SHAREHOLDER VALUE Makes World Premiere with Theater For the New City

Theater For the New City announces the world premiere of SHAREHOLDER VALUE by Tom Attea. Based loosely on the meltdown at General Electric, the play is about the struggles of the CEO of a troubled conglomerate to deliver what he must every quarter, regardless of the problems the company faces: shareholder value. The production reunites the playwright with Mark Marcante, director, and Arthur Abrams, composer of the incidental music, the team behind Heather Smiley for President, America's Favorite Newscaster, and An American Worker. SHAREHOLDER VALUE will play a limited engagement from March 21st through April 14th at Theater For the New City (155 1st Avenue at East 10th Street), with official opening on Saturday, March 30th. Tickets, priced $10-$15, may be purchased online through SmartTix or by calling (212) 868-4444 or the box office at (212) 254-1109.

Like all CEO's of publicly held conglomerates, Dennis Holland of the fictional company Total Electric must deliver one thing: shareholder value. From the financial crisis of 2008 through the present, Holland scrambles to implement shortsighted ways to deliver quarterly profits, including spinning off divisions, green lighting cutbacks and consistently favoring quick fixes over long-term strategy. An activist investor challenges his leadership, and when the CEO decides to sell the light-bulb division, TE's founder, Thomas Edison, haunts his dreams. When the stock continues to tumble and debt mounts, the cost of his actions becomes increasingly apparent to his shareholders, his employees, and finally to himself.

The cast of SHAREHOLDER VALUE features Debbie Bernstein, Joe Candelora, Matt Gorsky, Dennis Holland, Bill McAndrews, Benjamin Russell, and Kristen Tripolitis.

SHAREHOLDER VALUE features original incidental music by Arthur Abrams. Set design is by Mark Marcante; costume design is by Desiree Conton; lighting design is by Alexander Bartenieff; sound and video design is by Alex Santullo and prop design is by Lytza Colon. Jordyn Prince is the assistant director and Jessica Schedlbauer serves as stage manager.

Previews for SHAREHOLDER VALUE begin March 21st for a limited run through April 14th. Opening is scheduled for March 30th at 8pm. The performance schedule is as follows: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 3PM. Tickets, priced at $15 ($10 for students and seniors), are available by calling the box office at (212) 254-1109 or through SmartTix at (212) 868-4444.

Photo by Maria Baranova