Kitchen Dog Theater is proud to present the World Premiere headliner of its 15th annual New Works Festival, “Ruth” by KDT Artistic Company Member Vicki Caroline Cheatwood. RUTH is a powerful contemporary reimagining of the Hebrew/Old Testament story of Ruth and Naomi, focusing on the hot button issue of immigration.

KDT Artistic Company Member Tim Johnson directs a great cast, featuring fellow KDT Company Members Liza Marie Gonzalez (Ruth) and Barry Nash (Eli/Mr. Nix) alongside local luminaries Andrews W. Cope (Mal/Strick), Gail Cronauer (Naomi), Lisa Hassler (Ora/Jayelle), Clay Wheeler (Killian/Dale David) and Clay Yocum (Rev. John/Boaz). Production team will feature KDT Company Members Clare Floyd Devries (Set Design) and Jen Gilson-Gilliam (Prop Design) alongside Aaron Johansen (Light Design), Samantha J. Miller (Costume Design), Cheyenne Schweitzer (Original Music/Sound Design), Gretchen Elizabeth Smith (Dramaturg) and Steve Leary (Technical Director). Stephanie Jayko will serve as Stage Manager.

“’Ruth’ explores and questions our traditional concepts of family and home,” says director Tim Johnson. “In their place, the play invites us to consider a far more expansive understanding of our interconnectedness and the responsibility we have to each other. Through a simple theatrical gesture, ̔Ruth̓ also reminds us that those who forget history are doomed to repeat its mistakes.”

“It's surreal and unthinkable that the development and production of “Ruth,” a story about loss and recovery from loss, should be so wrapped up with the illness and death of my husband. Ruth and Naomi's journey is my journey now,” adds playwright Vicki Caroline Cheatwood. “The last two years of our lives were full of sadness and sorrow - and at first, heading into production felt so tragic, like ̔Why is this happening now?̓ But today it's a saving grace. Bringing ‘Ruth’ to the MAC, and being surrounded by the love and comfort of our Kitchen Dog family, feels so perfectly right. Like coming home."

Kitchen Dog Theater's New Works Festival, now in its fifteenth year, is an exciting, eclectic series that not only includes the mainstage production of “Ruth” but also a collection of six staged readings, featuring the diverse and vibrant new voices of local, national and international playwrights selected from a record number of over 400 scripts, and PUP Fest, a co-production with Junior Players, that features some of the Metroplex's finest high school playwrights.

Titles and performance information for the staged reading series and PUP Fest will be announced very soon.

“Ruth” opens on Friday, May 25 and runs through Saturday, June 23 in the Heldt/Hall Theater at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC) located at 3120 McKinney Avenue in Uptown. Ticket prices range from $30 for all opening night tickets, $15 - $25 for adults and $10 - $20 for MAC, STAGE, KERA, DART, ARTSCARD, TCG members, students and senior citizens/65+(all with proper ID). Special group rates are also available.

All tickets are general admission seating. Performances are Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8 p.m., with additional performances on Wednesday at 8 p.m. (June 6 and 20) and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. (June 3 and 17).

“Talk-Backs” with the actors and director follow the Sunday matinee performances. Pay-What-You-Can specials (available to the first 25 patrons) are on Wednesdays (June 6 and 20) and Thursdays (May 31 and June 7, 14 and 21).

*Please note: The “Ruth” performance on Saturday, June 2 will start at 8:30 p.m.

For tickets and/or a complete schedule of the 2012 New Works Festival, please call the Kitchen Dog Theater box office at 214-953-1055 or buy online at kitchendogtheater.org

This production is supported, in part, by the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, The 500, Inc., The National Endowment for the Arts, The Shubert Foundation, SullivanPerkins, TACA, Texas Commission on the Arts and individual donors.