OUTRUNNING BULLETS Gets Reading at Burning Coal Theatre Tonight

Outrunning Bullets by Jonathan Fitts, directed by Eric Kildow, will receive a staged reading at Burning Coal Theatre Company tonight, February 13, 2013 at 8 pm at the Murphey School, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh. The reading is free to the public with suggested donation of $5 and is part of Burning Coal's 2012/2013 New Works Series. Tickets are available at the door. For further information, visit us at 919.834.4001 or at www.burningcoal.org.

The Irish War of Independence ended in 1922 with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. But the fighting had only just begun. In a small, rural town, the anti-Treaty Tom O'Malley captures two pro-treatyIrish War for Independence concluded with the signing of the Anglo-Irish treaty in 1922, but the fighting was far from over. Havoc breaks loose in a small, rural town when Tom O'Malley of the anti-treaty Republicans captures the ornery Lieutenant Jimmy Caraghy and the young Private Seamus Fitzpatrick of the pro-treaty Irish National Army. With a small band of guerilla soldiers, including his fiery sister Anne and her fiancée John, Tom attempts to negotiate with the National Army to get the "Free Staters" out of his hometown.

In the process, however, the ties that bind each of the individuals are torn and rewound in surprising places, allegiances are changed, and everyone is forced to ask if saving their family is worth losing their The Irish War for Independence concluded with the signing of the Anglo-Irish treaty in 1922, but the fighting was far from over. Havoc breaks loose in a small, rural town when Tom O'Malley of the anti-treaty Republicans captures the ornery Lieutenant Jimmy Caraghy and the young Private Seamus Fitzpatrick of the pro-treaty Irish National Army.

With a small band of guerilla soldiers, including his fiery sister Anne and her fiancée John, Tom attempts to negotiate with the National Army to get the "Free Staters" out of his hometown. In the process, however, the ties that bind each of the individuals are torn and rewound in surprising places, allegiances are changed, and everyone is forced to ask if saving their family is worth losing their home fighters, the ornery Lieutenant Jimmy CaraghyCaraghy and the young Private Seamus Fitzpatrick, in hopes of negotiating with the Irish National Army to get the "free-staters" out of his town. But the ties that connect the members of this small Irish town are stronger than any of them might have believed, and Tom's plan creates rifts, and connections, that no one could have foreseen.

Playwright Jonathan Fitts, a native of Raleigh, NC, holds an undergraduate degree in theatre from Appalachian State University. He is one semester away from completing his MFA at New York University, where he will graduate this spring. Jonathan has written many plays, including the music and lyrics for Jude the Obscure, Parts 1 & 2 (with Bruce Benedict) at Burning Coal Theatre Company.

Director Eric Kildow holds degrees from the Savannah College of Art and Design and Texas A&M. He regularly works for Burning Coal as its dramaturg. He currently teaches at Coast Carolina Community College in Jacksonville.

Burning Coal Theatre Company is one of Raleigh's intimate, professional theatres. Burning Coal is an incorporated, non-profit [501 (c) (3)] organization. Burning Coal's mission is to produce literate, visceral, affecting theatre that is experienced, not simply seen. Burning Coal produces explosive reexaminations of overlooked classic and modern plays, as well as new plays, whose themes and issues are of immediate concern to our audience, using the best local, national and International Artists available. We work toward a theatre of high-energy performances and minimalist production values. The emphasis is on literate works that are felt and experienced viscerally, unlike more traditional linear plays, at which audiences are most often asked to observe without participating. Race and gender non-specific casting is an integral component of our perspective, as well as an international viewpoint.

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