New Rep to Stage NEXT VOICES: NEW PLAY READINGS at Arsenal Center, 3/24-4/21

New Repertory Theatre announces NEXT VOICES: NEW PLAY READINGS, March 24, April 9, & April 21, 2014. Featuring the work of Danny Bryck, Deirdre Girard, and Evan Sanderson. Performed in the Black Box Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, in Watertown, MA. All readings are free and open to the public; reservations are suggested by contacting tickets@newrep.org.

Each season, New Rep engages with four Next Voices playwriting fellows. After nine months of working and reworking, three of the plays enjoy staged public readings with professional actors and the fourth goes on to have a fully staged production. This year's staged readings include THE RIVER AND THE SEA by Danny Bryck, RECONSIDERING HANNA(H) by Deirdre Girard, and READJUSTMENT by Evan Sanderson. PATTERN OF LIFE by Walt McGough will be the fourth play and will be performed in June at the Boston University Lane-Comley Studio 210, co-presented with the Boston Center for American Performance.

"Each of the Next Voices playwriting fellows has such a unique voice," says Next Voices curator, Bridget Kathleen O'Leary. "Inviting professional actors to read the work and breathe life into it is a special part of the Next Voices experience, and allows those unique voices to be heard by the playwright and audiences as the work continues to develop."

"The Next Voices program is New Rep's way of expressing its primary commitment to assisting our regional playwrights. By providing a creative community within our theatre company, New Rep encourages, supports, develops and produces their work," says Artistic Director, Jim Petosa.

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

THE RIVER AND THE SEA Monday, March 24, 7:30pm
By Danny Bryck | Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian
Featuring Michelle Dowd, Daniel Berger-Jones, Elle Borders, Becca Lewis, Greg Maraio, Theresa Nguyen, Bari Robinson, and Mark Soucy

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?

All performances play the Black Box Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA 02472, Monday, March 24, 7:30pm, Wednesday, April 9, 7:30pm and Monday, April 21, 7:30pm. Free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Contact tickets@newrep.org for reservations. Free, six-level parking garage next to the Arsenal Center for the Arts. #70 or #70A bus to the School Street stop from Central Square Station, Red Line Wheelchair Accessible.

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. Now in its 30th anniversary season 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.

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