Unnatural Acts extends by one week

The Classic Stage Company's production of Unnatural Acts, created by members of the Plastic Theatre, and conceived and directed by Tony Speciale, extends its run by one week and will now play through to 17 Jul 2011.

Unnatural Acts opened at the Classic Stage Company on 23 Jun 2011, following previews from 14 Jun, and was originally scheduled to close on 10 Jul 2011.

The show opened to mostly positive reviews: Crisp, fluid & engaging (Newyorktheatreguide); A bracing production (NY Daily News); Powerful polemic (Bllomberg); Absorbing (Newsroom Jersey); Stunning theatricality (Variety).

Unnatural Acts is inspired by events that occurred at Harvard University in the spring of 1920, when a student's suicide sparked a campus-wide investigation by a panel of administrators who convened to investigate, expose and ultimately expel a group of homosexual students.

For more than eighty years the events surrounding the incident were covered-up, until in 2002 when Amit Paley, a student journalist for The Harvard Crimson, came upon a reference to the "Secret Court" while combing university archives. After initial resistance, Harvard granted Paley access to the long-abandoned files of over 500 pages of documents describing the systematic persecution of these students.

The revelation of this controversy motivated conceiver & director Speciale's own journey into the court transcripts, family correspondence, and countless records revealing the lives of these promising young men. Speciale and his team of writers (the Plastic Theatre) researched the long-hidden records from the Court, identifying witnesses and accused individuals, and pieced together a timeline of events and experiences. Through this research, study and improvisation, Unnatural Acts emerged.

Unnatural Acts features Jess Burkle, Joe Curnutte, Frank De Julio, Roe Hartrampf, Roderick Hill, Max Jenkins, Brad Koed, Jerry Marsini, Devin Norik, Will Rogers and Nick Westrate.

The production includes set design by Walt Spangler, costume design by Andrea Lauer, lighting design by Justin Townsend and original music and sound design by Christian Frederickson.

Tony Speciale (Conceiver/Director) is in his third season as Associate Artistic Director at CSC where he has directed 'Twelfth Night,' 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'The Taming of the Shrew.' His work has also been seen at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Theatre Row (The Clurman Theatre), New York Musical Theatre Festival, HERE Arts Center and La MaMa. As a writer, his play 'Delirium: The Myth of Arthur Rimbaud' was presented at the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it was honored with a British Writers' Guild Award.