Donna Hoke's SEEDS to Debut with Road Less Traveled Productions, 3/1

Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP), dedicated to the development and production of new plays by Western New York (WNY) playwrights, will bring yet another world premiere to fruition in March, when it debuts SEEDS, a new play by RLTP Ensemble Member Donna Hoke. The comedy/drama will open in Downtown Buffalo's Theatre District on Friday, March 1st, 2013 and will star Kelly Jakiel, Diane Curley, Todd Benzin, Diane DiBernardo, and Pamela Rosa Mangus. RLTP Ensemble Member Kristin Tripp Kelley will direct.

The play storyline features married PhD scientist Marjorie, who has been trying to get pregnant for years, while her single, identical twin Josephine has had three children by three different fathers. Fed up with infertility and pressure from her otherwise ideal husband, Aidan, to have children, Marjorie starts to wonder: is it so wrong to not want to be a parent?

Never fully at ease with being adopted himself, Aidan isn't ready to give up his quest for a biological child. When Josephine offers egg-donor surrogacy as the "ideal" solution, salesman Aidan gives the pitch of his life and convinces his hesitant wife to inseminate Josephine personally - in their living room - an awkward scenario which prompts a recollection of a long-ago encounter that sheds new light on Aidan and Jo's unspoken bond.

"And that's only the beginning," said RLTP Artistic Director Scott Behrend, "of an offbeat and moving journey towards motherhood." Playwright Donna Hoke said the play explores how, for many, parenting is "a core part of our identities" and how it "hugely impacts our lives, how we perceive ourselves, and how we are perceived by others." Continued Hoke, "We assume we'll grow up and have children, we assume it will be easy to get pregnant, we assume our children will be perfect...But these things don't always happen, or at least not the way we planned them to happen."

Hoke developed SEEDS in RLTP's Emanuel Fried New Play Workshop. Director Kelley actually played the role of Marjorie in an early development reading before signing on to direct the play and usher Hoke through the final stages of revision. "I connect with the truth in this script," said Kelley. "Donna's characters are utterly human, and draw us in because they have been crafted with humor, wisdom, and heart."

"Workshop audiences had very strong opinions about this story, the characters Donna has created, and their struggles to not just successfully have children but to do it on their terms," added Behrend. "I think that kind of intense emotional response is what makes for compelling drama and we are honored to bring it to a fully production on our stage, for WNY audiences."

Donna Hoke is an author, playwright, and Member of the RLTP Ensemble. Her plays have been produced across the United States, as well as in England, Korea, and Australia. Ms. Hoke's first full-length play, THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR, was developed and debuted by RLTP in 2010; the play garnered Hoke an Artvoice Artie Nomination for Outstanding New Play. She also was named Best Writer in Artvoice's 2012 Best of Buffalo poll.

RLTP's world-premiere production of SEEDS opens Friday, March 1st, 2013 at the RLTT in the Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre (MAFAC) and runs through Sunday, March 24th, 2013. Showtimes are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2 PM. Tickets are available at www.roadlesstraveledproductions.org or by calling (716) 629-3069.

Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP) is a professional, non-profit theatre company dedicated to the development and production of new theatrical works by Western New York playwrights, as well as presentations of esteemed modern dramas of outstanding literary merit. RLTP, a member of the National New Play Network, is located in the Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre in the Theatre District of Downtown Buffalo, NY. For more information about RLTP and to purchase tickets, visit www.RoadLessTraveledProductions.org or call (716) 629-3069. RLTP's work is made possible through public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

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