Written by Christi Stewart-Brown
Directed by Roy Arauz
Fri-Sat at 8 pm, June 3-19, 2011
Additional performances Mon, June 6 and Thurs June 9 at 8:00 pm; and Sun, June 19 at 2:00 pm
$12-$18 general admission
$10 rush tickets will be sold 5 minutes prior to showtime, depending on availability. Rush ticket availability is not guaranteed.
The Saturday, June 11 performance will be interpreted for the hearing impaired.
Meet the Grays—an average family. Mira cooks, cleans, wears dresses, is sexually frustrated, and her spouse is a workaholic veterinarian. Their son is almost 18, has a new girlfriend that he wants to lose his virginity with, and is always hungry. The only way in which this family is not conventional is that the parents are lesbians. What happens when their son wants to know who his dad is? The Gene Pool explores the family’s relationships and how they are dealing with their mid-life crises, their son’s resolution to lose his virginity, and… oh yeah, his question, “Moms, who is my Dad?”
Even though the plot may sound familiar—a movie with a similar theme was released last summer—The Gene Pool was written in 1996 and premiered in 1998 at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington DC, earning a 1999 Helen Hayes Award Nomination for Outstanding New Play. “Stewart-Brown writes frank, funny dialogue about sex, and she can structure a comedy, too—the action practically skips along.”—The Washington Post. “The usual gender dynamics have been altered, but in every other respect this is as charming a family comedy as you are likely to see… its cockeyed take on the conventional family structure is deftly written.”—The Washington Times
The Gene Pool features Colleen Carey and Amelia Meckler as Claire and Mira Gray; Kyle Johnson as their son Peter; Zandi Carlson as Paige, Peter’s girlfriend; and Bruce Erickson as the sperm donor, Harold. For full cast biographies, please visit http://arouet.us/news/the-gene-pool-cast-and-crew/
Christi Stewart-Brown is an award-winning playwright who has had over 40 productions of her plays across the U.S., Canada, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. A four-time Helen Hayes Award nominee, her plays include: Morticians in Love, which played in Seattle in 1997 at Annex Theatre; The Gene Pool; Three More Sisters; Sweet Land of Liberty; Full of Grace; Steak! (co-author), a country-western musical about cattle-rustling vegetarians; and Do Not Use if Seal is Broken, which was made into the film Loungers, directed by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball, The Kite Runner). Featured at the 1996 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Loungers won the Audience Award and placed second for the Jury Award. She is also the author of the young adult novel Kin.
Roy Arauz returns as director for Arouet’s second production after directing Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Other directing credits include Chess (Redwood Theatre) and Annie (The Driftwood Players). A long-time friend of Christi’s, he is thrilled to finally produce and direct The Gene Pool in the Seattle area.
Tags: Amelia Meckler, Bruce Erickson, Christi Stewart-Brown, Colleen Carey, Kyle Johnson, Roy Arauz, Zandi Carlson