APPLE SEASON Announced As New Jersey Repertory Company Mainstage Production

New Jersey Repertory Company, located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch, is proud to present the world premiere of E.M. Lewis' Apple Season from January 10 - February 10, 2019.

Twenty years ago, Lissie and Roger fled from their family farm and made themselves disappear. But the family secrets haunt them still. A funeral and a question from an old friend send the two siblings tumbling down a rabbit hole of memory and grief, as they try to let go of a tangled past that refuses to release them.

Apple Season stars Kersti Bryan (Lissie), Christopher M. Smith (Billy), Richard Kent Green (Roger) under the direction of Zoya Kachadurian.

Apple Season runs January 10 - February 10, 2018. Previews are Thursday and Friday, January 10 and 11 at 8:00 PM, and Saturday, January 12 at 3:00 PM. A special talk-back with the playwright and director will be held after the first preview, Thursday, January 10. Opening night with reception is Saturday, January 12 at 8:00 PM. Regular performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 PM; Saturdays at 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM; Sundays at 2:00 PM. Tickets are $50 (opening night with reception, $60; premium seating + $5). All tickets may be subject to a service charge. Annual subscriptions are $225 per person. For tickets or additional information call 732-229-3166 or visit www.njrep.org.

E.M. Lewis (Playwright) an award-winning playwright, teacher, and opera librettist. Her work has been produced around the world, and is published by Samuel French. Plays include: Magellanica, The Gun Show, Song of Extinction, True Story, and You Can See All the Stars. Awards include: Steinberg Award and Primus Prize from the American Theater Critics Association, Ted Schmitt Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, playwriting fellowship from NJ State Arts Commission, 2016 Oregon Literary Fellowship in Drama, Edgerton Award. Member: Dramatists Guild. Lewis lives on her family's farm in Oregon.

Zoya Kachadurian (Director) Georgia and Me,(best solo show, 2011 Midtown International Festival). The 39 Steps, Stick Fly, An Inspector Calls, King O' the Moon, The Miracle Worker, Stones in His Pockets, The Cocktail Hour;new works for the Estrogenius Festival and at EST's Octoberfest. At NJ REP, she directed Maximillian The Magnificent by L.H. Grant, Fortune's Fool by Jared Michael Delaney and Something About Eve by Lynne Halliday forTheatre Brut, and a reading of We Will Not Be Silent by David Meyers.

Kersti Bryan (Lissie) Shakespeare Theatre of DC, Commonwealth Shakespeare, Moscow Art Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Ensemble Studio Theatre, TheaterLab, NY Classical Theatre, plus others. TV/Film include: The Deuce, The Knick, Elementary, Golden Boy, Drop Dead Diva, Law and Order, Small MIracles, Actor Seeks Role, Hell's Heart. For NJ Rep Kersti was seen as Donna in Verisimilitude at West End Arts, and most recently, she appeared in Allison Gregory's Not Medea for Art House Productions in Jersey City.

Christopher M. Smith (Billy) is honored to be a part of this World Premiere of Apple Season. Selected theatre credits include: The Gun Show (also by E.M. Lewis) - PS21/Chatham; Sex With Strangers - Portland Center Stage; Other Desert Cities - Speakeasy Stage Co., Boston; Serious Adverse Effects - National Black Theatre of Harlem; Orange Flower Water - Lyric Theatre, L.A.; Washington Square - The Actors' Ensemble, NY; Clever Little Lies - Florida Studio Theatre. TV credits include: Orange is the New Black; The Blacklist; TURN: Washington's Spies; I Love You...but I Lied. Originally from Ventura, CA, Christopher lives in Manhattan with his wife, Victoria. www.christophersmithactor.com

Richard Kent Green (Roger) is thrilled and honored to return to NJ Rep in a new play by E. M. Lewis. He was last seen here in a reading of Selina Peake by Horton Foote, based on "So Big" by Edna Ferber.Stage: Einstein, Albert Einstein (St. Clements); March On!, White Reporter (The Apollo); Play to Win, Branch Rickey (The Promenade); The Sixth Commandment, Father Richard (BestOfFringeNYC). Film: "Giselle's Heart", "79 Parts", "Stanley Cuba", "The Fallen", "Got This!". TV: Saturday Night Live, Sex & the City New Media: "Off-Off Kilter" Company Artist at The Workshop Theater since 2002.