Press Release: Cotuit Center for the Arts presents "Three Little Girls Down a Well" in the Vivan and Morton Sigel Black Box Theater

Cotuit Center for the Arts presents Justin Elizabeth Sayre’s doom comedy Three Little Girls Down a Well in the Vivian and Morton Sigel Black Box Theater, July 13 through July 30, 2023. Performances will take place Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 4:00 pm. Directed by Jo Brisbane, Three Little Girls Down a Well features set design by Andy Arnault and actors Lily Anderson, Emma Hennessy, and Sandra Basile in the title roles.

ABOUT THE PLAY

Three Little Girls Down a Well, the creation of playwright Justin Elizabeth Sayre, makes its Cape Cod debut at Cotuit Center for the Arts July 13 to 30. Jo Brisbane will direct Sayre’s play, which had a recent run as part of The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival in New York City. Under the Radar Festival has long been considered a landmark of the NYC experimental theatre scene. The play has been described as a “heartfelt and metaphorical play about climate change and our collective grief of collapse” as it follows three little girls and the aftermath of their falling down a well. Playwright Sayre calls Three Little Girls Down a Well a doom comedy about death, grace, and the will to go on.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Justin Elizabeth Sayre has been praised for a “deeply passionate soul and acerbic wit” by the New York Times. As a writer and performer, Sayre has been described by entertainment journalist Michael Musto as “Oscar Wilde meets Whoopi Goldberg.” Hailed as one the “Funniest People in Brooklyn” by Brooklyn Magazine, Sayre has been listed among “L.A.’s Sixteen Most Talented LGBT Comics” by Frontiers Magazine. Sayre has written a series of YA Novels, Husky, Pretty, and Mean, released by Penguin Books, and the book, From Gay to Z: A Compendium of Queer Culture released by Chronicle Books. Sayre’s theatrical creations have been presented at Dixon Place, The Wild Project, The Celebration Theatre, Dynasty Typewriter, and La MaMa Experimental Theatre. Ravenswood Manor, a Camp-Horror-Soap-Opera also created by Sayre (and produced at L.A.’s Celebration Theater) has been called “a sharply written and well-acted exemplar of the horror-comedy genre,” by the Los Angeles Times. Ravenswood Manor is currently in development.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Jo Brisbane is a frequent performer within the Cape Cod theatre scene, as well as the cabaret world of New York City, Boston and Provincetown. Her cabaret show Mod Hollywood! Tunes from a Town Without Pity debuted at The Provincetown CabaretFest and went on to play a short run at Don’t Tell Mama in NYC. Brisbane wrote and produced the musical spoof Hope for the Holidays, which enjoyed a sold-out run at CCftA’s Black Box Theatre. A new adaptation of the show (Wintry Mix) will return to CCftA’s main stage during its upcoming four-city tour. Within the last few years, her plays Finding a Foundling and Storm Fetch were commissioned by Cape Rep Theatre, and an excerpt from her short play Walking The Wrack Line was recently published as part of the Smith & Kraus Best Women’s Monologues 2022 Anthology. Jo also directed the sold out run of Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche for CCftA. She has played roles for many Cape Cod theatre companies, including CCftA, Cape Rep Theatre, Eventide Theatre, and The Provincetown Theatre. Her acting informs her writing as well as her directing.

ABOUT THE CAST

Lily Anderson has been doing shows at Cotuit Center for the Arts since she started with the role of Annie in Annie at the Center when she was thirteen, and has been in several shows since then. Most recently she has been in Tommy as Sally Simpson, Oklahoma! as Ado Annie, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever as Imogene, and many more. Lily has also been in shows at Harwich Junior Theatre, Barnstable Comedy Club, and Sandwich High School. Lily recently worked with Jo Brisbane in a stage reading of The Bad Seed and is looking forward to working with her as a director again. This will be Lily’s first show in the Black Box Theater. You can see Lily this August on the Main Stage at the Center in Women ROCK!

Emma Hennessy was born and raised on the Cape but is fairly new to the Cape theatre scene. She recently moved back from NYC where she received her degree in acting from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Emma has been involved in tech and crew work with Cotuit shows since she moved back, but is thrilled to finally be making an appearance on stage. Shows she has managed and teched at the Center include Tommy, Charlie Brown, Piano Men II, Wait Until Dark, Cry it Out and she is most recently producing Hello Dolly! which is having performances on the Main Stage now! Her most recent theatre credits all with the Academy Company in NY include Julius Caesar, Be My Baby and The Luck of the Irish.

Sandra Basile was last seen in the Black Box Theater in The Weight of Silence. Sandra is a graduate from Eastern Michigan University with a theater and communications degree. Her concentration was in children’s theater and performance art. She was a member of The InterActors, a traveling improvisation troupe in Michigan. Sandra also performed and trained with Second City in Detroit. She also participated in the Petit Jean performance Art Festival in Arkansas. She was seen as Cecelia in Calendar Girls at the Barnstable Comedy Club, Essie in You Can’t Take it With You at Falmouth Theater Guild and is currently at Barnstable Comedy Club as Valerie in Murder on the Rerun.

All shows in the Black Box will be a part of our new Pick Your Price program. You decide what your ticket costs, from $10-$50. No other gimmicks, no preferred seating, no special promotions. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit artsonthecape.org or call the Box Office at 508-428-0669 x0. Cotuit Center for the Arts is located at 4404 Falmouth Road/Route 28 in Cotuit.

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What:
Three Little Girls Down a Well in the Vivian and Morton Sigel Black Box Theater

Where:
Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit

When:
July 13-30, 2023
Thu, Fri, Sat at 7:30pm, Sun at 4:00pm

Admission:
Pick your price, between $10-$50

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