THEATRE RHINOCEROS
2008 GLAAD MEDIA AWARD WINNER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jerry Metzker
(510) 839-6177
October 16, 2008
His Heart Belongs to Me
Begins performances on October 23, 2008
Photos now available
World Premiere Drama
Production Company: Theatre Rhinoceros, John Fisher, Artistic Director
New Works Festival 2008 presents
In association with Grooviness Productions, Jerry
Metzker, Artistic Director
Title: His Heart Belongs to Me
By Jerry Metzker
Director: Maureen Studer
Cast: Chrys-Anthony Booker, Tamar Cohn, Susan Donnelly, Amanda Lee, Norman Muñoz, Danielle Perata, and Matt Weimer
Stage Manager: Lia Metz
Venue: Theatre Rhinoceros, Studio
2926 16th Street (at South Van Ness; BART)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Performances: Oct. 23 – Nov. 8, Thurs.-Sat., 8:00 PM
Sun., Nov. 2, 3:00 PM
Previews: Thurs. – Fri., October 23 – 24 (No press at previews
please)
Opening Night: Saturday, October 25
Box Office: (415) 861-5079; www.TheRhino.org
TIX: $12
Press: Visit our website at www.TheRhino.org or contact Jerry
Metzker at (510) 839-6177
Publicity pictures will soon be available for download on our website — www.TheRhino.org
In this timely and exciting new play by Jerry Metzker, the unexpected death of his beloved partner sends a gay man’s life on a tailspin that requires all of his inner reserves of strength to survive. Before Charlie’s death, Dan and Charlie lived the American dream, as well as any gay couple with children in the Midwest could. They had good jobs, supportive friends and two children they both adored. But living in a state with no legal protections or benefits for their family proves to be the family’s undoing when Charlie unexpectedly dies in a work-related accident. Almost immediately, his mother, sister and the mother of their children assume all responsibility for everything Dan and Charlie have built, leaving Dan reeling without a legal leg to stand on.
“Jerry’s play is a moving and compelling depiction of just how things can fall apart where laws are not clear and loyalties divided,” says Theatre Rhinoceros Artistic Director John Fisher.
“The title of this lovely play, like the story itself, is heartbreaking because it indicates by omission so much that does not ‘belong to me,’” he adds. “But this is not a quest for more possessions. It’s a demand for the right to be responsible. We live in a culture that demands accountability but withholds responsibility from too many of its constituents. This must change. While Jerry’s play is moving drama, it is also a call to action.”
Jerry Metzker is a Bay Area playwright, dramaturg and theater writer. His short plays have been produced by Abydos/The Directors Theatre in three separate play festivals. He has also had several workshop productions at the Marsh and previously adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe for a special event at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. His first play, “Hot Summer Night” was awarded an honorable mention by the Playwrights Foundation in 1999. He was integral in the formation of Theatre Bay Area’s Playwrights Showcase and is currently a member of the Artists Development Lab.
Maureen Studer has spent three decades in the theater performing, directing, producing, teaching and writing. She has directed with several different Bay Area companies: Actor’s Theatre of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa Junior College, and Sonoma Valley Shakespeare. As well, she’s directed a number of children’s plays and staged readings for Artists Development Lab.
The cast features Theatre Rhinoceros regular Matt Weimer (Ishi, the Last of the Yahi, Beautiful Child) as Dan with Chrys-Anthony Booker, Tamar Cohn, Susan Donnelly, Amanda J. Lee, Norman Muñoz and Danielle Perata.
His Heart Belongs to Me was developed under the auspices of the Artists Development Lab of which playwright Jerry Metzker is a member.
During the run of the production, the company will be inviting patrons to support the “No on Prop 8 Campaign.”
Theatre Rhinoceros, America’s longest running professional queer theatre, develops and produces works of theatre that enlighten, enrich, and explore both the ordinary and extraordinary aspects of our queer community.