Shrewd Productions proudly presents:
A National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere
Alabaster by Audrey Cephaly
Directed by Rudy Ramirez
February 20, 2020 – March 7, 2020 Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays at 8pm
www.shrewdproductions.com
Dougherty Arts Center
1110 Barton Springs Rd.
Austin, TX 78704
www.austintexas.gov/DAC
Dacinfo@austintexas.gov
(512)974-4000

A noted photographer sets out to explore the topography of “scars.” Her journey lands her in the mysterious realm of an undiscovered folk artist hiding away on a small farm in North Alabama. This intimate portrait explores the meaning and purpose of art and the struggle of the lost and tortured souls that seek to create it.

Directed by renowned Austin phenom Rudy Ramirez, Alabaster stars Lizzie Beckham (Duchess of Malfi, The Rover) as June, Shannon Grounds (The Revolutionists, Agent Andromeda) as Alice, Jennifer Jennings (Wild Horses, Agent Andromeda) as Weezy, and the legendary Jennie Underwood as Bib. This darkly comic southern drama won the David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize, was chosen for the 2019 Kilroy’s List, and has just been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Alabaster takes the stage at the Dougherty Arts Center February 21 – March 7 as part of The City of Austin’s Artist Access Program.

Three years after the tornado wiped out her entire family, June has isolated herself, along with her goats Weezy and Bib, on what remains of her family farm. June, who suffers from agoraphobia and crippling PTSD, is covered, from head to toe… with scars. Alice, a world-renowned photographer, has come to take pictures of June for a series on women with scars. But Alice is carrying scars of her own and is desperately trying to outrun her own pain. The sexual tension between June and Alice is immediate and ever-present. But what they need from each other transcends the physical. What does it mean to be truly “seen?” How do we pick up the pieces? How do we move forward? A play about women. About art. About healing.

SHREWD PRODUCTIONS joins eleven other partner theatre companies in this record-breaking, NNPN rolling world premiere. Other partnering theaters are FLORIDA REPERTORY THEATER, 16TH STREET THEATER (BERWYN, IL), CAPITAL STAGE (SACRAMENTO), KITCHEN DOG THEATER (DALLAS), KNOW THEATRE OF CINCINNATI, PHOENIX THEATRE (INDIANAPOLIS), WILLIAMSTON THEATRE (MI), SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY, NEW JERSEY REPERTORY COMPANY (LONG BRANCH), and OREGON CONTEMPORARY THEATRE (EUGENE).

“Sometimes a piece just glues you to your chair, makes you laugh, rips your heart out, and when it’s done you want to hold the people you love tightly and not let go. ” Tony Caselli, AD, Williamston Theatre

“Alabaster” is that one-in-a-thousand play that works both as a bittersweet comedy that’s full of surprises and as a heart wrenching testament to what it means to be alive in an age of uncertainty.” Joel Stone, Literary Manager, NJ Rep

“Scars of life. A talking goat! YES!!! This is theater at its best. ” Ann Filmer, Founding AD, 16th Street Theatre