Semicolon Theatre Company to Bring Zoe Kamil's #BLESSED to FringeNYC, 8/12-28

Semicolon Theatre Company (Producer, Alexa Derman) is proud to present the World Premiere of Zoe Kamil's #BLESSED, directed by Miranda Cornell as part of the 20th Annual New York International Fringe Festival - Fringe NYC. The production will run August 12-28 at Teatro SEA (107 Suffolk Street) with performances on Saturday, August 13 at 4:30pm, Thursday, August 18 at 7:15pm, Sunday, August 21 at 12pm, Wednesday, August 24 at 9:45pm, and Thursday, August 25 at 7pm. Tickets ($18) will go on sale Friday, July 15 and will be available online at www.blessedplay.com.

In the wake of an act of violence committed by charismatic high school senior Michael against devout freshman Liana, a handful of teens try to piece together the irrefutable truth - only to find that it may not exist. Weaving ancient tradition with now, #BLESSED is a modern day Book of Revelations. A play about faith, rape culture, and what it means to be a young woman today, created by young women.

#BLESSED is presented by a production team made up entirely of individuals 21 and under. Its team stands apart as 90% female-identified, and is headed by Fringe's youngest-ever director, nineteen-year-old Miranda Cornell, and playwright Zoe Kamil (Young Playwrights Inc., The Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival). Twelve young actors bring this premiere to life in a variety of sophisticated and authentic roles uniquely created for young people by one of their own.

The cast will feature Tyler Crozier, Victoria Giambalvo, Thaddeus Kolwicz, Natasha Krause, Rebecca Lampiasi, Nicholas Napoli, Anna Dale Robinson, Marcus Shacknow, Mikayla Savuto, Ian Stewart, Kezia Tyson, and Victoria Villier. The production team will include Costume Design by Vicky Butler, Lighting Design by Judy Kagel, Sound Design by Nora Kaye, and Scenic Design by Justin Tolbert with Stage Manager Sabine Decatur.

Zoe Kamil (Playwright) is a playwright and theatre artist hailing from San Francisco, currently located in New York City. Her plays have been workshopped and produced at Young Playwrights Inc. (NYC, 2014 National Competition Winner), The Playwrights Project (San Diego), and The Blank Theatre (LA) among others. Recently, she's been published on Howlround.com and in the Proscenium Journal. In addition to being a full-time student at Marymount Manhattan College, she works for the Theatre Development Fund (TDF), and is the Associate Director of Semicolon Theatre Company, an organization dedicated to the development of new work by and for young adults - run entirely by theatre artists twenty-one and younger. www.zoekamil.com

Miranda Cornell (Director) is a rising sophomore at Vassar College where she is a Drama and Education double major. Past directing and assistant directing credits include We Go Together and Hamlet & Ophelia (Semicolon Theatre Company, The Kraine Theater), Very Bad Words and The Road Trip (Semicolon Theatre Company, Access Theater), The Seagull (Powerhouse Apprentice Program, dir. Tomi Tsunoda), Untameable (Marrow's Edge Salon Series, dir. Amanda Junco). Other theatre credits include Park Closes After Dusk (Actor/Deviser, Vassar College Unbound), among others. In addition to her studies, she serves as the Artistic Director of Semicolon Theatre Company, which she co-founded alongside playwright Zoe Kamil. She has worked as the apprentice to directors Liz Carlson and Michael Greif at NYSAF, as well as other positions with TCG, Young Playwrights Inc., and NYMF. She is also currently the Education Apprentice at the New Victory Theater.

Founded by two high school students in 2013, Semicolon Theatre Company seeks to create a professional space where theatre artists and administrators under twenty-one can hone their crafts, collaborate with like-minded peers, and develop artistic works relevant to their own lives.

The company has produced two separate seasons at reputable Off-Off Broadway theaters in Manhattan, and has collaborated with twenty-eight young artists, administrators, designers, and technicians in the past year alone. #BLESSED, Semicolon's most ambitious production to date, will be its first full-length World Premiere.