Clutch Productions Will Present Tira Palmquist's THE WORTH OF WATER At HERE

Clutch Productions, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating opportunities for emerging female artists in theatre and film, today announced that it will present THE WORTH OF WATER, a new play written by Tira Palmquist and directed by Mêlisa Annis Friday, October 4th through Sunday, October 20th, Off-Broadway at HERE, 145 6thAvenue, (on Dominick St., one block south of Spring St.). This is the second commission of a new, full-length play from blank page to its world premiere on a New York stage by Clutch, the inaugural commission being the world premiere of Every Good Girl Deserves Fun by Heidi Armbruster (upcoming Dairyland at Playmakers Rep, Mrs. Christie at Dorset Theatre Festival).

Elle is a struggling singer-songwriter in California. Rebecca is an unhappy homemaker in Wisconsin. And Ethel is bringing her daughters together for her 70th birthday to be momentary mermaids in the springs of Weeki Wachee. But as the fantasy dissipates, will they be able to swim back to shore?

"After receiving submissions from dozens of playwrights throughout the country and a rigorous vetting process, Clutch was thrilled to select Tira for our second commission cycle," says Producing Artistic Director, Christianne Greiert. "Not only is she a skilled collaborator, playwright, and dramaturg, she is also an inspirational bad-ass. We were drawn to her pitch for The Worth of Water, not just because it involved mermaid camp and all the theatrical delight that could provide, but also because of the timely and provocative juxtapositions she was eager to explore with her narrative."

The cast of THE WORTH OF WATER features Kim Crow (WIT, American Stage; DOUBLEWIDE and GOLDA'S BALCONY, Florida Studio Theatre); Clare Latham (Currently in the Soho Rep company of FAIRVIEW (TFNA) // Two-time OFF WEST END AWARD Nominee for BEST FEMALE PERFORMER (Danny and The Deep Blue Sea; Southwark Playhouse, 2012) and BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE PERFORMER (Doubt, A Parable; Southwark Playhouse, 2017); Christianne Greiert (EVERY GOOD GIRL DESERVES FUN, Clutch/Walkerspace; FOREIGN BODIES, NYTW); dL Sams (DIETLAND on AMC); Michael Billingsley (THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, dir. Estelle Parsons, La Mama); Miranda Noelle Wilson (RYAN RAFFERTY IS THE MOST POWERFUL WOMAN IN FASHION, Joe's Pub); and Morgan Sullivan (AUNT JACK, Theatre for the New City).

The creative team features scenic design by Jessie Bonaventure, costume design by Johanna Pan, lighting design by Kelley Shih, and sound design by Brian Heveron-Smith. Lisa Stafford is the Production Stage Manager.

Playwright TiraPamlquist is known for plays that merge the personal, the political and the poetic. Her most produced play, Two Degrees, premiered at the Denver Center, and was subsequently produced by Tesseract Theater in St. Louis and Prime Productions at the Guthrie (among others). Her newest play The Way North was a Finalist for the O'Neill and an Honourable Mention for the 2019 Kilroys List. While working on THE WORTH OF WATER for Clutch Productions, Tira was also working on a commission for Lower Depth Theater Ensemble in Los Angeles. Safe Harbor, a play about sex trafficking, will premiere in November in LA. Tira has also been commissioned to write new work for the University of California, Irvine graduate acting students. Her play Hold Steady was workshopped at UCI in January 2019, and she is currently working on All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, to be workshopped in January 2020. Her other plays include Ten Mile Lake (Serenbe Playhouse), Age of Bees (NYU Stella Adler Studio, MadLab Theater, Tesseract), And Then They Fell (MadLab, Brimmer Street, New York Film Academy) and This Floating World.

Director Mêlisa Annis has had the pleasure of working with and at Primary Stages, The Ambassadors Theatre Group (London), The Arcola Theater (London), Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Shadowland Stages, Tangent Theater, Queens College, Rebellious Subjects, The Playground Experiment, New York University, and Theater Masters FL as a director and dramaturg. As a writer, Mêlisa's plays have been developed at and with Parity Productions, The Lark and Dorset Theater Festival at the Theresa Rebeck Writers Colony, The New School, Primary Stages, ESPA*Drills (2014), The Lark, The National Arts Club NYC, The Playground Experiment, and RAL. She also had the joy of writing an episode for Amazon Studio's upcoming series for children (to be announced soon). Mêlisa is currently working on a new musical with Grammy Award Nominee Jamie Floyd (details to be announced soon). Personal essays have been published in several major publications, and she is a frequent contributor to the BBC. Mêlisa also teaches at the NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing program in NYC.

Performances of THE WORTH OF WATER are on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 6:30pm, Saturdays at 1:30pm and 6:30pm, and Sundays at 1:30pm. There is no 1:30pm performance on Saturday, October 12.

HERE is located at 145 6th Ave. (Enter on Dominick St., 1 Block South of Spring St.)

Tickets to THE WORTH OF WATER are $25 and available at here.org or by calling 212-352-3101.

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