Venus Theatre Announcement     "How She Played the Game" Six female athletes, one actor, one playwright, all ages welcomed. Laurel, MD -- Sep 15, 2006 "How She Played the Game" opened on September 14th and runs through October 8th Thurs - Sat at 8pm with Sunday matinees at 3pm and one Sat Mat on 10/8 at 3pm. Founder and Artistic Director of Venus Theatre, Deborah Randall performs a four week, sixteen show run of Cynthia Cooper's "How She Played the Game" at the brand-new Venus Theatre Play Shack. Cooper wrote the play in the 80's and since that time it's been performed in over 80 locations including Reno, Boston, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Montreal, Helsinki and Budapest. "Game" was excerpted on a Lifetime TV spot and has been included in five different anthologies. Venus Theatre's wRighting Women Reading series first read the play in 2002. This coincided with Title IX being on the chopping block. Since that time Randall took on the project as a performer and toured it around Washington, DC in conjunction with the Helen Hayes Legacy Project in 2004. Randall renewed the work in the Inaugeral Fringe Festival this past July, where Cooper finally witnessed the Venus interpretation of the piece. Six Untouchable Female Athletes “How She Played the Game” - The Characters - Eleonora Randolph Sears – one of the century’s most versatile sportswomen, ELEO is from Boston, is high-spirited and energetic. Born in the late 1800’s, she lived through the 1960’s and serves as the play’s “moderator.” Althea Gibson – became the first African- American athlete to break through the barriers of top tennis competition. Although her background as a child of the ghetto made her an unlikely candidate for such a role, her personality did not. We catch up with her on the day she is about to win the Wimbledon tennis match. Gertrude Ederle– was the first woman to swim the English Channel, breaking the records of the five men before her. After her highly publicized Channel swim in the early 1920’s, Ederle, an unassuming young woman, seemed to disappear from the public spotlight. We see her forty years after the famous swim, when life has evolved in a different direction. Sonja Henie – was the richest athlete in all of history when she died with some forty-two million dollars to her name. Of Norwegian background, she made her fame on ice in the twenties and thirties, and then in movies and her own ice revues. She revolutionized the concept of ice skating by incorporating dance and movement. Later, she began ice revues and is credited with popularized ice skating. Her shrewd business skills and a fierce determination combined with her athletic and artistic skills. We see her on ice as her career winds down and she takes stock of her accomplishments and her future. Gretel Bergmann – had the misfortune to be Jewish in Germany at a time when Jews were not welcome. A high jumper, Gretel was added to the German Olympic team of 1926, but when the time to compete came around, Gretel was not in the arena. She relates to us the feelings of all those who find their abilities unfulfilled for reasons beyond themselves. Babe Didrikson – became famous mostly for her unbelievable skill at golf, but she had a perhaps more extraordinary career in track and field - and tennis - and baseball - and basketball - and - It is no exaggeration to say few athletes ever – male or female – possessed the abilities of Babe Didrikson. While naively rushing forward against the societal forces that wanted women to be everything that she was not, Babe exuded a down-home confidence that pushed her to become a star. "I didn't know girls played sports" commented one elementary student in Washington, DC. This work is critical for many women and men, boys and girls because it inspires those who watch it to move into the thing that they love to do. Bringing to life the voices of these heroes, Cooper has done nothing less than salvage critical sections of sports and feminist history which would have otherwise gone unknown to many. Cynthia Cooper's article on meeting Ederle About Venus Theatre Venus is committed to setting flight to the voices of women. Officially founded in 2001, the company existed five years prior to that as an improv/motivational troupe called, "Venus Envy". Over the past year the wRighting Women Reading series alone has given public attention to 21 new and out-of-print scripts that would have likely been ignored. Venus produced Carolyn Gage's "Ugly Ducklings" in 2004, the script was over 15 years old and had not been staged. "Duklings" was nominated for the prestigious American Theatre Critics Award and won the 2004 Curve Magazine Play of the Year Award. In 2005 Venus stage Midgdalia Cruz's, "Cigarettes and Moby Dick" promanade style in the attic of the Warehouse Theatre. This production recieved the 2005 Curve Magazine Play of the Year Award. Baby Play and Girl Camp It is the mission of Venus to set flight to the voices of women and the mission of the space, The Venus Theatre Play Shack to embrace theatre for a lifetime. An after school camp for girls aged 10-14 aims to teach them how to investigate and tell stories of unkown women using the tools of theatre. And morning Baby Play gives Parent and Child time to bond and create community with other Parent/Child groups. Venus hopes to initiate socialization before kindergarten and set children up to succeed at the start with this programming. Website: http://www.venustheatre.org Venus Theatre Deborah Randall Executive Artistic Director email: deborahrandall@msn.com phone: 202.236.4078  deborahrandall@msn.com   All work at Venus Theatre is protected by Copyright.