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<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><B><FONT face=Arial size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Cleveland Public Theatre Presents Big [BOX]</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Award-winning artists in residency program returns for 7<SUP>th</SUP> year</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoBodyText2><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Cleveland Public Theatre Executive Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan is proud to announce the participating artists for the 2009 Big [BOX] series. Big [BOX] is an award-winning residency program produced by Cleveland Public Theatre that focuses on the independent creative artist and the exciting things that can happen when one is given the space and time to create. Now in its seventh successful year, Cleveland Public Theatre is proud to support and foster the work of area artists in this unique program. Over seven weekends, a dozen artists are given keys to The James Levin Theatre and the freedom to transform the space for the presentation of their work. </SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoBodyText2><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The goal of Big [BOX] is to support new work and local artists. <FONT color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoBodyText2><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The writers, directors, actors, and designers selected for Big [BOX] dedicate themselves to creating new and original work, or stretching their artistic powers by working in new disciplines. The resulting performances are always amazing and well attended. Big [BOX] performances and artists often go on to receive larger exposure and production at CPT and other theatres.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Big [BOX] 09</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">On stage now through February 22, 2009</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Sundays at 3:00pm</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Tickets: General Admission $15 | Students and Seniors $12</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Tickets on sale now! Call 216.631.2727 to purchase via phone or visit <A href="http://www.cptonline.org/">www.cptonline.org</A> to purchase online now!</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial color=teal size=4><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: teal; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">THIS WEEKEND IN BIG [BOX] 09:</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">January 23<SUP>rd</SUP> – January 25<SUP>th</SUP> </SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">And Then You Die (How I Ran a Marathon in 26.2 Years)</SPAN></FONT></I></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Written and Performed by David Hansen, Directed by Alison Garrigan</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Claus for a Moment<BR></SPAN></FONT></I></B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Written and performed by Jeff Glover, Directed by Dan Folino</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR><I><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">And Then You Die (How I Ran a Marathon in 26.2 Years)</SPAN></I><BR></SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">What races through a man’s mind as he runs for his life? Hit the road in this comic and revealing solo piece about a cartoonist’s pursuit of the finish line in the Big Race – dashing through relationships, hurdling over heartbreak, and making his way through the Five Boroughs in a record quarter of a century … and time is running out. Remember: It's not a solo performance, it's a Marathon. <B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"></SPAN></B></SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-RIGHT: -27pt"><B><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Claus for a Moment</SPAN></FONT></I></B><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">His busy season is over and Santa is taking some time out to set the record straight. Jeff Glover portrays the not-so-jolly, not-so-old, not-really-an elf in this semi-comic monologue on the hazards of mythology. How can a person have magic and yet not be a god? Leave the little believers at home!!</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">January 30<SUP>th</SUP> – February 1<SUP>st</SUP></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Nearly Nude</SPAN></FONT></I></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Presented by MegLouise Dance</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Nearly Nude</SPAN></FONT></I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> reveals the human body in motion and invites you to reconnect with flesh. See our bodies through your eyes, through our minds and through society’s expectations. The company performs pieces that address our mixed opinions of body image: femininity, beauty, passion, sexuality, control and obsession. Experience what Julie Mullins of City Beat in Cincinnati calls, “A different, more honest take on women’s culture.”</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">February 6<SUP>th</SUP> – February 8<SUP>th</SUP> </SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">BACKspace<BR></SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Presented by FiveOne, Carly Dorman and Sara Lawrence<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"></SPAN></B></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">An evening of dance and music, featuring original choreography by Carly Dorman and Sara Lawrence and exciting new music by local instrumental ensemble FiveOne.<BR><BR>back-space [bak-speys] v. 1. to shift the carriage or typing element of a typewriter one space backward by depressing a special key. n. 2. the space made by backspacing. 3. the physical space behind a person's back. 4. a personal retrospective on the pathways of human experience. 5. life behind us.<BR><BR>Stories of our lives...really stories of everyone's lives...BACKspace.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR></SPAN></FONT><B><FONT face=Arial color=navy><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">February 13<SUP>th</SUP> – February 15<SUP>th</SUP> </SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">InCogNegro<BR></SPAN></FONT></I></B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Presented by UMOJA Arts <BR>Written by Lisa Langford, Directed by Jimmie Woody</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Black identity in America is complex; as poet <SPAN class=yshortcuts>Paul Laurence Dunbar</SPAN> suggested, we wear a mask to hide our true selves. And in our struggle to live authentic lives, we often find ourselves invisible to others who thrust identities upon us. Never has this been more apparent than in Barack Obama's 2008 presidential run--he was Messiah and Menace, Token and Terrorist, The One and The Other. The parallels between his political rise and Ralph Ellison's classic 1953 novel about an unnamed African American's search for self, <SPAN class=yshortcuts>Invisible Man</SPAN>, are striking. <I><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">InCogNegro</SPAN></I> is a satirical look at Black invisibility on the national stage.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">February 20<SUP>th</SUP> – February 22<SUP>nd</SUP> </SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Unethical</SPAN></FONT></I></B><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <BR></SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Written by Margi Herwald Zitelli<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"></SPAN></B></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Directed by Lisa Ortenzi</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">You can’t live without this paycheck, so just keep your head down and get through the workday. But when The Company institutes a new Corporate Policy on Employee Ethics and Standards of Conduct, four co-workers suddenly find themselves at the center of office controversy. Following the strict policy means giving up your personal expression, but the consequences of breaking it could be severe. And office mates will find their relationships tested in ways they never imagined.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial color=teal size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: teal; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">PREVIOUSLY IN BIG [BOX] 09:</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">January 9<SUP>th</SUP> – January 11<SUP>th</SUP> </SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The Beetlebug and the Bad Worm</SPAN></FONT></I></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Created and performed by Theater Ninjas Faye Hargate and Jeremy Paul</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Kissmet</SPAN></FONT></I></B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> by Katherine Kurre, Directed by Danielle Hisey</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The Beetlebug and the Bad Worm</SPAN></FONT></I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> is a story of about friends, cruelty and bugs. Mixing physical theater and puppetry, the show follows the title characters through a series of comic misadventures reminiscent of Tom & Jerry, Laurel & Hardy and Samuel Beckett. Join the duo on an epic journey that takes them to the heights of fame, the gutters of poverty, the halls of power and the kitchens of kitchens. Through all their ups and downs, they must learn to help others and get along…assuming they don’t kill each other first.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Kissmet</SPAN></FONT></I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> is an ageless story that speaks to the injustice of human treatment toward one another, and the misuse of love, vulnerability and power in relationships. This is not a story of the sexes, this is a story for you, for you who have been stoned and you who have thrown the first stone. <I><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Kissmet</SPAN></I> questions the vastness of the human condition, while demanding control and responsibility of individual capabilities.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">January 16<SUP>th</SUP> – January 18<SUP>th</SUP></SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR><B><I><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic">Summer Nights and Fireflies</SPAN></I></B></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Written by Bianca Sams, Directed by Tony Sias </SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Summer Nights and Fireflies</SPAN></FONT></I><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> is the story of Zandra Richards, her brother Tyrone and the family business, a small bar for locals and factory workers. Haunted by unresolved demons from her past, including alcoholism and abuse, Zandra is forced to decide whether to live in the past or create a new beginning. Through a series of events, Xandra and Tyrone arrive on the pulse of morning and find a new beginning. A story of salvation, recovery, redemption and change.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">For more information about Big [BOX], including more detailed descriptions of the presented works, please visit <A href="http://www.cptonline.org/">www.cptonline.org</A> or contact Mindy Herman, Director of Communications, at 216.631.2727 x 203 or <A href="mailto:mherman@cptonline.org">mherman@cptonline.org</A>.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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