G45 Productions Announces Casts And Line-Up For 2018 LIGHTBULB READING SERIES

G45 Productions is thrilled to announce the lineup and complete casting for their third annual Lightbulb Reading Series, beginning public performances Thursday, July 19th.

Building on the success of the previous two, this year's festival will workshop eight plays over a two week period. Each piece will receive two public showings from July 19 - 29th.

The full-length pieces presented are:

little lives by Shara Feit

Thursday, July 19 and Monday, July 23 at 7pm

At the Women's Care Crisis Pregnancy Center, the new trainee is learning the ropes, the protestors are stationed outside, and the abortion clinic next door is selling damnation. Then, everything changes. In Shara Feit's two-part drama little lives, two staffs of women must reckon with the cost of fighting to protect life.

Directed by Kyle Brown

Featuring Tatyana Aravena, Ann Arvia, Erica Camarano, Lucy Consagra, Delia Cunningham, and Caroline Hewitt.

Manger by Max Wolf Friedlich

Friday, July 20 at 8pm and Sunday, July 22 at 2:30pm

On a cold winter night in a bar upstate, the lives of four strangers are torn apart in ways they could've never imagined. Some will find God and the others will lose everything as a result.

Directed by Michael Herwitz

Featuring Emma Cadd, Niall Cunningham, Jared Kemp, Reed Lancaster and Zeke St. John.

Happy Birthday Mars Rover by Preston Choi

Saturday, July 21 and Sunday, July 22 at 8pm

The Mars Rover was engineered to do two things: search for life on the surface of Mars and sing Happy Birthday. Tracking humanity's ceaseless search for understanding and preservation Happy Birthday Mars Rover offers a kaleidoscope of Earth's history from the dawn of humanity, through the present, and into the unknowable future trying to answer the eternal questions: What does it mean to be alive? Is there life in outer space? And does it like cake?

Directed by Morgan Rielly

Featuring Lili Cheong, Charlotte Durkee, Abe Jacobs, Nathaniel Jameson, Jarrett Jung, and Isabel Renner

The Technicians by Justine Gelfman

Friday, July 27 at 8pm and Sunday, July 29 at 2:30pm

Jae and Phoebe meet in a nail salon. They are eight, but their friendship is intense and immediate. The girls grow up together, despite different friend groups, families and financial situations. But when a secret arrangements is revealed, the girls must grapple with privilege, pinky promises, keeping them, breaking them, breaking nails, and breaking up.

Directed by Seonjae Kim

Featuring Narea Kang, Keeley Karsten, Eowyn Moon, Sadie Scott, Laura Sohn, and Barbara Spence.

Puppy Dog Blues by Jake Anderson

Saturday, July 28 and Sunday, July 29 at 8pm

Two dogs escape from their master and a girl runs away from home. Their chance meeting in the middle of the forest forces us to confront how we tell our own stories, justify our pasts, and move forward.

Directed by Jarrett Jung

Featuring Talia Bornstein, Dillon Claro, Abishek Nair, and Nhumi Threadgil.

The following short pieces will be performed together on Wednesday, July 25 and Thursday, July 26 at 7pm:

The Body Project created, performed and directed by Charlotte Durkee

The Body Project is an interview-based theater installation piece that explores the human relationship with one's body using projections mapped to body molds made from the interviewees.

Blood by Yael Haskal

When Lindy is called upon to donate blood to a local pastor and pillar of the community, she and her phlebotomist face the ultimate question: "Does blood really run deep?"

Directed by Irene Lazaridis

Featuring Amara Granderson and Tia McDonald

Exalted by Madison Fiedler

A man paints a naked woman, as he often does; a naked woman sits perfectly still on a man's bed, her life in pieces, well-paid. They are strangers, and silent, and they are at war. Exalted is a new play about the politics and power of nudity.

Directed by Cameron King

Featuring Charlie Carr Baker and Madelyn Sher

G45 Productions is an artistic collective of young artists based in New York City. Founded in 2015 by a group of recent graduates of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts, G45 has been expanding over the past three years to include affiliate artists from around the country. G45 strives to produce revivals and new work that is personal and pertinent to the players and today's world. Past productions include Caryl Churchill's Cloud 9 (2017), Lucy Thurber's Where We're Born (2016), and Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive (2015.) This year marks the third installment of the Lightbulb Reading Series at IRT Theater.

IRT Theater is a grassroots laboratory for independent theater and performance in New York City, providing space and support to a new generation of artists. Tucked away in the old Archive Building in Greenwich Village, IRT's mission is to build a community of emerging and established artists by creating a home for the development and presentation of new work. Some of the artists we have supported include Young Jean Lee, Reggie Watts, & Mike Daisey. For info visit www.irttheater.org.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts, and The Nancy Quinn Fund, a project of ART-NY.

The Lightbulb Reading Series runs July 19-30. All performances will be held IRT Theater (154 Christopher Street.) Tickets are pay-what-you-can and can be purchased at http://irttheater.org/3b-development-series/the-lightbulb-reading-series/. For more information visit www.g45productions.org