Contacts:
Stephen Montagna, Director
Fuddy Meers
Ph: 608.251.2097
E-mail: montagna@itis.com

Beth Shippert, Producer
Fuddy Meers
Ph: 608.335.3992
E-mail: MercuryFuddyMeers@hotmail.com

Website address (high resolution photos available for press use): http://mercuryfuddymeers.tripod.com

(Madison, WI, September 20, 2002) - Mercury Players presents Fuddy Meers by David Lindsay-Abaire, winner of the 2001 Kesselring Prize for playwriting. The show will run every Thursday - Sunday, October 4th - 26th. There will be a special performance on October 10th to raise funds for Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS) with all proceeds benefiting this important Dane County service.

Workshopped at Julliard in 1998 and performed in theaters across the U.S. since, Fuddy Meers is a wild ride with Claire, a memory-challenged woman, and her alleged family. Kidnapped by one husband and pursued by another, Claire seeks the truth. Like the distorted and warped reflections of a funhouse mirror (which the title alludes to), Claire sees herself reflected back to her by a family that wants her to forget the past. There’s an all too-good-to-be-true husband, a mysterious, limping stranger, the pot-smoking teenage son, the tough lady cop, a ventriloquist with a trash-talking dummy, and her mother who lost the ability to speak coherently due to a stroke. David Lindsay-Abaire’s play is a puzzle that is funny, mysterious and ultimately empowering.

Director Stephen Montagna is at the helm for Mercury’s production, and he has his own spin on this unique piece of theater, “This play is exactly what the playwright intended: an outrageous farce with an underlying sadness. The play is not at its heart an examination of the dysfunctional family, nor of Domestic Violence. However, given my own background working in the men’s anti-violence movement for the better part of the last twelve years, it was impossible for me to read the text without those particular aspects of these characters’ lives resonating loud and clear. It was clear to me from the very beginning that it would be silly to produce the play and not do something to take advantage of the fact that it breaches certain topics. When, as they say, good fortune came to pass, and Mercury Players Theatre not only put it in their 2002-03 season, but assigned it the October slot, it became a no-brainer: October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.”

The October 10th performance will be an opportunity to fundraise as well as educate. All the box-office earnings of October 10th will be donated to DAIS, and DAIS staff will help facilitate a talk-back with the audience after the performance.

Fuddy Meers will be performed Thursdays at 7:30 pm (October 10, 17, 24), Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm (October 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26) and Sundays at 4:00 pm (October 6, 13, 20) in the Evjue theatre at the Bartell Community Theatre at 113 East Mifflin Street. The DAIS benefit will occur on October 10th, 2002 at 7:30 pm. Tickets for all performances are $12.00. Reservations can be made at the box office by calling (608) 242-0150.

This project is supported by a grant from the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission with additional funds from the Madison Community Foundation and the Overture Foundation.