Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati Presents GOOD PEOPLE, 9/5-23

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati opens its 2012-2013 season with the regional premiere of Good People, by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Shrek the Musical), playing September 5-23, 2012. Directed by D. Lynn Meyers. Production Sponsor is The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation.

In addition to being nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play, Good People, a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, was named Best Play of the 2010-2011 season by the New York Drama Critics Circle, as well as featured on the 2011 “Top Ten” theater lists of New York Magazine, Newsday, and Time Out. Well known for his absurdist comedies Fuddy Meers and Kimberly Akimbo, Lindsay-Abaire brings his signature humor to his tough and tender new work. The play is set in Lindsay-Abaire’s native South Boston, a traditionally Irish American neighborhood that is strongly rooted in working class identity. Many people have come to know "Southie," as its commonly referred to, through gritty depictions of the neighborhood in successful movies such as Mystic River, The Departed, and Good Will Hunting. In an interview with the New York Times, Lindsay-Abaire remarked, “Class is something I know about, I’ve lived it every day of my life, and it shaped me in my identity.” Raising difficult questions with unsentimental observation and appealingly scrappy characters, Good People explores the struggles, shifting loyalties and unshakeable hopes that come with having next to nothing in America.

Good People follows Margie Walsh who is facing eviction and scrambling to catch a break. Laid off from her job at the dollar store, Margie is faced with the reality that South Boston is providing her the same level of opportunity it always has: none. Wry, rough around The Edges and ready to make a change, she goes to seek out the one who got away – both from “Southie” and from her. Instead, she finds herself in the ‘burbs and out of her element, facing the question: is opportunity granted or earned? Good People takes an affectionate look at the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ through the eyes of characters who won't be ignored.

 A full list of available discounts and performance calendar is available at www.ensemblecincinnati.org.

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