Workshop Production of COME HERE TO ME to be Presented at Theater Lab

The Mill Theatre and Theaterlab will present a workshop production of Dianne Nora's COME HERE TO ME, directed by Jaclyn Biskup, running November 1-5, 2023, in a limited engagement at Theater Lab (357 W. 36th St., 3rd Floor) in New York City. Performances begin November 1st.

COME HERE TO ME is written by Dianne Nora, and directed by Jaclyn Biskup.

In COME HERE TO ME, Aoife, a young Irish woman, and Grace, her American roommate, travel from Dublin to London together, pursued by a ghost. Set in October 2018, this play offers a glimpse into the time after Ireland's historic vote to repeal the eighth amendment of the Irish Constitution, making abortion legal in the Republic of Ireland, but before the law had come into effect. The play jumps back to the early 1990s, when we meet another young woman, Linda, traveling for an abortion, with the help of a welcoming guest in Liverpool, Ruth.

THE MILL THEATRE states, "COME HERE TO ME looks Come Here to Me looks at cycles of grief, friendship, and autonomy, and the women's lives that hang in the balance."

The cast includes Molly Leland and Sam Morales.

The production team includes Jackie Fox (Lighting Design), James Worth Bennett (Sound Design), Nora Marlow Smith (Scenic Design), Mieka van der Ploeg (costume design), Lauren Hlubny (fight choreographer), and Deanna Crawford (Production Stage Manager).

Tickets are $20, with $35 and $50 Pay It Forward tickets also available. The running time is approximately 80 hours with no intermission. Running Wednesday, November 1 through Saturday, November 4 at 7:30, and Saturday, November 4 and Sunday, November 5 matinees at 3 p.m. - for more information, and to purchase tickets, visit themilltheatre.org/comeheretome.

The Mill was founded in 2002 by artistic director, Jaclyn Biskup, as Experimental Theatre Chicago. After the company evolved and broadened its scope, the name was changed to represent its new mission: to produce plays progressive in form and content. Biskup's father worked at US Steel -- unaffectionately dubbed 'The Mill,' for over thirty years and the name is an homage to him and her family's south side of Chicago working class roots. The Mill is known for its stylish energetic stagings and bold theatricality including the Chicago premieres of VENUS (Suzan-Lori Parks) and THE PRIVATE OF LIVES OF ESKIMOS (OR 16 WORDS FOR SNOW) (Ken Urban) and in NYC, WORSE THAN TIGERS and RAW PASTA at New Ohio Theatre and NICHOLAS, MAEVE, MARIANNE (Matthew Stephen Smith) one of Indie Theatre Now's 20 Best of NYC Fringe.

Theaterlab is a women- and artist-led laboratory dedicated to researching the nature of live performance, including theater, music, and hybrid forms. We also focus on audience development as a creative project, regarding the theatrical experience as a creative public assembly and audience members as a key partner in fulfilling our mission. In addition to producing and presenting new work, Theaterlab provides affordable space for rehearsal and project development, including resident and affiliate artists programs.

Theaterlab was established in 2006 and has occupied our Midtown home since 2013. Run by Italian immigrant artist Orietta Crispino, Theaterlab has a longstanding commitment to producing and celebrating international and immigrant-led work. We run a curated rental series (Tlab Shares), a season of new works through our "Theaterlab Presents" program, and a handful of development programming including our long-running residency for collaborative artists, Hotel New Work; Mother Myths Monsters inviting collaborators as guest curators; and our signature program, Round the Block! celebrating arts, business, and culture in our Garment District home. For more information, please visit theaterlabnyc.com.

Audience members are required to provide proof of vaccination and must wear an N95 or KN95 mask to be admitted into the theatre. Masks will be available to audience members if they arrive without one. Masks are required at all times for all audience members. Performers will not be masked.

ARTIST BIOS

Jaclyn Biskup is a director and producer working in theatre, television, and film. She received an Emmy nomination and was a Peabody Finalist for her work on the digital series THE SECRET LIFE OF MUSLIMS and currently works as the interim associate artistic director at The Brick and was the outgoing creative producer at New Ohio Theatre. She was the assistant director to Tony Award-winning director Anna D. Shapiro on the Broadway productions of THE MINUTES (Tracy Letts) and STRAIGHT WHITE MEN (Young Jean Lee) for Second Stage. Her work in the theatre spans nearly two decades. As the founding artistic director of The Mill, she has directed and produced over 20 productions including the Chicago premiere of VENUS (Suzan-Lori Parks) and THE PRIVATE OF LIVES OF ESKIMOS (OR 16 WORDS FOR SNOW) (Ken Urban). In NYC, work directed includes JOURNEY AROUND MY BEDROOM (Dianne Nora), WORSE THAN TIGERS (Mark Chrisler), NICHOLAS, MAEVE, MARIANNE (Matthew Stephen Smith) -- one of Indie Theatre Now's 20 Best of NYC Fringe, HOT STEAMS (Zach Wegner), IT'S JUST WEIRD NOW (Halley Feiffer) and DAYS OF RAGE (Hyeyoung Kim and Shoshana Greenberg.) Her work has been seen at New Ohio Theatre, MCC Playlabs, New Dramatists, Rattlestick, Dixon Place, Town Stages, and the NYC International Fringe Festival. She has assisted on productions at Steppenwolf, The Public, and The American Musical Theatre Workshop. Her digital projects include work for PBS NOVA, Vox, Delta Air Lines, Caltech, Harvard, and others. She is a New Georges affiliated artist and a first-generation college graduate with a BA in Theater from Northern Illinois University and an MFA in Directing and Theatrical Production from Northwestern University. www.jaclynbiskup.com

Molly Leland (Aoife) is incredibly excited to collaborate with such talented artists on this new and very relevant play. On television, you can see Molly's work on FBI: Most Wanted, The Missing, Ozark, Grey's Anatomy, Legends, Law and Order: SVU, and The Player. Her favorite theater roles include playing Hennie Burger in Awake and Sing! at A Noise Within Theater Company, Christina Mundy in Brian Friel's award-winning Irish drama Dancing at Lughnasa at the Chrysalis Theatre Company, and the role of Candida, in Candida, by George Bernard Shaw. Molly received her degree in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University. In addition to acting, Molly is a filmmaker who has won festival awards for her short films Signal Problems and Bruise Hunters. https://www.mollyleland.com

Sam Morales(Grace) is NYC-based & is a proud member of both AEA & SAG-AFTRA. Off-Broadway: Medea (starring Rose Byrne & Bobby Cannavale, BAM); The Tempest (The Public); Pericles (dir. Trevor Nunn), The Skin of Our Teeth, Measure for Measure (TFANA); The Courage to Right A Woman's Wrongs, Paradise Lost, Volpone (Red Bull Theater). Regional: The Mousetrap (Hartford Stage); The House on the Hill (World Premiere, CATF); Woman in Mind (Delaware REP); Teach, Last Night in Inwood (Gulfshore Playhouse). Television: Dead Ringers starring Rachel Weisz; Law & Order: SVU; FBI; Blue Bloods. She's represented by DGRW. Sam is also on faculty at AMDA & NYU where she teaches Acting for TV/Film among other classes. @_sam_morales_ | officialsammorales.com.

Dianne Nora is a playwright, dramaturg, and comedy writer. She was a 2018-2019 member of Goodman Theatre's Playwrights Unit, where she was commissioned to write Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Living Document. She recently assisted her mentor Tracy Letts on the world premiere and Broadway productions of his play The Minutes, a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. In 2019, an abbreviated version of her play Monica: This Play Is Not About Monica Lewinsky premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe, where The Spectator named it the "Best of the Fringe." Her play for young audiences, Journey Around My Bedroom, was produced at New Ohio Theatre in 2020 and directed by Jaclyn Biskup, and recommended by The New York Times (Top 5, Weekend Section). She's a headline and features contributor at The Onion, and her humor writing has also appeared on Funny Or Die and The Hard Times, where she was previously Head Writer of Breaking News. BA: New York University; MPhil: Trinity College Dublin; MFA: Columbia University School of the Arts.

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