Dylan Manderlink cast in ArtsEmerson Production of "Home" at Emerson College

2011 Oct 27

Ridgefield's Dylan Manderlink, a sophomore BA Investigative Theatre for Social Change student at Emerson College, was cast in Home, the coda to You Better Sit Down: Tales from My Parents' Divorce. Manderlink will join 12 fellow Emerson students in this production, a collaboration with The Civilians, a New York-based investigative theater company. Home was written by Anne Kauffman, Matthew Maher, Caitlin Miller, Janice Paran, Jennifer Morris, and Robbie Collier Sublett and is directed by Morris and Sublett. Performances take place October 25-30 at the Mainstage of Emerson College's Paramount Theater (559 Washington St., Boston).

Exploring the theme of "home" through the experiences and insights of these young Emerson artists, Home will accompany You Better Sit Down. Emerson Performing Arts students developed their stories in rehearsals with members of The Civilians.

Crafted from interviews the cast conducted with their own parents, You Better Sit Down is a heartbreaking and hilarious account of the parents' marriages and their subsequent divorces. These delicate parent-child conversations have yielded unique insights into falling in love, falling out of love, and rebuilding a life after the complex experience of dividing a family. The show explores each couple's first meeting, the ups and downs of their marriage, their split, and the surprising perspectives on life after divorce. In these alternately funny, devastating and revelatory performances, the four actors-each playing his or her own parent or parents-are the conduits of their parents' stories and, inevitably though sometimes inadvertently, also of their own experiences of family division. This provocative show reveals the stories behind the statistics of one of the most prominent social phenomena of our time.

Single tickets start at $25. Tickets for ArtsEmerson performances can be purchased at the Paramount Center Box Office, 559 Washington St., Boston, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.aestages.org or by calling 617-824-8000.

About the Department of Performing Arts and Emerson Stage

Emerson Stage is the producing organization of the Department of Performing Arts at Emerson College. Its mission is to enhance the cultural life of Emerson College and the larger local community through the presentation of meaningful, diverse, and multicultural programming that upholds high artistic standards and a commitment to open-minded cultural exchange. Emerson Stage pairs Performing Arts students with top theater professionals, onstage and off, to bring theatrical events to life. The organization produces eight shows per year. Join us at www.emerson.edu/emersonstage, www.facebook.com/emersonstage, or www.twitter.com/emstage.

About ArtsEmerson

ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage is committed to bringing the world's legendary and pioneering artists to Emerson College, presenting work from this country and abroad you've never had an opportunity to see-at least, not without first heading to the airport. Based in the heart of Boston's historic Theatre District-on the Emerson College campus-ArtsEmerson programs include culturally enriching theatre, film, and music. To further engage the Emerson College community, much of the work of ArtsEmerson will evolve out of periodic, multi-year residencies designed to facilitate the creation of new work and to provide opportunities for students, faculty and the community to engage in the creative process.

About The Civilians

The Civilians is the center for investigative theater, supporting the development and production of new theater from creative inquiries into the most vital questions of the present. The Civilians expands the scope of American theater and champions innovation by tackling complex and under-explored subjects, enabling artists to enrich their processes through in-depth interaction with their topics, diversifying artistic voices and audiences, and integrating theater with new media. Development often involves community residencies, travel, face-to-face conversations, and extensive research. This high degree of engagement with the public continues into production, inviting the audience to be active participants through ongoing channels of dialogue. This playfully clever company has toured extensively with presentations in over 40 cities nationally and internationally. The Civilians has also received Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk and Drama Guild nominations.

About Emerson College

Located in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city's Theatre District, Emerson is the only private four-year college in the United States devoted to teaching communication and the arts in a liberal arts context. The College has 3,453 undergraduates and 837 graduate students from across the United States and 50 countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 60 student organizations and performance groups, 14 NCAA teams, student publications, honor societies, television stations including the Emerson Channel, and WERS-FM, the nation's highest rated student-run radio station. The College's arts organization, ArtsEmerson, brings professional performing arts experiences to Boston, making them available to the public and enabling the College's students and faculty to work side-by-side with distinguished artists from around the world. Emerson is internationally known for its study and internship programs in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., the Netherlands, China, and the Czech Republic. For more information, visit www.emerson.edu.