New Village Arts presents EMILIE

CARLSBAD, CA - New Village Arts is thrilled to announce that it will present the San Diego premiere of Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonightby award-winning playwright Lauren Gunderson.

Emilie Du Chatelet was considered a scientific genius in 18th Century France, but many people today have never heard of her. In addition to being the first woman published by the Academie Royale Des Sciences, she was a major influence on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and took on the iconic Voltaire as a lover. Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight invites you into Emilie’s world of brilliant science, passionate love and the intersection of the two.

NVA’s Co-Founder and Executive Artistic Director Kristianne Kurner is helming the production, with Jo Anne Glover playing the title role. Ms. Glover is currently nominated for a San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award, is one of the founding members of Moxie Theatre, and is one of the most respected actors in San Diego. Taking on the role of Voltaire is Equity Actor Skyler Sullivan, who is relatively new to San Diego. He most recently portrayed Abraham Lincoln in Diversionary Theatre’s Civil War Christmas. The other three actors: Dagmar Fields, Christina Flynn and Zackary Bonin, play multiple roles throughout the show, including Newton and Madam Graffigny.

Playwright Lauren Gunderson received her BA in English/Creative Writing at Emory University, and her MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch, where she was also a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Gunderson’s work has received national praise and awards, and she has been a Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award finalist, a Susan Smith Blackburn finalist, a Jane Chambers Award finalist, and winner of the Berrilla Kerr Award for American Theatre, Global Age Project, Young Playwright’s Award, Eric Bentley New Play Award and Essential Theatre Prize. Her award-winning play, I and You, premiered Off-Broadway in January 2016. Gunderson also recently won the 2016 Lanford Wilson Award from the Dramatists Guild of America, an award given each year to a promising playwright in the early stages of their career.

This production contains adult themes.

“An evening of humor and heartbreak with a powerhouse ending.” - BroadwayWorld

“Fiercely inquisitive and joyfully sexy.” - The San Francisco Chronicle

“EMILIE is quite the best play I have read in a very long time.” - Robert Schenkkan, Pulitzer-Prize Winning Playwright

Quick Facts:

Written by: Lauren Gunderson, recipient of the 2016 Lanford Wilson Award from the Dramatists Guild of America

Directed by: Kristianne Kurner

Runs: February 13 - March 6

Previews: February 5 - 12

Show times: Thursday / Friday / Saturday at 8:00 pm; Matinee Saturday at 3:00 pm; Sunday at 2:00 pm.

Tickets: $32 - $35,with discounts available for seniors, students and active military. Tickets available in person at 2787 State Street (Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 5pm), online at www.newvillagearts.org or via phone at 760.433.3245

Summary: La Marquise du Châtelet was a mathematician, a physicist and the toast of the Enlightenment. So why then is the Marquise not better known? Like so many important women in history, her contributions have largely been attributed to her male contemporaries, while her story remains largely forgotten. Now, Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight, the brilliant play from Lauren Gunderson, resurrects this fascinating personality and draws Emilie once more into the light. Brought back from the dead, Emilie is determined to answer the questions that haunted her dying moments on Earth: “Was I right?” and “Was I loved?” As she travels back in time to revisit key moments in her scientific and emotional journeys, the full extent of her remarkably prescient legacy is revealed in this smart, surprising and sexy portrait of a true genius.

Cast: Jo Anne Glover (Emilie), Skyler Sullivan* (Voltaire), Dagmar Fields(Madam), Zackary Bonin (Gentleman), Christina Flynn (Soubrette)

Production Team: Kristianne Kurner (Director/Scenic Designer), Elisa Benzoni (Costume Designer), Bill Bradbury (Sound Designer), Jonah Gercke(Assistant Director), Peter Herman (Wig Designer), Kevin Kornburger (Stage Manager), Chris Renda (Lighting Designer), Alyssa Schindler (Properties Designer)

*Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association.