BIRDS Begins Tonight at This/That Festival

Lisa Renee Jordan, David Margolin Lawson and Betsy Heffron have joined the creative team of BIRDS, Marcina Zaccaria's provocative new play which premieres tonight, October 17 at 10PM, kicking off the THIS/THAT Festival at the Brick Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

A presentation of Second Wing Productions, BIRDS stars Jeff Burchfield (currently appearing in The Death of Klinghoffer at the Metropolitan Opera); accomplished mime Catherine Gasta, co-founder of the Synetic Theater in Washington, DC, and Genia Starcev, a former Russian television journalist who recently performed with the Bedlam Ensemble.

Said Ms. Zaccaria: "I was always interested in the poetic aspects of birds in flight, and I wanted to look at flight failure and consequence. In BIRDS, one bird overtakes the other and wings are clipped. My writing is often light in tone, so I wanted to create a world where revenge is celebrated and darker, visceral responses are exposed. In this play, I'm working with some great performers who are exceptionally skilled at commedia dell'arte and other movement styles."

Marcina Zaccaria has directed theater readings and workshops in venues that include New Dramatists, Soho Rep, HERE Arts Center, Dance Theater Workshop, Ohio Theater, Pulse Ensemble Theater, 45 Bleecker Street, and the Director's Company at NYU. Monologues from Zaccaria's plays are published in "InterJACtions: Monologues from the Heart of Human Nature (Vol. II)", available on Amazon.com. A theatre critic, she has written articles about the Bolshoi Ballet and the original dancers of West Side Story. Ms. Zaccaria is a member of the League of Professional Theatre Women.marcinazac.weebly.com.

Of Ms. Zaccaria's direction in Not Like Crocker, The Village Voice said: "Marcina Zaccaria directs in a lively, economical way, exploiting the sparks struck as this intimate ensemble plays off one another with comic verve."

Jeff Burchfield is currently in The Death of Klinghoffer at the Metropolitan Opera, where he previously appeared in Falstaff.His many credits include Falling Behind at MTWorks: two plays by Michael Rendino, Crossing and Jackrabbits of the Wild Interior; A Midsummer Night's Dream (Boomerang); A Time of Spring (dance, Thierry Thieu Niang, choreographer) at The Invisible Dog; Painted Red: The Henrietta Lacks Story; a children's musical, Curse On Summit Rock; Jubilee (Theatre for the New City); portraying George Wallace and Strom Thurmond in The Great Society (York Shakespeare); and Pulse Ensemble: Edge of the Jungle.

Catherine Gasta is a co-founding company member of Synetic Theater in Washington, DC. This summer Ms. Gasta pantomimed most of the Del Arte characters in the Italian madrigal, L'Amfiparnaso sung by renowned singing group, Western Wind. Ms. Gasta's work with physical theater group, Odyssey Theater, includes Rusky Raccoon in their original production of The Rise of the Triple Helix as part of the Comic Book Theater Festival at The Brick Theater 2014, and Slimer, Librarian and Rick Moranis in Odyssey Theater's Ghostbusters in Ten Minutes! Ms. Gasta is a writer and player for the sketch comedy team Pirate Sugar and all around mime.

Genia Starcev has recently performed with the Bedlam Ensemble. Ms. Starcev performed in House of Bernarda Alba, The Ordinary Miracle, and The Taming of the Shrew. She was able to show her skills Latin and Ballroom dancing in recent productions. She will appear in upcoming webseries Water Cooler Madness. Ms. Starcev was also a television journalist for Samara Cable Television in Samara, Russia.

Lisa Renee Jordan (Costume Designer). Selected design credits include: Suicide, Anyone? (Off-Broadway); Fetes de la Nuit (Ohio Theatre);* Drama Desk Nomination - Outstanding Theatrical Experience; Boy in the Bathroom, Castronauts (NYMF); Witching Hour, and Triangle (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Neglect, Thicker than Water (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Lysystrata (Edinburgh Fringe); Holy Land (Here Arts), The Myth Project (Noor Theatre), My Fair Lady, Spring Awakening, Sweeney Todd, (Regional), Great Pie Robbery, Ectospasms, Nights at the Circus (NYC Fringe Festival); Assistant Design credits include Chita Rivera: the Dancer's Life (Broadway); Bernarda Alba (Lincoln Center Theatre). Member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. http://www.lisareneejordandesigns.com.

David Margolin Lawson (Sound Designer). Selected credits include Off B'way: The Seagull (dir. Max Stafford-Clark, Culture Project), How I Learned What I Learned (Signature Theatre Co.), The Last Will (dir. Austin Pendleton, Abingdon Theatre Co.), Bronte: A Portrait Of Charlotte (Ars Nova), The Sphinx Winx (Beckett), La Barberia (New World Stages), The First Breeze Of Summer (dir. Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Signature Theatre Co.). Havana Is Waiting (Cherry Lane). Several works with Michael Imperioli's Studio Dante including Safe and Sisters, Such Devoted Sisters. Regional: Two Rivers Theatre Co, The Alliance Theatre, Hartford Stage, Capital Rep, The Long Wharf, and Studio Arena. David teaches Sound Design at Pace University, NYC.

Betsy Heffron (Scenic Painter). A painter and theater set designer, Ms. Heffron studied at the National Academy School of Fine Arts, The Art Students League, SVA in New York City, and Escola Masana in Barcelona, Spain. Her paintings are an exploration of everyday objects that surround us: chairs, a vintage typewriter, boots, a red dress, like objects from a theater set or vignettes.

Tickets for BIRDS will be $10 and available for purchase at The Brick Theater box office the night of the performance.

THIS/THAT is an evening of surprising performance united by the whims of playwright/curators Eliza Bent, Sam Chanse, Georgina Escobar and Amina Henry and producers Adam R. Burnett and Kate Schroeder. With the tenants of inclusivity and eclecticism, the bi-monthly performance series intends to bridge the myriad NYC art and performance communities (uptown/downtown, visual/aural, experimental/traditional, textual/physical.) in an unpredictable and inviting forum.

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