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ITHACA, NY: Techno-savvy Generation Y has its say as the Kitchen Theatre Company presents the regional premiere of Rolin Jones’s madcap comedy The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, November 30 through December 23.

22-year old whiz kid Jennifer Marcus has just been fired from her job at the mall. But her genius level computer skills and brain power have landed her a position as a satellite navigation systems specialist for a major defense contractor. There is one catch. Saddled with both Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and agoraphobia (a fear of open places), she is the ultimate telecommuter; she has set up camp in her bedroom. Not only is she isolated from the world outside, but she also feels disconnected from her adoptive family - her Type A mother who jets to trade shows around the country and her laid-back father retired from firefighting. Jennifer’s computer is her window on the world. Her on-line contacts include a Mormon missionary living in China; her employer, a military contractor from Georgia; and a wacky robotics genius, Dr. Yakunin, who recognizes Jennifer’s enormous talents. Off-line she depends on the comforts of her slacker pizza-delivery friend Todd.

All this is tough, but what Jennifer really wants is to find her Chinese birth parents. She creates a flying robot-double, “Jenny Chow,” out of spare missile parts, and sends her off. What follows is a dazzling comedy - a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize - that balances the pyrotechnics of intellect with the gentle yearnings of the heart while tackling a range of subjects from living in the global digital age to parenting and generation gaps, cross cultural adoption, living with disabilities, Asian stereotypes, and dreams of flying, with never a dull moment in between.

Norm Johnson (A Perfect Ganesh, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, Road to Mecca and many more) returns to the Kitchen to direct. Amanda Morton, New York City based Equity actor and Ithaca College alum plays Jennifer Marcus. Kitchen Theatre favorite Joey Steinhagen (Tony & the Soprano, Precious Nonsense) plays all her on-line companions. Ithaca College senior Aaron Morris plays Todd and Aki Sato Johnson is Jenny Chow. Playing the parents are Kitchen veteran Addie Walsh (Three Tall Women) and Charles Stransky, just seen as Sagot in Picasso at the Lapin Agile at Cornell. Steve TenEyck designs the set, Solomon Weisbard designs the lights and costumes are designed by Teresa Sears.

Rolin Jones (“a young playwright of uncommon wit and talent” —Washington Post) is in his second season of writing for Showtime's award-winning series, Weeds. Jenny Chow, a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer, received the 2006 Obie Award for Excellence in Playwriting, the Elizabeth Osborne Award for an Emerging Artist (American Theatre Critic’s Association) and OC Weekly's 2004 "Best New Play" Award. Productions of Jenny Chow include: South Coast Repertory (World Premiere), Yale Rep (East Coast Premiere), Atlantic Theater Company (New York Premiere), among others. Jones was still in grad school at Yale when Jenny Chow premiered. He has been commissioned by South Coast Repertory, was one of four American playwrights chosen to participate in the 2004 Old Vic/New Voices Festival in London, and was an NEA/TCG playwright-in-residence at Yale Repertory Theatre. And like the Kitchen’s recently produced Clean Alternatives by Brian Dykstra (Fringe First Award, 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival), another Rolin Jones play, The Jammer, received a Fringe First Award for Best New Writing at the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

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