UKIAH, Calif. – For the past month, acclaimed playwright and performer Dan Hoyle has been in residence at Mendocino College working on his new play “Grow,” a dark comedy about cannabis, land and the American Dream.

The play will premiere at Mendocino College for one weekend only, running Aug. 4 through Aug. 6 in the college’s Center Theatre on the Ukiah Campus.

Hoyle's brand of journalistic theater has been hailed as "riveting, funny and poignant" (New York Times) and "hilarious, moving and very necessary" (Salon).

His acclaimed solo shows, all created and premiered at The Marsh Theater in his native San Francisco, have had more than 800 performance around the country and overseas, including Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, Culture Project, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre among many others.

According to college theater director and “Grow” producer Reid Edelman, “I am so excited to bring Dan Hoyle to Ukiah to work with our students. This project has been a tremendous opportunity for our students to participate in the creation of a new play in collaboration with a significant American theater artist.”
 
Hoyle describes his play as a dark comedy in the spirit of Fargo and the Coen brothers.

The cast includes 15 student performers, many of whom are participants in the college’s new Theatre Conservatory Cohort Group.

Set in an unspecified small rural town in the Emerald Triangle, the plot involves an eclectic collection of recognizable characters, all striving in their own way to navigate a changing world.

When asked if he has a specific point of view on the subject of marijuana, Hoyle responded, “Not really… mostly I am trying to capture the stories of people living in this particular place in a very interesting time, people influenced by this plant which has created enormous opportunity but not without some significant costs.”
 
The production features college Media & Communications professor Jody Gehrman in the role of Gina, a grizzled woman trying to turn a profit on an acre of land which belongs to her ex-husband Jim (played by college conservatory student Kevin Klay).

Themes of family emerge as their daughter Millie (played by college theatre student Lhasa Summers) is caught up in her parents’ antagonistic dynamic.

Meanwhile Millie’s boyfriend Kyle (played by theater student DonMike Chilberg) confronts the influx of Bay Area tech money into his native rural Northern California town.

College conservatory students Will Schlosser and Ricki Farah play Clark and Tiffany, two Bay Area investors who stir things up when they stumble off of their wine country tour into the play’s rural growing town.

Other actors in the play include Jimmy Page, Frank Braverman, Melany Katz, Theresa Etter, Patrice Phillips, Shadi Mahfoud, Liana Edington, Marcio Orozco and Vincent Collins-Smith.
 
The play is being produced by college theater director Reid Edelman and stage managed by conservatory student Ali Gully.

The production features scenery and lighting designed by college Theatre Technician David Wolf, and costumes by college Costume Instructor Kathy Dingman-Katz.

The play is recommended for mature audiences due to strong language, drug-related themes and some violence.
 
Performances will be for one weekend only: Thursday, Aug. 4, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Aug. 5, at 8 p.m.; and Saturday, Aug. 6, at 8 p.m.

Tickets are available in advance at the Mendocino Book Co., the Mendocino College Bookstore and online at www.artsmendocino.org . Tickets may also be purchased at the door subject to availability.

Admission is $20 with a discounted rate of $15 for students, seniors and ASMC cardholders. The performance on Thursday, Aug. 4, is a special discount night, with all seats costing only $10.

For more information, call 707-468-3172 or go to http://www.mendocino.edu/the-arts/theatre .