Casting Announced For Reading Of Rachel Yong's STATEWIDE SELF STORAGE Presented By Irvington Theater

Irvington Theater has announced casting details for their upcoming, sold-out Arts Incubator reading of playwright Rachel Yong's Statewide Self Storage at the Irvington Public Library on November 3 at 7:30pm.

Joining Brooklyn-based playwright Rachel Yong and director Gregory G. Allen are actors William English, Jenny Fabrizio, Julie Griffin, Drew Lazaroff, and Maddie Sledge. Griffin was last featured in Irvington Theater's Arts Incubator online, in Evelyn Mertens' play Is Nothing Sacred? Yong herself was first introduced to Irvington audiences when her play Guilt is a Mother was selected for the Theater's inaugural Arts Incubator Short Play Fest in 2021. Sledge has performed on the Irvington Theater stage with Broadway Training Center, while English, Fabrizio, and Lazaroff make their Irvington debuts.

Set at a row of outdoor storage units in a suburban desert, Statewide Self Storage is a thoughtful, moving tale of fathers and daughters, finding compassion, and making sense of the stuff we accumulate in our lives. This reading is presented as part of Irvington Theater's Arts Incubator series, showcasing in-development works of theater and inviting audiences into the creative process.

"Working on this play, which I started in 2009, has not been dissimilar to combing through a storage unit," said Yong when reflecting on her goals for the reading. "Every few years, after some period of major personal transition, I have revisited the piece, been surprised by what the me of three years before might have stored away or thought valuable, tossed out major chunks, and carried in new ideas and experiences. What's left, after a very long, slow, and private process, is, hopefully, a distillation... The play finally feels like it represents where I am today, and I think it's ready for a little more light shining in."

Irvington Theater's free reading of Rachel Yong's Statewide Self Storage takes place on November 3 at 7:30pm at the Irvington Public Library, located at 12 S Astor Street in Irvington. Parking is available. This event is sold out, and no walk-up tickets will be sold, but you can join the waitlist for tickets at www.irvingtontheater.com/statewideselfstorage.

Rachel Yong's plays have been performed at The Flea Theater, JACK, HERE, Berkeley Rep, UC Berkeley, and Stanford University. She is a founding member of Decent Company, where she wrote and performed three solo shows, including Diver Girl: or, The Most Fearless Rachel Yong! Prior to moving to New York, she was a proud member of PlayGround, the Bay Area's leading playwright incubator. She is the writer and creator of the comedy web series Randee So Dandy and has written and produced two short films screened at the Asian American International Film Festival. She also writes essays, novels, reviews, and poems.

Gregory G. Allen is the manager of Irvington Theater. He is an award-winning writer and director of film and stage. He spent six years as artistic director of 4th Wall Theatre in New Jersey, who specialized in lesser known and original theatre pieces. He is a published author of several books, a member of the The Dramatist Guild and The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and a former member of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop.

Irvington Theater is home to a diverse range of innovative programming that entertains, enlightens, and inspires, establishing itself over its 120-year history as the cultural heart of the Rivertowns. Their theater, located inside of Irvington's Town Hall, remains temporarily closed as a much-anticipated HVAC system is installed. Until then, IT will continue to offer a combination of in-person, offsite events and virtual programming as part of #IrvingtonAnywhere.

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