Rebel Playhouse Presents CONSTELLARIUM, An Interactive Show Teaching Children What It Means To Be A Refugee

Rebel Playhouse presents CONSTELLARIUM, a play with music for young audiences, directed by Susanna Wolk and written by and starring Arif Silverman, in association with Access Theater on 380 Broadway. CONSTELLARIUM begins performances Friday, February 2 with a limited engagement through Sunday, February 18. The performance schedule is Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm. Weekend matinees will be followed by an optional workshop for kids. Tickets ($30 for adults; $20 for children) are available for advance purchase at www.rebelplayhouse.org. (Early Bird pricing good for $5 off ticket purchases through January 15 with code EARLYBIRD).

Rebel Playhouse's interactive production brings audiences into outer space to learn what it means to be a refugee.

CONSTELLARIUM, tells the story of the planet Constellarium, a sanctuary planet for those whose worlds have been destroyed. The play begins after Earth's destruction, when humankind suddenly find themselves on Constellarium, after being rescued by President Falco, Constellarium's ninth president. The people of Earth must now come to terms with their new world, the other races with whom they share the planet, the dangerous powers of the planet's leaders, and what they must do differently to not repeat the same mistakes that brought them here. The show deals with themes of diversity, history, and power. (Recommended for ages 5 and up.)

CONSTELLARIUM is a powerful story about celebrating differences and learning from mistakes, that will speak to children and adults alike, particularly in a time when the world is doing otherwise.

Arif Silverman (actor, playwright), is an actor, writer, teacher, and native New Yorker. He has performed in Constellarium at Theatre Row as part of the United Solo Festival, Alchemical Theater Lab, and Dixon Place. This is his second season with the Rebel Playhouse, after appearing in last year's Old Turtle and the Broken Truth. In addition to Constellarium, he has another solo show called Nolie Min Tangible, which is about what the characters in your dreams are up to while you're awake. Keep your ears peeled for his new children's musical with the Working Title As Told by the Stray. Previous roles include Don Pedro in Much Ado about Nothing (The Juneberry Collective), Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Fools & Kings), Caliban in The Tempest (New Art Theater), Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (The New Euripides) and Malcolm in Macbeth (Oberlin Summer Theater Festival). BA: Oberlin College. arifsilverman.com

Susanna Wolk (Director) has worked on the Broadway productions of Significant Other (Associate Director), Waitress (also 1st National Tour), and Finding Neverland (also A.R.T., 1st National Tour). Her work as a director has been seen at 54 Below, Theatre Row, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Dixon Place, Club OBERON, The Flea, 13th St. Repertory Theater, A.R.T.'s Loeb Mainstage, and more. She is a Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellow and has assistant directed productions at A.R.T., MCC, the Geffen, Second Stage, Williamstown, New York Stage and Film, and more. Susanna graduated in 2014 from Harvard University where she studied English and Dramatic Arts. www.susannawolk.com

Rebel Playhouse is an emerging non-profit, educational theater company in NYC. Founded in the fall of 2016, Rebel Playhouse is a theater for young audiences committed to empowering, educating, and entertaining NYC audiences. Rebel Playhouse produces work for children and families based on stories that break traditions and challenge normative thinking, and offers classes designed to foster creative development. In May 2017, Rebel Playhouse presented their inaugural production Old Turtle and the Broken Truth in NYC to critical acclaim with an encore run in Troy, NY. Their world premiere of Edna the Stomper was the best seller at the 2017 Chicago Fringe Festival Kids Fringe and received an extended run at The Tank.

Access Theater has been a home to New York City's leading downtown artists since 1992. When not producing its own work, Access serves as a cost-effective curated arts venue seeking innovative, not-for-profit producing organizations devoted to new works in the Off-Off Broadway community. Offering a well-maintained, subsidized and therefore affordable, downtown venue for the showcasing of emerging artists and their efforts, Access has served as host to an impressive roster of theater artists. The New York Times, Time Out New York, and others are regular attendees of productions at Access Theater, and have praised its efforts, describing Access as "one of the theaters to pay attention to in downtown New York." (New York Times).