Salt Lake Acting Co. Presents the World Premiere of CHARM by Kathleen Cahill directed by Meg Gibson

Salt Lake Acting Company                       News ReleasePRESS CONTACT: CYNTHIA FLEMING. 801 363 7522. CYNTHIA@SALTLAKEACTINGCOMPANY.ORGDAISY BLAKE. 801 363 7522. DAISY@SALTLAKEACTINGCOMPANY.ORGFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.  SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CHARM BY KATHLEEN CAHILL DIRECTED BY MEG GIBSON. Salt Lake Acting Company is proud to present the world premiere of CHARM by Utah author Kathleen Cahill, directed by Meg Gibson, playing April 14 to May 9.  CHARM is set in the 1840s, and is about people who actually existed; a remarkable woman,Margaret Fuller, and her relationships with three of the great literary figures of her time-  Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The language of the play is rich. It’s also full of anachronisms: Margaret Fuller is a woman ahead of her time, and so she sometimes uses the language of our time, and dreams our dreams. In that sense, the play glides between worlds. It’s set in history, but takes place on another plane, weaving in and out of the past. Magically surreal and full of luscious language and unexpected surprise, CHARM invites us into its landscape and invites us dream about how we got from there to here. Though it’s no history play, CHARM is very much about history itself, whom it remembers, whom it forgets, and why. And it’s about American Transcendentalism, the belief in the freedom of the human spirit to transcend the confines of history and time.Writer Kathleen Cahill said: “The play is about cosmic justice- this woman’s right to be heard fairly and get her due. I hope audiences will be enchanted, amused, moved, briefly lifted out of their lives, and leave the theatre with a passionate desire to know more about Margaret Fuller. I hope audiences will think about how history can hide its heroes- how things change and stay the same.”

CHARM had its first reading in June 2008 at the University of Utah, New Play Workshop. In August 2008, there was a workshop at the Icicle Creek Theatre Festival in Seattle, followed by a reading at Lark Theatre Playwrights Week in New York in September 2008. SLAC had a reading of the play in October 2008, directed by Robin Wilks-Dunn. In January last year there was a reading at Orlando Shakespeare Playfest, and in November, a Workshop Production at Orlando Shakespeare Theater, also directed by Meg Gibson. In fall 2009, SLAC received a $27,000 grant from the Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards for CHARM’s world premiere. In December there was a reading at the National New Play Network Showcase in Atlanta, directed by Patrick Flick, who also selected the play for Orlando Shakespeare Theater.

SLAC NOTESThe creative team for Charm will be: Set Design by Keven Myhre, Lighting Design by Jim Craig, Sound Design by Cynthia Kehr-Rees, Costume Design by Brenda Van Der Wiel and Dramaturgy by Sydney Cheek.DATE                                     Previews:         April 14 and 15, 2010                                                Opening:         April 16, 2010                                                Closing:           May 9, 2010 TIMES                                    Previews:         Wed & Thurs- 7:30 p.m.                                                Regular:           Wed & Thurs- 7:30 p.m.                                                                         Friday Opening- 7.30 p.m.Fri & Sat- 8:00 p.m.                                                                         Sun- 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 13th @ 7 p.m.- Free ZAPped Tuesday. Friday, April 16th @ 7:30 p.m.- Opening night celebration.Sunday, April 18th  @ 2 p.m.- Post play discussion following the matinee performance, your opportunity to speak out.Saturday, May 1st @ 2 p.m.-Theatre student matinee with post play discussion. Ticket prices range from Free ZAPped Tuesdays to $15-$37 depending on performance.  Student, Under 30, Group and Senior discounts available.  For tickets call 801- 363-7522, visit www.saltlakeactingcompany.org, or in person at 168 West 500 North, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103. SLAC was founded in 1970 and is dedicated to producing, commissioning and developing new works and to supporting a community of professional artists.  SLAC has been nationally recognized by the Shubert Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Edgerton Foundation, among others.  SLAC is a Constituent Member of Theatre Communications Group, a national organization for non-profit professional regional theatres, and the National New Play Network.