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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=5
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Cleveland</span></font><font
size=5><span style='font-size:16.0pt'> State University</span></font><font
size=5><span style='font-size:16.0pt'> Dramatic Arts Program </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>presents</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=6
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-weight:bold'>The
Douglas Tree</span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>a new play by Michael D.
Sepesy</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The Cleveland State University Factory Theater and CSU graduate student
Michael D. Sepesy will present a new play entitled <i><span style='font-style:
italic'>The Douglas Tree</span></i> in a workshop production as part of the
author's thesis project for his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative
Writing.<br>
<br>
Cleveland State's MFA program is part of the Northeast Ohio MFA (NEOMFA)
consortium begun in 2005 between four Northeast Ohio universities: Cleveland State, Kent State, Youngstown State and the University of Akron. The
alliance is the only program of its type in the United States and one of only a
handful of MFA curricula nationally to offer a concentration in playwriting.<br>
<br>
In a blend of realism and surrealism, <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The
Douglas Tree</span></i> tells the story of an emotionally damaged middle-aged
man haunted by a love from his his youth. The girl he knew at 16
re-enters his life at 40 bearing a secret that forces him to confront his past.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
The cast features Allen Branstein, Donald Prather, Molly McGinnis, Virginia
Konchan, and James Kosmatka.<br>
<br>
Sepesy has been a local fixture in Cleveland's theater scene as both an actor
and playwright for 18 years. He holds a B.A. in English and Art from Cleveland State University as well as a certificate in graphic design. His plays have
been seen at Cleveland Public Theatre (Renfield, A Devil in the Head), Detroit
Avenue Arts (Holiday Hotline), and the New York International Fringe Festival
(Loserville). His play Lady Justice received an Ohio Arts Council
Individual Artist Fellowship and won the Dorothy Silver Playwriting
Competition. His work has been published in The Best Women's Stage
Monologues of 1998 (Smith & Kraus) and Cleveland in Prose and Poetry
(League Books).<br>
<br>
The production is directed by Yale University graduate Lisa Siciliano (<a
href="http://www.lisasiciliano.com" target="_blank">www.lisasiciliano.com</a>),
a Cleveland and New York based actress, director, producer, playwright, and
educator. She recently co-founded a theater company, Lively Productions (<a
href="http://www.livelyproductions.org" target="_blank">www.livelyproductions.org</a>),
whose mission is to support emerging theater artists. Lisa has been seen
as Kate in the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival's production of The Taming of the
Shrew, Lorena in Holy Ghosts at the Beck Center, as Cassie in her own play,
When the Wind Blows, as part of Cleveland Public Theatre's Big [BOX] series,
and as Reggie in Labute's Some Girl(s) for the Bang and Clatter Theatre
Company, a role which she originated. Lisa recently returned from a fall
session in New York where she studied Viewpoints with the SITI company and
produced and directed Everaftering and Other Tales for Lively Productions.
She graduated cum laude in theatre studies from Yale University in 2005.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
The play will open on Friday, February 29<sup>th</sup> at 8 p.m. in the Studio
Theater. Additional performances are on Saturday, March 1<sup>st</sup> at 8
p.m. and Sunday, March 2<sup>nd</sup> at 3 p.m. Admission is free. The Factory
Theater is located at the corner of East 24th Street and Chester Ave. Free
parking is located off of East 24th Street between Chester and Payne avenues.
Call 216.687.2113 for more information.</span></font></p>
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