SCOTTISH SPERM to Debut at Edinburgh Fringe; NYC Previews on July 21-23; Playwright called "Next Wendy Wasserstein" July 21, 2011

AOL's PATCH Calls Playwright Jacqueline McLaren "The Next Wendy Wasserstein" and "Indeed a Young Writer to Watch."

Jacqueline McLaren's new play Scottish Sperm (Directed by Grant Kretchik) will debut in Edinburgh, Scotland August 5 at The Fringe.

But local theatergoers can attend special previews for "Scottish Sperm" on July 21, 22, and 23 at Pace University's Schaeberle Studio Theatre, 41 Park Row - 10th Floor, New York City (East of City Hall). Admission is $10 and reservations (strongly recommended) can be made at Scottishspermtheplay@gmail.com

SYNOPSIS: McLaren's new irreverent, incisively funny play focuses on three, 20-somethings as they face life's challenges. What's so great about Scottish sperm? The characters in this dark comedy know the answer to this question, but not much else. Emma, Sarah, and Robert are stuck in the crossroads of their lives, and their refusal to move on leads them to destroy the relationships that they are attempting to save. Filled with hilarious, irreverent, and piercing dialogue, "Scottish Sperm" follows these three characters as they learn to handle love, loss, and whiskey.

The Creative Team:

Jacqueline McLaren (Playwright) is a playwright known for her irreverent, cutting humor and ear for dialogue. Scottish Sperm will be Ms. McLaren's first production at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Ms. McLaren's previous play How to Build a Bomb won the Olga and Paul Menn Foundation Award. How to Build a Bomb was also selected for Pace University's New Works Festival in Manhattan in 2010. Two of Ms. McLaren's plays were chosen for the University Theater's New Plays Festivals in Chicago. Ms. McLaren is a writer on Tu Nite con Lorenzo Parro, on NBC/Telemundo, that network's first bilingual talk show. Ms. McLaren is a graduate of the University of Chicago. She taught at several public schools in the notoriously rough South Side of Chicago throughout her four years.

Grant Kretchik (Director) holds an MFA in Acting from the New School University, and is the head of Pace University's BFA Acting Program. He has appeared as an actor Off Broadway and regionally. Film/TV: Law and Order, Guiding Light, As The World Turns, Man on the Moon, and When Harry Tries to Marry (which Kretchik also helped produce). He has worked as both an actor and director at La Mama etc., and been accepted into the Stage Directors Choreographers Society's 2010/2011 Observership Season. This past October Kretchik assisted on the first Broadway National Tour of Next to Normal, directed by Michael Grief. In September 2011, he will be directing The Parade by Tennessee Williams at the Tennessee Williams International Theater Festival in Provincetown, MA.

Rebecca Cunningham (Producer) - Rebecca is recent graduate of Pace University in New York City with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Directing. Directing credits include: The Vagina Monologues, Out in the Open: Stories of Queer Oppression and Empowerment, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, Uncommon Women and Others, How to Build a Bomb, Freshwater, romance, and With the Lights Out. AD credits: Sign Me, Who is Dan Schiller?, Gin Joint, The Beggar's Opera, and Glory of Living.

The Cast:

Megan Channell (Sarah) recently appeared in Spleen Theatre Company's inaugural production of Bound at New York Theatre Workshop. Theatre credits include work at Theater for the New City, The Abingdon Theatre, Manhattan Repertory, Curan Repertory, and Phare Play Productions. Film/TV: Sarina's Song, All My Children. She is a graduate of Emory University.

Dylan Lamb (Robert) is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and the recipient of the Chair's Award of Excellence in Dramatic Writing. He has worked for Warner Brothers Television as part of their Creative Lab and apprenticed at the Guthrie Theater in his hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. New York Theater: Demon Dreams (Gene Frankel), Glengarry Glen Ross (Cooper Union), John Faustus And The Overclocked Death Drive (Magic Futurebox), Ivanov (Tank Theater). Writing: Alligator Summer (New York Fringe), There Is No Isabelle (Minnesota Fringe), Rebirth of a Little Beauty (3LD), A Man Of My Word (NYU Festival of New Works).

Samantha Steinmetz (Emma) Recent credits include The Remarkable Rooming House of Mme. Le Monde (La Mama), Uncommon Women and Others, The Little Dog Laughed, The Bald Soprano, The House of Bernarda Alba, The Zoo Story, The Vagina Monologues, School, and A Piece of My Heart. Samantha moved from Kansas to New York in 2009 to study at BFA Acting at Pace University. She also trains with Ken Schatz in New York and is a recent graduate of the Circle in the Square Summer Conservatory.

For more information about the play Scottish Sperm, go to McLaren’s blog: scottishsperm.tumblr.com; Twitter: Scottishsperm; Facebook page: Support Scottish Sperm. Contributions may be made at the Facebook page.