McMaster Summer Drama Festival

MCMASTER SUMMER DRAMA FESTIVAL MAKES ITS REPRISE IN THE HEART OF HAMILTON

HAMILTON, ON - The McMaster Summer Drama Festival (SDF) announces its eighteenth season, opening July 18, 2008 and running to July 26, 2008.

Artistic Director Andrew Hadden asserts, "This year's festival consists of four very unique shows. Each one is very bold in its own way. The audience will have the option to see a brutally honest and emotional drama (Closer), a quirky musical which explores contemporary pop culture (Six Women With Brain Death), a student-written adaptation of the classic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet (Fair Verona) and a play which reflects on life and regret (Edward Albee's Three Tall Women)."

"I believe that this year's season is proving to be our most ambitious," declares Production Stage Manager Monica Cairney. "Within our four shows we incorporate a musical, live and/or original music and multimedia, none of which have been used in this company in recent memory. These elements, on top of organizing and running a festival, have been a challenge but are also paving the way for more risks to be taken in the future."

This year's festival consists of:

CLOSER
Written by Patrick Marber
Directed by James Tyler Shearer
Starring Jim Malloy as Larry, Lacey Benedetti as Alice, Grant
Winestock as Dan, and Sarah Midghall as Anna.

Closer, a story about love caught up in false pretenses opened
in London in 1997 and quickly won the Evening Standard Award
for Best Comedy, and the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and
Laurence Olivier Awards for Best New Play.

FAIR VERONA
Adapted from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and other works
Directed by Kerri Bojman and Graham Jenner
Starring Duncan Thompson as Romeo, Emma Turner as Juliet, and
Meghan Banks, Nick Davies, Alexandra Holbrook and Alex White
as Verona.

Fair Verona, a 'rearrangement' of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet,
is a brand new work presented by Kerri Bojman and Graham Jenner.
"Fair Verona is a play about how a person's environment plays
a crucial role in his or her life; how a society's structure,
traditions, and unspoken rules can make or break a person's
ability to function or survive," says directors Bojman and Jenner.

SIX WOMEN WITH BRAIN DEATH OR EXPIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW
Book by Cheryl Benge, Christy Brandt, Mark Houston, Peggy
Pharr Wilson, Rosanna E. Coppedge, Ross Freese, Sandee
Johnson, and Valerie Fagan
Music and Lyrics by Mark Houston
Directed by Blythe Stewart
Starring Alexa Di Cresce as the Diva, Kathleen Dodd as Marge,
Zoˆ´ Godfrey Davies as Jolene, Max Goodis as the Prom Queen
Candidate, Krista Janke as Wanda, and Alison O'Neill as Veronica.

Six Women with Brain Death, since its inception in 1992, has
developed substantial underground popularity. Originally
performed in Kansas City, Missouri, the show moved to San
Diego, California, where Variety called the show "a lifesaver
for the theatre".

EDWARD ALBEE'S THREE TALL WOMEN
Directed by Amanda Nesbitt
Starring Alicia Micallef as A, Laura Pomeroy as B, Carly
Pokoradi as C, and Colin Nesbitt as the Son.

Edward Albee's unique brand of acerbic wit is quite clear
in his Pulitzer Prize-winning Three Tall Women: "Through the
story of the life of one woman the audience is asked to remind
themselves of all the strengths, weaknesses, prejudices, loves
and joys of being human," Director Amanda N. Nesbitt explains.
"There is a slight nod towards Theatre of the Absurd in order to
explore, realistically, everything from incontinence to
infidelity, from raising children to the compromises made and
the regrets gathered."

The McMaster Summer Drama Festival began in 1991, and has
since developed a reputation as one of the longest-running
summer community theatre groups. Their productions have
ranged from classical, to contemporary, to even original
works, and adaptations of films. The Festival consistently
caters to well over a thousand theatre goers each summer.

SHOW TIMES:

Closer ’Äì July 18, 20, 22, 24, 8 PM, July 19, 26, 2 PM
Fair Verona ’Äì July 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 7 PM, July 19, 1 PM
Six Women With Brain Death ’Äì July 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 8 PM, July 20, 2 PM
Three Tall Women ’Äì July 18, 19, 22, 24, 7 PM, July 20, 26, 1 PM

TICKETS:

Adult -- $10 per show*
Student/Senior -- $8 per show*
Festival Pass Adult -- $30 (admission to four shows)**
Festival Pass Student/Senior -- $25 (admission to four shows)**

Tickets will be available at the door; reservations may be made at http://www.summerdramafestival.com/tickets.php.

Tickets are also available for sale at Compass Information Centre, in the McMaster University Student Centre.

*All seats are general admission.
**Certain conditions apply.

LOCATIONS:

Closer, Six Women With Brain Death ’Äì Hamilton Theatre Inc. Studio Theatre, 140 MacNab Street North, Hamilton.

Fair Verona, Three Tall Women ’Äì Faculty Hollow, McMaster,Campus, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton.

More detailed information about show locations available
from http://www.summerdramafestival.com.