Twilight Bowl

By Rebecca Gilman

Directed by Jessica Fisch

Presented by University of Wisconsin-Madison’s
Department of Theatre and Drama / University Theatre

Cousins Sam and Jaycee grew up together in a small Wisconsin town. Sam, who sharpened her bowling skills at the local alley, is now heading to college with a bowling scholarship. But Jaycee’s future isn’t looking so bright. As the young women and their friends face adulthood, the alley becomes a place to celebrate, mourn and forge new identities. But can their bonds survive even as their paths diverge? And is success always earned, or is it sometimes a matter of luck?

Twilight Bowl is produced as part of the Big Ten Theatre Consortium New Play Initiative. The Big Ten Theatre Consortium has commissioned a series of plays by outstanding American female playwrights. The purpose of the initiative is to promote the writing and production of new works about women by professional and academic theatres around the country.

The cast features Alexandria Chapes, Bri Hunter, Shasparay Lighteard, Erika Marks, Erin Wathen, and Zhiyun Zhao under the direction of professional guest artist Jessica Fisch.

Playwright Rebecca Gilman will be part of a talk back after the performance Friday, April 19th.

Jessica Fisch is a freelance director and teaching artist, based in Chicago. She is dedicated to developing new plays and reinterpretations of classic texts. She has had the privilege of working on and developing new work with companies such as, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Victory Gardens, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Playwrights' Center Minneapolis, Public Theater's Emerging Writer's Group, and Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngbloods. Jessica recieved her MFA in Directing from Northwestern University. Her credits at Northwestern included a site-specific production of Caryl Churchill's Far Away in a pair of abandoned retail spaces, and the expressionistic American classic, Machinal. Prior to moving to Chicago, Jessica lived in New York City where she was the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Down Payment Productions (DPP), a company committed to the development of new work. During her tenure, DPP produced three World Premieres, Two New York Premieres, and countless readings and workshops. The Redheaded Man, which she directed, played the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival to rave reviews, and was one of only eight shows that extended Off-Broadway to the Barrow Street Theater as part of the FringeEncores Series. The play Pink!, which Jessica produced, was nominated for seven Innovative Theater Awards and was optioned for a feature film. She directed the New York premiere of The Realm, which enjoyed a successful three-week run at the curated Wild Project Theater in NYC. Jessica was a resident director at Ensemble Studio Theater, the 2008-2009 Playwrights Horizons Directing Resident, and a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab.

Rebecca Gilman’s plays include Luna Gale; A True History of the Johnstown Flood; Dollhouse; Boy Gets Girl; Spinning Into Butter; Blue Surge, Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976 and The Crowd You’re in With, The Glory of Living; The Sweetest Swing in Baseball and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Gilman is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, The Harper Lee Award, The Scott McPherson Award, The Prince Prize for Commissioning New Work, The Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, The Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, The George Devine Award, The Theatre Masters Visionary Award, The Great Plains Playwright Award, a Global Connections Grant by Theatre Communications Group, an American Scandinavian Foundation Creative Writing Grant and an Illinois Arts Council playwriting fellowship. Boy Gets Girl received an Olivier nomination for Best New Play. Gilman was named a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for The Glory of Living. She is a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America and a board member of the ACLU of Illinois. A graduate of the MFA in playwriting program from the University of Iowa, Gilman is now a professor of playwriting and screenwriting at Northwestern University as part of its MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage program. In 2016, she was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame.

Produced by University Theatre (UW-Madison) at Gilbert V. Hemsley Theatre, 821 University Avenue, UW Vilas Hall, Madison

Performances: April 11-28, 2019

Performance Times:
Thursday April 11th @ 7:30pm (Preview)
Friday April 12th @ 7:30pm (Opening Night)
Saturday April 13th @ 7:30pm
Sunday April 14th @ 2:00pm
Thursday April 18th @ 7:30pm
Friday April 19th @ 7:30pm
Saturday April 20th @ 7:30pm
Sunday April 21st @ 2:00pm
Thursday April 25th @ 7:30pm
Friday April 26th @ 7:30pm
Saturday April 27th @ 2:00pm
Sunday April 28th @ 2:00pm

Ticket Prices:
$10 Preview
$20 Adult
$18 Senior (62 +)
$12 Children (K-12)
$12 Group Sales (10 tickets or more)
$15 UW Students (ID)
$15 UW Faculty/Staff (ID)

To Order Tickets:
1. Call 608-265-2787
2. Online www.artsticketing.wisc.edu
(Convenience fees apply to all phone and online orders)
3. Walk up sales:
Vilas Hall Box Office (Opening April 1)
821 University Avenue
Hours: Monday-Friday 11:30 AM-1:30 PM
or
Memorial Union Box Office
800 Langdon Street
Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00 AM-7:00 PM, Saturdays 11:30 AM-2:30 PM, Closed Sundays
(no convenience fees for in-person orders)
For performances in Vilas Hall, the Vilas Hall Box Office opens 1 hour before show-time and remains open until 30 min past curtain.