Eve Ensler Dedicates EMOTIONAL CREATURE to Malala Yousufzai

Producers Carole Black and Pat Mitchell present EMOTIONAL CREATURE, the new play written by Tony Award®-winning playwright, performer, activist, and The Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler, will get a New York premiere this fall. Directed by Obie Award-winner Jo Bonney (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) with original music and musical direction by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder, Emotional Creature will begin previews at The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street) on Friday, October 26, 2012 with an official opening night set for Monday, November 12, 2012, direct from an acclaimed World Premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in California.

Ensler just released the following statement on the show:

"The reason I wrote Emotional Creature was to honor people like Malala Yousufzai – a fearless young activist who is an inspiration to teen girls the world over. We cannot begin this process without keeping her in our thoughts. Today's first rehearsal is dedicated to her bravery, her cause, and what I hope is her speedy recovery."

Malala Yousufzai is a fourteen-year-old Pakistani teen activist who was shot in the head yesterday by a Taliban gunman. Yousufzai is well known and respected for her work promoting the education of girls and was nominated last for the International Children's Peace Prize. Yousufzai is currently being treated at a hospital in Mingora, Pakistan for her wounds.

The cast of Emotional Creature features a young and vibrant ensemble of six: Ashley Bryant (A Free Man of Color); Molly Carden (The Bird and the Two-Ton Weight at Ensemble Studio Theatre); Emily S. Grosland (Off Broadway debut); 2012 Theatre World Award Winner Joaquina Kalukango (Hurt Village); Sade Namei (The Flying Latke at The Flea) and Olivia Oguma (A Christmas Carol; Mamma Mia!).

Based on Ensler's 2010 bestselling book, Emotional Creature explores what it is to be a girl – all the joys and thrills, the rites of passage, the growing pains, and the unique pressures – through a series of original monologues, stories and songs. This fully-staged production spans wildly disparate cultures and continents, highlighting the diversity and commonality of the issues girls face, both personal and political, the world over. Emotional Creature was first workshopped at New York Stage and Film at Vassar College in August 2010, with subsequent workshops in Johannesburg, South Africa and Paris, France.

The creative team for Emotional Creature also includes Luam (Choreography), Myung Hee Cho 

Tickets for Emotional Creature are $75.00 and can be purchased beginning July 9th at www.ticketcentral.com, by calling 212-279-4200, or at the Ticket Central box office (416 W 42nd Street) Monday through Sunday, 12 – 8 PM. The performance schedule will be as follows: Tuesday at 7:30 PM, Wednesday at 2 PM & 7:30 PM, Thursday – Friday at 7:30 PM, Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM, Sunday at 7:30 PM. For more information about Emotional Creature, visit www.emotionalcreature.com.