Ben Gonshor's WHEN BLOOD RAN RED Gets Staged Reading in NYC Today

Four-time Drama Desk Award nominated director Bryna Wasserman, currently represented Off-Broadway with the revival of Amerike-The Golden Land, is set to helm the staged reading of Canadian playwright Ben Gonshor's When Blood Ran Red, today, August 3rd, 3pm, at the Workshop Theater.

Winner of the David and Clare Rosen Memorial Play Contest, and presented by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF), currently represented on Broadway with Indecent and Off Broadway with Amerike-The Golden Land, Gonshor's When Blood Ran Red is a drama inspired by true events that took place behind the Iron Curtain of post WWII anti-Semitic Stalinist Russia. The reading holds special significance being presented in the month of August-- a tribute to the Russian-Jewish Artists executed under Stalin's reign in August 1952, known historically as The Night of the Murdered Poets. Performed in English, the staged reading is free and by invitation only. It is presented in tandem with the Midtown International Theater Festival.

The cast features Matt Gibson (Bway: Gypsy; Irish Rep: Finian's Rainbow), Jacob Heimer (National Tour: Beautiful; Off Bway: Soul Doctor), Damian Norfleet (Lincoln Center: I Am Harvey Milk; Regional: Dreamgirlsand Ragtime), William Broderick (Theatre For The New City: Nicholas Nickelby and Rappaccini's Daughter), Georgi James (Broadway: Annie, Billy Elliot, Tale of Two Cities), Joseph Peterson (TheatreZone: Man of LaMancha; St. Petersberg Opera), Gordon Stanley (Broadway: Beauty and the Beast, Cabaret, Ragtime, Meet Me in St. Louis), Nancy Nagrant (Netflix: House of Cards; NBC: Law and Order: SVU; Access Theatre: Sight Unseen), and Peter Reznikoff (Broadway: Irena's Vow; Urban Stages: The Club; CBS: Limitless; NBC: The Blacklist). The reading's Stage Manager is Krystle Henninger, with casting and general management by Jamibeth Margolis. NYTF Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek provides music supervision and NYTF CEO Christopher Massimine serves as producer.

Following a chain of events set off with the assassination of Solomon Mikhoels, the head of the Moscow State Jewish Theater and Chairman of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, When Blood Ran Red follows iconic African- American actor, singer, civil rights activist, Paul Robeson, as he journeys to Russia, deemed an enemy of the state by the McCarthy-era "House Committee on Un-American Activities." Having befriended leaders of the Soviet Jewish Movement, Robeson finds himself at the center of a KGB genocidal conspiracy. The story weaves together a tale of suspense, mystery and intrigue - where truth is relative, loyalties are questioned at every turn and justice is only achieved by paying the ultimate sacrifice.

The staged reading of When Blood Ran Red will take place at the Workshop Theater, 312 West 36th St, New York, NY, today, August 3rd, at 3pm. Email Jamibeth Margolis at JMargolis@nytf.org for more information or visit www.nytf.org.

Established 1915, the Drama Desk-winning NYTF brings a rich cultural heritage to life on stage-one that was nearly destroyed some 75 years ago. At its new permanent home at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, NYTF actively cultivates wide audiences by emphasizing the continued impact and relevance of Yiddish and Jewish culture on American life. Its programs draw more than 100,000 attendees annually.

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