Park Square Theatres season of premieres continues with

Carson Kreitzers Behind the Eye April 25 May 18, 2014

A trio of local theatre heroines reveal a life lived bravely and fully

St. Paul, Minn., February 10, 2014 Strong and beautiful women take center stage at Park Square Theatre this spring with the area premiere of Behind the Eye, written by local playwright Carson Kreitzer, directed by Leah Cooper and featuring Annie Enneking as feisty model-turned-war correspondent Lee Miller.

Kreitzer discovered a biography of Miller in 2006 and was captivated. Lee Miller was a truly breathtaking beauty who got out from being in front of the camera as fast as possible. She approached Man Ray to learn how to make photos then opened a photo studio during the Depression. During World War II she convinced the British edition of Vogue to have a war photo department, and she staffed it, doing incredible work at great personal risk.

Cooper is equally smitten with this extraordinary woman. Lee Millers life story is so richly drawn in this piece, it really speaks to me as a director and as a woman with my own complex relationship to art and love and life. For all Millers flaws, and rough-and-tumble life experience, Coopers view is that she was just such a hero in terms of living life fully, expressing herself fully, and exposing herself authentically.

Absolutely! echoes Kreitzer. Here is someone who should be a national heroine, and yet she is largely unknown. She would not be told what to do; she would not be told what the rules were for women. She had a restless intelligence, always looking for the next thing.

One of Park Square Theatres Artistic Associates, Kreitzer has seen her play performed twice before, but is clearly excited by the prospect of seeing it produced in her hometown. For her part, Cooper enjoys the opportunity to collaborate the plays creator. My experience with playwrights is that they often dont fully know what theyve made until theyve seen an audience and an artistic team interact with it, so a production with the writer as collaborator is such an amazing opportunity to dig deeper into the piece and stretch broader in terms of its clarity and resonance. Great theater brings us inside the characters worldview and helps us see what they are reaching for. Thats what

Carson

s writing does so well. Personally, I find great inspiration and exaltation in our relentless human attempt to close the distance between our noble reach and our frail grasp.

Kreitzer's choice of structure and abstract setting were inspired by the surrealist art that infused Millers life. An ensemble of actors, including Gabriele Angieri, Patrick Bailey and John Reidlinger, float in and out around Annie Ennekings Lee Miller, portraying the various famous men who hoped to possess, control or exploit Millers beauty and talent. Mo Perry, another strong woman, plays the other female roles. After an evening with this great cast, I hope our audiences fall in love with the woman as so many did with her image and her art, says Cooper. I hope they are inspired to imagine and reach for a life lived bravely and fully.

CALENDAR INFORMATION

BEHIND THE EYE

By

Carson

Kreitzer

Directed by Leah Cooper

REGIONAL Premiere

Previews: April 25 May 1, 2014

Regular Run: May 2 18, 2014

A gripping play about a remarkable life: Lee Miller was at the center of some of the most exciting times of the 20th century. From a photographers model in Vogue in the 20s to muse of the Paris Surrealists in the 30s, she became an acclaimed World War II photographer, covering the front lines as well as the London Blitz and the horror of

Dachau

. Behind the Eye chronicles Millers fascinating adventures, loves and personal struggle: what to do with yourself when youve done it all.

Tickets: Previews: $25/$35; 99-Cent Night: $0.99; Regular Run: $38/$58

PARK SQUARE THEATRE,

Box office: 651-291-7005 or www.parksquaretheatre.org

P: Preview O: Opening B: 99-cent preview (no advance sales)
AD: Audio Description D: Post-show Discussion C: Open Captioning

THE RED BOX

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

Directed by Peter Moore

WORLD Premiere COMMISSION

Previews: May 30 June 5, 2014

Regular Run: June 6 July 13, 2014

A lovely young woman is dead and the fortunes of a theatrical producer depend on solving the mystery. The police are not getting anywhere, so its time to call Nero Wolfe and eccentric detective genius who rarely leaves his comfortable brownstone in

Manhattan

. While tending his 10,000 orchids and enjoying fine cuisine, Wolfe and his wisecracking sidekick Archie solve a crime that seems unsolvable.

PARK SQUARE THEATRE.

20 W. 7th Place, Saint Paul

. Box office: 651.291.7005. www.parksquaretheatre.org