New Rep Announces NEXT REP FESTIVAL Lineup, March-June 2014

New Repertory Theatre announces the inaugural NEXT REP FESTIVAL: five plays and three staged readings in two Black Box Theaters, March through June, 2014, co-curated by Jim Petosa and Elaine Vaan Hogue.

Tickets for the five plays range from $30-$36 and may be purchased by calling the box office at 617-923-8487 or online at newrep.org. Student, senior, and group discounts are available. Those interested in attending the Next Voices staged readings may email tickets@newrep.org to reserve a complimentary spot.

TONGUE OF A BIRD by Ellen McLaughlin, is directed by Emily Ranii, and runs March 8 through 30, 2014 in The Black Box Theater, at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, in Watertown, MA. Press Performance: Monday, March 10, 7:30pm.

OUR LADY, written and performed by James Fluhr, runs April 3 through 27, 2014 in The Black Box Theater, at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, in Watertown, MA. Press Performance: Thursday, April 3, 7:30pm.

IN BETWEEN, written and performed by Ibrahim Miari, runs April 4 through 20 in The Black Box Theater, at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, in Watertown, MA. Press Performance: Friday, April 4, 8pm.

The encore extension of IMAGINING MADOFF by Deborah Margolin, directed by Elaine Vaan Hogue runs May 28 through June 1, 2014 at Lane-Comley Studio 210/Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, in Boston, MA. No press performance.

PATTERN OF LIFE, the inaugural Next Rep World Premiere by Walt McGough, is directed by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary, and runs June 14 through 29, 2014 at Lane-Comley Studio 210/Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, in Boston, MA. Press Performance: Monday, June 16, 7:30pm.

"This Next Rep festival showcases New Rep's continued commitment to new work," says Artistic Director Jim Petosa. "From producing artist-derived pieces for intimate spaces to our Next Voices playwriting program--developing four plays season-long, culminating with three staged public readings and the Next Rep World Premiere-this festival shines a light on the true art of theatre-making."

"We're thrilled to expand New Rep's work and the Next Rep Festival into co-presenting with Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP) this June," says Managing Director Harriet Sheets. "We're proud to both extend Deborah Margolin's well-received IMAGINING MADOFF at the Lane-Comley Studio 210, as well as to launch Walt McGough's PATTERN OF LIFE there, our first Next Rep World Premiere."

TONGUE OF A BIRD
By Ellen McLaughlin | Directed by Emily Ranii | The Black Box Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts | Tickets $36 Featuring Olivia D'Ambrosio, Elizabeth Anne Rimar, Ilyse Robbins, and Bobbie Steinbach

A story of lost mothers and daughters, TONGUE OF A BIRD follows Maxine, an emotionally wounded young search and rescue pilot, who returns to her childhood home in the Adirondacks to search for Charlotte, a missing 12-year-old girl. During the search, Maxine reconnects with her Polish refugee grandmother, and through her dreams, is forced to confront her memories of her mother, who committed suicide, abandoning her.

Performances:

Saturday, March 8, 8pm/Preview 1
Sunday, March 9, 2pm/Preview 2
Monday, March 10, 7:30pm/Press Performance
Thursday, March 13, 7:30pm
Friday, March 14, 8pm
Saturday, March 15, 8pm
Sunday, March 16, 2pm/Talkback
Sunday, March 16, 7:30pm
Wednesday, March 19, 7:30pm
Thursday, March 20, 7:30pm
Friday, March 21, 8pm
Saturday, March 22, 3pm
Saturday, March 22, 8pm
Sunday, March 23, 2pm/Talkback
Thursday, March 27, 2pm/Talkback
Thursday, March 27, 7:30pm
Friday, March 28, 8pm
Saturday, March 29, 3pm
Saturday, March 29, 8pm
Sunday, March 30, 2pm/Talkback

OUR LADY
Written and Performed by James Fluhr | The Black Box Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts | Tickets $36

Fresh off huge success in the New York Fringe Festival, this dynamic, gutsy one-person performance piece reveals James Fluhr's stunning surprises through his own coming out as a gay man, created in response to toxic homophobia causing many gay suicides.

Performances:

Thursday, April 3, 7:30pm/Press Performance
Sunday, April 6, 2pm
Thursday, April 10, 7:30pm
Saturday, April 12, 1pm
Saturday, April 12, 8pm
Sunday, April 13, 2pm/Talkback
Wednesday, April 16, 7:30pm
Thursday, April 17, 7:30pm
Thursday, April 24, 2pm/Talkback
Thursday, April 24, 7:30pm
Friday, April 25, 8pm
Saturday, April 26, 8pm
Sunday, April 27, 2pm/Talkback

IN BETWEEN
Written and Performed by Ibrahim Miari | The Black Box Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts | Tickets $36

Son of a Palestinian-Muslim father and a Jewish-Israeli mother, Ibrahim Miari recalls his childhood in Acco, Israel, memories of his Jewish and Palestinian grandmothers, and war. When he chooses to marry a Jewish-American woman, he ultimately is caught again between deeply divided communities.

Performances:

Friday, April 4, 8pm/Press Performance
Saturday, April 5, 3pm
Saturday, April 5, 8pm
Friday, April 11, 2pm
Friday, April 11, 8pm
Saturday, April 12, 4pm
Friday, April 18, 8pm
Saturday, April 19, 3pm
Saturday, April 19, 8pm
Sunday, April 20, 2pm/Talkback

NEXT VOICES New Play Readings by 2013-2014 Next Voices Playwriting Fellows
Curated by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary | The Black Box Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts Email tickets@newrep.org to reserve a complimentary spot.

THE RIVER AND THE SEA Monday, March 24, 7:30pm
By Danny Bryck | Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian
In 2012 - 2013, playwright Danny Bryck conducted hundreds of interviews in Israel/Palestine, capturing the staggering diversity of voices of the people living between the river and the sea: from a soldier in Tel Aviv to a young mother from Gaza, a Holocaust survivor to an Eritrean refugee, a Filipino migrant worker to a German convert to Judaism turned anti-occupation activist. Using their real words, THE RIVER AND THE SEA challenges our notions of birthright and belonging, history and nation, and the ways we define ourselves and each other. When everyone tells a different story, how do we tell the truth?

RECONSIDERING HANNA(H) Wednesday, April 9, 7:30pm
By Deirdre Girard | Directed by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary
Featuring Deanna Dunmyer, Liz Hayes, Deb Martin, and Lewis D. Wheeler
Hanna, a brutally blunt international journalist, is struggling to come to terms with her husband's violent death. After accepting a seemingly tame assignment, she becomes increasingly obsessed with uncovering the history of another Hannah: the infamous Hannah Dustin who was kidnapped by a Native American raiding party in 1697. Soon the individual stories of the two Hanna(h)s begin to merge into one portrait of a smart woman, torn from the only world she knows, who crosses the line between civilization and savagery. RECONSIDERING HANNA(H) questions the truth of our historical and personal narratives, examines the dormant primitive instincts that can erupt in the hearts of individuals and cultures, and takes us on a journey across the centuries with two unflinching women who desperately seek their own salvation.

READJUSTMENT Monday, April 21, 7:30pm
By Evan Sanderson | Directed by Brett Marks
Featuring Lorne Batman, Brendan Mulhern, Celia Pain, Christine Power, Omar Robinson, and Alex Simoes
Scott has returned from Afghanistan to live in his home town. However, he's been having some problems, the least of which is driving. Scott has to figure out how to readjust in this environment that is both familiar to him and totally different from his time in the Army. He's helped along by a new community of veterans, but will he be able to get back behind the steering wheel and accept this new version of himself?

IMAGINING MADOFF May 28-June 1, 2014 co-presented with Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP) By Deborah Margolin | Directed by Elaine Vaan Hogue
Lane-Comley Studio 210/Boston University Theatre, Boston | Tickets $36
Featuring , Joel Colodner, Jeremiah Kissel, and Adrianne Krstansky

In Obie Award-winning playwright Deborah Margolin's controversial new play, we witness imagined jail conversations between Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff and Solomon Galkin, a poet and Holocaust survivor. In a high moral showdown, these two Jewish men banter about women, baseball, the Talmud, human decency, kindness, and the story of Abraham and Isaac, revealing much about greed and the forces that led us to the Great Recession.

Encore Extension Performances:

Wednesday, May 28, 7:30pm
Thursday, May 29, 7:30pm
Friday, May 30, 8pm
Saturday, May 31, 3pm
Saturday, May 31, 8pm
Sunday, June 1, 2pm

PATTERN OF LIFE June 14-29, 2014 co-presented with Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP)

By Walt McGough | Directed by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary

Lane-Comley Studio 210/Boston University Theatre, Boston | Tickets $30

Featuring Nael Nacer and Lewis D. Wheeler

The mistaken death of a young boy links two men thousands of miles apart. The first, a drone pilot, tries to fight through a haze of guilt and anxiety, and find something human to hold on to. The second, a Pakistani villager, struggles to comprehend the tragedy, and put a face on a faceless enemy. A series of shared dreams lets them begin to see one another, and explore questions of revenge, justice and connection in a time of perpetual warfare.

Performances:

Saturday, June 14, 8pm/Preview
Sunday, June 15, 2pm/Preview
Monday, June 16, 7:30pm/Opening Night
Thursday, June 19, 7:30pm
Friday, June 20, 8pm
Saturday, June 21, 8pm
Sunday, June 22, 2pm/Talkback
Sunday, June 22, 7pm
Wednesday, June 25, 7:30pm
Thursday, June 26, 7:30pm
Friday, June 27, 8pm
Saturday, June 28, 3pm
Saturday, June 28, 8pm
Sunday, June 29, 2pm/Talkback

About New Repertory Theatre: New Repertory Theatre is the award-winning, professional theatre company in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA. Celebrating 30 years as a leading self-producing theatre in greater Boston, New Rep produces contemporary and classic dramas, comedies, and musicals in both the 340-seat Charles Mosesian Theater and the 90- seat Black Box Theater. Annually, New Rep serves 45,000-50,000 patrons, including over 2,200 season Subscribers. In addition to its mainstage productions, the non-profit theatre produces New Rep's Next Voices, with four playwrights each season, which develops new plays into three staged readings and one world premiere production. Under its Lifelong Enrichment Arts Programs (LEAP), New Rep also produces its Classic Repertory Company, summerSTAGE2, Page To Stage, Insider Experiences, and Spotlight Symposium Series.

New Rep's Mission: New Repertory Theatre produces plays that speak powerfully to the essential ideas of our time. Through the passion and electricity of live theater performed to the highest standards of excellence, New Rep expands and challenges the human spirit of both artists and audience. New Rep presents world premieres, contemporary and classic works in several intimate settings. We are committed to education and outreach, including special dedication to the creation of innovative in-school programming and providing access to underserved audiences. New Rep is an active advocate for the arts and a major voice in the national dialogue defining the role of theater in our culture.

All performances will run in the Black Box Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA 02472 or the Lane-Comley Studio 210/Boston University Theatre 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. Tickets: $30-$36; student, senior, and group discounts available. By telephone: 617-923-8487; Online: newrep.org; In Person: 12noon to 6pm, Arsenal Center for the Arts 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA 02472.

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