PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: May 11, 2010

PRESS CONTACT: Dan Berube, 978.654.7595, Berube@MerrimackRep.org

BOX OFFICE: 978.654.4MRT (4678)

MERRIMACK REP ENTERS

NO PARKING IN

BOSTON THEATER MARATHON

WRITTEN BY LONG-TIME MRT SUBSCRIBER RAY ARSENAULT

May 23, 2010 at the Boston Center for the Arts

Lowell, MA – Two veterans go to war over a parking space in No Parking by Ray Arsenault, Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s entry in the Boston Theater Marathon, directed by Benny Sato Ambush and featuring Will Lyman and Grant MacDermott. The Boston Theater Marathon XII, which includes 50 ten-minute plays by 50 New England playwrights presented by 50 New England theatre companies in 10 hours, takes place on May 22-23, 2010 at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, located at 527 Tremont Street, Boston. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. To purchase tickets, please visit www.bostontheatrescene.com or call 617.933.8600.

A short play inspired by author Ray Arsenault’s experiences evaluating veterans potentially suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, No Parking features two men: Tony, a Vietnam veteran, and Brad, a younger veteran just home from Iraq. Brad has just moved into the neighborhood, and is looking for a parking spot on a snowy winter night when he spots a space in front of Tony’s house. As an argument ensues over the space, one of the men realizes they are arguing about much more than a parking space.

No Parking is directed by Emerson College’s Benny Sato Ambush, who directed Black Pearl Sings! at Merrimack Rep earlier this season. Ambush says, “I was drawn to this play because of its humanity: one human being who has been through it seeing another human being in trouble and daring to care enough to help. Also, the implied message that the living wounded are casualties of war, too. War stinks and the price of it takes a tremendous toll on not just the soldiers (men and women) but their families and others around them. Living collateral damage. It has always been thus with war and we, the human family, can’t seem to learn another way to share the planet and resolve conflict.”

Playwright Ray Arsenault is part of the Greater Newburyport theatre community. He is a clinical psychologist in Andover and frequently provides services to veterans. In the five years that he has been writing plays, his works have appeared at the Firehouse Center for the Arts and The Actor's Studio in Newburyport, as well as at the Waterfront Playhouse in Key West. His duet, Coming Clean and The Mediator, took first place in the 2009 NE Fringe Festival. He thanks his fellow artists from Group, where No Parking was workshopped. It will be part of their June production Group Alchemy at the Actor's Studio of Newburyport.  “I am delighted that Merrimack Rep is involved with the production of No Parking at the Boston Theater Marathon. MRT is special to me.  My first theatre date with my now wife was at MRT, and we have been subscribers for over 15 years.”
 
Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s 2010-2011 season is sponsored by Lowell Cooperative Bank.  Merrimack Repertory Theatre is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Season subscriptions for the 2010-2011 season are on sale now. Merrimack Rep offers subscription packages to fit every lifestyle and budget.  With season subscription packages ranging from $46-$273, all subscriptions offer deep discounts off single ticket prices as well as exclusive subscriber-only benefits, including free parking, restaurant and theatre discounts, lost ticket insurance and free, unlimited exchanges.  For a season brochure or subscription information, call 978.654.4MRT (4678) or visit www.MerrimackRep.org.

For more information, bios, interviews or photos, please contact Dan Berube at 978.654.7595 or berube@merrimackrep.org.

For MRT show times, tickets, season information, directions, or to request a brochure, please visit www.MerrimackRep.org or call the Box Office at 978.654.4MRT (4678).

Merrimack Repertory Theatre is located in beautiful historic downtown Lowell at Liberty Hall, the Company’s 308-seat theatre, 50 E. Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA 01852 (adjacent to Lowell Memorial Auditorium).  Each season, Merrimack Rep presents an eclectic mix of contemporary productions, engaging the best available actors, designers and directors in the country.  Founded in 1979, Merrimack Rep’s mission is “To advance the cause of human understanding by creating theatrical productions at the highest level of artistic excellence and making them affordable to the broadest possible community.”  Its unique artistic vision is shaped by a passion for excellence and a profound commitment to its community.  Merrimack Rep strives to enhance the community’s quality of life while contributing to its economic strength, measuring success by the depth of the Company’s artistic and social contribution to the region.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre's 2010-2011 Season
The Reduced Shakespeare Company® in The Complete World of Sports (abridged) by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, September 9 – October 3, 2010; Four Places by Joel Drake Johnson, October 14 – November 7, 2010; Beasley’s Christmas Party adapted by C.W. Munger, from the story by Booth Tarkington; November 26 – December 19, 2010; Tryst by Karoline Leach, January 6 – January 30, 2011; The Exceptionals by Bob Clyman, February 10 – March 6, 2011; Two Jews Walk Into A War… by Seth Rozin, March 17 – April 10, 2011; A Picasso by Jeffrey Hatcher, April 21 – May 15, 2011.

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