Project Y Theatre Company to Present THE RELIGION THING, Begin. 6/18

Catholic, Fundamentalist, gay, straight, Mormon, Jew, alcoholism, sex, love and mixed marriage are the tangle of dynamics for a pair of married couples in Renee Calarco's comedy of faith, the 2013 Charles MacArthur nominated The Religion Thing, directed by Douglas Hall. The Religion Thing, produced by the award-winning Project Y Theatre Company, will have its New York premiere when it begins previews Wednesday, June 18, at 8:00pm for an opening Tuesday, July 1, at 8:00pm at The Cell Theatre, 338 West 23rd Street. The Religion Thing runs through August 1.

The Religion Thing had its world premiere performance in January 2012 at Theater J in Washington, DC.

Mo and Brian are a picture-perfect Washington, D.C. couple: smart, witty and with a beautifully remodeled kitchen. But when Mo's best friend announces she's found Jesus and is putting her own career on hold, Mo must take a closer look at her own marriage.

"Renee Calarco is onto something when she suggests in her new play, The Religion Thing, that America's biggest taboo isn't talking about sex.... No, it's talking about faith," said Peter Marks in The Washington Post after the play's 2012 world premiere at Theater J in Washington, D.C. Washington City Paper raved that "The Religion Thing is an uncomfortably funny exploration of how religious differences complicate human connections," and the Washingtonian wrote that The Religion Thing "crackles with energy from the start..."

Cast in The Religion Thing are Curran Connor (House of Cards on Netflix, The Wong Kids... at Ma-Yi Theatre Company; Off Broadway Alliance nominee), Andrew W. Smith (Imaginary Invalid at Seattle Rep, A Streetcar Named Desire at Arena Stage), Danielle O'Farrell (Pygmalian at Old Globe), Katharine McLeod (Pride and Prejudice at Actor's Theatre of Louisville) and Jamie Geiger (Mickey v. Minney at Abingdon Theatre).

Kevin Judge (Broadway's Irene's Vow) is designing the sets, Ben Hagen, the lighting, and Amit Prakash, the sound. The stage manager is Adrian Pena.

Renee Calarco www.reneecalarco.com is a playwright, teacher and performer whose plays include The Religion Thing (2013 nominee for the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play), Short Order Stories (2007 recipient of the Charles MacArthur Award), G-d's Honest Truth, The Mating of Angela Weiss, Bleed, First Stop: Niagara Falls, The 12 Days of Christmas, If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, and others. Her plays have been produced, developed, and commissioned by Theater J, Charter Theater, Geva Theatre, Project Y, Adventure Theatre, Doorway Arts Ensemble, and the Source Theatre Festival. Ms. Calarco teaches both playwriting and comedy improv at The Theatre Lab, and playwriting at George Washington University. Ms. Calarco is a founding member of The Welders and a proud member of The Dramatists Guild.

Douglas Hall has directed at theatres across the country including The Williamstown Theater Festival, Mountain Playhouse, Seven Angels Theater and Merry Go Round Playhouse. He directed Austin Pendleton in the one-man play Keats, both off- Broadway and in Los Angeles. He also directed the World Premiere of Duse's Fever on Theatre Row. His production of Altar Boyz opened the Auburn Public Theater as part of the Finger Lakes Musical Theater Festival. Mr. Hall has directed multiple casts of Forever Plaid, and has received accolades for his direction of such productions as The Dying Gaul, Of Mice and Men, The Lonesome West among others.

Performances of The Religion Thing are Wednesday through Friday evenings at 8:00pm, June 18 through August 1 with one extra performance Tuesday, July 1, at 8:00pm and no performance July 3.

Tickets are $25.00 and may be purchased through www.brownpapertickets.com/event/693402 or by calling 212-352-3101.