Kim Davies' STET Added to Abingdon's 2015-16 Season

Abingdon Theatre Company, in collaboration with The Muse Project, will present STET, a new play inspired by true events, written by Kim Davies and conceived by Kim Davies, Jocelyn Kuritsky and Artistic Director Tony Speciale. A limited Off-Broadway engagement will begin previews in June, as part of Abingdon's 2015-2016 Season. Tony Speciale is set to direct the world-premiere production, which marks his inaugural programming as Artistic Director.

The play's creators describe STET as follows: "A young reporter is assigned to write about sexual assault on college campuses and must also find a unique angle for the story that will sell. During her investigation, an encounter with a student alerts her to what looks like the cover-up of a terrible crime-and a perfect cover story for her magazine. Struggling to bring the story to light, this ambitious reporter won't let anything get in her way-not even the truth."

Cast and creative team are to be announced.

Playwright Kim Davies is a member of Youngblood and the New Georges Jam. Her play Smoke, recently premiered at The Flea Theater for a thrice-extended run, and was a New York Times and Time Out New York Critic's Pick. Smoke will premiere later this year in Sau Paulo, Brazil, and is forthcoming in print from Playscripts and Overlook Press. This spring, she will join Ibsen International in Guangzhou, China to workshop a new play. Davies received an MFA in Playwriting from Brooklyn College.

Jocelyn Kuritsky, conceiver/founder of The Muse Project, is a New York based actor and producer. She has performed in many NYC theatrical premieres, including plays by Erik Ehn, Caridad Svich, Sheila Callaghan, Ann Marie Healy, Ariel Stess, Ken Urban, & downtown theater legend Mac Wellman. Jocelyn is a founding member and the actor in residence of Woodshed Collective, one of the most respected & critically acclaimed immersive theater companies in New York. She is the creator of The Muse Project, an initiative to highlight some of NYC's most powerful female performers. In partnership with New Georges, and with additional support from The New Group, Muse launched in October 2015. Kuritsky is also the lead coordinator & performer for Stage-to-Film, a new, ongoing video project that puts the stage on screen. Her feature film credits include Hello Again and Peace After Marriage, with the internationally renowned Hiam Abbass (world premiere 2013 Abu Dhabi International Film Festival), as well as the upcoming Queen of Glory.

Director Tony Speciale is an award-winning director and creator of new work. As the founder of Plastic Theatre, he conceived, co-authored and directed the world premiere of Unnatural Acts (Classic Stage Company-Drama Desk Award nominee, GLAAD Media Award nominee). NYC directing credits: The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey (Westside Theatre/Dixon Place), A Midsummer Night's Dream featuring Bebe Neuwirth, Christina Ricci and Taylor Mac (Classic Stage Company); Handbook for an American Revolutionary (The Gym at Judson); and Remembering Mr. Maugham (Clurman Theatre). Regional directing credits: The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey (Kirk Douglas Theatre), Barry Manilow's Harmony (Alliance Theatre/Ahmanson Theatre) and Romeo and Juliet (Actors Theatre of Louisville). As a solo writer, his play Delirium, which was based on the life and poetry of Arthur Rimbaud, was presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it was honored with a British Writers' Guild Award. Speciale served four seasons as Associate Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company, where he helped found and administrated The Young Company, CSC's premiere Education and Outreach Program for New York City public high school students. He studied musical theatre at The Boston Conservatory, and holds an M.F.A. in Directing from Columbia University. He is also the proud recipient of a Princess Grace Theatre Honorarium and a Suzi Bass Award.

The Muse Project is a curated salon series in which a selected female actor is invited to take on a project of her own design. It is an actor-driven process. The pilot year (2015-2016) is the first, experimental year of The Muse Project. Selected actors will be provided with resources, money, and time to develop, rehearse, and present.

Now in its 23rd Season, Abingdon Theatre Company is dedicated to developing and producing new American plays by emerging and established playwrights. Under the artistic direction of Tony Speciale, who joined Abingdon in October 2015, the company provides a safe home where playwrights, directors and actors can collaborate within a supportive and nurturing environment. Abingdon searches for stories about the human experience that reflect our social, political, historical and cultural diversity. To date, the company has collaborated with more than 200 playwrights, produced 85 New York and world-premiere plays, presented more than 700 readings, staged 175 ten-minute plays, and commissioned 6 one-act plays. Notable artists who have worked with Abingdon Theatre Company include Carl Andress, Bryan Batt, Robert Brustein, Maxwell Caulfield, Dick Cavett, John Epperson, Jane Greenwood, Roberta Maxwell, Iddo Netanyahu, Nancy Opel, Austin Pendleton, Sam Pinkleton, Marcia Rodd and Mark Waldrop. Abingdon's 2014 production of Brian Richard Mori's Hellman v. McCarthy, directed by founding artistic director Jan Buttram, was filmed and presented by WNET as part of its inaugural Theatre Close-Up series.

Continuing Abingdon's 2015-2016 Season, which began in October with J.B. Reich's Cut Throat, is the world premiere of A Room of My Own, written and directed by Charles Messina. Featuring Mario Cantone and Ralph Macchio, A Room of My Own runs February 13 through March 13.

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