LOVE THE STRUGGLE Announces Cast For SheNYC 2018 Summer Theater Festival

Through the disorienting kaleidoscope of existentialist thought, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir navigate World War II-era Paris, testing conventional boundaries of love and freedom with a novel pact of 'essential love' that allows each to take 'contingent' lovers. Armed with a deep commitment to lofty ideals, the couple dives headfirst into life's grittier side, becoming entangled in seduction, betrayal and war. As they pull others into their powerful vortex, they explode the image of philosophers as solitary armchair ponderers and define a new kind of love.

A phenomenal cast and creative team will take the stage at the She NYC Theater Festival this summer in Yair Evnine and Stacy Kray's New Musical Love the Struggle. The creative team includes Rachel Stevens (Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812) and choreographer, Katie Rose McLaughlin (Hadestown.) This creative team is only matched by a stellar cast. Lisa Helmi Johanson (Fiasco's Into the Woods and Avenue Q), as Ena/Vera, Katrina Yaukey, (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet, War Horse, and Billy Elliot) as Juliette, Jason Lee Garrett (Big Fish) as Lobster/Ensemble, Courtney Bassett (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet) as Beauvoir, Aline Mayagoitia (Ordway's Into the Heights) as Marjorie, Daniel Emond as Satre, Richard Crandle as Decartes, and Adante Carter as Bernard.

For tickets and more information, please visit www.shenycarts.org.

The She NYC Summer Theater Festival is New York City's only festival devoted to producing full-length plays, musicals, and adaptations by women writers annually, and in 2018 will be joined by the inaugural year of the She L.A. Summer Theater Festival. She NYC's commitment to an open submissions process allows it to discover and cultivate the best up-and-coming talent in the industry. The 2018 NYC Festival will run from July 5-15th in the East Village's Connelly Theater, and will feature eight new works. The L.A. Festival will run from July 23-29th at Hollywood's Zephyr Theater and feature five new works. Visit www.shenycarts.org for more information on the other participating shows, as well as performance dates, times, and ticket info.