Pioneer Theatre Company Presents A Reading of THE MESSENGER

Pioneer Theatre Company continues its seventh season of the Play-by-Play new play reading series with The Messenger, a play in development by award-winning playwright Jeff Talbott.

The Messenger tells the story of Therese Stockman a small-town doctor in Norway in 1882 who has made a shocking discovery about the industry that gives her town its lifeblood. Her friend Kristine, the editor of one of the town newspapers, is about to take the story and run with it, but at what cost? The Messenger is a dramatic roller coaster ride that examines our relationships with the press and the community, challenging when and where to draw the line when public safety and economics clash.

"I have been recently fascinated by classic pieces of theatre containing social and political themes that closely mirror our current climate," says Karen Azenberg, Pioneer Theatre Company's Artistic Director. "Ibsen's whistleblower story, An Enemy of the People, has always been intriguing, and even more so in the last year. When I spoke to Jeff [Talbott] about it, he jumped on the idea of a new adaptation, presenting with me with a first draft less than two months later! Little did I know that the play's other theme, the threat of a viral contagion, would be so incredibly timely!"

Playwright Jeff Talbott has appeared as both an actor and a playwright at PTC. His play /i/ was developed in Pioneer Theatre Company's Play-by-Play new play reading series in 2017 and subsequently produced by PTC in 2018. A Public Education was also read in the series in 2014 and was a finalist for the 2015 O'Neill Playwrights Conference, one of five times he has been a finalist. He also won an Outer Critics Choice Award winner for his play The Submission.

Three public readings will take place at the Babcock Theatre, in the lower level of Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, on Friday, March 13, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 14, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. There will be a talkback directly after the 2:00 p.m. matinee. Tickets are available at www.pioneertheatre.org or by calling 801-581-6961.

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