ArtsWest Playhouse announces the National New Play Network World Premiere of Sunlight by Sharr White, an award winning drama about a family dramatically changed by a turn of political events after 9-11.

Sunlight begins with the story of Matthew Gibbon, a liberal lion and president of an East coast university. Matthew finds himself battling against the ultra-conservative dean of the law school - his son-in-law and former protégé. As the drama unfolds, a question of ethics suddenly escalates into a showdown with dire consequences.

Known for supporting and developing outstanding arts programs and new contemporary plays all over the country, the National New Play Network is collaborating with ArtsWest Playhouse on this production. Sunlight was the 2009 winner of both the Sky Cooper New American Play Prize and the Edgerton Foundation Award for Best New Play. After wrapping up at the Marin Theatre Company in San Francisco, audiences and critics are raving that Sunlight is “A powerfully constructed drama…definitley worth a trip across the bridge.”- (KGO Radio).

Vanessa Miller is directing the Seattle premiere of Sunlight at ArtsWest Playhouse. Miller’s directorial expertise ranges from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Winter’s Tale with Seattle Shakespeare Company to various collaborated musical productions including Footloose and The Who’s Tommy with Village Theatre. When asked how audiences identify with the characters of Sunlight, Miller responded “this family is like most families; made up of people with different social and political viewpoints… they are nostalgic for the past. And they are desperate to reveal the truth.” White’s Sunlight seeks to illuminate the importance of family in today’s polarized and ethically questionable society.

Sunlight is a powerful and reflective journey featuring a stunning ensemble of local talents Peggy Gannon (Dead Man’s Cell Phone), Karen Nelsen (The Sweetest Swing in Baseball), John Ulman (Vertical Hour), and John Wray (The History Boys). “As a theater with a mission to produce work that requires conversation, ArtsWest is the perfect producer for this kind of work,” said Alan Harrison, ArtsWest’s executive director. Sunlight opens Wednesday, March 10 and runs through April 3, 2010 at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery.

Tickets for Sunlight may be purchased online at www.artswest.org, by phone at (206) 938-0339, or in person at the ArtsWest Box Office. $10 tickets available for ages 25 and under.