Offended, a new play by Peter Sampieri

Offended is a new play by Peter Sampieri, directed by Benny-Sato Ambush, stage managed by Bobby Cius, featuring Caitlyn Jones and Alexander Platt, presented as a workshop staged reading to tell the story of two artists and close friends collaborating on a theatrical production while wrestling with issues of race, misrepresentation, and censorship. December 11th at 7:30pm Sophia Gordon Rehearsal Room (The Rehearsal Room is located on the second floor of the Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts.) Approximate running time is 75 minutes with no intermission. Free Admission Reservations strongly encouraged- please call 978-542-6365 or email arts@salemstate.edu to reserve tickets. Patrons are invited to attend a brief talk back after the production. Meet the Cast/Production Team: BENNY SATO AMBUSH (Director) is a professional SDC stage director, former Artistic Director of three theatres (two of them professional theatres), educator, consultant, former National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) panelist/site evaluator, and published commentator. For the past nine years, he was Senior Distinguished Producing Director-In-Residence of Emerson Stage, the producing wing of the Department of Performing Arts (PA) at Emerson College, and taught on PA’s acting and directing faculty. His prior artistic leadership experience includes: Acting Artistic Director – Rites and Reason Theatre Company, Providence, RI – University Theatre, Producing Artistic Director – Oakland Ensemble Theatre, Oakland, CA – Small Professional Theatre (SPT), Associate Artistic Director – San Francisco/s American Conservatory Theater – League of Resident Theatre (LORT), and several others. He holds an MFA in Directing from the University of California, San Diego and a BA in Theatre Arts and Dramatic Literature from Brown University. CAITLYN JONES (Cast Member) is unbelievably proud to be a part of this new play. Since graduating from SSU in 2016 with a BFA in Theatre Performance, she’s acted a bit, waitressed a bit, and taken pictures of European doors a bunch. She was most recently seen in Anthem Theatre Company’s I, Snowflake and as Hero in Much Ado About Nothing with Weyard Ensemble Theater. She also worked as an actor/educator with the non-profit organization Speak About It and as a house manager at the Minneapolis Fringe Festival. She’s excited to be back on the North Shore after backpacking across Europe for three months. Some of her favorite credits while at Salem State include Spring Awakening (Thea), Medea (Chorus Leader), Cabaret (Mitzie), and Comedy of Errors (Luciana). Other past credits include Motel Rasdell: A New Musical (Eve) and The 25th Annual… Spelling Bee (Olive). In January she will be performing in Letters from War at the Marblehead Little Theatre, which will soon be followed by a move to New York City. ALEXANDER PLATT (Cast Member) is a Boston based actor/writer/director. From 2005 – 2012 he served as the Artistic Director of Elemental Theatre Collective, a Providence RI based company dedicated to the development and production of new work. With Elemental he directed 12 plays, including Amadeus, A Brief History of the Earth…, and Vacancy. Mr. Platt has also directed for Albion College and for Trinity Repertory Conservatory. As a writer he wrote/co-wrote 11 plays for Elemental, most of which were produced during Elemental’s annual new play festival, The Go.Go Plays. As an actor Mr. Platt has worked with many theatres in the New England area, including Trinity Repertory Company, The Huntington Theatre Company, The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Actors Shakespeare Project, Bridge Repertory Theatre, The Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre, The Nora Theatre Company, The Greater Boston Stage Company (formerly Stoneham Theatre), Perishable Theatre, and Providence Black Repertory Theatre. As an educator, he has taught at Brown University, Perishable Theatre, and The Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre. He holds a BA in Theatre from Albion College and an MFA in Acting from Trinity Repertory Conservatory.