Gabe McKinley's THE SOURCE Gets NYC Reading, Discussion This Month via Culture Project

The Culture Project presents a creative initiative about the Right to Privacy in our nation. A reading of The Source by Gabe McKinley, directed by Pippin Parker, followed by a public discussion led by journalist Leonard Jacobs.

The event takes place on January 12th, 2017 at 6pm at The Lynn Redgrave Theater (45 Bleecker Street, NYC). Free admission; reservations required by emailing rsvp@cultureproject.org. Running time of reading: 80 minutes; Discussion: 45-60 minutes.

What does a Trump administration mean for our privacy rights and for Edward Snowden? This reading of The Source and public forum is being held a week before the Presidential inauguration to call to attention the ongoing plight of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in light of President-elect Trump implying he should be executed. In addition, the evening shall be an informal discussion of the expansion of government surveillance, and what our nation faces on the eve of a highly politically aggressive and right-wing administration taking office.

The Source, a new play by Gabe McKinley, is inspired by the whistleblowing of Edward Snowden. Ever-aware of the looming dangers of government surveillance, and the high-wattage news story they are about to break, two journalists wait in a hotel room to meet with "the source," an unnamed man or woman who has promised to provide them with a gold mine of first-hand information. A taut drama that is both thriller and passionate exchange of political ideas, The Source examines the civil and human implications of the loss of privacy. The play will be read by George Demas and Amanda Quaid and directed by Pippin Parker .

Following the reading, journalist Leonard Jacobs will conduct a talkback with the artists and an informal discussion with the audience about the new Presidential administration as it pertains to privacy and other civil rights.

The Source will have a full production at the Route 66 Theater Company in Chicago from March 2nd to April 2nd, 2017.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

The Culture Project is dedicated to addressing critical human rights issues by creating and supporting artistic work that amplifies marginalized voices. By fostering innovative collaboration between human rights organizations and artists, we aim to inspire and impact public dialogue and policy, encouraging democratic participation in the most urgent matters of our time.

Gabe McKinley's plays have been produced and developed by companies nationally and internationally, including Atlantic Theater Company, Naked Angels, Premiere Stages, The Old Vic, American Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theater, The LARK, Keen Company, Route 66, Williamstown Theater Festival and Red Dog Squadron, among others. His plays include The Kitchen Sink Play, Welcome Home Rock Rogers, Funny, Floodplains, Skopje, The Source and the critically acclaimed E xtinction and CQ/CX (John Gassner Outer Critics Award nomination). A graduate of NYU and The New School for Drama, Gabe lives in Brooklyn.

Leonard Jacobs is Founder and Executive Editor of The Clyde Fitch Report , a news site covering arts and politics. Leonard has been an arts journalist and theater critic since Thespis stepped out of the chorus line, and has been an indentured servant in public service, private industry, and academia.

Pippin Parker directed and served as dramaturge of the award-winning production of George Packer's Betrayed at Culture Project (winner of the 2008 Lortel Award for Best Play), which was also presented at Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in conjunction with Refugees, International. He also directed the New York premiere of Knickerbocker by Jonathan Marc Sherman at The Public Theater. A founding member and former artistic director of Naked Angels Theater Company in New York City, Pippin helped conceive the company's long-running reading series Tuesdays at 9 and its signature Issues Projects, in which the company collaborated with a range of advocacy organizations including Amnesty International and Project A.L.S..

George Demas performed in the award-winning New York City productions of The Effect and Our Town, both directed by David Cromer, as well as numerous appearances on television and film. At The Culture Project he has appeared in Social Note: An Evening With Dorothy Parker and Maverick, as well as many readings. He also directed New York Times Critic's Picks Krapp, 39 at The Soho Playhouse and Levittown for The Cliplight Theater at The Theater at St. Clement's.

Amanda Quaid Broadway: Equus. Off-Broadway: world premiere of The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (Playwrights Horizons), US premiere of c*ck(The Duke), Luck of the Irish (LCT3, Lortel nomination), Pericles (Public Theater, AEA Bayfield Award), world premiere of A Public Reading...Death of Walt Disney (Soho Rep), Galileo (CSC), The Illusion (Signature), Happy Hour (Atlantic), The Witch of Edmonton (Red Bull), three plays at Irish Rep, most recently The Weir. Regional: Old Globe, Shakespeare Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Folger Shakespeare Theatre, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. TV: I'm Dying Up Here, Masters of Sex, Blue Bloods, Law & Order: SVU. Film: Non-Stop, English (actor/director), Toys (animator/director).