Former FSU Theatre Professor, Mairzy Yost-Rushton, will appear in unrehearsed, experimental play
The Cumberland Theatre, in association with Aurora Nova, will present Mairzy Yost-Rushton in a performance of Nassim Soleimanpour’s inventive play, “White Rabbit, Red Rabbit” on March 13 at 7:00 pm at the theatre on 101 North Johnson Street.
Tickets are available for a $10 donation on the theatre’s website: cumberlandtheatre.com.
Described by The New York Times as a “playful, enigmatic and haunting show,” the play involves no rehearsals, no set and no director. Instead, the actor is handed a script — sealed in an envelope — to perform without preparation.
Forbidden to leave his country, Iranian playwright Soleimanpour transcribed his experience of isolation into this unique stage work, an absurdist adventure that blends comedy and drama. It has been performed across the world by some of the biggest names in theater and film, including Nathan Lane, Martin Short, Cynthia Nixon, Laura Linney and Wayne Brady.
A show business veteran for over twenty-five years, Yost-Rushton has worked as an actor, a director, and casting director in NYC. As a member of Actor's Equity and Screen Actors Guild, she has worked in Theatre, Film and Commercials. She has performed Off-Off Broadway and Regionally. In 1998 she moved to Maryland to start a teaching career at Frostburg State University where she directed main stage productions and taught the upper-level acting curriculum.
Retired from teaching, Yost-Rushton continues to work professionally as both an actor and director, recent credits include Sister Aloysius in DOUBT, Mayor Hyde in ALL SHOOK UP and director of FREEDOM TRAIN at the Roxy Regional Theatre in Tennessee.
The play operates on a metaphoric level and expressly avoids political comment. The performance includes profane language and scenes discussing suicide.
The performance is presented as part of the worldwide initiative “Let There Be Theatre.” In March 2020, many theaters closed their doors because of the pandemic. The initiative celebrates the resilience of the arts sector as a global community and the important role theaters play for their audiences and society.
The show marks the beginning of a new series of programming at the Cumberland Theatre appropriately called “CT Season Too!”. The series will be filled with pop-up supplemental programming that will play for limited engagements of one or two evenings and feature cabarets, one-man shows, readings, murder mysteries and more. The theatre is now taking ideas and submissions for these types of programs. Proposals can be emailed to kim@cumberlandtheatre.com.
Cumberland Theatre is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council, Allegany Arts Council, Allegany County and the city of Cumberland.
For tickets and more information, visit cumberlandtheatre.com or call the theatre at 301.759.4990.