WOMEN Plays Peoples Improv Theater, Now thru 5/6

The Peoples Improv Theater announced today that WOMEN, the record- breaking hit from #Serials @ The Flea Theater, will be running for a limited engagement from today, April 15 to May 6. This fast paced comedy introduces Louisa May Alcott's classic, Little Women, to HBO's critically acclaimed "Girls", delivering a smartly crafted and hilarious 50 minute show.

New York Magazine's Approval Matrix pegged it as "High Brow and Brilliant," and Gothamist calls it "Hysterical." Come see what all the buzz is about.

The piece was created in chapters for The Flea's #Serials performance series, where writers create a short piece in a week for a given group of actors (pulled from The Flea's rep company, The Bats). Writer Chiara Atik, at an event for Housing Works Books, said "I liked the idea of having these 19th century characters that I loved and knew growing up interacting in contemporary speech...I prefer to think of it as a mash-up rather than a spoof or even a parody. Poking fun at Girls feels like just poking fun at ourselves, because I see myself so much in that show."

Director Stephanie Ward will be overseeing this third remount of the show, which has sold out runs at The Flea, Theater Under St. Mark's, and The Kraine, on the heels of assistant directing Rebecca Taichman's production of Time and the Conways at The Old Globe in San Francisco.

Kevin Laibson, Artistic Director of The Peoples Improv Theater, saw the show in its original run at #Serials, when it was voted back over a play he had directed in the same cycle. "I was happy not to have to go up against it again, frankly. It was clear from the first fifteen seconds this play was one of the smartest comedies I'd see for a while. Chiara is an incisive and sophisticated writer with a serious knack for rhythm, and Stephanie's comic intelligence blew me away. I knew immediately I wanted to do anything I could to help the play go."

Bringing the show to The Peoples Improv Theater was Laibson's first act as the new artistic director. "I have never seen a difference between good sketch/improv comedy and good theater - I want to bridge the gap between the two, and WOMEN seemed like the perfect introduction for theater audiences to come check this place out."

The show retains its original cast, made up entirely of The Flea's Bats. It includes Abby Rosebrock (My Ex is Trending, Gu?nther), Layla Khoshnoudi (I Hate f-ing Mexicans, JOB, Tangerine EP), Rachel Lin (Iva: the Myth of Tokyo Rose, Mary-Kate Olsen is in Love), Lydian Blossom (Stop the Virgens), Vicki Rodriguez (Bloody Lullabies for Brave Women, New York: An Evening of Radio Plays), Zac Moon (Restoration Comedy), Bradley Anderson (White Hot, Targeting Tranquility, Permission), Brett Epstein (Love, Sex, & the IRS), and Stephen Stout (Salamander Leviathan, Mysteries, Clown Bar).

CHIARA ATIK'S writing has been featured in Glamour Magazine, The Atlantic, The Today Show (Today.com), The Hairpin, NYMag.com, and Elle.com. Plays include The Secret Catcher (Ensemble Studio Theater), What a Pill (IAMAFEST, LA), WOMEN (Serials @ The Flea). She is a three time recipient of a Sloan grant (EST Science brunch, 2012-2014) and a member of Ensemble Studio Theater's Youngblood. TV Credits include staff writer for MTV's talking-head/sketch show, "Hey Girl!" and a pilot in development with Fox. Other writing credits include "Paris is Lovely/Lonely When You're Alone" (Amazon Kindle, Paperback 2014 ) and "Modern Dating: A Field Guide," (Harlequin, 2013). She served as interim Senior Editor at Cosmopolitan this winter.

STEPHANIE WARD'S directing credits include: The Least (The Atlantic), WOMEN (#Serials @ The Flea), Tuny and Biscuit by Abby Rosebrock (#Serials @ The Flea), The Christmas Vibe (Distilled Theatre Company), Joy to the World (INTAR presents American Nightcap), Psycho (TinyRhino), Lather, Rinse, Repeat by Michael Walek (EST's Asking for Trouble), Fallsway by Dan Moyer (Shelby Company), The Great Molly (Pipeline Theatre Company). Assistant Directing: Time and the Conways (The Old Globe), A Sunrise in Times Square by Sharr White, dir. Claudia Weill (EST), Luck of the Irish by Kirsten Greenidge, dir. Rebecca Taichman (LCT3), Rehearsing Vengeance by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman (OSF/Yale Rep), Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi, dir. Rebecca Taichman (ART/Yale Rep), Everything You Touch by Sheila Callaghan (True Love Productions). Upcoming: Oldest Boy by Sarah Ruhl, dir. Rebecca Taichman (World premiere, Lincoln Center). Stephanie got her start as an Agent Trainee at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, where she started in the Books to Film Department in Los Angeles, before transferring to New York. She is a proud co-founder of Beth Dies, Inc. with Chiara Atik and is looking forward to the 2014 Lincoln Center Director's Lab.

SHOW DATES: Tuesday, April 15th - 9:30PM Tuesday, April 22nd - 9:30PM Tuesday, April 29th - 9:30PM Tuesday, May 6th - 9:30PM. For more information: http://thepit-nyc.com or http://womentheshow.com/.