The Mother Line Story Project Turns 3

Town Stages presents A Birthday Party for The Mother Line Story Project on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 at 7pm, with a world premiere Mother Line performance starting at 8pm. Tickets range from $25-500 and are available at http://motherlinestoryproject.com/turns3/.

Mother Line is announcing an exciting 2019 season and is throwing a party to celebrate their community, honor where they came from, and get ready for what's next. Join them at beautiful, women-run Town Stages with past ML storytellers and workshop alums as they amplify women's voices, look to the future, and eat cake! There will be celebrity shout-outs, live music, a catered cocktail hour, face painting, themed fundraising activities, the naming of the night's "Matron of Honor," and the biggest Mother Line performance yet! Festive attire, of course.

THE MOTHER LINE STORY PROJECT is ... a storytelling collective bringing together generations of performers to tell the stories of their maternal ancestors through the creation of new, self-devised work. Think, The Moth meets ancestry.com. Participants write and perform pieces in the first-person voice of their mother, or her mother, or her mother's mother ... thus exploring their Mother Line. The stories are then shared in workshops, online, over podcast, and/or in live, world-premiere performances. Past collaborators include female-identifying performers, designers, directors, activists, students, and businesses from all over the world. Their presentations have knocked down language, cultural, religious, and political barriers with their unique, guerrilla producing style - performing anywhere, on any budget, with a large cast and low production cost. By amplifying women's voices, past and present, MLSP aims to foster artists' connections to their own creativity as well as build an environment that continuously supports and renews that creativity.

The Mother Line Story Project was formed in 2015 and has performed in NYC at Off-Broadway venues like Dixon Place, Abingdon Theatre, HERE Arts, and The PIT. MLSP had its regional debut at The Hippodrome State Theatre in Florida and most recently took its workshop and performance process to the Sabeel for the Arts in Cairo, Egypt, partnering with the US Embassy. Mother Line Story Project Inc. is a proud member of A.R.T./NY and is a pending 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For news on upcoming shows, follow @MotherLineStory on all social media. www.motherlinestoryproject.com

Lauren Nordvig - AEA, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Florida born and raised, Lauren has been performing in NYC for the past decade. She is a Gator Grad and Company Member of The Hippodrome State Theatre where she helped found and implement a Diversity Leadership Board. She has also worked with Shakespeare's Globe on their US Development Initiative and is an alum of The Shakespeare Society Ambassadors, which helped plan fundraising and academic events for members and acclaimed performers as the organization joined forces with The Public. She has collaborated with The Pearl Theatre Co, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, The Lark, Bedlam, Playwrights Horizons, Epic Theatre Ensemble, Lake Dillon Theatre Co, and was overjoyed to appear as Ma Chopper in the Off-bway hit "The Woodsman" at 59E59/New World Stages. She's been a puppeteer, an aerial artist in Russia, and a Bway press agency intern...but she is most proud of Directing and Producing The Mother Line Story Project.

Eliza Simpson - AEA, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR is a New York City based performer and director. After graduating from Rutgers University she collaborated with companies like Playwrights Horizons, Hudson Valley Shakespeare, New George's, The Lark, The Flea Theater, and New Plays for Young Audiences through NYU on the creation new work. In 2015 she joined the cast of "The Woodsman" and continued to collaborate and perform in the Role of Nimme for 3 years at 59E59 Theaters and then in the transfer to New World Stages. She created The Mother Line Story Project which has produced 7 original shows featuring over a hundred performers regionally and internationally. This is for Mama Gina and Grandma Mickey.

Town Stages (Robin Sokoloff, Executive Director) is New York's premier venue to celebrate, collaborate, and put on a show. A new female-driven cultural arts institution in the heart of downtown Tribeca, Town Stages is a state-of-the-art, flexible performance and event space that supports the entire lifecycle of New York's hallmark industries. With a stunning 10,000 square foot storefront facility, "TOWN" provides world-class cultural experiences and opportunities for all: from civic to corporate, tech to theater. Town Stages holds 299 guests, blending convention-level facilities with captivating decor throughout its Mainstage, Cabaret Bar & Lounge, Gallery, Salon, Greenrooms, and more. Town Stages offers much-needed space and production resources for businesses, arts organizations, and families celebrating their very important day. TOWN boasts ticketed performances and curated community programming in the performing arts, fine arts, and the advancement of social justice. Town Stages is available for fashion shows, film shoots, weddings, and beyond. Follow under @townstages and #itsyourtown. For more information, visit www.townstages.com.

Sokoloff Arts (501c3) is an emerging cultural institution providing inspired space, perspective, and opportunity for cutting edge events in all sectors of The Arts, Corporate, Civic, and Cultural life in New York City. Led by a team of women from diverse backgrounds and multi-hyphenate artistic disciplines, Sokoloff Arts works to provide viable and safe space to congregate, strives to promote cross-cultural community engagement, and blends the arts and business to create sustainable solutions to social and financial inequalities. The organization assists young creators with not only space, but resource generation, production, and community. To address the overwhelming demand for hi-tech, flexible, and affordable performance and event space in New York City, Sokoloff Arts has built Town Stages in Tribeca. To learn more, visit sokoloffarts.org.