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CHURCH & STATE, is a 2016 play by Jason Odell Williams, and is directed by Christa Scott-Reed, and it stars Broadway, Off Broadway, Television and film actors: Byron Jennings, Caroline McCormick, Kelly McAndrew, and Cooper Jennings (with John Michalski and Ann Citron reading stage directions).
The play takes place three days before an election and centers on the bid by a senator in North Carolina for reelection. The election takes place in the wake of a school shooting in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina, a Republican U.S. senator makes an off-the-cuff comment to a blogger that gets leaked on “the Twitter,” calling into question the senator’s stance on guns and God. As his devoutly Christian wife and liberal Jewish campaign manager try to contain the damage, this look at how religion influences politics and how politics has become a religion is simultaneously funny, heartbreaking, and uplifting.
CHURCH & STATE pulls the audience into the challenges of quick political and personal decisions in troubled times. Still, comedy is at the heart of the story as Charlie dares to go “off script” in his quest for truth and empathy. Sara and his campaign manager Alex experience captivating blunders and victories in the race to the Senate.
Bios:
CHRISTA SCOTT-REED (Director) Christa’s Off-Broadway directing credits include Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons starring Michael Countryman and Carolyn McCormick, the first New York revival of William Nicholson’s Shadowlands starring Daniel Gerroll, and C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, which was also a 28 city National Tour. She most recently directed A.R. Gurney’s Later Life, starring Carolyn McCormick and Thomas Jay Ryan at Katonah Classic Stage, where she previously directed Private Lives and Thom Pain (based on nothing). Christa is also a professional actor and has performed in over 50 productions from Broadway to Off-
Broadway to regional theatre. She has performed in New York at Atlantic Theatre Company, Second Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, Irish Repertory Theatre, Keen Company and many more. Her screen acting credits include roles on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, FBI, The Good Fight, Madam Secretary, The Other Two, Elementary, 30 Rock, Law & Order, and more. Christa serves as Literary Manager for Fellowship for Performing Arts and is a part-time faculty member at the School of Drama at The New School.
BYRON JENNINGS Broadway and off Broadway credits include Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, She Loves Me, You Can’t Take It With You, Macbeth, Arcadia, The Merchant of Venice, Inherit The Wind, Noises Off, Is He Dead, Accent on Youth, Heartbreak House, A Touch of the Poet, Twelve Angry Men, The Man Who Came To Dinner,,A Month in the Country, Henry IV, Dinner At Eight, The Invention of Love, Carousel, Plenty, Waste, Don Juan, The Foreigner, Dealer’s Choice, Stuff Happens and more.He’s been seen on television in Tommy, Fosse/Verdon, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Billions, Blacklist, Boardwalk Empire and many more. In film Byron can be seen in: The Greatest Showman On Earth, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, True Story, Lincoln, Julie & Julia, Hamlet, Civil Action, The Ice Storm, A Time To Kill, Quiz Show, A Simple Twist of Fate, I’m Losing You.
Carolyn McCormick: Broadway credits include-Equus, The Dinner Party, Private Lives. Off Broadway-At the Wedding, A Man For All Seasons, The Stone Witch, Family Furniture, Open House(drama desk award, Lucille Lortel nomination), What I Did Last Summer, Black Tie, Ten Chimneys, Celebration, Privilege, Biography, Dinner with Friends. Multiple plays in regional theatre at Seattle Rep, Old Globe, ACT, Denver Center, Williamstown, Papermill Playhouse, Yale Rep. Television includes Dr. Olivet on “Law and Order”, Minuet on “Star Trek”, series regular on “Cracker” and “Spenser For Hire”, guest star on “Bull”, “Billions”, “Madam Secretary” ,“Blue Bloods”, “Body of Proof”, “Cold Case”, “Judging Amy”, “The Practice”, “Homicide”. Films include Mapplethorpe, Nyad, The Post, Whatever Works, Loverboy, You Know My Name, A Simple Twist of Fate, Enemy Mine. Multiple Lifetime movies and Hallmark’s A Holiday Spectacular as well as myriad audio books including The Hunger Games as well as many Ken Burns documentaries. Williams College BFA, American Conservatory MFA. CarolynMcCormick.com
Cooper Jennings Recent credits include As You Like It (Orlando) and King John (Bastard) at Shakespeare on the Sound, Power of the Dog (Arkov), Troilus and Cressida (Troilus) at the Juilliard School and The Three Musketeers (D’Artagnan) at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
THE WINTER’S TALE The Juilliard School Lee Sunday Evans. At Trinity College some roles include: Baker INTO THE WOODS , Macbeth MACBETH , Duke MEASURE FOR MEASURE MFA in Acting, The Juilliard School
KELLY McANDREW* just finished playing Annie Wilkes in Misery at the Dorset Theatre Festival. Recent theatre includes: Later Life at Katonah Classic Stage and Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Denver Center Theatre. Off-Broadway credits include: The Thin Place, Novenas for a Lost Hospital, Men on Boats, Perfect Arrangement, Abundance (Off-Broadway Alliance Award), Almost, Maine, Good Television, Still Life, The Cataract. Regional Theatre includes: The Humana Festival (’16, ’17 and ’19), Westport Country Playhouse, Yale Rep, ART, The Guthrie Theater, The Old Globe and Arena Stage. TV: New Amsterdam, The Sinner, The Good Fight, Daredevil (recurring),Orange is the New Black (recurring), House of Cards, Elementary, Law & Order: SVU, Smash, Law & Order, and Gossip Girl. Film: Peas and Carrots, Commercial Street, A Kid Like Jake (Sundance 2018), Island Zero, Appropriate Behavior (Sundance 2014), In the Family (SPIRIT nomination) and Everybody’s Fine (with Robert DeNiro). Training: UMKC. kellymcandrew.com
CHURCH & STATE is surprisingly subtle and gripping entertainment…a sophisticated dialectic that presents both sides of the gun debate…Williams avoids demonizing his conservative Southerners, who are winning, strikingly intelligent, and above all, sincere in their beliefs.” —LA Times.
“A crackling script. Feels very of the moment. An enjoyable, thought-provoking and, I promise, humorous piece of theatre. I wish every member of Congress would see it!” —NPR.
“This is a powerful, often humorous, and highly contemporary piece…The play has several surprises, four fascinating characters, and so many lines that resonate.” —Huffington Post.