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JUNE 18 – JULY 12
A new play by John Biguenet. Directed by MJ Bruder Munafo.

The Vineyard Playhouse is proud to open its 2008 Summer Season with a powerful new play by New Orleans resident John Biguenet. RISING WATER is making its New England debut with this production, directed by Playhouse Artistic Director MJ Bruder Munafo. RISING WATER opens on Saturday night, June 21, following three previews on June 18, 19 and 20 at The Vineyard Playhouse, 24 Church Street in downtown Vineyard Haven.

RISING WATER is a New Orleans love story; a middle aged couple awakens in the dead of night to find their pitch-dark house filling with water. They climb into the attic and onto the rooftop to survive - not only this catastrophe but their own marriage of more than thirty years.

John Biguenet is also the author of Oyster, a novel, and The Torturer's Apprentice: Stories. His play, THE VULGAR SOUL, won the 2004 Southern New Plays Festival; he and the play were profiled in American Theatre magazine. His new play, RISING WATER, was the winner of the 2006 National New Play Network Commission Award, a 2006 National Showcase of New Plays selection, and a 2007 recipient of an Access to Artistic Excellence development and production grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the Big Easy Theatre Award for Best Original Play; it was nominated for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in drama. SHOTGUN, the second play in his RISING WATER cycle, will premiere in 2009. Biguenet was named 2008 Theatre Person of the Year at the Big Easy Theatre Awards. He is currently the Robert Hunter Distinguished Professor at Loyola University in New Orleans. Named its first guest columnist by The New York Times, Biguenet has chronicled in both columns and videos his return to New Orleans after its catastrophic flooding and the efforts to rebuild the city.

The show stars two veteran actors, both with extensive regional and New York credits and both returning to the Playhouse stage – Bonnie Black as “Camille” last appeared at the Playhouse in LIFE X 3 and THE WAVERLY GALLERY and Barry M. Press as “Sugar” was seen at the Playhouse in last summer’s PURE CONFIDENCE.

The play is directed by MJ Bruder Munafo, who directed PURE CONFIDENCE and THE TEMPEST last summer. Original music for RISING WATER is composed and performed by Maynard Silva. The set design is by Stephen M. Zablotny, lighting by Fred Hancock, sound design by Jim Novak, costumes by Noavakay Wibel, properties and set dressing by Kate Hancock. The stage manager is Timothy Toothman.

RISING WATER runs June 18 – July 12. Performances are at 7:00 PM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8:00 PM on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. There will be a 3:00 PM matinee performance on Thursday, July 10, only.
Please note that there is no show on July 4.

PERFORMANCE DAYS AND TIMES
7 PM Tuesdays & Wednesdays. 8 PM Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays.
3 PM Matinee on Thursday, July 11. No shows on Sundays or Mondays.

REGULAR TICKET PRICES
$37.50 / $32.50 seniors (age 65 and up) & students / $25 children (under age 18).

OPENING NIGHT TICKET PRICES
Opening night Saturday, June 21 includes champagne reception with cast after the show $50 all seats.

DISCOUNTED TICKETS
Previews (6/18, 6/19, 6/20): $25 all seats.
Tuesdays: Special discount night - $25 for all tickets.
Thursday matinees: $20 / $15 seniors.
Rush tickets (tickets remaining unsold ten minutes prior to curtain) $25 all seats, cash only.