New Voices @ New Rep Features New Works Free to Public

New Repertory Theatre presents New Voices @ New Rep, a staged reading series.  Featuring new works by established and emerging American playwrights, New Voices @ New Rep is open to the public, and admission is free.

All readings will be directed and performed by New Rep artists, and each will be followed by a short talkback session.

New Rep's Staged Reading Series Presents

Monday, January 28, 2008 @ 7:30pm
Body Politic
By Jessica Goldberg
Directed by M. Bevin O'Gara
Featuring Marianna Bassham, Zillah Glory, Jason McDowell-Green, and Timothy John Smith
Part of the National New Play Network

How can you tell an unbiased story when you get dangerously close to your subject?  Posing as a researcher, Wendy, a Hollywood screenwriter, attempts to infiltrate an army medical center in the hopes of interviewing injured Iraqi war veterans for her next film.  Barring her entrance is Captain Gray Whitrock, an unyielding patriot who, even after losing his foot in the war, returned for a second tour of duty.  Through Wendy's interactions with Gray and his pregnant wife, Lydia, the convictions of all three are called into question, as they struggle with love, duty, honor and sacrifice in a world of perpetual conflict, both at home and abroad.

Monday, February 11, 2008 @ 7:30pm
Unbleached
By Michael Aman
Directed by Maura Tighe
Featuring Johnny Lee Davenport and Dee Nelson

Stricken with tuberculosis, Ernest Hogan, an African-American entertainer, hires Sharon Flynn, a saucy Irish immigrant, to care for and amuse him through his sickness.  However, her spirit turns out to be more then he bargained for.  Contempt blossoms into love as the pair struggles to reach an understanding of the other's race and gender.  Ripe with relevance, Michael Aman's play scrutinizes racism in the entertainment industry with this charming story of two people reeling with regret over the life they've been given and the one that was withheld.

Monday, February 25, 2008 @ 7:30pm
The Oil Thief
By Joyce Van Dyke
Directed by Bridget O'Leary
Featuring Jason Bowen, Rachel Harker, and Bates Wilder

This new work by New Rep favorite, Joyce Van Dyke, taps a well of emotion and confusion in Amy, a disillusioned geologist who is seeking to unearth some new excitement in her life and distance herself from her stagnant career.  When her family-friend and industry compatriot, Aleksi, confesses his love for her, Amy wonders if an affair is what she needs.   The two, along with Rex, Amy's long-term lover, explore the fissures and ridges in their relationship, hoping to exhume some happiness and meaning from the remnants.

New Repertory Theatre presents provocative and intelligent works of both established and emerging playwrights in an intimate setting that involves and engages the audience.  New Rep has earned a reputation for dynamic productions that honor the writers and feature talented professional actors from the New England theatre community as well as guest artists from around the U.S.  New Rep has received Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards for outstanding acting, scenic design, direction, and production.  Programming at New Repertory Theatre is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, with additional support by Bank of America.

Tickets are free, with a suggested donation of $10. Call 617-923-8487, or online at www.newrep.org The New Repertory Theatre is located at 200 Dexter Avenue, Watertown, MA 02472.

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