The Collective NY to Take on Gay Conversion Therapy in THE RETREAT Benefit Reading

The Collective NY under their Collective: Next Stage (C:NXT) banner presents a staged reading of THE RETREAT, a new play written by Brandon T. Snider, on Sunday, December 4th. Richard Masur (TRANSPARENT) is set to direct. The special one-night only engagement is free and open to the public. Collective members will be on hand collecting donations for The Trevor Project.

THE RETREAT follows the story of Dennis and Jim as they take part in a religion-based gay conversion therapy experience. Cracks appear in their path and Jim and Dennis are forced to make a choice; stay the course or risk eternal damnation. THE RETREAT is based on the one-act play, A Weekend Conference, featured in The Collective's forthcoming: C: 10 Play Anthology Volume 4.

The company includes Mike Houston (Orange Is The New Black), Gabe Fazio (The Place Beyond the Pines), Robert Z. Grant (Inside Amy Schumer), Naomi Warner (Inside Amy Schumer), Brandon T. Snider (Inside Amy Schumer), Jeff Hiller, Varín Ayala, John-Andrew Morrison and J. Cameron Barnett.

THE RETREAT runs Sunday, December 4th at 5:00 PM at Paradise Factory's Downstairs Theater as part of the The CollectiveNY's C:NXT series (64 East 4th Street, between bowery and 2nd Avenue). Tickets are FREE and can be reserved by emailing thecollectivenextstage@gmail.com with the subject "The Retreat."

Playwright BRANDON T. SNIDER authored the award-winning Dark Knight Manual, as seen in Entertainment Weekly, Forbes, and Wired as well as the best-selling DC Comics Ultimate Character Guide. Additionally, he's written over 60 books featuring pop culture favorites like the Marvel Superheroes, The Muppets and characters from Cartoon Network. Brandon has also written for and appeared on Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer. As an actor he's appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Law & Order: SVU, as well as various commercials, stage productions and short films. Brandon lives in New York City, where he's a member of the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. More information can be found at www.cootiekid.com.

Director Richard Masur has been well known to film and television audiences for over 40 years. Masur has starred in more than 50 feature films and has appeared on Broadway in the Tony nominated productions of David Storey's THE CHANGING ROOM, Nora Ephron's LUCKY GUY, and Michael Frayne's DEMOCRACY. He has directed several productions for LA Theater Works / The Play's the Thing, including: AFTER THE FALL, INCIDENT AT VICHY, and THE RIDE DOWN MT. MORGAN, by Arthur Miller and the Steppenwolf adaptation of THE GRAPES OF WRATH, as well as numerous workshops and showcases here in NYC.

THE TREVOR PROJECT was Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award-winning short film TREVOR. The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.

Founded in 2007, THE COLLECTIVE NY unites professional artists who share a responsibility to create work in the contemporary American Theatre that is emotionally truthful, socially relevant, and defiantly accessible. Founding Members include Mike Houston, Kevin Kane, Amy Schumer , Robert Z. Grant and Victoria Dicce . Company credits include revivals of Ionesco's The Lesson, McGuinness's Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, and original productions 360, Me Equals This, Happy Girl and the television show Inside Amy Schumer.