The Pavilion Extends at Rattlestick; Tasha Lawrence Joins Cast

The Rattlestick Theatre is extending its production of Craig Wright's The Pavilion by two weeks. It will now end its run on October 23.

The Pavilion of the title is a 100-year-old dance hall in Pine City, MN, where the lives of ex-sweethearts Peter Mollberg and Kari Hermanson--and dozens of other characters, as well--intertwine once more to form a pattern of love and loss. It is one in a series of Pine City plays for Wright. The series also includes Orange Flower Water and Melissa Arctic.

The Pavilion, directed by Lucie Tiberghien, opened off-Broadway on September 20 with Stephen Bogardus, Brian d'Arcy James and Jennifer Mudge. In his Broadway.com Review of the play, Edward Karam wrote: "[Wright] borrows from Wilder's Our Town with mixed results. True, the Narrator here doesn't merely describe the residents of Pine Valley. Rather, Bogardus assumes all their identities, and he even steps outside the play to guide the lighting crew. But inevitably the device feels shopworn. It may be one of the reasons along with occasional chunks of poetic excess that the play doesn't really catch fire, in spite of much good writing, outstanding performances, and the power of strongly resonating, timeless truths."

Tasha Lawrence, whose past Rattlestick credits include Suburban Motel and Boise, will replace Mudge in October. Lawrence's first performance is set for October 5.