Sarah Agnew, Bill McCallum Lead Guthrie's TIME STANDS STILL, Opens 4/7

The Guthrie Theater today announced complete casting for Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Donald Margulies' celebrated drama Time Stands Still. Artistic Director Joe Dowling will direct the 2010 Tony Award-nominated, deeply human and witty play about the lives of two couples coping with changes in life and the aftermath of trauma. The production will play from April 7 – May 20, 2012 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.

Dowling has assembled an ensemble to take on the roles of two couples at a critical juncture in their lives. Twin Cities actress Sarah Agnew (The 39 Steps, Dollhouse, Major Barbara) leads the cast as photojournalist Sarah Goodwin, who wrestles with the consequences of a career spent documenting carnage. Guthrie favorite Bill McCallum (God of Carnage, Much Ado About Nothing, Circle Mirror Transformation) stars as Sarah's partner James Dodd, a war journalist whose desire for a more conventional life puts a strain on the couple's relationship.

The production will also feature the talents of Mark Benninghofen (The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide…) and Valeri Mudek (Charley's Aunt, Tiny Kushner) as Sarah's editor and mentor Richard Ehrlich and his much younger girlfriend Mandy Bloom, respectively.

James is a journalist who left Iraq before photographer Sarah was injured by a roadside bomb. As Sarah deals with her injuries and her lingering feelings of loss for the translator killed by the bomb, James is swamped by guilt for having left her alone. Something is amiss in their relationship, but their differences are lessened when they're in the company of Richard, a magazine photo editor and supporter of their work, and his much younger girlfriend Mandy, a bubbly event planner who looks on the bright side of life.

"What I tried to do with this play is capture a sense of the way we live now," says Margulies. "To dramatize the things that thinking, feeling, moral people are thinking about and struggle with - the issues of how to be a citizen of the world, how to show compassion, how to be involved, how to be true to yourself and your immediate loved ones."

The artistic team includes Walt Spangler (Set Designer), Christine A. Richardson (Costume Designer), Tom Mays (Lighting Designer), Scott W. Edwards (Sound Designer), Jo Holcomb (Dramaturg), Marcela Lorca (Movement), Martha Kulig (Stage Manager), Meaghan Rosenberger (Assistant Stage Manager) and Jon Ferguson (Assistant Director).

Time Stands Still begins preview performances on April 7, opens April 13 and continues through May 20, 2012, on the McGuire Proscenium Stage at the Guthrie Theater. Single tickets start at $24 and are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, 612.225.6244 (Group Sales) and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

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