Olney Theatre Center's Season Continues With The Submission

Olney Theatre Center announces the DC-area premiere of Jeff Talbott's The Submission May 9 - June 9, 2013. Winner of the inaugural Laurents-Hatcher Award, Olney Theatre Center's production is the third professional production of the play since its World Premiere in 2011.

The Submission follows Danny, a gay, white playwright as his play gets accepted at the nation's preeminent theater festival. Trouble is, everyone thinks his stirring new play about an alcoholic black mother and her card sharp son trying to get out of the Projects is written by Shaleeha G'ntamobi...and she doesn't exist. Winner of the 2012 Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award, The New York Times calls The Submission "a perky tale of racial pride and prejudice in the theatre."

"The Submission takes a look at how we talk to each other and the importance we place on certain words that impede our ability to communicate to each other," says director David Elliott. "It is my hope that seeing this play leads to great conversations."

Helen Hayes Award-nominated actress Kellee Knighten Hough tackles the role of Emilie, the actress hired to pretend she is Shaleeha G'ntamobi. DC audiences will recognize Ms. Hough from her recent appearance in Ford's Theatre's Our Town, as well as their productions of A Christmas Carol, Parade and The Civil War. She has also appeared in Xanadu at Signature Theatre and Two Gentlemen of Verona: A Rock Opera at Shakespeare Theatre.

Playing the role of Danny is Olney Theatre Center newcomer Frank De Julio. Theatre credits include Richard the II at New York's 4th Street Theatre, Twelfth Night with Circle in the Square Theatre, and the Drama Desk Award-nominated play Unnatural Acts - which he coauthored with Keith Smerage. Mr. Julio has appeared in a number of popular television shows including NBC's "Smash" and the CW's "Gossip Girl" as well as daytime dramas "As The World Turns" and "One Life To Live."

Ari Butler portrays Danny's boyfriend Pete. Mr. Butler appeared Off-Broadway in Poetic License, Old Jews Telling Jokes, Dreyfus in Rehearsal and Fugue. He performed in the World Premiere production of Jack Kerouac's Beat Generation, as well as the film Coming Up Roses with Bernadette Peters.

Craig Dolezel makes his DC-area debut with The Submission. Mr. Dolezel plays Trevor and has performed in a number of reginal theatre productions including It's a Wonderful Life (Live Radio Play), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Speech and Debate and Any Place But Here. He has also appeared in the movies Alone and Cowboys and Indians.

"Though Olney Theatre Center is best known for its musical-theater productions, former Artistic Director Jim Petosa set the bar high for gutsy new work," said Artistic Director Jason Loewith. "The Submission is of a piece with intimate productions of new and adventurous scripts that Olney Theatre Center has been championing - with a little less fanfare - for decades."