CCM Mainstage Series Continues with Timely Political Drama Her Naked Skin

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s (CCM) Mainstage Acting Series resumes in February with the regional premiere of Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s enthralling drama,

Her Naked Skin

. Directed by CCM Acting Chair

Richard E. Hess

,

Her Naked Skin

plays

Feb. 9-12

with a special preview performance on

Wednesday, Feb. 8

. Set in London in 1913, this production focuses on the thousands of suffragettes who served time in Holloway Prison after demanding their right to vote.

Her Naked Skin

explores a crucial moment in the Suffragette Movement when, with emancipation almost in sight, women refuse to let the establishment stand in their way. Political battles collide with personal struggles when Celia Cain, trapped by the policies of the day and a frustrating marriage, begins an affair with seamstress Eve Douglass while they are imprisoned.

Lenkiewicz’s plays “give theatre a fighting chance in an easily distracted age,” wrote

The Guardian

. One of her first works,

The Night Season

, won the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright in 2004. Four years later

Her Naked Skin

became the first play written by a living female playwright to be performed in London’s Olivier Theatre, the National Theatre’s largest venue. The play “plants a defiant feminist flag” on stage, praised

The Guardian

after its premiere.

“It is imperative that the CCM Acting Department presents stories written by women that place women center stage,” says Hess. “There is a gender bias to so many aspects of life, intentional or not, and

Her Naked Skin

stands proudly on the side of inclusion and equality.”

Current events, such as the Women’s March on Washington, and a tumultuous political climate make this play resonate with “unexpected timeliness,” Hess adds. “The students in this play, many of whom participated in the recent marches, do not view this as a story of the past.”

Hess elaborates, “CCM Acting students must be engaged with the world, and our world is currently not unlike the world of 1913. Audiences will be exhilarated by the universal struggle presented in

Her Naked Skin

.”

Her Naked Skin

isn’t the first play from the National Theatre that Hess brings to CCM. The National Theatre is known for presenting sweeping historical dramas like Helen Edmundson’s

Coram Boy

, which premiered in Cincinnati during CCM’s 2011-12 Mainstage Series. “These scripts, first presented in London, will be new to Cincinnati audiences,” Hess says, “and the drama on stage is guaranteed to be epic and exciting.”

“The right to vote is not guaranteed, although it seems to be promised. What would you do to fight for the right to vote if you were denied?

Her Naked Skin

answers that question.”

This production contains adult themes and situations, including brief nudity, and is intended for mature audiences.

____________________

Creative team

Richard E. Hess

, director

William Sawyer,

scenic designer*

Tanner Elker

, sound designer*

Patrick Jansen

, sound designer*

k. Jenny Jones

, fight choreographer

Whitney Glover

, projections & media designer*

Ashley Berg

, costume designer*

Marilyn Caskey

, dialect coach

Foster Johns

, dialect coach

Erik McCandless

, lighting designer*

Danae Jimenez

, wig & make-up designer*

Chelsea Taylor

, stage manager*

*CCM Student

Cast

Kenzie Clark

as Emily Davison/Mary Nicholson    

Sarah Durham

as Miss Brint    

Mickey Tropeano

as Celia Cain    

Julia Netzer

as Eve Douglas    

Sydney Ashe

as Flower Seller/Mrs. Major/Mrs. Collins    

Carissa Cardy

as Clara Franks/Miss Beacham/Waitress     

Mafer Del Real

as Florence Boorman    

Ella Eggold

as Mrs. Schliefke    

Clare Combest

as Mrs. Briggs    

Meg Olson

as Woman in Street/Prison Wardress    

Katie Langham

as Prison Wardress    

Annie Grove

as Nurse    

Cater Lacava

as John Seely/Guard/Freddie    

Nicholas Heffelfinger

as Augustine Burrell/Guard/Dr. Klein    

Graham Rogers

as Edward Grey/Guard    

Owen Alderson

as Herbert Asquith/Cecil/Guard    

Spencer Lackey

as Newspaper Vendor/Keir Hardie/Guard    

Landon Hawkins

as Potter/Speaker/Brown/George Curzon    

Ryan Garrett

as Dr. Vale/Hunt    

Rupert Spraul

as Dr. Parker/Charlie Power    

Isaac Hickox-Young

as William Cain    

Andrew Ramsey

as Guard    

Performance Times

• 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8 (preview)
• 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9
• 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10
• 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11
• 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12

Location

Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village

University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets

Tickets to

Her Naked Skin

are $27-31 adults, $17-20 non-UC students and $15-18 UC students with a valid ID. Tickets to the Feb. 8 preview performance are just $15.

Student rush tickets will be sold one hour before each performance to non-UC students for $12-15, based on availability. UC students can receive one free student rush ticket with a valid ID, also based on availability.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at

ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/mainstage/her-naked-skin

.

Parking and Directions

Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit

uc.edu/parking

for information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit

uc.edu/visitors

. Additional parking is available off-campus at the U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit

ccm.uc.edu/about/directions

.

___________________

Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s