COLETTE FREEDMAN’S “SISTER CITIES”
MOVES TO THE CIRCUS THEATRICALS ‘MAIN STAGE’

May 22, 2006 – Award-winning and critically-acclaimed theatre company, Circus Theatricals, announces that Colette Freeman’s ‘SISTER CITIES’ moves from a work-in-progress ‘lab production’ to a ‘main stage’ production. SISTER CITIES, (Sundays at 7PM through July 2) is directed by Circus Theatricals company member Elise Robertson, and features notable actress and Circus Theatricals Associate artist Jill Gascoine.

In SISTER CITIES, four estranged sisters reunite in their family home in upper state New York, to unravel the mystery surrounding their mother’s apparent suicide. Sister Cities tackles the universal themes of duty to family, personal responsibility, and what constitutes a good life. It also touches on the personal “hows” of living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive neuromuscular disease that weakens and eventually destroys motor neurons.

The all femail cast and crew includes Circus Theatricals members Circus Theatricals members Jill Gascoine (Mary), Colette Freedman (Austin), Nickella Moschetti (Dallas) Jade Sealey (Boston), and Susan Ziegler (Carolina). Elise Robertson directs. Leah Roobini stage manages.

Colette Freedman most recently adapted the Euripides classic “Iphigenia in Aulis,” which was the first play in the new Circus Theatricals Studio Theatre at the Hayworth. Her other plays “Rock, Paper, Scissors”, “Bridesmaid #3” and “Looking for Atticus Finch” have been produced across the country as well as in Canada, Australia and England. She was 2005 First Prize Winner for creative writing at Santa Barbara’s Writer’s Conference. Film work includes the documentary "Making Shakespeare Accessible" with narration by Alfred Molina and "Finding Fred Mertz" in which she also starred, (Best Screenplay of the Year, UrbanInsider).

Jill Gascoine. With Circus Theatricals, Jill Gascoine most recently played Madame Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard., opposite husband Alfred Molina. Other roles with Circus Theatricals include Queen Elizabeth in Richard III, for which she received an LA Weekly Award Nomination for "Supporting Female Performance," and Queen Gertrude in Hamlet. Born in London, Jill's vast theatre credits include St. Joan,
Antigone, Twelfth Night, Uncle Vanya, Arms & the Man, Candida, Anthony and Cleopatra, A Streetcar Named Desire, Joan of Lorraine, Night of the Iguana, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Night Street, 42nd Street, Destry Rides Again, and Pal Joey. She starred in the long-running UK television series "The Gentle Touch" and then starred as the same character in its spin-off series "Cat's Eyes."

Nickella Moschetti’s Circus Theatricals credits include: Ellipses, Macbeth, Marianne in Tartuffe (LA Weekly award, “Best Comedy Ensemble”), Anya in The Cherry Orchard , and Young Prince in Richard III. Also for Circus Theatricals, she has played Irina in Three Sisters, Celia in As You Like It, Abigail in The Crucible, Babe in Crimes of the Heart, and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.

Jade Sealey’s Circus Theatricals credits include: Iphigenia in Iphigenia in Aulis, Coffee to Go, The Circle, and Deconstructing the Torah. New York, stage credits include the roles of Cavale in Sam Sheperd’s Cowboy Mouth, Indra’s daughter in Strindberg’s A Dream Play, Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew, The Princess of France in Love’s Labour’s Lost, and Constanze in Amadeus.

Susan Ziegler’s Circus Theatricals credits include Beatrice in Modigliani, The Circle, Lady Macduff in Macbeth, Rosalind in As You Like It, and What Went Wrong with the King and Queen of America.
Off-Broadway includes: Oona and Lurleen (The Public Theatre), Angel City, Suicide in B Flat, Hamlet, The Duchess of Malfi and the title character in Co-Dependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same (The Public Theate: W.O.W. Cafe.). LA theatre include: Cheyenne (The Lillian), The American Way, Under My Thumb (as Marianne Faithfull), and Boiler Room (Actors Art Theatre). TV includes: “The West Wing,” “Silk Stalkings,” “Arrest & Trial,” "Passions," and “Days of Our Lives.” Recent film: “Lying in Wait (w/Rutger Hauer), and “Big Brother Trouble.” A graduate of NYU’s Experimental Theatre Wing.

Director Elise Robertson is A Cine Golden Eagle and Emmy award-winning TV and film director, Elise’s writer/director credits include: Ralph Ellison's "King of the Bingo Game, " and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Sensible Thing" for PBS. Additional directing credits: Two seasons on "Adventures with Kanga Roddy,” and scenes from Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" for American Masters, both on PBS. Stage directing: What Went Wrong With the King and Queen of America, Ellipses and Max for Circus Theatricals. Also an actress, she has appeared onstage in numerous Circus Productions, including Three Sisters, The Seagull, and The Circle, as well as starring in Ourselves Alone and Oleanna with the Crash Box Players. Recent TV/Film includes: Grey's Anatomy, Six Feet Under, Gilmore Girls, and The Good-Humor Man.

About Circus Theatricals
Jack Stehlin founded Circus Theatricals in New York in 1983. The company’s notable NYC productions
include Shakespeare’s Macbeth Off-Broadway at the Classic Stage Company and Danton’s Death at the Rapp Arts Center. In 1995, Circus Theatricals moved to Los Angeles, where Jack met and partnered with Jeannine Wisnosky (Jack and Jeannine married two years later). In LA, Circus Theatricals was in residence at The Hudson Guild (The Job, Hedda Gabler) from 1995 - 1999, and the Odyssey Theatre (Hamlet, Richard III, True West, Tartuffe, The Cherry Orchard) from 1999 to 2005.

Circus Theatricals begins their 2006 season in the new Circus Theatricals Studio Theatre at the Hayworth. The company plans to continue to present a mix of classic and new plays. This summer, Circus Theatricals will present two world premiere plays in repertory, including John Bunzel’s” Complexity,” and R. Hamilton Wright’s “Greensward.” Other goals include a plan to develop more new works with established and budding playwrights, expand community outreach programs, develop a subscription audience, continue to develop the Circus Theatricals Studio Ensemble, and enhance the quality of training in The Circus Theatricals Studio for Actors.

Circus Theatricals has garnered awards and nominations from the LA Drama Critics Circle, Back Stage West, the LA Weekly, LA Stage Alliance Ovations, and Dramalogue.

Tickets and Information
SISTER CITIES will play Sundays at 7pm thru July 2. Tickets are $15. Phone reservations; 323.960.1054, or Online at the Circus Theatricals website: http://www.circustheatricals.com/tickets.html or Plays411.com

The Circus Theatricals Studio Theatre at The Hayworth is located at 2511 Wilshire Blvd, just off the 10 and 110 freeways. The entrance is on Carondelet. The theatre is on the second floor. There is ample street parking, as well as a low-priced parking lot one half block west on Wilshire. For more information about Circus Theatricals, please visit their website at www.circustheatricals.com or call Jeannine Stehlin directly at 310-836-7823.

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