Common Wealth Endeavors Presents Two Dark Comedies About Lies: Elevator by Jess Sayer and Contractions by Mike Barlett

Raleigh, NC, February 04, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Common Wealth Endeavors, continues its mission to present new works from the English speaking world to Triangle audiences with a double bill of short comedies: Elevator by Jess Sayer and Contractions by Mike Bartlett. Directed by Gregor McElvogue and starring J Evarts, Mary Guthrie, Amanda Hahn, Susannah Hough and Laurel Ullman, this production features an all female cast, supported by an all male technical team.

From New Zealand: Elevator. Three woman, three secrets, one broken elevator. Harper and Samantha have been friends forever. But now they're stuck in an elevator with Samantha's mother. The masks are up. The smiles are on. Everybody has a story and they're sticking to it. Jess Sayer is an actor and playwright living and working in Auckland. She has won the Playmarket b425 award three times, and been shortlisted for the Adam NZ award twice. She founded Junket Theatre company in 2012 and has since staged four of her own works, Elevator, Wings, Crunchy Silk and Fix to sell out seasons at The Basement in Auckland. Elevator was first presented at the Auckland Fringe Festival in February 2013.

From the UK: Contractions. An ink-black comedy about the boundaries between work and play: Emma's been seeing Darren. She thinks she's in love. Her manager thinks she's in breach of contract. The situation needs to be resolved. Is there humanity in Human Resources? Mike Barlett's debut, My Child (Royal Court, May 2007) saw him hailed by The Stage as 'one of the most exciting new talents to emerge in recent times'. He has worked with various theatres since graduating, including Paines Plough, the Royal Court, Soho and Hampstead. Contractions was first presented at The Royal Court Theatre, London in May 2008.

The Common Wealth Endeavors double-bill will run at Common Ground Theatre in Durham, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., February 19 - March 7, 2015, with matinees at 3 p.m. on February 22 and March 1. The performance on February 19 is a pay-what-you-can preview, with a cash-only $5 minimum.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors/students/military. Call (919) 410.8631 or visit www.fromcommonwealth.com for more information.

"While the first reveal of the play [Elevator] is somewhat obvious, the second is much more left field, though fairly justified. However, it is the end of this play that truly shocks – a brave maneuver from such a young writer." -Theatrescenes

"Contractions...speaks with brutally entertaining, bullet-point directness to the slaving, anxiety-ridden middle-classes...This two-hander is often ferociously funny while being absolutely appalling." -Daily Telegraph

About Common Wealth Endeavors

Common Wealth Endeavors is a theatrical cooperative, organized as a Limited Liability Corporation under North Carolina law. We present English language drama that originates from countries outside the US, in the belief that from our common language there is a common wealth of cultural understanding that can be shared through common experiences. Common Wealth Endeavors is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Creative contributors are paid on a fee-for-hire basis. Any profits arising from productions go to fund new endeavors.

Contact Information:
Gregor McElvogue / Common Wealth Endeavors LLC / info@fromcommonwealth.com /
(919) 410.8631

Press images available upon request.