Women's Project Announces Jump/Cut, Begins Previews February 1

Women's Project's Producing Artistic Director, Loretta Greco, is proud to announce the first production of the 2005-2006 season. The New York premiere of JUMP/CUT by Neena Beber will begin previews on Wednesday, February 1, 2006, at 8pm. Directed by Leigh Silverman, the press opening is Sunday, February 12, 2006 at 7pm. Performances for JUMP/CUT will run from Wednesday, February 1, 2006 through Sunday, February 26, 2006 at Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues). The press opening is Sunday, February 12, 2006. The performance schedule for JUMP/CUT is Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm, (except on Sunday, February 12th there is no 3pm performance; instead there is a 7pm performance. Additional performance on Wednesday February 22nd at 2pm). All tickets are $52 (including $2 restoration fee) and can be purchased by going to Telecharge.com/(212) 239-6200 or going to the box office at Julia Miles Theater. For information regarding groups, single tickets and student rates, please call (212) 757-3900 or click www.womensproject.org.

In what the Washington Post calls "the most absorbing new play of the season," playwright Neena Beber tackles the ultimate reality film in JUMP/CUT. Aspiring director Paul (Thomas Sadoski, Reckless), his girlfriend Karen (Michi Barall), and his lifelong buddy Dave (Luke Kirby, "Slings & Arrows", Mambo Italiano) embark on a filmmaking adventure that captures the complications of the human heart and the ethics of ambition. JUMP/CUT is a darkly humorous drama that puts obsessions, betrayals, and Steely Dan into the line of focus.

Following its highly acclaimed Woolly Mammoth/Theater J. production in Washington, D.C., Neena Beber returns to the Women's Project stage. Peter Marks from The Washington Post says Beber "has propelled herself onto the list of the nation's most intriguing dramatists." Variety calls JUMP/CUT, "A remarkably absorbing, complex and intelligent play about the relationship of a trio of young urbanites seeking fulfillment."

Featured in this production of JUMP/CUT are Michi Barall (Karen) whose numerous NY and regional theatre credits include work at Playwright's Horizon's, The Public, Berkley Rep and La Jolla Playhouse, among others. Canada's Luke Kirby (Dave) returns to the NY stage following his appearance in Sir Peter Hall's acclaimed production of Troilus and Cressida at Theatre for a New Audience. For TV, he was in the CBS miniseries "Haven" and played the lead role in Peter Wellington's feature film "Luck," immediately followed by the lead role in the film "Mambo Italiano" alongside Sarah Polley and Paul Sorvino. He has worked extensively on stage in Canada. Thomas Sadoski (Paul) appeared on Broadway in Reckless as Mary Louise Parker 's husband. His other numerous NY theatre credits include work Off Broadway in Gemini, The General From America and This is Our Youth. He has appeared regionally at Long Wharf and NY Stage and Film.

The set design is by Narelle Sissons, the lighting design is by ML Geiger, the costume design is by Miranda Hoffman, the original music and sound design is by Jill BC DuBoff and the projection design is by Brian Beasley.

Neena Beber (Playwright) received commissions from Actors Theatre of Louisville (Humana Festival of New American Plays), Playwrights Horizons (Amblin), and Otterbein College, among others. Her one-acts have been included in the anthologies The Best American Short Plays 1996-1997 and Facing Forward. She has received the A.S.K. Exchange to the Royal Court Theatre, Distinguished Alumni Award from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and Paulette Goddard and MacDowell Colony Fellowships. She has written extensively for film and television and received Emmy and Ace-Award nominations for her writing for children's television and contributed articles to American Theatre, Theatre, and Performing Arts Journal. Her fiction has been published in The Sun and the film "Bad Dates" (Touchstone) was based on her one-act, Food. Her plays include: Jump/Cut (Woolly Mammoth), Hard Feelings (Women's Project), Thirst (The Public), The Dew Point (SPF/ Summer Play Festival), A Common Vision (Magic Theatre) and Tommorowland (New Georges). She holds a B.A. from Harvard and an M.F.A. from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Leigh Silverman (Director) directed the world premiere of Jump/Cut by Neena Beber (Woolly Mammoth Theatre and Theater J co-production). She is directing Lisa Kron's Well on Broadway (opening March 30th at the Longacre Theatre) which she also directed at The Public Theater and at ACT (San Francisco). Recent credits include: Oedipus at Palm Springs written by The Five Lesbian Brothers at New York Theatre Workshop, Wit on London's West End and at the Geffen Theatre (Los Angeles), Bad Dates at the Cleveland Playhouse, Big Times with Women's Expressive Theatre, How I Learned to Drive at Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan at Theatre J, as well as shows at the Adirondack Theatre Festival, EST and Rattlestick. Workshops include: Sundance Theatre Lab (2001 and 2003), Baltimore Center Stage, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, New York Stage and Film, New Dramatists, Dixon Place and Epic Theatre. She holds a duel degree in directing and playwriting from Carnegie Mellon University.

Since 1978, Women's Project has been devoted to producing rich and imaginative work for the American stage while cultivating the next generation of exceptional women theater artists and redefining their position and influence in the 21st century. Founded by Julia Miles, and now under the leadership of Loretta Greco and Julie Crosby, the Women's Project has staged 115 productions, over 410 readings and workshops, and published eight anthologies of produced plays by women. In addition to main stage productions, Women's Project fosters emerging artists through its cultivation programs: the Directors Lab and Playwrights Lab, new play development initiatives, and Women's Work, an annual festival of new work. In addition, Women's Project serves over 3,500 predominantly at-risk NYC public school students through its award-winning curriculum-based arts education program, Ten Centuries of Women Playwrights. In October 1998, the Women's Project purchased an historic building on Manhattan's West Side establishing a permanent home.

JUMP/CUT will run from Wednesday February 1, 2006 through Sunday February 26, 2006 at The Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street (Between 9th & 10th Aves.). The press opening is Sunday, February 12, 2006. The performance schedule is Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and Sundays at 3pm (additional performance on Wednesday February 22nd at 2pm). All tickets are $52 (including $2 restoration fee) and can be purchased by clicking www.Telecharge.com, calling (212) 239-6200 or visiting the box office. For information regarding single tickets, students and groups please call (212) 757-3900 or click www.womensproject.org.