The New Group Off Stage Presents Benefit Reunion Readings Featuring Edie Falco, Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Zegen and More

The New Group Off Stage will present a Reunion Reading Series featuring original casts of iconic plays from the company's first 25 years. As they plan for the future, they are taking this moment to reflect back. Each reading, broadcast live, will benefit The New Group and other local initiatives and organizations.

This benefit Reunion Reading Series kicks off Thursday, July 16 at 7:00pm with Sharr White's The True followed by Jesse Eisenberg's The Spoils on Thursday, July 30 at 7:00pm. Tickets to the online readings are available at $10 for the first 100 tickets and $25 for all remaining tickets at TheNewGroup.org. Additional online Reunion Readings to be announced in the coming weeks.

Each Reunion Reading is paired with a local initiative that is working to support New Yorkers. For The True, 10% of the proceeds will benefit Girl Be Heard and for The Spoils 10% of the proceeds will benefit the Immigrant Freelance Artists for Theatre Fund.

The True stars Edie Falco as Dorothea "Polly" Noonan, the blunt, profane, decades-long defender of Albany's Democratic Party machine. When it comes to Polly, politics is only personal, especially now that her hero, "mayor for life" Erastus Corning II (Michael McKean), is battling for party control while at the same time fighting the fiercest primary challenge of his life. The True is an intimate portrait of the bounds of love, loyalty, and female power in the male-dominated world of 1977 patronage politics. Written by Sharr White and featuring the original 2018 cast including Austin Cauldwell (Intimacy), Edie Falco ("The Sopranos"), Glenn Fitzgerald (Othello),Michael McKean (The Little Foxes), John Pankow (Kiss Me Kate), Peter Scolari (Hairspray), Tracy Shayne (Chicago). The True enjoyed a critically acclaimed world premiere directed by Scott Elliott as part of The New Group's 2018-2019 Season.

In The Spoils, nobody likes Ben (Jesse Eisenberg). Ben doesn't even like Ben. He's been kicked out of grad school, lives off his parents' money, and bullies everyone in his life, including his roommate Kalyan (Kunal Nayyar), an earnest Nepalese immigrant. When Ben discovers that his grade school crush is marrying a straight-laced banker, he sets out to destroy their relationship and win her back. The Spoils is a deeply personal and probing comedy written by Jesse Eisenberg, directed by Scott Elliott and featuring the original 2015 cast including Erin Darke (Still Alice), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Kunal Nayyar ("The Big Bang Theory"), Annapurna Sriram (The Happiest Song Plays Last), and Michael Zegen ("Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"). The Spoils enjoyed a world premiere as part of The New Group's 2014-2015 Season, and a hit production at Trafalgar Studios in London's West End in 2016, both directed by Scott Elliott.

Girl Be Heard builds leaders, changemakers and activists. We do this by developing, amplifying and celebrating the voices of girls and young women through socially conscious theatre-making, storytelling and performance. Girl Be Heard envisions a world in which every girl is valued and is encouraged to advocate for change in their community and globally. We are a global movement with an intersectional lens, helping our participants build confidence through art and activism. Girl Be Heard has engaged audiences at the White House, United Nations, local governments and communities around the world. Learn more at GirlBeHeard.org

Immigrant Freelance Artists for Theatre Fund (The See Lighting Foundation), is an organization started by Filipino lighting designer Cha See (one in two, What to Send Up When It Goes Down). Committed to supporting immigrant theater artists during the global pandemic, the foundation aims to distribute $500 monthly grants to all 60 immigrant artists registered with the foundation for the next six months. See states "Applying for unemployment benefits is a huge risk for us, and many times we are not even eligible to receive benefits. O visa holders are issued their visas to allow them to do specific work in the U.S. so we cannot seek work outside of theatre design legally." With no concrete plans for theaters reopening, this artistic community is in dire need of financial support due to theater closures and cancellations. The donated money from the Monthly Donation Campaign will be divided among the immigrant designers and artists, including scenic, prop, and costume designers, wig and make-up artists, lighting designers, sound designers, and projection designers. SeeLightingFoundation.com.

The New Group Off Stage is the collection of all digital content being produced during our time away from the stage including our "Why We Do It" conversation series, Reunion Readings, developmental readings, playwriting workshops and summer education programs for high school students. Learn more at TheNewGroup.org/Off-Stage.