ON WOMEN Theater Festival Explores Power Of Female Experience

Irondale, Brooklyn's leading theatrical ensemble producing immersive and non-traditional performance, will present On Women, a two-week theater festival that places the feminine perspective in the spotlight, April 22- May 4. With three different works that highlights Irondale's mission to both focus on increasingly diverse programming and works that tackle themes of present day, L'Atalier Theater Productions will present the world premiere of The Franca Rame Project,Cindy Rosenthal will direct George Brant's Grounded, and Hannah Reimann will present the world premiere of Both Sides Now: The Music of Joni Mitchell, The Early Years 1966-1974.

"In being committed to presenting works that are reflective of our times, this new and unique festival brings attention to women's voices through presenting three completely different but important works," says Terry Greiss, Executive Director of Irondale. "It is important that these playwrights and presenters be seen and heard for the issues they are tackling, and it is with great pride that we welcome them into our space this spring as part of this new festival."

The On Women festival will present George Brant's 2013 award-winning play Grounded, directed by Cindy Rosenthal. A solo work, to be performed by actress Maya Carter, is a harrowing take on an unexpected pregnancy that ends an ace fighter pilot's career in the sky. Reassigned to operate military drones from a windowless trailer outside Las Vegas, she hunts terrorists by day and returns to her family each night. As the pressure to track a high-profile target mounts, the boundaries begin to blur between the desert in which she lives and the one she patrols half a world away.

The festival will celebrate Joni Mitchell's 75thBirthday and the 50thAnniversary of Woodstock with the world premiere Both Sides Now: The Music of Joni Mitchell, The Early Years 1966-1974, conceived in part by David Yaffe and performed by composer, actor and vocalist, Hannah Reimann. An emotional catalogue of songs discovered and explored while Reimann provided end of life care for a father suffering from Alzheimer's, Reimann will present Mitchell's music in a deeply personal context, linking her own experiences with Joni's and exploring their shared connections of family, love, loss, musical experience, and the weight of shared American history.

Lastly, a world premiere by acclaimed New York theater company L'Atelier Theatre Productions, The Franca Rame Project explores the texts of Italian playwrights, actors and activists Franca Rame and Dario Fo at the height of the second feminist wave in the 1970's. While the work is a satirical depiction of past and present conditions of women, the texts frontally address pressing women issues of sex, politics, motherhood, prostitution, abortion, abuse, rape and dependence, both financially and psychologically. Originally written in Italian, Rame and Fo's texts will be reimagined by five female and non-binary people in English, with selected passages in French, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese to showcase the depth and breadth of impact across cultures.

ON WOMEN FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Grounded will be performed April 22, 29, May 1 and 2 at 9:00 p.m., April 24 and 27 at 7:00 p.m. and May 4 at 5:00 p.m.

Both Sides Now: The Music of Joni Mitchell, The Early Years 1966-1974will be performed April 24 and 27 at 3:00 p.m., April 22, 25, 29 and May 1 at 7:00 p.m., and April 26, May 3 and 4 at 9:00 p.m.

The Franca Rame Project will be performed April 24, 25 and 27 and 9:00 p.m., April 26, May 2, 3 and 4 at 7:00 p.m., and May 1 and 4 at 3:00 p.m.

General admission seats are $25 and packages to attend multiple shows in the same day are available, $40 for 2 shows, $50 for 3 shows. Tickets are available online at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1006806.

Irondale is located at 85 South Oxford Street in Brooklyn, New York. The theater is accessible by Subway: C to Lafayette; B, D, M, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 4, or 5 to Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Street; and G to Fulton Street.

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