Project Y Theatre Presents 10 Commissions As Part Of 8th Annual Women In Theatre Festival

Project Y Theatre Company will present the eighth annual Women in Theatre Festival, a festival of new work written and created by women, June 3-18 at the Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre at the A.R.T./New York Theatres (502 West 53rd Street New York, NY 10019). Tickets range from free to $25 and will go on sale Monday, May 8th at www.witfestival.projectytheatre.org.

The Women in Theatre Festival seeks to broaden the opportunities for women in the entertainment industry by producing new work by women with more than 50% female representation of all artists involved. The 8th Annual Women in Theatre Festival will feature new plays and commissioned works in full productions, workshops, readings, and other events. Project Y Theatre has commissioned 8 new short plays, through our All Hands On Deck and The Hrosthwitha Project series, all of which will be presented through staged readings. We will also prevent the first public reading of our inaugural Project Y Visionary Commission by playwright, Amina Henry. Women in Theatre Festival will feature Lia Romeo's world premiere comedy, Yoga with Jillian, performed by Michole Biancosino. Other productions will be featured on a double bill with this new play, including Eliza Bent's Penguin in Your Ear, a presentation of the audio-centric The Real Girls, and a reading of Julia Blauvelt's The Two Hander, among others.

YOGA WITH JILLIAN

a new comedy by Lia Romeo

performed by Michole Biancosino

directed by Andrew W. Smith

June 3-18, 2023

In this immersive play, yoga teacher Jillian plans to take the audience through an amazing, incredible, fantastic, one hour yoga journey. But the past couple years have been tough, am I right? As Jillian tries to teach again in our changed world, the shiny, happy yoga teacher attempts to keep the class, and herself, from completely imploding. A co-production with Richard Jordan Productions (U.K.), this show will travel to Edinburgh Fringe this summer, in association with The Pleasance.

All Hands on Deck

A commission series of new plays by female playwrights of the African diaspora

Conceived and curated by Antu Yacob

Plays by Judy Tate, Marie-Françoise Theodore and Shamar White

Directed by Tonia Anderson and Noelle LuSane

June 4th at 7pm

The ALL HANDS ON DECK series is back with a new session! The series explores different perspectives of the Black experience in America. This session's theme is "On Womanhood: Surrendering to the Goddess Within". What does it mean to be a woman in 2023? What does it mean to surrender to yourself? This is our 3rd year of All Hands on Deck. Join us in person as we explore.

The Hrosthwitha Project

A reclamation of women's history

Plawrights: Liz Appel, Ying Ying Li, Colleen O'Doherty, Enid Graham, and Deepa Purohit

Directors: Rachel Dart and Kimille Howard

June 11th at 7pm

Aimed at reclaiming and celebrating the history of women in theatre, these plays are commissioned adaptations of a play by the first woman playwright, 10th century abbess,

Hrosthwitha of Gandersham. This is part of a 5 year project to adapt all 6 of these historical plays and bring more awareness to this unknown female writer who deserves a place in theatre history. This year we've commissioned 5 playwrights to write free adaptations of the play, Paphnutius or The Conversion of the Harlot Thaïs.

Playwrights Liz Appel (Bells Like Hooves, Roundabout Underground reading series), Enid Graham(Ruth, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference), Ying Ying Li (Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theatre), Colleen O'Doherty ("Missing Ingredient," Project Y Theatre) and Deepa Purohit (Elyria, Atlantic Theatre) are writing new short plays to be staged in readings.

Penguin in Your Ear

a work-in-standup-comedy-process

written and performed by Eliza Bent

directed by Jesse Barbagallo

June 10th 3pm and 7:30pm

Join us for Eliza Bent's latest newest work, a hybrid comedy and theatre event. Playing on a double bill with Yoga With Jillian.

Honor Roll! Playwrights Monologue Slam

June 14th at 7:30pm

We are partnering with Honor Roll! to feature an evening of writing by women playwrights 40 or over. Through a submission and selection process, we'll choose an evening of monologues to be read by the playwrights and a company of actors. Join us for this free event to hear new work, meet playwrights, and build community.

Pied Piper

a reading of Project Y Theatre's Inaugural Visionary Commission

Play by Amina Henry

June 6th 7:30pm

Join us for a free reading of this new all-ages play by Amina Henry.

The Real Girls

Written By Beth Ann Powers

Directed by B Kleymeyer

June 9th at 7:30

Set in the not-so-distant future, The Real Girls is a sci-fi, musical-comedy satire about celebrity culture and the entertainment industry.. In this world, it is the norm to have a brainial implant called "The BOX", which directly feeds perfectly customized content into your mind, giving you what you want before you know you want it. Through our "feed" we follow the careers of "The Real Girls," a girl group made up of four sisters/former humans turned algorithmically programmed celebrity persona. This audio play explores our society's relationship with celebrities and the culture that creates and defines them.

Founded in 1999, Project Y Theatre Company has been called the "smartest of the city's theatre troupes," by N.P.R. Project Y has had an unwavering presence in the New York Off-Off Broadway community and has been nominated for nine Innovative Theater Awards. Project Y has been the recipient of grants from NYSCA, ART/NY, The Nancy Quinn Fund, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the humanitarian Puffin Foundation. They have produced work which includes Planet of the Grapes Live!, Trump Lear, Gary Busey's One-Man Hamlet, Connected, Fubar and Great Again, at venues including 59E59, A.R.T./New York, HERE, Theatre Row Theaters and Edinburgh Fringe. They have produced and/or developed work by playwrights including Megan Monaghan Rivas, Lia Romeo, Karl Gadjusek, Charles Mee, Lee Blessing, Sean Christopher Lewis, Antu Yacob, Johnna Adams, Tori Keenan-Zelt, Amina Henry, Em Lewis, Nikkole Salter, France-Luce Benson, Banna Desta, and Erin Mallon. www.projectytheatre.org

The A.R.T./New York Theatres are a project of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York) which provide state-of-the-art, accessible venues and top-line technical equipment at subsidized rates, so that the city's small and emerging theatre companies can continue to experiment, grow, and produce new works. Founded in 1972, A.R.T./New York assists over 400 member theatres in realizing their rich artistic visions and serving their diverse audiences well. A.R.T./New York accomplishes this through providing progressive services to

our members - from shared office and rehearsal spaces to technical assistance programs for emerging theatres. Because of this dedication to serving the needs of the nonprofit theatre community, A.R.T./New York has received numerous honors, including an Obie Award, an Innovative Theatre Award, a New York City Mayor's Award for Arts & Culture, and a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre. For more information, please visit www.art-newyork.org.

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