Rep Stage Remembers 9/11 with Special Production of The Guys

Rep Stage, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), opens its new Salon Series with a staged reading of the play "The Guys" by Anne Nelson. Less than two weeks after the September 11 attacks, New Yorkers are still in shock. One of them, an editor named Joan, receives an unexpected phone call on behalf of Nick, a fire captain who has lost most of his men in the attack. He's looking for a writer to help him with the eulogies he must present at their memorial services. Nick and Joan spend a long afternoon together, recalling the fallen men through recounting their virtues and their foibles, and fashioning the stories into memorials of words. In the process, Nick and Joan discover the possibilities of friendship in each other and their shared love for the unconquerable spirit of the city. As they make their way through the emotional landscape of grief, they draw on humor, tango, the appreciation of craft in all its forms - and the enduring bonds of common humanity. Said the New York Times, "Nelson's play...gives credible and powerful voice to a very specific kind of pain...perhaps the keenest message to emerge from 'The Guys' is the assertion that writers-and actors-have a serious role to play in a grieving society." The New York Post called it "A generous, sad, touching play about the braveries of grief." The cast will include Yvonne Erickson as Joan and Michael Stebbins, Rep Stage's producing artistic director, as Nick.

"The Guys" will be presented in the Monteabaro Recital Hall of HCC's Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, September 9 to 11, 2011, for four performances only: Friday, September 9 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, September 10 at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, September 11 at 2 p.m. All tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased at the box office, by calling 443-518-1500, or visiting www.repstage.org.

Rep Stage's new Salon Series will also include productions of "The Poe Show," David Sedaris' "Holidays on Ice," and "Rep Stage Revue: Spotlighting YOU!". Visit www.repstage.org/Productions/SalonSeries for more information.