The New Group's THE SENSUALITY PARTY Begins Performances Tonight

Performances begin tonight for The Sensuality Party, a new play by Justin Kuritzkes, presented by The New Group as part of the company's 2015-2016 season. This New York premiere, directed by Danya Taymor, features Catherine Combs, Jeff Cuttler, Katherine Folk-Sullivan, Jake Horowitz, Layla Khoshnoudi and Rowan Vickers. This production plays 17 performances April 25 - May 13, at college campuses across all five boroughs of New York City, with venues including Pace University NYC Campus, Pace University Westchester Campus, Gallatin School (New York University), Brooklyn College, Lehman College, the College of Staten Island, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, LaGuardia Community College and Baruch College. The Sensuality Party was developed through The New Group's New Group/New Works play development program.

Brought to life in common rooms and student unions at colleges across all five boroughs of New York City, Justin Kuritzkes' new play The Sensuality Party depicts six college students - three women and three men - who reflect on an afternoon of group sex they shared during their first semester, and how what began as a rather casual experiment went suddenly and horribly wrong. As they internalize and even fetishize this event, they battle their own disaffection and disconnection from the wider world. Kuritzkes offers an incisive look at his own post-9/11 generation's consciousness.

The Sensuality Party features Catherine Combs (Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Gloria, Vineyard Theatre) as Stevie, Jeff Cuttler (Broadway: High; The Chosen, Barrington Stage Company) as Barry, Katherine Folk-Sullivan (These Seven Sicknesses and My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer, both The Flea Theater) as Allison, Jake Horowitz (King Lear, TFANA; A Midsummer Night's Dream, TFANA, dir. Julie Taymor) as Speaker, Layla Khoshnoudi (Men on Boats at Clubbed Thumb; My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer, The Flea Theater) as Linda, and Rowan Vickers (Bad Jews, Studio Theatre, DC) as Todd. This production includes Costume Design by Beth Goldenberg.

The Sensuality Party was developed through The New Group's New Group/New Works play development program. New Group/New Works focuses on the nurturing and development of new work and emphasizes the building of lasting relationships with artists whose work resonates with The New Group's mission of presenting works that are adventurous, stimulating and socially-relevant. The play and musical development program serves as a vital incubator that allows The New Group to produce the works of emerging playwrights as part of its season. In addition to Mainstage productions, The New Group is expanding New Group/New Works to include productions that will be presented in smaller, more intimate settings, with minimal production elements, and accessible ticket prices for audiences of no more than 99 people per performance for a limited run. The New Group believes that through these productions, the company will be able to provide the most meaningful impact to playwrights and the development of their work.

New Group Mainstage productions that were developed through New Group/New Works include Erika Sheffer's Russian Transport, David Rabe's An Early History of Fire, Thomas Bradshaw's Intimacy, Joel Drake Johnson's Rasheeda Speaking, and most recently, Mark Gerrard's Steve, earlier this season. Justin Kuritzkes' The Sensuality Party follows in The New Group tradition of introducing emerging and provocative playwrights to New York audiences.

Justin Kuritzkes' plays If...Then... and War of Attrition were recently produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the 2014 Humana Festival of New American Plays. He was a member of Ars Nova's 2014-2015 Play Group, and he has been awarded residencies from Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Edward F. Albee Foundation, and Space on Ryder Farm, where he was a member of the inaugural writers group: The Working Farm. Justin is the winner of the 2011 Tennessee Williams / New Orleans Literary Festival One Act Play Contest, and he has been a finalist for: the 2014 Nick Darke Award, the 2015 Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship, the 2015 Resident Playwright Company at New Dramatists, and the 2015-2016 LMCC Workspace. His plays have been produced and developed at venues including: Ars Nova, Magic Theatre, The New Group, New York Theatre Workshop, Colt Coeur, Steep Theatre Co., The Brick, Dixon Place, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Brecht Forum, The 24-Hour Company, The New York International Fringe Festival, Farm Theater Projects, The Tennessee Williams / New Orleans Literary Festival, The Collectin, and the University of New Orleans. Justin is a graduate of Brown University, where he earned his B.A. in both Philosophy and Literary Arts and studied playwriting with Gregory Moss, Lisa D'Amour, and Erik Ehn. He is a native of Los Angeles.

Danya Taymor is a director and translator. Recent work includes Brian
Watkins' Wyoming (Lesser America, World premiere) and My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer (The Flea, World premiere, NY Times/Time Out Critics Pick), Engagements by Lucy Teitler (Ensemble Studio Theater), I Hate f-ing Mexicans (U.S. premiere, The Flea) and Shakespeare's The Tempest (NYU/Stella Adler). Translations include Alejandro Ricaño's We Are Getting Better at Saying Goodbye, Luis Enrique Guitierrez Ortiz Monasterio's I Hate f-ing Mexicans and Ettore Scola's Working on a Special Day. She is a 2014-2016 Time Warner Directing Fellow at Women's Project, a 2050 fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, an Artist in Residence at Theatre for a New Audience, an Associate Artist at The Flea Theater, New Georges Affiliated Artist and a semi-finalist for the Lange-Taylor prize with Dominic Bracco for The Northern Pass. Other awards/fellowships include: Van Lier Directing Fellowship; Gates Foundation Grant, Rough Draft Residency at the Drama League and Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Recent: Anna Moench's In Quietness at Walker Space (Dutch Kills), Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (Stella Adler) and Susan Soon-He
Stanton's Cygnus (Women's Project).

The New Group opened its 2015-2016 Season with the Off-Broadway premiere of Philip Ridley's Mercury Fur, directed by Scott Elliott, a Critics' Pick in The New York Times. The company's season continued with the world premiere of Mark Gerrard's Steve, directed by Cynthia Nixon, featuring Ashlie Atkinson, Mario Cantone, Jerry Dixon, Francisco Pryor Garat, Malcolm Gets and Matt McGrath, which enjoyed an extended run. Most recently, The New Group was represented by the hit revival of Sam Shepard's Buried Child, with Taissa Farmiga, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Larry Pine, Rich Sommer, Paul Sparks and Nat Wolff, directed by Scott Elliott, which extended twice due to demand, playing its final performance April 3.

The Sensuality Party plays April 25 - May 13 as follows:

Monday, April 25 - Wednesday, April 27 at 7:00pm: Pace University NYC Campus (Eddie Layton Student Union, 9 Spruce Street, New York, NY)

Thursday, April 28 at 3:30pm & 7:00pm: Pace University Westchester Campus (Kessel Student Center, Gottesman Room, 860 Bedford Road, Pleasantville, NY)

Friday, April 29 at 7:00pm: Gallatin School, New York University (Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts, 1 Washington Place, New York, NY)

Monday, May 2 - Wednesday, May 4 at 7:00pm: Brooklyn College (Roosevelt Hall, 206 Roosevelt Extension, 2950 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY)

Thursday, May 5 at 2:00 & 7:00pm: Lehman College (Speech and Theatre Building, Room B-20, 250 Bedford Park Blvd. West, Bronx, NY)

Monday, May 9 at 7:00pm: College of Staten Island (Room 223, Center for the Performing Arts, 2800 Victory Blvd., Staten Island, NY)

Tuesday, May 10 at 7:00pm: Stella Adler Studio of Acting (31 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor, Studio 6, New York, NY)

Wednesday, May 11 at 2:30 & 7:00pm: LaGuardia Community College (Room C-401, 29-10 Thomson Avenue, Long Island City, NY)

Thursday, May 12 & Friday, May 13 at 7:00pm: Baruch College (Skylight Room, 3rd Floor, 17 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY)

Tickets are $10 for students, $25 for The New Group subscribers and members, and $35 General Admission. For tickets, visit thenewgroup.org/sensualityparty

In an effort to engage the students and create an open dialogue regarding the themes of the play, The New Group has organized a post-show talkback series, with schedule as follows. Please visit thenewgroup.org for updates and further detail.

April 25 (Pace University):

Keith Gorman, Assistant Director of Housing and Residential Life, Pace University;

Briana Barocas, Research Associate Professor; Director of Research, Center on Violence and Recovery, BS, MS, PhD, New York University

Jonathan Kalb, Professor of Theatre, Hunter College

April 26 (Pace University):

Marijo Russell O'Grady, Ph.D., Pace University, Dean for Students;

Danijela Stajnfeld and Corinne Werder, volunteer speakers from RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network / rainn.org)

April 27 (Pace University):

Emily Bent, Assistant Professor of Women's & Gender Studies, Pace University

May 2 & 4 (Brooklyn College); May 10 (Stella Adler Studio of Acting):

Corinne Werder, volunteer speaker from RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network / rainn.org)

May 3 (Brooklyn College):

Danijela Stajnfeld, volunteer speaker from RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network / rainn.org)