ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK Star to Lead Actors' Fund Benefit Reading of IRA

Shrunken Shakespeare Company (Yvonne Cone and Jennifer Martina, Co-Producing Artistic Directors) announced today that Madeline Brewer has joined the cast as Meg, in the world premiere reading of Chukwudi Iwuji's masterpiece screenplay Ira - on June 8th, 2015. Brewer joins new cast member Eli Gelb (The Squid and the Whale, Holy Rollers).

The reading is the centerpiece of the SSC 2015 Spring Gala and is being directed by Danya Taymor. The Creative Producer is Adam Shulman (Dukes of Hazard: The Beginning, Song One starring Anne Hathaway) to host SSC's Annual Benefit Gala and Staged Reading of at W83 (150 West 83rd Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus).

Ira is an intimate portrait of the life and career of Ira Aldridge, one of the first African Americans to grace the London stage. In his quest for opportunities in the West End, Ira falls in love with Margaret (Brewer), an English abolitionist. In the face of racial and social adversity, their bond will be stretched to its limits in this story of love, social strife, and the journey to becoming a legend.

Iwuji (Olivier Award Winning Henry VI Trilogy at the Royal Shakespeare Company, TFANA's Tamburlaine, NYSF's King Lear) will star as Ira Aldridge. The stellar cast heralding in the epic screenplay includes Madeline Brewer (Orange is the New Black, Hemlock Grove), Tony Award Nominee Condola Rashad (Trip to Bountiful, Stick Fly, Romeo and Juliet), Lorraine Toussaint (Academy Award Nominated Film Selma, Orange is the New Black), Jay O. Sanders (The Day After Tomorrow, Kiss the Girls, The Public's 'Apple Family Plays'), James Waterston (Dead Poet's Society), Michael Rudko (The Audience with Helen Mirren), Michael Stahl-David (Cloverfield, The Public's 'Buzzer'), John Keating (The Lone Ranger, TFANA's Much Ado About Nothing), Abby Wilde (Nickelodeon's Zoey 101, iCarly), Sean Patrick Reilly (As The World Turns, Blue Bloods), Eli Gelb (The Squid and the Whale, Holy Rollers), Tyler Hollinger (Taxi: Brooklyn, Leaves of the Tree), Ryan Duncan (Broadway's Shrek), Tom O'Keefe (Bedlam, TFANA's Tamburlaine), Yvonne Cone (Paul Sorvino's King Lear), Jennifer Martina (Paul Sorvino's King Lear), Danielle Davenport (TFANA's An Octoroon). Danya Taymor (Theatre for a New Audience, The Public, The Flea) directs.

Ticket holders will be welcomed by a step-and-repeat beginning at 6:45pm before enjoying the staged reading presentation followed by a talkback and cocktail party with the cast. VIP ticket holders can enjoy a coffee hour preceding the reading at 6:00 pm and reserved seating.