Dylan Guerra's THE BLENDER Comes to La MaMa on July 30!

The summer theater scene in New York City is about to get "blended." Beginning Tuesday, July 30, and running through Aug. 4, the Summer Shares at La MaMa Experimental Threatre will host the New York City premier of The Blender: Eight Short Plays in the Mix. La MaMa is one of New York City's most acclaimed off-Broadway theaters.

A high-energy series of plays, Plants!, Kill Your Darlings, Underworld, Brilliant Children On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, The Six, Python,How To, and Apple Tree - The Blender is being presented by students from Southern Methodist University, Carnegie Mellon University, Boston University, and Florida State University.

The Blender, which opened in Miami earlier this month, is the brainchild of Dylan Guerra, a Miami native and graduate of the New World School of the Arts, who currently is studying at the prestigious SMU Meadow School for the Arts in Dallas. Guerra wrote, co-directs and is featured in The Blender. He raised $5,000 from supporters through Kickstarter to bring The Blender to New York City so it could be performed as part of Summer Shares at La MaMa.

"The Blender has been well received by critics and audiences alike everywhere we've played so far and I am very anxious to see the reaction of New York theater-goers," said Guerra.

The Blender opens with How To, a fast comedy on familial structure in the 1950s, then segues into Brilliant Children, the story of child actors who struggle to move beyond past roles. The play also touches on science fiction as people turn into plants, how a playwright must deal with killing off a beloved character in a play, and a "mafia farce on the water," among its eight segments.

The Blender breaks from conventional theater as all actors are on stage throughout the eight plays, often providing their own sound effects. Rather than blackouts, the production deploys musical transitions into each segment and all eight actors play multiple roles in the production.

Robert Battle, Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, says of Guerra, "Dylan is an exciting and unique new voice in the theater. This set of plays shows his immense talent and versatility, and should prove to be the starting point of an incredible career."

Guerra, co-directs the performance with Tom Gelo and Hannah Benitez. The cast includes Ryan Avalos, Leslie Ballart, Tyler Crim, Danniel Gerchakov, Jeremy Gettis, Dylan Guerra, Stephanie Machado and Caitlin Rodstein.

Guerra was one of the most highly acclaimed playwrights at New World School of the Arts and the first freshman ever included in the school's new playwrights festival. He led his own troupe of actors, "The New Play Project," in Miami-area theaters four consecutive years. A Silver Knight nominee in Theater for his work in creating powerful student voices in the artistic world, Guerra was described as "blurring the line between fantasy and reality" by Buster Spills of Broadwayworld.com/Dallas.

La MaMa Experimental Theatre is located at 74A East 4th Street in New York City.The Blender will be performed Tues.-Sat. (July 30-Aug. 3) at 8 p.m.; Sun. (Aug. 4) at 3 p.m. Press Opening: Tuesday July 30. For tickets and more information, visit http://www.theblender.brownpapertickets.com.