About "The Quality of Life"
American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) announced casting for its production of The Quality of Life written and directed by acclaimed playwright Jane Anderson, a multiple Emmy Award-winning film and television writer and director (The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio; Normal). The ensemble features members of the original award-winning cast of the Geffen Playhouse production: two time OBIE Award winner Dennis Boutsikaris, Laurie Metcalf (Desperate Housewives, Roseanne), and JoBeth Williams (Poltergeist, The Big Chill) will be joined by Stephen Culp (Desperate Housewives, A.C.T.'s Blackbird).
This daring, star-studded cast explores hot-button issues of life and death in this riveting new play. When a religious Midwestern couple, Bill and Dinah, visit their free-spirited cousin Jeannette (played by Metcalf)and her husband, Neil, both couples confront loss and survival in the face of explosive circumstance. An unforgettable, brave work of heart and humor, The Quality of Life was nominated for four 2007 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards and six 2007 Los Angeles Ovation Awards. The Quality of Life plays at A.C.T. October 24 through November 23, 2008. Tickets-starting at $17-are available by calling A.C.T. Ticket Services at 415.749.2228, or at www.act-sf.org.
Anderson found inspiration for the play from her brother's experience in the Mt. Vision fire of 1995, and set the play at Jeannette and Neil's makeshift encampment in the Oakland hills after a fire decimated their home. The Quality of Life explores our ability to transform and grow through personal tragedy as the two couples from different political and religious backgrounds confront these challenges together with honesty, compassion, and humor.
Dates of the Show:
October 24 - November 23, 2008
Ticket Info:
415.749.2228 or www.act-sf.org
Tickets:
$17-$71 Tue.-Fri. & Sun. evenings; $22-$82 Sat. evenings and weekend matinees.
Tickets are available through A.C.T. Ticket Services, 405 Geary Street at Mason, 415.749.2228, and online at www.act-sf.org.
Performance Times:
Tuesdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m.;
Matinee performances on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 2 p.m.;
Tuesday, November 11, performance is at 7 p.m.;
Additional 7 p.m. performance on Sunday, November 2
About Laurie Metcalf:
Laurie Metcalf is an original member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, now in its 33rd season. Past Steppenwolf productions include The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Coyote Ugly, Educating Rita, Libra, and Balm in Gilead, for which she received New York's Drama Desk, OBIE, and Theatre World awards. At the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, she received Ovation Awards for her performances in Jane Anderson's Looking for Normal and Arthur Miller's All My Sons. She has appeared on Broadway in My Thing of Love and in David Mamet's November, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. She appeared on the television series Roseanne, for which she won three Emmy Awards, and The Norm Show. Film credits include Desperately Seeking Susan, Internal Affairs, Making Mr. Right, Uncle Buck, JFK, Toy Story, Bulworth, Scream 2, and Leaving Las Vegas.
