Diversionary Theatre Presents Dooley 5/5-5/29

As part of their 25th Anniversary Year, Diversionary Theatre will stage the World Premiere historic drama Dooley as the last show of its 2010-2011 season. In 1954 Doctor Tom Dooley, a young gay charismatic Navy officer, finds his life's work in the stark reality of the Cold War and the refugee camps of South East Asia. Based on historic fact, Dooley tells the remarkable story of humanitarian Tom Dooley, whose career was derailed by the threat of exposing his sexuality long before "Don't Ask Don't Tell." With rich theatrical magic this cross-cultural epic transports us to a world as complex and contradictory as the man himself torn between fear and idealism, selfishness and self-denial, hypocrisy and valor, crassness and mysticism. Dooley runs from May 5 through May 29 and is underwritten in part by the James Irvine Foundation and Carlos Malamud.

Playwright William di Canzio visited Diversionary during the first week of rehearsals and will return for the opening weekend. "With Diversionary, it's about respect: for the artists, for the audience, and for the art of theater. I couldn't be more grateful or pleased to be working here," said di Canzio.

The play follows Dooley's high-flying career as "Doctor America," inspiring an idealistic nation to look beyond its borders and prompting John F. Kennedy to establish the Peace Corps. Incorporating music, dance, masks and puppets, the play presents a portrait of a man committed to those caught in geopolitical struggles, only to fall victim to sexual politics.

Dooley is directed by Cynthia Stokes and features Robert Borzych as Dr. Tom Dooley. Cast members include Noah Longton, Jesse MacKinnon, Terril Miller, Charlie Riendeau, Allison Riley, Shaun Tuazon and Reed Willard. The Dooley design and production team includes Matt Scott (Set), Michelle Caron (Lights), Jennifer Brawn Gittings (Costumes), Michael Mizerany (Choreography), Blair Robert Nelson (Composer), David Medina (Properties), Rosina Reynolds (Dramaturg), Chris Powell (Stage Manager) and Bret Young (Production Manager). An original score by Blair Robert Nelson has been commissioned for the production thanks to a grant by the James Irvine Foundation.

The plays of William di Canzio have been staged in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia: Yale University and the O'Neill Theater Center. His work has recently been honored with a Julie Harris Award (Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier, 2009) and a residency at the MacDowell Colony, where he was named 2010 Thornton Wilder Fellow. Further honors include a residency at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France (Dooley); a 2009 Arch & Bruce Brown Foundation Award (Dooley); and two fellowships in theater from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (Last Night Home and Hindustan). He has been three times a resident at the National Playwrights Conference (Hindustan, Open Heart, C-Section). His dramatic work has been commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville; his nonfiction, published in Commonweal. He has taught playwriting and literature at Smith College, Haverford College, and Yale University. He holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and MFA from the Yale School of Drama, where he was awarded the Eugene O'Neill scholarship in playwriting.

Cynthia Stokes returns to Diversionary after having directed the world premiere gay chamber opera Sextet last fall. Last month she directed Le nozze di Figaro for San Antonio Opera. For San Diego Opera, she directed Romeo et Juliette and Cosi fan tutte (student touring production), Madama Butterfly for Opera Company of Philadelphia, Margaret Garner for Cincinnati Opera and Opera Carolina, Cyrano (student matinee) for Michigan Opera Theatre, It trovatore (second cast) for Opera Pacific. For Los Angeles Opera, Cynthia collaborated with some of America's most exciting composers including Edward Barnes and Michael Abel to create new operas. Cynthia's background of collaborating with writers, composers and visual artists led to Music and Art of Fin-De-Siècle Vienna for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Recent productions: Le nozze di Figaro (cover cast) at Glimmerglass Opera (summer 2010). She also worked with the members of The Young American Artists Program and staged the season finale in August. She has taught acting and directing at The University of California at San Diego's Department of Theatre and Dance where she received her M.F.A. in Directing.

In 1927, Thomas Anthony Dooley III was born in St. Louis and raised in a Catholic Irish-American household. While attending college at the University of Notre Dame, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy corpsman program and served in a New York hospital. After graduating from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine in 1953, Dooley re-enlisted in the Navy and completed his residency at Camp Pendleton, California, and then in Yokosuka, Japan.

In 1954 he was assigned to the USS Montague, which was on a mission to assist Vietnamese refugees evacuating from North to South Vietnam. While working in the refugee camps of Haiphong, Dooley was contacted by Lieutenant Colonel Edward G. Lansdale, head of the CIA detail in Saigon. He saw Dooley's humanitarian work as a symbol of Vietnamese-American cooperation and encouraged him to write a book about his experiences. Dooley's book, Deliver Us from Evil, was published in 1956 brought him great fame and established him as "Doctor America." Later that same year, he was forced to resign from the Navy because of an investigation into his sexual orientation.

He continued his work in Laos and along with help from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) he established the Medical InternationAl Cooperation Organization (MEDICO). During that time he wrote two more inspirational books, The Edge of Tomorrow and The Night They Burned the Mountain. Dooley died in 1961 from malignant melanoma. Following his death, President John F. Kennedy cited Dooley as his inspiration for launching the Peace Corps. He was posthumously awarded the CongressionAl Gold Medal.

Thanks to a grant from Wells Fargo, Diversionary has created a community partnership program for this production led by Gigi Cantin, interim Executive Director. The community partnerships are based on thematic relationships and ties found in the play. Some of the groups include: the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Saint Paul's Foundation for International Reconciliation; both of these groups share in Dooley's humanitarian work with refugees in area of conflict. Dooley was a devout Catholic and an alumnus of Notre Dame; Dignity San Diego and The Gay and Lesbian Alumni of Notre Dame & Saint Mary's have a connection and are attending the play. Since Dooley was forced to resign because of his sexuality, The Service Members Legal Defense Network is also involved. These groups will encourage their members to support the play and in some cases will present audience enrichment programs, such as forums and post-show discussions.

Diversionary Theatre was started in 1986. The mission of the theatre is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily. The Theatre is located at 4545 Park Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92116.

Dooley previews Thursday and Friday, May 5 and 6, opens Saturday, May 7 and runs through Sunday May 29. Performance times are: Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 3:00pm and 8:00pm, Sunday at 2:00pm. There is a special Monday, May 16 performance at 7:30pm (pay-what-you-will at the door, for available seats, starting at 6:30pm). Single tickets are $31-$33 with discounts available for students, seniors (60+), military and groups (10 or more). For information, please call the box office at 619.220.0097 or log on to www.diversionary.org.

The 2011-2012 season will be announced during the run of Dooley, and season subscriptions will be available throughout the run.