WORLD PREMIERE January 4 - 25, 2009 Julianne Argyros Stage YOU, NERO by Amy Freed directed by Sharon Ott Elaine J. Weinberg, Honorary Producer 944 Magazine, Media Partners

Nero fiddled while Rome burned, but who could have imagined the back story? Only Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Freed, whose comic take on historical events is nothing short of inspired. SCR audiences will never forget The Beard of Avon, her hilarious romp back to Stratford-Upon-Avon to consider who might have been the genius behind Shakespeare. According to CurtainUp, the comedy "would probably amuse the great wordsmith himself—whoever he might be." In her latest twist on history, Nero decides to add a little fun to bleak times by commissioning a play. The Story of Me (or I, Nero) could be the Colosseum's biggest hit ever—if its hapless author lives to tell the tale.

This play is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation Plays award.

Playwright:
Amy Freed is the author of Safe in Hell and The Beard of Avon which were commissioned by and had their world premieres at SCR and Restoration Comedy among others. Her play Freedomland, also commissioned and premiered by SCR, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. The Psychic Life of Savages was the recipient of the Joseph Kesselring Award. That play was also named the winner of the Charles MacArthur Award. An earlier version of the play was first developed and performed in San Francisco under the title Poetomachia where it received a Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Outstanding Achievement Award for an Original Script. In its earlier version, it was also a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Ms. Freed is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Stanford University.

Recommendation and Resources:
Based on historical subject matter, this hilarious romp back to Rome as the city balances on the edge of its decline is sharp, smart and knee-slapping funny.  Those who understand the historical references will laugh the hardest, but everyone—middle school and above—will laugh. For more detailed information, please call ticket services.

*Post-show discussion led by SCR literary staff and artists from the show.
**ASL interpreted performance for the Deaf community.