Theatre Alliance presents How to Disappear Completely & Never Be Found at H St Playhouse

Starting March 10: Theater Alliance at the H Street Playhouse Stages Thriller Chronicling One Man’s Desperate Attempts to Buck the System

“You are who you can prove you are. You are what people think. And that’s the easiest thing in the world to change.”

Theater Alliance is proud to present the area premiere of How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found, written by Fin Kennedy and directed by Artistic Director Colin Hovde. This metaphysical thriller follows Charlie as he attempts to escape his problems by actually doing what others only dream of: disappearing completely. But can he really do this? And at what cost?

 “Plays that create a powerful world—and take us on a journey through that world—always pull me in. Fin Kennedy’s piece grabbed me the first time I read it,” says Theater Alliance Artistic Director Colin Hovde. “How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found takes us on a journey through the memories, hopes and fears of a man whose life has completely overwhelmed him. This piece explores what happens when we feel we cannot take the burdens of life in the 21^st century—when we stop living in the moment, and start dreaming of starting over with a clean slate. Can we really start afresh? Can we really cheat the system, or must we be held accountable for our lives and actions?”

Investigative playwright Fin Kennedy has woven together a darkly comic, gut-wrenching exploration of identity in today’s fast paced world. Following its 2007 premiere, How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found received a Peter Brook Award and the 38th Arts Council John Whiting Award for New Theatre Writing. Kennedy drew inspiration and the title of his piece from a 1986 self-help book by Doug Richmond. The book chronicles numerous instances of people reinventing their identity with varying degrees of success, and provides important factors and step-by-step instruction for those looking to pursue this path.

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found features scenic design by Brooke A. Robbins, lighting design by John D. Alexander, costume design by Leon E. Wiebers, sound design by Elisheba Ittoop, and properties design by Steven T. Royal Jr.

The cast includes Ian Armstrong, Greg Gallagher, Nadia Mahdi, Dylan Morrison Myers, and Stephanie Roswell.

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found runs at the H Street Playhouse, 1365 H Street NE, from March 10 to April 1; Thursdays-Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Monday, March 12: Kick off Theater Alliance’s spring season with the opening night performance and celebration of How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found.

Student Nights: Special prices are available on March 15, 22, and 29 for university and high school students with a valid student ID.

Sign Interpreted Performance March 22 includes talk back at end of the performance

TICKET INFORMATION

General Admission tickets to How to Disappear… are $35. All tickets to How to Disappear… are available for purchase at www.theateralliance.com or by calling 202-241-2539. Group rates are available.

THE AUTHOR

Fin Kennedy is a graduate of the MA Writing for Performance program at Goldsmiths College, London. His first play, Protection, was produced at Soho Theatre in 2003, where he was also Pearson writer-in-residence. His second play How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found won the 38th Arts Council John Whiting Playwrighting Award, the first time in 40 years that an unproduced play had won. It was subsequently commissioned by Sam West for Sheffield Crucible and produced to critical acclaim. For the past four years, Kennedy has been a writer-in-residence at Mulberry School for Girls in Tower Hamlets, where he is co-founder of Mulberry Theatre Company. He has written four plays for MTC: Mehndi Night (2007), Stolen Secrets (2008), and TheUnravelling (2009), all premiered at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival, while The Urban Girl’s Guide to Camping premiered at Southward Playhouse in 2010 as part of the SILKWORKS Festival. As well as writing plays, Fin also has many years of experience teaching playwrighting at secondary, undergraduate, and postgraduate levels. He has worked for schools, youth clubs, local authorities, and theatre education teams in inner city London and is also a visiting lecturer at Goldsmiths College and Boston University.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Colin Hovde is a graduate of University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He has worked with many theaters in the DC Metro area, including The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Rorschach Theater, Solas Nua, Source Theater Festival, Capital Fringe Festival, Washington Shakespeare Company, Forum Theater, Open Circle Theater, Washington Savoyards, The In Series, and dog & pony dc. Hovde’s work has also been seen nationally and internationally at theaters such as Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska, Rustaveli Theatre in the Republic of Georgia, and The Worldwide Arts Collective Festival in Macau, China. Hovde is a recipient of the O’Neill Playwrights Festival Director Fellowship, The Kenan Fund for the Arts Fellowship at the Kennedy Center, and a Cultural Envoy Grant from the Department of State. He is also an associate member of SDC, the union for Stage Directors.

ABOUT THEATER ALLIANCE

Now in its 9th Season at the H Street Playhouse and under the new leadership of Artistic Director Colin Hovde and Managing Director Lee Daugherty, Theater Alliance continues its heritage of producing provocative, challenging, and rewarding theater while also growing the company in exciting, unprecedented directions. Season Nine productions include Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity (December 3-31), the Area Premiere of Fin Kennedy’s How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found (March 10-April 1), and the World Premiere of Nicholas Wardingo’s Hum (May 12-June 3). www.theateralliance.com