SUPERNOVA by Timothy McNeil May 22, 2010

The critically acclaimed, award-winning Elephant Theatre Company will begin its 14th season with the world premiere of Supernova by Timothy McNeil, with performances beginning on Thursday, May 20. With opening night set for Saturday, May 22, Supernova will play a limited engagement through June 27.
Supernova tells the story of Mabel Davies, a not-so-simple housewife in Des Moines, Iowa, who has spent years living for everyone else. Following the appearance of a magazine with a dog-eared page on her kitchen table, and the events that follow, Mabel finds her life changing in extraordinary ways. A ‘supernova’ is defined as an extremely luminous stellar explosion that briefly outshines an entire galaxy before fading from view. Supernova ponders fate, destiny, love, and radicalism.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Micah Cohen, Kelly Elizabeth, Gina Garrison, Tony Gatto, Bonnie McNeil, Tim McNeil, James Pippi, Edward Tournier, and Joe Weibe. The design team for Supernova includes Elephant Stageworks (set), Joel Daavid (lighting), Jack Arky (sound) and Louis Douglas Jacobs (costumes). Edgar Landa is fight choreographer, Shannon Simonds is the production stage manager, and Supernova is being produced for the Elephant by David Fofi.

Playwright Timothy McNeil is a member of the Stella Adler Academy faculty, and his play Anything had its world premiere at the Elephant in 2008. That production received four LADCC Award nominations, winning three, and was also nominated by GLAAD as best production of the year. Three of McNeil’s other plays have been produced locally: Los Muertos, Margaret, and Crane, Mississippi.