Cleveland Native and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Rajiv Joseph makes his CPH Premiere with his hauntingly beautiful play Mr. Wolf
April 2 – 24 in the Outcalt Theatre
Cleveland Play House’s Centennial Season continues with Mr. Wolf, an intense and compelling drama about faith, hope and healing. Written by Cleveland native Rajiv Joseph, the production explores the complex family dynamic between parents and the missing child with whom they have recently been reunited. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Cleveland audiences may remember Mr. Joseph as the co-screenwriter of the 2014 Cleveland-based film Draft Day. Mr. Wolf will be directed by Mr. Joseph’s frequent collaborator, Giovanna Sardelli (CPH’s The Whipping Man), and will serve as the centerpiece production of the 2016 New Ground Theatre Festival, CPH’s annual showcase of new theatrical works.
Mr. Wolf deals with unimaginable circumstances. In the blink of an eye, in a matter of seconds, your whole world could change. For Michael, it happened when his daughter Theresa went missing. For Theresa, it was when she was found. Mr. Wolf tells the story of a family’s desperate and determined attempt to heal each other and rebuild their world. Mr. Wolf is a hauntingly beautiful and mysterious tale of adaptation and survival.
Giovanna Sardelli ( Director) is happy to return to CPH where she directed the critically acclaimed production of The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez. Sardelli is an award-winning director who has worked on numerous plays by Rajiv Joseph (over 10 productions) including the recent West Coast Premiere of his play Guards at the Taj which was selected by TheatreMania as one of its Favorite Regional Productions of 2015. Sardelli has also directed world premieres of plays by Theresa Rebeck, Lynn Rosen, Joe Gilford, Jeff Augustine, Lauren Yee and Zoe Kazan among others. She has worked Off-Broadway at Cherry Lane Theatre, Second Stage Theatre, Vineyard Theatre, The Playwrights Realm, Women’s Project Theater, Ensemble Studio Theatre and Roundabout Theatre Company. She has directed numerous productions for Dorset Theatre Festival, where she is the Resident Director, Barrington Stage Company, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, The Old Globe, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Hudson Stage Company, San Francisco Playhouse and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Sardelli works extensively with new plays and has been part of The Lark Play Development Center since it was first formed. She has also developed plays at the Sundance Theatre Lab, The O’Neill Theater Center, Playwrights’ Center, New York Stage & Film, Ensemble Studio Theatre and many other places. Giovanna spent several years on the faculty of the Dance Department and the Graduate Acting Program of NYU, the program from which she received her MFA. She is also a graduate of their Director’s Lab. Though she is based in NYC, Sardelli is the Director of New Works for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.