HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT info@recroomhtx.com | 713-588-9403

REC ROOM ARTS PRESENTS THE HOUSTON PREMIERE OF HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING

Kyle Clark Kevin

Susan Koozin Gina

Shanae’a Moore Emily

Jay Sullivan Justin

Shannon Uphold Teresa

Will Arbery Playwright

HOUSTON, TX - (September 12, 2023) - Rec Room Arts (Artistic Director Matt Hune, Associate Artistic Director Sophia Watt, Managing Director Stefan Azizi) continues its 2023 season with the award winning play HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING written by Texas native Will Arbery. Associate Artistic Director Sophia Watt will direct the 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist. The production will feature Jay Sullivan (Alley Theatre), Susan Koozin (The Children, Exit Strategy), Shannon Uphold (Dance Nation), Kyle Clark (Wolf Play), and Shanae’a Moore.

HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING will make its Houston premiere this fall at Rec Room Arts. Preview performances begin on October 5, 2023 with an official press opening night on Saturday, October 7, 2023. Performances run through October 28.

On the edge of the wilderness, four friends gather at a backyard party to honor their mentor and the newly inaugurated president of a conservative Catholic university. It has been years since they last met and as the celebration runs deep into the night, their reunion spirals into spiritual chaos and a vicious fight to be understood. Will Arbery’s haunting play offers grace and disarming clarity, speaking to the heart of a country at war with itself, and a generation facing the demons of the modern American experience.

“Will Arbery skillfully evokes the complexities of human desire, reminiscent of Anton Chekhov, and pairs it with the dogma of American ideologies” said Artistic Director Matt Hune. “On the surface HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING is about politics and religion, but underneath all the talk there exists lost aspirations, stymied passion, and profound fear. The play moves from flashpoint to exorcism, as four friends venture into a battle to save themselves within their world” Hune continued.

The complete cast of HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING includes Jay Sullivan (Justin), Shanae’a Moore (Emily), Kyle Clark (Kevin), Shannon Uphold (Teresa), and Susan Koozin (Gina).

HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING will feature scenic design by Stefan Azizi, sound design by Robert Leslie Meek, costume design by Leah Smith, lighting design by Paige Seber, and props by Kayla Meins. ChloeSue Baker is the production stage manager.

The Green Room Bar at Rec Room is open on show-nights beginning at 6:00 p.m. and closes at midnight.

HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING BIOS WILL ARBERY (Playwright) is a playwright from Texas + Wyoming + seven sisters. His plays include Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Playwrights Horizons), Plano (Clubbed Thumb), Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (New Neighborhood), Wheelchair (3 Hole Press). He’s currently under commission from Playwrights Horizons and Shadowcatcher Entertainment. He’s a member of New Dramatists, The Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, Page 73’s Interstate 73, Colt Coeur, Youngblood, and an alum of Clubbed Thumb’s Early Career Writers Group. His plays have been developed at Clubbed Thumb, Playwrights Horizons, NYTW, The Vineyard, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Cape Cod Theater Project, The New Group, EST/Youngblood, The Bushwick Starr, Alliance/Kendeda, and Tofte Lake Center. Dance work: Pioneer Works, MCA Chicago, Watermill Center. MFA: Northwestern. BA: Kenyon College. willarbery.com SOPHIA WATT (Director) is the Associate Artistic Director of Rec Room Arts. Previous directing credits include: Rec Room: Dance Nation, Main Street Theater: What The Constitution Means To Me,The Oldest Boy; University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance: The Wolves, The Nest, Three Sisters, Assistant Director for James Bohnen and Bill Brown; Hangar Theater/Wedge: Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.; Hangar Theater: Jack and the Beanstalk; Unity Theater: Every Brilliant Thing, The Diaries of Adam and Eve; Actors’ Equity Festival Houston 2019: The Effect; The Landing Theatre Company: Oleanna, The Visit, Creatures of Habit; Alley Theatre: Assistant Director for Theresa Rebeck; Barn Arts Residency: Alumnae; Lincoln Center Director’s Lab: Alumnae; SDCF: observership class 2016-2018. 2019 Drama League Directing Fellow. Education: M.F.A., University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance; B.F.A., The Hartt School.

TICKETS AND INFORMATION Single tickets are now on sale and range from $5 - $40. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at https://www. recroomarts.org/heroes-of-the-fourth-turning HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING begins performances on Thursday October 5 and will run through Saturday October 28, with an official press opening on Saturday, October 7.

The performance schedule is Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

All performances are downtown at Rec Rom, 100 Jackson Street 130C, Houston, TX 77002 ABOUT REC ROOM ARTS Rec Room Arts is a non-profit theater organization whose mission is to develop innovative performances by emerging and established artists in order to energize a new generation of audiences for the arts. Rec Room Arts is interested in providing unique and enjoyable experiences through theater that enhance the cultural imagination and social wellbeing of Houston. Rec Room believes in the theatrical examination of individual experiences and operates under the principles that theater shapes behaviors, patterns, and the collective unconscious. Furthermore, Rec Room believes in the importance of making the overall experience of going to the theater pleasurable. Therefore, audiences are invited to arrive early and stay late to socialize in our bar.

Matt Hune is Artistic Director/Co-founder; Stefan Azizi is Executive Director; Sophia Watt is Associate Artistic Director.

HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING FACT SHEET

HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING

Written by Will Arbery Directed by Sophia Watt Opening Press Night: Saturday, October 7, 2023 | Closing: October 28, 2023 Wednesdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: $5 - $40 Rec Room, 100 Jackson Street, Houston, TX 77002 Website: www.recroomarts.org Phone: 713-588-9403 On the edge of the wilderness, four friends gather at a backyard party to honor their mentor and the newly inaugurated president of a conservative Catholic university. It has been years since they last met and as the celebration runs deep into the night, their reunion spirals into spiritual chaos and a vicious fight to be understood. Will Arbery’s haunting play offers grace and disarming clarity, speaking to the heart of a country at war with itself, and a generation facing the demons of the modern American experience.

Full-resolution images and photo credits available at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fVJaYsRFYf81jxkAsZUkI0V4ERtmbJ0o?usp=sharing

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