THEATRE + COMEDY

Stages Repertory Theatre presents the reginal premiere of Will Eno's Oh, the Humanity and other exclamations.  Running January 26 through February 20.

Dazzling wordsmith Will Eno gets under the skins and inside the souls of ordinary people -- a high school coach, an airline spokeswoman, a photographer, a man and woman at a video dating service, a couple in their car -- in this inventive, bleakly funny collection of five short works that dares to look into the void and laugh.

With a fierce sense of hope and en equal measure of grim honesty, Eno demonstrates the astonishing talent that led the New York Times to call him "a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation."

Directed by Alex Harvey (Mr. Marmalade, I Am My Own Wife). Starring Philip Lehl (Mr. Marmalade, Lady, I Am My Own Wife), Mikele Johnson (Mr. Marmalade) and Erik Hellman (Mr. Marmalade).

Oh, the Humanity premiered at Flea Theater in New York in November 2007. Author Will Eno is a Guggenheim Fellow, a Helen Merrill Playwriting Fellow, and a Fellow of the Edward F. Albee Foundation. The Flu Season premiered at The Gate Theatre in London and then opened in New York where it won the Oppenheimer Award (2004) for best debut by an American playwright. His play Thom Pain (based on nothing) was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. An excerpt of his play Tragedy: a tragedy appeared in the June 2006 issue of Harper's Magazine. Tragedy: a tragedy had its U.S. premiere at Berkeley Rep Theatre in March 2008.

"Mr. Eno's unmistakable voice -- aggressively stylized, unendingly compassionate, flecked with weird, bleak humor -- rings out with the same arresting originality in this hourlong evening of playfully profound theater.... Mr. Eno dares to still believe that the theater is the natural forum for a collective reckoning with the brutal truths and the consoling beauties of experience -- all those big-ticket items that you would blush to discuss publicly."
- New York Times

"[Eno's] psychic portraits are frequently beautiful and reliably intelligent. At their best, they shine with grace. ... For anyone within hearing distance, his five short 'exclamations' reverberate far and wide."
- Village Voice

"It's always rewarding to see the work of a writer to whom every word and punctuation mark matters...."
- Curtain Up

About Stages Repertory Theatre
Characterized by courage, generosity, ingenuity, and intimacy, Stages Repertory Theatre advances theatre and enlivens culture by producing new work, interpreting established work in new ways, and nurturing talent for the performing arts field. In addition to its MainStage season of plays, Stages presents the EarlyStages series, introducing young audiences to the power and magic of live theatre.

Stages also offers a range of additional education and outreach programs that encourage conversation about important ideas and issues, provide insight into other cultures and viewpoints, and help develop each new generation of citizens, artists and audiences. Stages is a member of the Fresh Arts Coalition and a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for not-for-profit theatres. Stages operates under an agreement with Actor's Equity Association (AEA), the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.