Ivy Crest Company Stages One Acts by Edward Allan Baker at Davenport Theatre Tonight

Starting today, March 16th, at Davenport Theatre The Ivy Crest Theatre Co. will present two powerful one act plays by Edward Allan Baker centering around working class families in crisis. Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, Beauty, and Truth directed by Erica Silberman features David Newer*, Lacy Marie Meyer (Inside Amy Shumer) and Kelly Kozakevich. North of Providence directed by David Newer features Lauren Duffy and James McCloskey. *(Member of Actors Equity)

In Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, Beauty, and Truth two teenage girls attempt to convince their good-natured uncle to help them escape from an abusive, shiftless mother and the housing projects of East Providence by disclosing a secret about the wife and daughter who abandoned him three years prior. InNorth of Providence an angry sister begs her despondent, self-destructive brother to visit their dying father in the hospital before it's too late. Firmly resisting all of her urging, he reciprocates by recalling a brutal experience she suffered years before that not only inexorably altered their father's affection toward her, but paralyzed him from moving forward with his life.

Edward Allan Baker has said that he writes "about people born to brick and asphalt who don't have bad days, they have bad years." Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, Beauty, and Truth and North of Providence were first presented as part of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Marathon series and both received high praise from the New York Times. Baker's full length Off Broadway successes include Prairie Avenueand American Storage. He is a recipient of the "25th Anniversary Award for Theatrical Excellence" from Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Erica Silberman directed solo shows L.A. Unified at United Solo Festival, Chiquitina at Manhattan Theatre Source and Party Devil and The Death of Fun at Dixon Place. She was associate producer for Michael Mejias's award winning play Ghetto Babylon at 59E59 Theaters. A sixteen time writer fortheAtrainplays, her plays have been produced or developed at EST, Playwrights Horizons, NYMF, New World Stages, New Perspectives and HERE.

David Newer has directed productions of Danny and The Deep Blue, Sea, Orphans and This Is Our Youth. His acting credits include Gun Club (Cherry Lane), The Asbestos Bride (EST), Law and Order and Law,and Law and Order SVU and the Cannes Film Festival award winning short film Performance Anxiety. His solo play L.A. Unified received the "Best Educational Play Award" at the 2014 United Solo Fest. He is entering his 12th year teaching acting at the William Esper Studio.

Founded in 2015 by an ensemble of established and emerging theater artists, The Ivy Crest Theatre Company's core imperative is to produce plays that resonate with both their artists and audiences while providing professional quality, affordable theater in intimate black box settings. They are committed to performing under produced plays that represent the diversity of New York City and offer a platform for women and minority writers with works reflecting blue collar and white collar struggles.

Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, Beauty, and Truth and North of Providence will open at the Davenport Theatre (354 W. 45th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues) on Wednesday March 16th at 8PM and run thru Sunday March 20th. The performance schedule is Wednesday thruSaturday at 8PM with matinees on Saturday at 2PM and Sunday at 3PM. Tickets are $18. For tickets go to http://brownpapertickets.com/event/2500794 or call (800) 838-3006. For more information go to www.ivycrestnyc.com.