The Debate Over Courtney O'Connell of Columbus, Nebraska

From the director of last year’s Fringe hit See You Next Tuesday comes a regional premiere by current McKnight Grant recipient Mat Smart. It’s a rough and tumble comedy about love, life, and why Mario is better than Luigi.

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	MAT SMART is a 2010-11 McKnight Advencement Grant recipient and a two-time recipient of the Jerome Fellowship from The Playwrights’ Center. This summer, Williamstown Theatre Festival will premiere his newest play, Samuel J. and K. Other plays include The Hopper Collection (Magic Theatre and Huntington Theatre Company), The 13th of Paris (City Theatre, Seattle Public Theatre, Horizon Theatre, The Public Theatre of Maine and The Warehouse Theatre) and The Bebop Heard in Okinawa (O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference). Mat has been commissioned to write new plays by South Coast Rep and Huntington. He is a co-founder of Slant Theatre Project in New York City and holds and MFA in playwriting from UCSD.
	Shad Cooper
	RACHEL FINCH has been acting in the Twin Cities since 2004, and was seen this spring as “Nina” in The Seagull for Pioneer Place. Other recent roles include “Allison” in the critically acclaimed production of Anon for 20% Theatre Company, and “Officer Foster” in Theatre Pro Rata’s production of Traveling Light. In 2009, Rachel spent a year living and working in New Zealand, and will spend this summer training to walk 60 miles as part of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day. She holds a BFA from Viterbo University (La Crosse, WI) and lives in St. Paul.
	ROBERT GALLIGAN recently graduated from the Guthrie Theater/ University of Minnesota B.F.A. Actor Training Program. He directs, writes, acts, improvises and has been known on occasion to tell a joke or two. He is currently working on writing a new show for the fringe with his company "Jeffrey Union," whose work can also be found on youtube. He is a fan of massage therapists. He enjoys Netflix documentaries, Bob Dylan, dogs, and good beer. You can often find him staring deep in thought. Feel free to interrupt him and say "Hello" as he does not bite.
	CHRISTOPHER KEHOE is a born-and-raised Twin Cities theatre-maker. Christopher graduated summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota, where he studied physical theatre and performance theory. Undergraduate productions included The Master and Margarita (named one of City Pages' "Best Shows of 2006") and Dario Fo's The Pope and the Witch, as well as three years performing melodrama on the Minnesota Centennial Showboat.
	BRIAN BALCOM (producer/director) grew up in Minneapolis and has assisted on several shows at The Guthrie, The Jungle, and The Old Globe Theaters, and has directed with Gremlin Theatre, Mu Performing Arts, New Theatre Group, Pillsbury House's Chicago Avenue Project, Illusion Theater's Lighthouse Group, Teatro del Pueblo, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Brian has a BFA in directing from the Carnegie-Mellon School of Drama.