Keen to Continue 'Conversations' Series with Gun Violence Talk Tonight

Tonight, Thursday, March 23rd, Keen Company will present KEEN CONVERSATIONS, following the evening performance.

This week's KEEN CONVERSATION is How Gun Violence Affects the Loved Ones of Victims and Survivors. Moderated and curated by Robin Milling (entertainment journalist and host of "Milling About" podcast on iTunes), tonight's guests are Jessica Mofield, LMHC, MA, Deputy Director of the Mayor's Office to Prevent Gun Violence; and Chris Hayes, founder of Gun Violence Survivors Foundation.

Ana Reeder, who won an Obie Award for her role in Small Tragedy at Playwrights Horizons, stars in the World Premiere of Courtney Baron's When It's You, directed by Keen Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein, through Saturday April 8th only.

"For the first time, we present a work developed in our Keen Playwrights Lab, which is dedicated to fostering the work of mid-career playwrights. Courtney Baron has written an incredibly beautiful and timely tale about gun violence in contemporary America, a story which sadly becomes more and more relevant every day. Like last year's acclaimed production Boy, I am proud to expand Keen's repertoire to include new plays that speak directly to the issues facing us today," said Silverstein.

When It's You, a world premiere by Courtney Baron, is a personal look at the ripple effects that follow gun violence in contemporary America. Ginnifer is single, thirty-seven, and has just lost her mother to illness. She moves back to her hometown and learns her first love in high school is now at the center of a violent crime. Ginnifer must confront her relationship to the heinous act as well as her changing place in society, all while living under the roof of her dead mother's home. Timely and moving, When It's You complexly and honestly explores America today.

Courtney Baron's play Eat Your Heart Out premiered as part of the Humana Festival of New American Plays and was subsequently produced at Rivendell Theater in Chicago. Her play A Very Common Procedure was produced at MCC, the Magic Theater and as part of the Cherry Lane Theater Mentor Program. Here I Lie was produced as part of the Rising Phoenix Rep's Cino Nights. To Know Know Know You was written and produced for Keen Teens. Her plays Consumption and Purge are both commissions from the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Consumption was produced at the Guthrie Lab. Her short film "18" (directed by Michelle Bossy) premiered at the Austin Film Festival. She wrote for "Almost There" on DirecTVs Audience Network.

Ana Reeder's New York theatre credits include Hedda Gabler, Top Girls, Sight Unseen (Broadway), Happy Hour (Atlantic Theatre Co.) Living Room in Africa (Edge Theatre Company) The Wooden Breeks (MCC), Small Tragedy (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award); Humble Boy, An Experiment with an Air Pump (MTC); The Time of the Cuckoo (Lincoln Center); Some Voices (The New Group); Killers and Other Family (Rattlestick Theatre); Maid (Lincoln Center Festival); Vera Laughed, Fire Eater, Suicide Weather (NY Stage & Film); Macbeth (The Public); Henry VIII (Delacorte Theatre), Hedda Gabler (New York Theatre Workshop); Radiance (LABrynth). London credits include The Distance from Here (Almeida Theatre). Regional audiences have seen Ana as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, dir. by David Cromer (Williamstown), Nora in A Doll's House (Long Wharf Theater), The Lady in Question, Night Season (Bay Street Theatre), Unusual Acts of Devotion (Philadelphia Theatre Co) TV credits include HBO's "You Don't Know Jack," dir. by Barry Levinson, "Damages," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "The Jury." Ana has been seen on film as Connie in One for the Money, and in Homewrecker (aka The Locksmith, NEXT Film Award at Sundance 2010), Diary of a City Priest, Acts of Worship (Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Actress, Best Actress award Santa Barbara Film Festival), Marie and Bruce, and No Country for Old Men.

Performances for this limited Off-Broadway engagement of When It's You by Courtney Baron, directed by Jonathan Silverstein, will continue through Saturday April 8th, only. The design team includes Steven Kemp (scenic), Josh Bradford (lighting), Jennifer Paar (costumes), Bart Fasbender (sound) and Justin West (projections). The performance runs 70 minutes.

All performances of When It's You are at The Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues) and are Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7pm; Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 2pm & 8pm; and Sunday matinees at 3pm. Tickets are $65; premium tickets are $80. (All ticket prices include restoration fees). To purchase tickets visit Telecharge.com or call 212-239-6200. For more information, visit www.keencompany.org.

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