February 23 - March 18, 2007

Director: Michael Sandner

Evening Performances:
February 23, 24, March 2, 3, 9, 10, 16 and 17 at 8
Sunday Matinees:
March 4 and 18 at 2

"The story dissects a three-member household—mother, father, daughter—and the struggles they undergo with obligations in a society that emphasizes the importance of work, school, sexual fulfillment—and, of course, keeping the family together." --- Montgomery Insight Magazine, March, 2007 Read the Aritcle

"... a tough look at how families work and don’t work."

"This is a recommended show. I think you’ll, not necessarily enjoy the show, but you’ll be drawn into the story and it really will make you think about what is even the definition of family." --- ShowBizRadio, March 13, 2007 Read/Listen to the Review

"Clearly hilarious great fun"

"Currently at Silver Spring Stage is a quirky but quite funny comedy Dimly Perceived Threats to the System. That’s a formidable title, and individual scenes have college syllabus sounding titles like Environmental Depletion (for a family picnic) and Epistemological Break (for intermission), but ignore those. They are part of the joke, and there are plenty of jokes in this well produced show." --- David Cannon, The Montgomery County Sentinel, March 1, 2007 Read the article

"Let There Be Humor in Family Dysfunction"

"Dimly Perceived Threats to the System, Jon Klein's darkly comic attempt to define the American family in crisis, is anachronistic. Now being performed in a smartly acted and crisply directed production at Silver Spring Stage ... make their way through the rapidly paced scenes with alacrity, taking us along on a surreally entertaining excursion. It's not profound, but it is fun." --- Michael Toscano, The Washington Post, March 1, 2007 Read the article

Silver Spring Stage presents the wildly imaginative and humorous Dimly Perceived Threats to the System by Jon Klein, directed by Michael Sandner and produced by Patty Hackett. The play artfully and scathingly dissects a dysfunctional family beset with mid-life crisis, extra-marital affairs and teenage trauma where reality and fantasy overlap in a riotous window to how families cope and survive. Dimly Perceived Threats to the System will run weekends February 23 to March 18, 2007.

Silver Spring Stage is located in the Woodmoor Shopping Center, lower level (next to the CVS) at Colesville Road and University Boulevard. Ticket prices range from $13 to $18. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday matinees on March 4 and March 18 at 2:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased at www.ssstage.org. Information is also available by calling (301) 593-6036.

Leave behind "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Father Knows Best" and enter into the tumultuous, twisted and touching Hauser household as playwright Jon Klein exposes the contemporary American family in Dimly Perceived Threats to the System. Klein, native of Kentucky and currently the director of the MFA Playwrighting Program at Catholic University, is no stranger to dark comedy and turning institutions inside out. He has written more than 20 works, most notably T Bone N Weasel, Bunnicula (a stage adaptation of a best-selling children’s book about a vampire bunny) and Betty the Yeti, an eco-fable about an amorous Bigfoot. His works have been honored by the Zaki Gordon Memorial Award, George Burns and Gracie Allen Comedy Award, HBO Playwrights USA Award, Midwest Authors Award and CBS New Play Award. Dimly Perceived Threats to the System was a finalist for the American Critics Theatre Award. Klein uncovers the fantasies, desires, angers, and fears which often torment the American family. The piece interweaves inner monologues and fantasy sequences, some in the characters’ control and others not. Klein's wild mind and imaginative craftsmanship expose truths about the American family which often lie beneath the superficial notion of "family values."

Maryls Hauser (Karen Kellner) is a management consultant who can't seem to manage the slightest problem at home. Her husband, Josh (Ted Schneider), is developing a film about the American Family in Crisis—while slipping into an affair with his own producer Megan (Elizabeth Yeats). Moreover, his aged mother is dying because, according to Dr Grey (Kelli Biggs), her "system is being threatened." The Hauser’s comically dysfunctional daughter, Christine (Katie Keddell), torments her school therapist Mr. Sykes (Stuart Fischer)—when she's not channeling the spirit of her grandmother. Reality and fantasy overlap with hilarious results as this unforgettable family attempts to survive the new millennium.

The production team includes Dale Brady-Wilson (Stage Manager), Brandon R. McWilliams (Set Design, Costume Design and Lighting Designer), Michael Sandner (Sound Designer) and Bisa Williams (Properties).

Dimly Perceived Threats to the System is by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service.

The Stage's 39th season continues with the funny and sensitive The Drawer Boy (Apr. 13-May 6), enchanting and delightful Morning's at Seven (May 18-Jun. 10) and thrilling and thought-provoking Never the Sinner (Jun. 29-July 22). Silver Spring Stage is grateful for support from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and the Maryland State Arts Council.