'Liberty City' by Blank & Thompson Debuts at NYTW Feb.15

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) presents Liberty City, written by Jessica Blank and April Yvette Thompson, performed by Thompson, and directed by Blank; to begin performances Friday, February 15, at NYTW (79 East 4th Street, between 2nd Avenue & Bowery).  Opening night is scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 at 7PM.  The production will run through Sunday, March 16.

"Liberty City: a place where people of the African Diaspora have settled; where urban and island cultures rub up against each other, and the site of Miami's infamous 1980 riots. Enter April Yvette Thompson – a child of children of the 60's, the daughter of a Bahamian and Cuban father and an African American mother: free thinkers, young radicals and movement people. As the hope of the 60's and 70's gave way to the disillusionment and disintegration of the 80's, April's family struggled to survive and stay together. Part history, part imagination, Liberty City is her personal story that illuminates the lives of one family through the context of social, cultural, and political events," explain press notes.

April Yvette Thompson's (Playwright/Performer) film and television credits include Accidental Husband (dir. Griffin Dunne); Doris & Bernard, "The Exonerated" (dir. Bob Balaban); "Third Watch," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "The Dave Chappelle Show."  Her theatre credits include The Exonerated; the world premiere of Tanya Barfield & Lynn Nottage's The Antigone Project; the world premiere of Kia Corthron's Light Raise the Roof at NYTW; the world premiere of Zakiyyah Alexander's SICK??? at SPF; The Rivals, Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor with The Acting Company; Medea, Macbeth (both AUDELCO nominations), King Lear, The Blacks at The Classical Theatre of Harlem; 365 Plays/365 Days at NYTW and The Public Theater; the world premiere of Seret Scott's Second Line, Wine in the Wilderness (Seattle Footlights Award); A Raisin in the Sun at Hartford Stage; and the world premiere of Kia Corthron's The Venus De Milo is Armed at ASF.

Jessica Blank (Playwright/Director) is an actor, writer and director.  Film credits include The Namesake (dir. Mira Nair), The Exonerated, Undermind, You're Nobody Till Somebody Kills You (prod. Spike Lee), On the Road With Judas (Sundance 2007).  Television credits include "The Bronx is Burning," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Rescue Me," "Guiding Light," "One Life to Live."  With Erik Jensen, she is author of The Exonerated, a play based on their interviews with 40 exonerated death row inmates, which won Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Fringe First, and Herald Angel Awards, and was made into a movie for Court TV. Her first novel, Almost Home, was published in fall 2007; she and Mr. Jensen are currently adapting it for the screen.  Living Justice, their book on the making of The Exonerated, was published in 2005.  Jessica's writing has appeared in journals including The Believer, The Dramatist, and Theatre History Studies.  She is co-Artistic Director of The Fire Dept Theater Company.

The scenic design for Liberty City is by Anjte Ellerman; lighting design is by David Lander; sound design is by Jane Shaw.

On Tuesday, January 29 at 7pm, NYTW will host a panel discussion exploring the social and political conditions that fueled the 1980 Miami riots and the larger picture of black activism in the latter half of the twentieth century.  The discussion will feature Ms. Blank; MS. Thompson; Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin, Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African-American Studies and Director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University; and, April Silver, a social entrepreneur, community leader, and writer who founded Akila Worksongs, a Brooklyn-based organization that provides consulting services to artists and activists.  The panel discussion is free for all NYTW members, students, and the general public.  To reserve tickets, please call the NYTW Box Office at (212) 460-5475. Public Programs at NYTW are supported in part by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Senator Thomas K. Duane, The Grand Marnier Foundation and the Edith C. Blum Foundation.

Liberty City plays at New York Theatre Workshop (79 East 4th Street, between 2nd Avenue & Bowery). The regular performance schedule is Tuesday at 7PM, Wednesday through Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 3PM & 8PM, and Sunday at 2PM & 7PM.  Liberty City runs through Sunday, March 16.  Tickets, which go on sale January 15, are $45 and may be purchased online at www.telecharge.com, 24 hours a day, seven days a week or by phoning Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200.  For exact dates and times of performance, call Telecharge.com.

Maintaining its commitment to making theatre accessible to all theatergoers, NYTW continues its CheapTix Sundays program in which all tickets for all Sunday evening performances will cost $20. Tickets may be purchased in advance, payable in cash only, and are available in person only at the NYTW Box Office. And for all performances, student tickets cost $20, based on availability, and can be purchased in advance from the NYTW Box Office with valid student identification. The NYTW Box Office is open 1PM-6PM, Tuesday through Saturday.

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