This is the Place of Parting
Performed by GUTWorks, August 29 – September 7

Calendar listing: Premiere Performance: This is the Place of Parting, August 29 – September 7, 2008. GUTWorks, a new and unique theater and film company in Southern Vermont, will be premiering their new play, This is the Place of Parting, in several venues the throughout first week of September. The schedule includes: Bellows Falls, VT: Friday, August 29, 8pm, Bellows Falls Opera House; Brattleboro, VT: Weds, September 3, 7.30pm, New England Youth Theater; Saxtons River, VT: Thursday, September 4, 8pm, Vermont Academy; Hadley, MA: Friday, September 5, 8pm, North Star Learning Center; Keene, NH: Sunday, September 7, 7pm, Redfern Arts Center.

GUTWorks has assembled an international cast for this extravaganza production that includes masks, film, lions, pop-up books, sermons, puppets and the Brattleboro based band Amargosa performing live. The Berkshire Review calls their work: “Virtuosic, with extraordinary, skill and imagination… deeply affecting.” GUTWorks invites the community to join this adventure quest set in 2041 to find meaning at the end of the world. More details and tickets ($15 general admission) at www.gutworks.org.

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Lynn Barrett 802-258-3992, prime@svcable.net

OFF OFF BROADWAY COMES TO SOUTHERN VERMONT WITH
NEW THEATRE & FILM COMPANY’S NEW PRODUCTION   

SOUTHERN VERMONT—GUTWorks, a unique theater and film company that has been described as “virtuosic, with extraordinary skill and imagination by The Berkshire Eagle, will premiere its new play, This is the Place of Parting, in several venues throughout the area beginning on Friday, August 29 through Sunday, September 7. The schedule includes: Bellows Falls, VT: Friday, August 29, 8pm, Bellows Falls Opera House; Brattleboro, VT: Weds, September 3, 7.30pm, New England Youth Theater; Saxtons River, VT: Thursday, September 4, 8pm, Vermont Academy; Hadley, MA: Friday, September 5, 8pm, North Star Learning Center; Keene, NH: Sunday, September 7, 7pm, Redfern Arts Center.

GUTWorks has assembled an international cast for this extravaganza production that includes masks, life-size lions, a 10-foot pop-up book, remote controlled mice, film, sermons, puppets and the Brattleboro-based band Amargosa performing live.    

Founded in New York City, two years ago by Daniel Burmester, Jonathan Maloney, and Kali Quinn, GUTWorks has been described as “A brand new, multi-media theater experience that is above and beyond the stage” by Brooklyn’s Block Magazine last year.

Jonathan Maloney, Co-Founding Artistic Director of GUTWorks explains, “We come from different disciplines within the arts including film, physical theater, and traditional theater. Combining these different perspectives always gives our audience a a unique theatrical experience. It’s not traditional theater and many times sparks new conversation. With, This is the Place of Parting, we are dealing with the meaning of life while taking the audience on a real wild ride!”  

This is the Place of Parting was written by award-winning playwright Neil Knox. It is an original adventure story that takes place in the year 2041. The performance celebrates the human experience featuring a quest for finding meaning at the end of the world.

“The entire production will be magical and unforgettable,” says director Daniel Burmester,  “It’ll be the sort of thing that only live theater can deliver… a compelling story with outrageous spectacle right before your eyes. No one will fall asleep in this one!”

The company has previously performed to rave reviews Off-Off Broadway and in Williamstown, Buffalo and at the University of Rochester: “Quinn, Burmester, and Maloney have brought to life a powerful new piece that deserves a longer run and as much attention as it can grab,” says Josh Sherman of nytheatre.com.

This will be the company’s first time performing locally in Southeastern Vermont and the surrounding area. Now that they’re based in Vermont, they’re committed to being green as much as practicable. The set includes mostly found objects and recycled materials, plus they will be touring in a bright orange vegetable oil powered school bus.

“We are going to each town to introduce ourselves and share what we do with the local community. The audience that comes to this world premiere will have a direct effect on how the play evolves. The goal is to tour the show to New York and to festivals around the world,” says Kali Quinn, Co-Founding Artistic Director of GUTWorks.

Since in Vermont, the trio has worked and taught at The Putney School Summer Programs, Flying Under Radar, Brattleboro Area Middle School, New England Youth Theater and the Bellows Falls Opera House. This coming year, GUTWorks will be in residency at Vermont Academy where they will be teaching, directing and creating more of their own work.

Curious to find out more? Folks can follow the process of this new play by listening to interviews with the GUTWorks’ team every Sunday evening at 5pm on WOOL 100.1FM Bellows Falls Radio or for more info, visit www.gutworks.org! Tickets for all shows are $15 general admission. They are available in person at Village Square Booksellers (Bellows Falls) or Turn It Up Music (Brattleboro, Keene, Northampton), online at www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 1-800-838-3006. Tickets will also be sold at the door and are $10 with a non-perishable food donation to benefit the Our Place Drop-In Center located in Bellows Falls.

This GUTWorks performance is being supported by the Saxtons River Inn, Rockingham Arts & Museum Project, Livewater Farm, Fractured Atlas, and Vermont Academy.

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