The Tony winner will make her feature directorial debut on the project.
Tony-winning actor and writer Sarah Jones will make her feature directorial debut on "Sell/Buy/Date," a documentary based around her Off-Broadway play of the same name, according to Deadline. The project has high-profile producers attached, including Meryl Streep, Rashida Jones, and Laverne Cox.
"Sell/Buy/Date" addresses themes of inequality of criminal justice, race, sexism and poverty through the lens of the debate around the sex industry.
"Long before I started performing my characters, at the start of my career I found myself on Rikers Island teaching poetry to incarcerated teenage girls-not exactly light-hearted fodder for the kind of humor I'm known for," said Jones. "As young as 14 years old, many of these girls had been arrested on charges of prostitution. I remember thinking 'how can children not old enough to drive or vote be locked up for this 'crime'?'"
The production premiered Off-Broadway in 2016 at Manhattan Theatre Club. In the piece, Jones played a series characters impacted by sex work.
The feature-length documentary will also include interviews with experts and celebrities.
Called 'a master of the genre' by The New York Times, Sarah Jones is a Tony Award-winning performer and writer known for her multi-character solo shows, including Broadway hit Bridge & Tunnel, which was originally produced off-Broadway by Meryl Streep. She is also a writer and producer on the Golden Globe-nominated Showtime comedy SMILF. She has given multiple main-stage TED Talks, performed at The White House for President and First Lady Obama and traveled the world as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador raising awareness of issues including empowerment of women and girls. Projects featuring her characters include the podcast Playdate with Sarah Jones and The Messenger, a short film for the CFDA directed by Fisher Stevens.
Watch a clip from the production of "Sell/Buy/Date" at Geffen Playhouse below and read what the critics had to say about the show!
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