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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal align=center><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>Brilliant,
beautiful ‘Informed Consent’ explores the drama in genetics<SPAN
style="FONT-VARIANT: small-caps"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Cleveland Jewish
News<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT
size=3>Member, International Association of Theatre Critics
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>This
review will appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Cleveland
Jewish News </I>on 5/2/14<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #363636"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-VARIANT: small-caps; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>Early last year, actress Angelina Jolie underwent a preventive double
mastectomy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>Because of an inherited gene mutation, doctors estimated that she had an
87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“I am writing <SPAN
style="COLOR: black">about it now,” Jolie stated in </SPAN>a recent New York
Times op-ed, “<SPAN style="COLOR: black">because I hope that other women can
benefit from my experience.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>Jillian, the protagonist in Deborah Zoe Laufer’s “Informed
Consent,” tells a similar story but has even loftier reasons for doing so. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Jillian is a genetic anthropologist
devoted to finding a cure for early-onset Alzheimer’s, the inherited disease
that took her mother and will likely overtake her and her young daughter. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Her career is, quite literally, her
life.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>In order to expand the issue of genetic predisposition
beyond the personal purview of one individual and explore the ethical
implications of modern science, the playwright tells Jillian’s story against a
broader backdrop.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Jillian has been brought in to conduct a study on the isolated Havasupai
Indian tribe that lives on the floor of the Grand Canyon.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The tribe has a high rate of type-2
diabetes and is dying out.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>After
getting the tribe’s reluctant consent to sample the blood of each member,
Jillian runs and reports additional and unauthorized </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>studies
on schizophrenia, inbreeding and migration patterns that undermine the tribe’s
trust, their sense of cultural identity and their long-held sacred stories.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>“Informed Consent” – co-produced with Geva Theatre Center in Rochester,
New York and currently on stage at Cleveland Play House – raises many intriguing
and timely questions.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Among
them:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Are we defined by our
DNA?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Does scientific discovery
trump invasion of privacy?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Will
knowledge of our biological predispositions change how we live our
lives?<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>The one-act 105-minute play</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN> is
very well researched, grounded in an actual court case between the Havasupai
Indian tribe and genetic researchers at Arizona State University, and informed
by panel discussions with experts, interviews with members of various native
tribes, and time spent in libraries and DNA laboratories.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>All this has the potential of resembling a yawn-inducing, fact-saturated
Discovery Channel report or a melodramatic Lifetime e</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>xposé</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Fortunately, the
playwright and director Sean Daniels squeeze all the simultaneously disclosed
science, personal crisis and philosophical debate into a beautifully woven,
cleverly conceived and highly entertaining tapestry of storytelling.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>The performers first appear as a troupe of storytellers and
include Jessica Wortham, who takes on the role of Jillian; Dajer Al-Kaisi as
Jillian’s husband, Graham; Larissa Fasthorse as Jillian’s daughter and Arella, a
tribal spokesperson; Tina Fabrique as Jillian’s mother and the spirit of a
tribal ancestor; and Gilbert Cruz as Ken, the social anthropologist who invited
Jillian to work with the Havasupais.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>They are all thoroughly engaging and convincing in their
portrayals, but Wortham as Jillian is breathtaking.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She brings incredible complexity and
dimension to her character and has devised a speech pattern and physicality that
captures the urgency of a woman whose DNA is a ticking time bomb.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>Much of the play’s clever and often comedic dialogue
overlaps, creating an understated musicality that softens the presentation of
hard science and allows the short scenes to rhythmically flow from one to the
next.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is complemented by Matt
Callahan’s sound design, which helps establish a vivid sense of place despite
the stage remaining unchanged throughout the
performance.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>All this occurs on Michael Raiford’s magnificent,
multi-tiered set that resembles a towering terra cotta rock formation in the
Arizona wasteland. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Even when the
storytelling becomes introspective and personal, we never lose sight of the
bigger picture about cultural identity.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Strategically scattered on the stage and representing the chromosomal
building blocks found on the double helix of DNA are rectangular boxes that
serve as seating and storage.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They
glow as well, becoming an important part of Brian J Lilienthal’s dramatic
lighting design that helps isolate actors as they tell their stories.
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Each person, we are told in this play,
is genetically only 0.1 percent different from the person next to us.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We are all cousins.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Jillian’s dance with </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>early-onset Alzheimer’s is meant to give us pause.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Jolie’s </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>double
mastectomy most certainly does.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>“Informed Consent” is the
centerpiece to CPH’s 2014 New Ground Theatre Festival, having sprouted from a
play reading at last season’s festival. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=yiv5852191313msonormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-AUTOSPACE: ; mso-layout-grid-align: none"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT
size=3>WHAT:<SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN>“Informed Consent<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-AUTOSPACE: ; mso-layout-grid-align: none"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>WHERE:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN>The Second Stage,
PlayhouseSquare in downtown Cleveland<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-AUTOSPACE: ; mso-layout-grid-align: none"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>WHEN:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN>Through May 18<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 4.5pt 0pt 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in 5.25in"
class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">TICKETS:<SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: CS" lang=CS>$15 -
$72, call</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> 216-241-6000 or
visit to <A href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.clevelandplayhouse.com</FONT></A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>