Colt Coeur Sets #PARITYPLAYSFEST, DRY LAND Special Events

This past year, a brand-new organization called The Kilroys solicited nominations from over 140 theatre professionals (primarily artistic directors and literary managers) for their favorite new plays by female-identified playwrights. In June they published The List -- the top 46 of these plays. Dry Land was one of the most recommended, and many playwrights Colt Coeur has collaborated with in the past were also on the list. In the spirit of continuing to champion gender parity in the theatre, we are hosting a Festival of Readings of plays by women during the run of Dry Land. The plays included are as follows:

The Mango Farmer of Vermont
by Emily Feldman
directed by Stella Powell-Jones
Monday, September 15th at 5pm

Do Something Pretty
by Melissa Ross
directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt
Monday, September 22nd at 4pm

The Thai Girl
by Kate Robin
directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch
Wednesday, September 24th at 3pm

Where it Feels
by Kaitlin Schuster
directed by Hannah Wolf
Wednesday, September 24th at 5pm

All readings will take place at HERE (145 6th Avenue, enter on Dominick, 1 block south of Spring St) and are free and open to the public. RSVPs encouraged. To reserve, email coltcoeur@gmail.com with name, date and # of tickets.

Play Hotel is Colt Coeur's ongoing reading series, and our principal arena for developing new work. To be considered for our reading/workshop series please send materials via email to coltcoeur@gmail.com. Please include a short bio as well as a synopsis.

DRY LAND SPECIAL EVENTS

Monday, September 15th (following the 7pm performance):
Talkback with director Adrienne Campbell-Holt and members of the cast

Thursday, September 18th: Benefit Performance & Reception

$35 Benefit ticket includes:

• pre-performance wine & cheese reception with the playwright, director, cast, & creative team
• premium reserved seating
• a Colt Coeur tote bag

Click here to purchase tickets.

Sunday, September 21st (following the 4pm matinee):
Panel discussion moderated by Lawrence O'Donnell with playwright, cast, and members of the Reproductive Rights community

Dry Land is a haunting new play and about female friendship and abortion-a hilarious, savage, and deeply truthful portrait of the fears, hopes, and bonds between teenage girls. It is as gut-wrenching as it is funny, and while the play's characters may be young, the challenges facing them are ageless.

Amy is pregnant. Amy has asked Ester to meet her in their high school swim team locker room to abort the fetus. Ester deeply idolizes Amy and will do anything for her admiration. Through the course of the play we watch them form a complex and intimate relationship, one built on vulnerability and challenged by the fear of being vulnerable. Both deeply lonely and alone in their two secrets, they struggle with each other, their bodies, with themselves, and with what it means to be and to become young women.

As the play slowly digs deeper, it neither flinches nor judges. Amy and Ester can be cruel and destructive, but they are also sweet and funny, essentially flawed and essentially human. Dry Land is not shy in its presentation of difficult questions, and its ultimate hopefulness contains no easy answers. This is a play about the importance of female friendship and community but also, at its core, a play about the fear of love.

The cast for Dry Land includes Jim Ireland, Tina Ivlev, Alice Kremelberg, Sarah Mezzanotte, and Matthew Stadelmann.

The scenic design for Dry Land is by John McDermott; costume design is by Ashley Rose Horton; lighting design is by Grant Yeager; sound design is by Amy Altadonna; properties by Shannon O'Brien; and technical direction by Josh Shain. Sarah Devon Ford is the Production Stage Manager, and casting is by Anne Davison. Michaela Buccola and Stephanie Wessels are producing, in collaboration with Colt Coeur.

Dry Landis written by Ruby Rae Spiegel, directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt, and produced by Michaela Buccola. Performances began Friday, September 5, at HERE, 145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick St. 1 Block South of Spring). Opening night was Monday, September 8. The show must close Saturday, September 27. Tickets are $18 general admission and may be purchased at www.here.org or by phoning (212) 352-3101.

Colt Coeur, an artists' ensemble, collaboratively creates theater from the ground up. Founded in 2010, Colt Coeur has created and produced four world-premieres: Seven Minutes in Heaven, together as a company with playwright Steven Levenson; Fish Eye, with playwright Lucas Kavner; Recall, by Eliza Clark; and Everything is Ours, by Nikole Beckwith. All four of Colt Coeur's productions have been New York Times and/or Time Out New York critic's picks and played to sold-out houses.