Kathy Najimy Stars In NATURAL SHOCKS, A Benefit Reading For Ms. Foundation For Women

Actress and activist Kathy Najimy is teaming up with playwright Lauren Gunderson (I and You) for a benefit reading of her new play Natural Shocks in support of the Ms. Foundation for Women whose programs and grants address domestic violence and gun violence against women. The benefit reading will take place on Monday April 23rd, 2018 at 7pm at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane, between MacDougal & 6th Avenue - one block south of W. 3rd Street).

Based on Hamlet's "To be or not to be," Natural Shocks is a one-woman tour-de-force that bursts to life when we meet a woman waiting out an imminent tornado in her basement. She overflows with quirks, stories, and a final secret that puts the reality of domestic violence and guns in America in your very lap. The play is part confessional, part stand up, and part reckoning.

The reading is part of the Natural Shocks National Project, a national campaign of theater activism with royalty-free readings of the play taking place across the country April 19-23, 2018. The timing of the project coincides with the 19th anniversary of Columbine and the National School Walkout on April 20th. Professional theaters, universities, high schools, and community groups are pairing their readings with town halls, talkbacks, and fundraisers for nonprofits addressing gun violence and domestic violence.

There are over 100 confirmed readings in 45 states and the District of Columbia.

The Natural Shocks National Project is generously supported by a grant from the Harnisch Foundation. For more information about the project visit www.naturalshocks.org.

Producers on the national project include Leah Hamos, theatrical agent at The Gersh Agency and Corinne Hayoun, head of the NY office of MANAGE-MENT. Along with WP Theater, producers include Erica Rotstein, director of production at Broadway Across America and talent manager, and Christina Wallace, tech executive and theater producer. "We look forward to partnering with Erica, Christina, and these extraordinary artists to share Lauren's powerful play and to raise awareness about domestic abuse," said WP Theater Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty.

"I wrote the story to continue to push the narrative away from the perpetrators of gun violence and toward the people whose lives are lost, shattered, and shadowed because of it. So many of these people are women. And there is such a tight connection between violence against women and gun violence," says Gunderson.

The connection between domestic violence and gun violence is well documented. More than half of the mass shootings from 2009-2016 involved a partner or family member. Nearly half of American women who are murdered are killed by their intimate partners. American women are 16 times more likely to be killed by a gun than women in other developed nations. The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely that the woman will be killed. In short, domestic violence and grievances against women are the canary in the coalmine for gun violence. Any effort to end gun violence must address domestic violence as well.

Actor and activist Kathy Najimy was drawn to the topic as well as to Gunderson's take on it. "The subject was bone shakingly brave and clearly aligned with what sets fire to my own activism," Najimy reflected. "Lauren has written a play and imagined a character -a flash of a moment in the life of a woman that sums up the whole of fear, violence, passion and a bit of hope. It is thrilling that the proceeds go to the Ms. Foundation for Women to end domestic abuse and support gun control."

"I was elated when Kathy agreed to read the role, because she is such an incredible talent, a fierce comic powerhouse, with the heart of a true feminist and activist. In this play audiences will meet a new friend, a confidant, and a complex woman in love," Gunderson said.

Tickets are available at www.NaturalShocks.org/nyc. All proceeds from the New York reading will be donated to the Ms. Foundation for Women, designated specifically to address domestic violence and gun violence. Ticket prices range from $100-1000, with discounted student tickets available for $25 and a limited number of $50 early bird tickets available through April 16 only. Ticket are 100% tax deductible.

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