Lorraine Olsen is FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING Premieres in San Francisco Tonight, 9/13

Actress Lorraine Olsen unveils the work of a professional Artist Model in her theatrical memoir Lorraine Olsen is FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING, premiering tonight, September 13 and performing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. through September 29, with two Sunday matinees September 16 and 23 at 3 p.m., at 2nd Stage of SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter Street, San Francisco. Tickets: $25 @ brownpapertickets.com.

Lorraine Olsen is FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING — the naked truth from the model's stand and a coming of age tale set in the vibrant world of Bay Area studios, salons, and educational institutions. The show is structured as a typical drawing session would be — the audience is encouraged to draw during the performance — as Olsen assumes a series of progressively longer poses while recounting personal episodes of her role as a catalyst for the development of figurative art. Told with humor and brio, Lorraine Olsen is FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING of her interactions with artists, teachers, and students and how those collaborations shaped her growth as a human being.

Lorraine Olsen developed the script with director Val Hendrickson and previewed the work in a site specific presentation at SOMA's Five Points ArtHouse, winning Best of 2011 SF Fringe and a Sold Out Award for most tickets sold in the festival. In January 2012 a reworked version of the play was presented at WOW Café Theatre in New York and further development of the show was previewed in May at 2nd Stage of SF Playhouse. After 18 previews scattered over 12 months, Lorraine Olsen is FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING to the scrutiny of the press and the wider general public.

Theatre Valentine has presented the West Coast premieres of John Patrick Shanley's THE BIG FUNK, Cindy Lou Johnson's THE PERSON I ONCE WAS and Harry Kondoleon's SAVED OR DESTROYED.Lorraine Olsen is FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING was recently accepted into the 2012 United Solo Festivaland will perform on Theatre Row in New York Saturday November 10th at 4 p.m. Tickets are on sale now @ Telecharge.