American Theatre Critics Association Award (twice). She was twice nominated for a Pulitzer and also has received an Imagen Award for positive portrayals of Latinos in all media. Her plays appear in The Best Plays of 1998-1999, The Best Plays of 1994-1995, and The Best Plays of 2003-04, and are published by Dramatists Play Service, TCG, Dramatic Publishing and Arte Publico Press. The Waiting Room and Living Out are taught in university drama programs, Women’s Studies programs, and Latino Studies programs. As a screenwriter, her credits include Girl, Interrupted and numerous pilots and episodes for television.
