Bay Street Theater Announces Cast and Creative Team for SAFE SPACE

Bay Street Theater is announcing the cast and creative team for SAFE SPACE (June 25 - July 21), a new play by Alan Fox; directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien (All My Sons, Henry IV, Hairspray, The Coast of Utopia). The play will star Mercedes Ruehl (Torch Song, upcoming film Hustlers, Bay Street's Viva la Vida!), Sasha Diamond (Blindspot, The Romanoffs, Murphy Brown) and Rodney Richardson(The Day Shall Come, CBS's FBI, Somebody's Daughter). Single tickets are now on sale as well as 3-play subscriptions by calling the Box Office at 631-725-9500 or online at www.baystreet.org. The Box Office is open Tuesday - Saturday 11 am - 5 pm or until show time, and 7 days a week beginning May 22.

SAFE SPACE is set at an elite university and explores political correctness and the reaction to triggers on campus in America today. When a star African-American professor (Rodney Richardson) faces accusations of racism from a student (Sasha Diamond) the head of the college (Mercedes Ruehl) must intervene, setting off an explosive chain of events where each of them must navigate an ever-changing minefield of identity politics, ethics, and core beliefs.

"We are thrilled to announce the cast and creative team for this new World Premiere play," says Scott Schwartz, Bay Street Theater's Artistic Director. "They are an extraordinary group of artists, and under the leadership of legendary director Jack O'Brien, I know they will deliver a searing performance that will wrestle with some of the most controversial issues in America today. I can't wait for SAFE SPACE, the second world premiere of the 2019 Mainstage Season, to hit our stage in June!"

The creative team includes: Tony Award winner David Rockwell (Scenic Designer), Tony Award winner Jane Greenwood (Costume Designer), Tony Award winner Bradley King (Lighting Designer), Tony Award winner John Gromada (Sound Designer), Jeff Sugg (Projection Designer), Andrew Diaz (Props Designer), Stephen Gabis (Dialect Coach) and M. William Shiner (Production Stage Manager). Casting by Will Cantler at Telsey & Company.

Alan Fox was born in Oak Ridge, North Carolina. He was an all-state basketball player and began his college career playing for UNC-Greensboro. After an injury forced him into season-ending surgery, he left college, moved to New York and began modeling. He has shot for brands such as Abercrombie and Fitch, Adidas, and Men's Health, and appeared in the Taylor Swift video Fifteen. He returned to school and graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College in the Spring of 2016. SAFE SPACE is his first full length play. He is currently working on his first novel A Mannequin Life and is represented by CAA.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is a year-round, not-for-profit professional theater and community cultural center which endeavors to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. It serves as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists.