Photo Flash: Eve Ensler's FRUIT TRILOGY Celebrates Opening Night Off-Broadway!

Abingdon Theatre Company (Tony Speciale, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Producing Director) presents the final main stage production of its 25th Anniversary season, Fruit Trilogy, a new trilogy of plays by Tony Award® winner Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues, In the Body of the World) and directed by Mark Rosenblatt (world premiere of Fruit Trilogy at West Yorkshire Playhouse, UK; Animal Wisdom, Bushwick Starr).

Featuring Kiersey Clemons (Dope, The Only Boy Living In New York, "Transparent") and Liz Mikel (Lysistrata Jones," "Friday Night Lights"), the New York premiere production's limited engagement runs through June 23 at the historic Lucille Lortel Theatre Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) in Greenwich Village.

Performances are Tuesday - Thursday at 7PM, Friday and Saturday at 8PM, with matinees on Saturday at 3PM and Sunday at 2PM. There are added performances on Mon., 6/4 at 7PM and Wed. 6/6 at 3PM. (There is no matinee on Sun. 6/10.) Tickets are $65 and available at abingdontheatre.org calling Ovationtix at 212-352-3101. Premium seating is available. For more information about Fruit Trilogy, season subscriptions and group bookings visit abingdontheatre.org or call 212-868-2055.

In this pivotal moment when women around the world have risen up to tell their stories and stand up against violence, Eve Ensler's timely Fruit Trilogy is three short plays that give a voice to defiant, ordinary women: Pomegranate - two women for sale, another morning on the shelf; Avocado - a young woman on her chaotic, shocking journey toward freedom; and Coconut - from the bliss of her bathroom, a woman connects with the one thing she has never fully owned ... her body. Woven together with dark humor and heightened theatricality, Fruit Trilogy explores the humanity behind the headlines.

Produced in association with Tony Montenieri, Fruit Trilogy features a scenic design by Mark Wendland (Six Degrees of Separation), costume design by Andrea Lauer (Bring It On, The Musical), lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (Company XIV's Rococo Rogue), and sound design by Matt Hubbs (Indecent).

After select performances, V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against all women and girls founded by Ensler, will host a talkback series. The series will be led by activists, artists, and thinkers; participating in discussions surrounding the play's central themes on the commodification and ownership of women's bodies along with returning to and learning to love the body. Talkbacks scheduled to date include:

Tuesday, June 12:
Kiersey Clemons, film/tv/theater actor and one of the stars of Fruit Trilogy, on her role in the play, art and activism.

Wednesday, June 13:
Liz Mikel, film/TV/theater actor, singer and one of the stars of Fruit Trilogy, on her role in the play, art and activism.

Thursday, June 14:
Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, moderates a conversation with representatives from Sanctuary and GEMS, all leaders on the front lines in the fight to end sex trafficking, and who serve and support survivors every day.

Tuesday, June 19:
Khaliah Ali, positive body image speaker and activist, and Regena Thomashauer, teacher and author and founder of Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts, on the themes of the body, ownership, and of loving one's body raised in the play.

Wednesday, June 20:
Jennifer Buffett, Novo FoundationCo-President and V-Day Board Member, and Eve Ensler, Playwright (The Vagina Monologues, Fruit Trilogy) and Founder of V-Day and One Billion Rising.

Thursday, June 21:
Participants to be announced.

Photos by Jason Woodruff

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