Photo Flash: Phoenix Theatre presents Goldie, Max and Milk

Max is a single lesbian who just gave birth. She's unemployed, with a house that's falling apart, a crazy ex, and no clue how to nurse her new baby. Max feels that breast-feeding is best for her baby, but the milk just is not flowing, so her hospital has recommended a lactation expert, Goldie, an Orthodox Jewish lactation consultant, whose job it is to guide Max into motherhood, even if she doesn't necessarily believe in her lifestyle. With warm and witty language, Hartman's Goldie, Max and Milk tackles the complex question: What is a family?

As the play opens, there are plenty of reasons for Max to be depressed. Her Brooklyn apartment is hopelessly run-down, her longtime lover Lisa has left her in a sudden fit of heterosexuality and Max has no prospects of ever landing a decent job. As Max cradles her adorable little Lakshmi Rose (named for the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity) in her arms, she wonders if there is any hope of making a life for her daughter.

Phoenix Producing Director Bryan Fonseca is directing and says that he was first drawn to the play by the "charming characters and clever dialogue." But more than that, Fonseca felt that "Each character in Goldie, Max and Milk finds themselves embarking on a journey of understanding, tolerance and discovery. The world's definition of family is always changing. The mother, father, sister, brother model is no longer the standard. The families we create ourselves-from our partners and friends and community-is now more typical." That's the family portrayed in Hartman's play, which had its world premiere last month at Florida Stage in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Fonseca has assembled a gifted cast to bring Goldie, Max and Milk to life. Sara Riemen, seen this season in A Very Phoenix Xmas 5: Regifted and In the Next Room - or the vibrator play, is Max, the new mother. Wendy Farber, most recently seen on the Phoenix stage in My Name is Asher Lev, is Goldie, the lactation consultant.

Angela Plank, from this season's In the Next Room - or the vibrator play and last season's Reasons to Be Pretty, is Lisa, who decided half way through Max's pregnancy to leave her longtime partner for her male boss.

New to the Phoenix are Kienan McCartney and Bridgette Richards. Kienan, a recent Butler graduate, plays Mike, Lisa's drug-dealing brother who also happens to be the new baby's sperm donor father. Bridgette is Shayna, Goldie's teenage daughter who is struggling with her sexuality at the possible cost of her family.

In addition to director Bryan Fonseca, the creative team for Goldie, Max and Milk includes Set Designer Dan Tracy, Phoenix Resident Lighting Designer Laura Glover, Assistant Director Intern Chris Ziegler and Costumer Ashley Kiefer.

About the Playwright

Karen Hartman is an award-winning playwright and librettist whose work has been supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, the N.E.A., the Helen Merrill Foundation, a Daryl Roth "Creative Spirit" Award, a Hodder Fellowship, a Jerome Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship to Jerusalem, a New Dramatists residency, and Core Membership at the Playwrights Center. Her plays, Goliath, Donna Wants, Gum, Going Gone, Anatomy 1968, Troy Women, ALICE: Tales of a Curious Girl, Leah's Train and others have been commissioned and/or staged by dozens of theaters including the Women's Project, McCarter Theater, ACT in San Francisco, Center Stage, the Magic Theater, and Dallas Theater Center, and are published by TCG, DPS, Backstage Books, and Playscripts, Inc.
Current projects include the musical book for A Sea Change, score by AnnMarie Milazzo, which The Araca Group will workshop in December 2008, directed by Leigh Silverman. NAATCO (National Asian-American Theater Company) will premiere her play Leah's Train in early 2009. Carmen, La Gitana, a pop musical from Bizet's opera for which Ms. Hartman co-wrote the book, is scheduled for a commercial run in Madrid. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama. She has taught playwriting in a wide range of settings including four years at the Yale School of Drama.

Ticket Prices

All seating is general admission on a first-come, first-served basis and all Thursday tickets are $15, thanks to a grant by Duke Energy; Friday, Saturday and Sunday performances are $25. Performance times are: Thursdays at 7pm; Friday and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. Doors open ½ hour prior to curtain for seating. The Phoenix Pub, located inside the theatre, offers beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee, and bottled water, as well as treats, and all refreshments may be taken into the theatre and consumed during the performance.

For more information about any Phoenix Productions or to purchase tickets, call The Phoenix Theatre box office at 317.635.7529. Tickets may also be purchased online. The theatre's website is www.phoenixtheatre.org.

ABOUT The Phoenix Theatre
"The Phoenix Theatre has cornered the market on hip new works." -- Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

The Phoenix Theatre is Indiana's only professional Contemporary Theatre, and has presented productions to challenge and entertain the Indianapolis community for 28 years. An Equity house, the Theatre presents the Midwest and Indiana premieres of many popular Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, and has presented more than 82 world premieres in its quarter century. The Phoenix operates the 130-seat proscenium Mainstage as well as the 75-seat cabaret-style black box Frank & Katrina Basile Theatre. The Phoenix Pub, located in the Basile Theatre, serves beer, wine, coffee, soft drinks, water, and treats, and patrons may take all refreshments into either theatre. Both venues are housed along with administrative offices in a renovated 1907 church in downtown Indianapolis' historic Chatham Arch neighborhood, part of the Mass Ave Arts & Theatre District. The Phoenix Theatre is a member of the National New Play Network and the League of Indianapolis Theatres, and is supported by the Indiana Arts Commission, the Arts Council of Indianapolis, and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as local corporate and foundation funders and more than 500 individual donors.