Press Photos available at: http://www.retrobang.com/killerjoepress
COMPASS THEATRE ANNOUNCES OPENING OF
AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT TRACY LETTS’ KILLER JOE
SAN DIEGO – Compass Theatre is pleased to announce the opening of Killer Joe, a black comedy by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Tracy Letts. Killer Joe runs March 1-April 5, 2009.
Set in a trailer park on the outskirts of Dallas, this dark little play that won awards and rave reviews off-Broadway revolves around a dysfunctional family determined to have Mama bumped off so Worthless Son can get together some quick insurance money to pay off a drug debt. When you need a job like that done fast and efficiently, who do you call? A Dallas cop with a busy off-the-clock sideline that has earned him the nickname “Killer Joe.” A fascinating event in the theater unless you work for the Dallas police or the Chamber of Commerce. Before it’s over, nearly everyone is bloodied in this show that “revels in its white trash stereotypes and gives you permission to do the same…” (New York Daily News).
“As I read this play for the first time and finished the final scene, I visualized the pounding silence on the stage and it was so tense I could almost hear the sizzle of bacon frying in some corner of my mind,” said Compass Theatre Founder and Executive Director Dale Morris. “I’m so glad we found a talent like Lisa Berger to direct this play.”
Letts is known for his ability to capture the puritan streak in his American characters. Every one of his plays is about people struggling with moral and spiritual questions. Born in Oklahoma to best-selling author Billie Letts and the late actor Dennis Letts, Tracy Letts was an actor for 11 years at the Steppenwolf and Famous Door theater companies in Chicago. He was also a founding member of Bang Bang Spontaneous Theater, which included at one time or another Greg Kotis (Tony Award, Urinetown), Michael Shannon (Academy Award Nominee, Revolutionary Road), and a host of other Chicago theater luminaries. In 1991, he wrote his first play, Killer Joe. Two years later, the play premiered at the Next Lab Theater in Chicago and then at 29th Street Rep in New York. Since then, Killer Joe has been performed in at least 15 countries in 12 languages.
In 2008, Letts was awarded the Pultizer Prize for Drama, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, and a Tony Award for his play, August: Osage County.
Directing Killer Joe is Lisa Berger (The Long Christmas Ride Home and Looking for Normal, Diversionary Theatre). The cast includes Judy Bauerlein, Joe Baker, Equity actor Mike Sears, Amanda Cooley Davis, and Donal Pugh. Set design is by Michael McKeon, lighting design by Mitchel Simkovski, and costume design by Lisa Burgess.
General Information
Killer Joe runs March 1-April 5, 2009, with preview performances on Feb. 26-28. Show times are Thursday through Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 4:00 and 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
Compass Theatre is located at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue in Hillcrest, in the theater formerly known as 6th @ Penn. Tickets for Killer Joe are $20-$23, with discounts available for groups, students, seniors, and members of the Actors Alliance of San Diego. Preview performances are $15.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call 619-688-9210 or visit www.CompassTheatre.com.
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About Compass Theatre
Compass Theatre is a 49 seat performance venue in the heart of Hillcrest and serving audiences from Oceanside to Tijuana. Evolving from the award-winning 6th @ Penn Theatre, Compass Theatre will offer a wide variety of programs and productions that will reach out to the edge, but always maintain a firm footing in reality based theatre. Supported by grants from the City of San Diego, the Tippett Foundation, and the James P. Irvine Foundation, Compass Theatre obtains over 55% of its yearly income from ticket sales to individual patrons, an amazing feat considering that the city average is 45%.
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"Killer Joe" by Tracy Letts at Compass Theatre 
