Written by Lauren Eason
Directed by Dave Carter
Produced by Shirley Panek
Performance dates:
February 23 - March 18, 2018
Run time: 2h 30m

Ethan is a hyper-connected millennial and star blogger. His first book “Sex with Strangers,” a collection of personal blog posts that chronicles his many sexual exploits, is a best-seller. Olivia is a gifted but obscure Gen-X novelist. When the two meet one snowy night, they each crave what the other possesses. As attraction turns to sex, they inch closer to getting what they want. Before that happens, however, each must confront the dark side of ambition as they try to reinvent themselves in a digital world where the past is only a click away.

To download the production postcard for Sex with Strangers to share with your friends, visit the Downloads page of our website and look under the Production Postcard heading.

 

About the Director

Dave Carter is back directing for his second season and couldn’t be more pleased to be directing Sex with Strangers, a show he found greatly intriguing the minute he read it. Dave trained with Citrus Theatre as well as the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Last season he directed The Cripple of Inishmaan and has been seen on the CP stage in shows such as Communicating Doors, These Shining Lives, and A Few Good Men. He also assistant directed Taking Steps, Boeing Boeing, and the Ruby Griffith Award winner, The Liar. He thanks Steve Tobin for his mentoring and for pushing him toward direction, as well as Barbara Marder for giving him his first chance to work with The Colonial Players. Dave also acknowledges his amazing cast and crew. He could not have imagined going into the production that he would have a chance to work with a group of people so talented; it has truly been a pleasure. Lastly, Dave would like to send out a very special thank you to his family and friends for encouraging him in the craft he loves and for understanding, “I Can’t. I have rehearsal.”

About the Playwright

Laura Eason is the author of 20 plays, including both original works and adaptations. She also is a screenwriter and a book writer for musicals. Sex with Strangers is her best-known play. The world premiere was at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in 2011. Three years later, it was presented off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater. It was one of the most-produced plays in America during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 theater seasons. Eason served as a writer on four seasons of the Netflix series House of Cards with credits on seven episodes and was a producer on season five. She grew up in Evanston, IL and is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Director's Notes

Hoping to direct my second show in two seasons, last year I went through the list of shows on this season’s slate looking for one that would really be a challenge for me. When I finished reading Sex with Strangers, I knew this was the challenge I wanted to take on. It wasn’t just the challenge of staging provocative and edgy scenes not often done on this stage, but even more it was looking at the characters and the story and wanting to show the brilliance of the writing and that this show was about more than sex and power.

In this play there is a deep connection between two people who would normally never come together. It isn’t just their ages that are so different, but they see the world from extremely opposite viewpoints. Or do they? That was the question I kept asking myself, and if I was wondering this, I really wanted to get that same reaction from audiences. As rehearsals began and the show started to come to life, I truly began to see the brilliance of Laura Eason’s writing. I hope this makes sense, but she intentionally wrote the lines based on the characters’ personalities. One can ask don’t all writers do the same, and to that I say, sort of, but not the way she has in this show.

Ethan is big and bold and takes on the world, while Olivia is quite the opposite. I am hoping audiences will feel that his lines are much bigger and bolder, reflecting his character, much as Olivia’s are softer and quieter. The difference is very subtle, but if you really pay attention, you will see it. Eason is so masterful in how she puts each scene together. On the surface it seems that this is just a cheap thrill of a production, but the power struggles that play out in each scene and the deep connection that underlies and grows between the characters in such a short time is absolutely brilliant. The playwright touches on that inner secret place we all have been to in relationships. I know audiences will feel a part of these characters as they reflect on the intimacy of their own lives. Love is the most complicated human emotion and is unique for each person, yet so similar in so many ways. All in all I hope audience members walk away saying to themselves, WOW! I didn’t expect that.

– DAVID CARTER

 

The Cast

Elizabeth Hester (Olivia) - Elizabeth is honored to be making her first appearance with The Colonial Players! Having been involved with several professional and community theaters in the DC/BAL area, she was last seen playing the role of Francesca Johnson in The Bridges of Madison County with Kensington Arts Theatre. Favorite credits include Shrek (Fiona), Guys & Dolls (Sarah Brown), Camelot (Guinevere), A New Brain (Mimi Schwinn), South Pacific (Nellie Forbush), and Michael John LaChiusa’s The Wild Party (Mae). Education: The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, and The Juilliard School (final callback master classes/Drama Dept).

Dylan Roche (Ethan) - After a long hiatus from acting, Dylan is thrilled to be back onstage and tackling this dream role. Dylan last worked with The Colonial Players in 2010 when his script, Stolen Beer and a Bake Sale, was produced as part of the summer festival of short plays. Favorite acting experiences: Winter’s Tale (Florizel) and Twelfth Night (Orsino), both at The University of Maryland. Offstage: Children’s Theatre of Annapolis productions of Alice in Wonderland (director), Haphazardly Ever After (director), and Snow White (playwright). Currently, Dylan is co-directing The Sound of Music at Broadneck High School. When he isn’t rehearsing, he is seeking representation for his first novel. 

 

The Production Staff

Alex Brady (Lighting Designer) Alex returns as lighting designer for Sex with Strangers, his third show this season at The Colonial Players. He was recently nominated for a Washington Area Theatre Community Honors award for his lighting of 33 Variations, which also garnered seven other nominations, including for best play. He also designed lights for Shiloh Rules, the first show of the current season, and was nominated for best lighting design last season for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Venus in Fur. Alex serves as the resident lighting designer for the AACC Dance Company and works with various local theaters and high schools. He is SAFD certified in stage combat with the broadsword. Alex is an alumnus of the Graduate Institute at St. John's College and teaches in the Humanities and Fine Arts Departments at Anne Arundel Community College. He is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Society for Historic Swordsmanship, where he studies and instructs German longsword, sword and buckler, medieval dagger, and Italian dueling saber.

Jennifer Cooper (Costume Designer, Properties Designer) Grateful. Humbled. Inspired. BECAUSE: “I’m drawn out of my own life into someone else’s life, and yet suddenly I myself feel more alive! I’m pulled out of what I do every day into something larger and more lasting. Into humanity.” – Meryl Streep

Rosalie Daelemans (Assistant Director) Rosalie is delighted to be a part of this wonderful production with such a talented cast and crew. Offstage, Rosalie has helped in various capacities with stage managing, costumes, props, lighting, set dressing, and painting. Onstage, she most recently performed at The Colonial Players in the festival of short plays and in Calendar Girls. Other favorite shows include: The Importance of Being Ernest (Lady Bracknell), Noises Off (Vickie/Brooke), The Man Who Came to Dinner (Maggie Cutler), Bloody Murder (Jane), Fox on the Fairway (Pamela), On Golden Pond (Chelsea), Run for your Wife (Mary), Don’t Dress for Dinner (Suzette), Steel Magnolias (M’Lynn), City of Angels (Alaura), South Pacific (Nellie), Damn Yankees (Lola), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), My Fair Lady (Eliza), and Mame (Gooch). Tremendous thanks to everyone for their support, creativity, hard work, and sense of humor!

Ernie Morton (Stage Manager) Ernie is in awe of the talent and especially the dedication of this cast. They have been a joy to work with. He wants to thank David for letting him come aboard, after he basically called David and said, “I’m working on your show.” Ernie has served as stage manager at CP for a number of shows since starting off with the 2014 short play festival. When Ernie is not running around backstage at CP, he drives back and forth to DC. There he works as an analyst for the Coast Guard, when he’s not playing saxophone with the Coast Guard Headquarters Big Band, The Cutters. In his infinitesimal spare time he looks for golf balls, usually finding ones other people have lost, not the one he played last. 

Edd Miller (Set and Floor Designer) Edd has a long history with The Colonial Players as a director, actor, set designer, and volunteer in other areas. His most recent set designs were for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Calendar Girls, and Good People, which he also directed. Other recent design credits include Rocket Man, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, In the Next Room, and Annie. Edd was nominated for a Washington Area Theatre Community Honors set design award for Chapter Two and won a 2012 WATCH award for best direction for Going to St. Ives, which also won awards for best play (out of 83 plays judged) and for best lead actress. Edd also has acted in and directed many other shows since joining CP in 1964. His most recent onstage appearance was as Wilfred in Quartet.

Shirley Panek (Producer) Sex with Strangers is Shirley’s second role as producer. Her first experience was as coproducer/assistant director for the recently WATCH-nominated 33 Variations at Colonial Players. Previously, she has been seen onstage (most recently: Good People, Rocket Man, Superior Donuts), and offstage as both lighting designer and stage manager for various shows. Thanks to Dave Carter for letting me be a part of this team of talented actors, designers, and staff. Love to Jeff, Alice and Emma.

Sarah Wade (Sound Designer) Sarah is pleased to be behind the scenes again designing sound for The Colonial Players. Prior sound credits include Calendar Girls, Side Man, and Watch on the Rhine at CP, as well as The Miracle Worker and To Kill a Mockingbird at Compass Rose Theater. Sarah has appeared in numerous productions at The Colonial Players, most recently in 2016 in A Christmas Carol as Belle and in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Honey, a performance which won for her the Washington Area Theatre Community Honors Award for best featured actress in a play. Prior credits include: Gabriella in Boeing Boeing; Cecily Cardew in Ernest in Love; Sabine/Isabelle in The Liar, Catherine Donahue in These Shining Lives; Star-to-be in Annie; Jessica in Communicating Doors; and Kitty in Taking Steps. Sarah serves on the CP Board of Directors as marketing director.