THE IN[HEIR]ITANCE PROJECT Brings Five Genesis Plays To The 14th Street Y

THE IN[HEIR]ITANCE PROJECT and THE THEATER AT THE 14TH STREET Y are pleased to present THE GENESIS PLAYS, created in a collaborative process led by Jon Adam Ross and directed by Chantal Pavageaux. THE GENESIS PLAYS, a collection of plays inspired by stories in the book of Genesis, will perform in rep during a three-week limited engagement at The Theater at the 14th Street Y (344 E 14th St at 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003) and are funded with generous support by The Covenant Foundation. Performances begin Tuesday, May 1st and continue through Friday, May 18, 2018. Tickets are $18 (or see three plays for $14 each with a Flex Pass) and are now available online at www.14streety.org.

Each GENESIS PLAY is inspired by the narrative of a matriarch or patriarch from the book of Genesis and devised with communities in a different city. THE ABRAHAM PLAY (Twin Cities 2015) follows a Wall Street stock jock searching for a lost deed in a scavenger hunt where the audience holds the clues. In THE REBECCA PLAY (Charleston 2016), the city becomes a mother playing favorites among her children, White and Black. THE JACOB PLAY (Austin 2016) is a hard-hitting, smackdown, knockout wrestling extravaganza! THE LEAH/RACHEL PLAY (Seattle 2017) investigates sisterhood using filmed interviews of sisters of all ages, live music, and ancient papyrus. And in THE SARAH PLAY (Kansas City 2017), three actors struggle with how to tell a sacred shared narrative of the Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions, when there are multiple accounts of the truth.

Over the past three years, The In[heir]itance Project devised THE GENESIS PLAYS by entrenching themselves in five mid-sized US cities and opening up the creative process so those communities could participate and develop a deeper connection to the performance and the biblical narratives that inspire the project. The process includes text study with artists and clergy, devising workshops, open rehearsals with participating organizations and houses of worship, performance talkbacks, and community engagement events where local artists and audiences also respond to the source material.

The Genesis Plays are produced by Goode Productions for The In[heir]itance Project, with scenic design by Deb O, lighting design by Stacey Boggs, and sound design by Caroline Faustine. Rachel April is the stage manager, and Tyler Winthrop and Zija Lubin-West are the assistant stage managers.

Tickets are $18 (or see three plays for $14 each with a Flex Pass) and are now available online at www.14streety.org or by calling 646-395-4310. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the box office half-hour prior to the performance.

All box office proceeds went towards creating local grants for interfaith and cross-cultural arts creation, and in NYC, box office proceeds will go towards a grant program for interfaith and inter-racial artist collaborations through the 14th Street Y.

Running Time: Each play is approximately 70 minutes

Website: www.inheiritance.org

Direct link to purchase tickets here!

JON ADAM ROSS (Writer, Performer) is co-founder and managing director of The In[heir]itance Project and the co-writer of all five of The Genesis Plays. Jon has spent nearly 20 years making art with religious communities around the country as an actor, playwright, and teaching artist. He has served as an artist in residence at Union Theological Seminary, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and many other religious and educational institutions. Jon was a Spielberg Fellow in Jewish Theater Education with the Foundation for Jewish Camp and received a Fellowship from the Covenant Foundation to create the In[heir]itance Project in 2015. As an actor, Jon has performed at the Guthrie Theater (MN), Playhouse on the Square (TN), and in NYC where his stage credits include: a dog, a 2,000 year old bird, an elderly orthodox Jew, a spurned housewife, a horse, a British naval officer in 1700's Jamaica, a goat, Jesus Christ, a lawyer, a hapless police chief, and a cyclops. Jon holds a BFA in Acting from NYU/Tisch.? He? has performed his solo shows?, Walking in Memphis and God of Our Fathers,? in over 90 cities around the globe www.jonadamross.com

Chantal Pavageaux (Director) is co-founder and creative director of The In[heir]itance Project, and the director of all five of The Genesis Plays. She holds a BFA in Directing from NYU/Tisch, and was chosen by the Drama League as as a 2010 Directing Fellow, and 2011 Resident Artist. She was the assistant director at Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis, and Target Margin Theater Co., Witness Relocation Co., and Mabou Mines in NYC. Directing work includes Lisa Clair's What's YOUR Problem? (Ars Nova, Cloud City), Erin Search-Wells's Masha 3000 (Intermedia Arts) and GIRLZ: A Reckoning (Bedlam Theatre), Nikko Benson & Benjamin Halstead's Nikola Tesla Drops the Beat (Musical Theater Factory), and Billy Noble's sci-fi radio show The Gone (89.1 FM WNYU). Original performance works include Relics (Guthrie Theater), The Breezy Pines (Mabou Mines/Suite), The Game Show (Ars Nova, NY Live Arts), The T.A.C.T. (Talking About Complicated Topics) Force (Bryant Lake Bowl), The Love Party: REVIVAL (Red Eye Theater), The Love Party (Bedlam Theatre), The Political Party (Fazio's), and The Dinner Party (Dixon Place). Adaptations of classic texts include tres bitches -or- i wanna go to moscow (Twin Cities Chekhov Festival), and Beggar on Horseback -or- Nelly Sunshine's Journey to Hell (Hangar Theater Lab) and an interactive installation called THE HUNT (Chicago Sketchbook X). Chantal lives in Minneapolis, where she is a teaching artist at the Guthrie Theater, a writing mentor at the Jungle Theater, and the co-founder and artistic director of LALA, an experimental art festival. Websites: keepthepants.com, lalafestival.com

GOODE PRODUCTIONS (Producer) has been producing New Works for over a decade. Led by Martha Goode, the company believes that the fostering of emerging artists is integral to the future of the arts in our country. Producer credits include: Broadway: The Miracle Worker (Circle in the Square, associate producer). Regional: The Rime (at The Virginia Arts Festival), Greencard Wedding (Carrie Morris Performing Art Center in Detroit MI, best actor Fringe Arts Detroit and The Allways Lounge in New Orleans LA, The Studios of Key West, FL). New York: AMP; Greencard Wedding; Anaïs Nin Goes to Hell; Sweet, Sweet Spirit; Parts of Parts & Stitches; Costa Rehab; Barrier Island; A Home Across the Ocean and Good Lonely People (with Manhattan Theatre Works), Wanda's Monster (with New York City Children's Theater); To Barcelona!, The Riverside Symphony, Eli and Cheryl Jump (New York International Fringe Festival), Don't Do Drugs (with Crosstown Playwrights), The Stranger to Kindness (Winner Best Production, Planet Connections Theatre Festivity), The Violet Hour (with Active Theater), and Training Wisteria (New York International Fringe Festival). www.GoodeProductionsNYC.com

THE IN[HEIR]ITANCE PROJECT is a national non-profit arts organization which engages communities by putting their lived experiences in conversation with inherited texts using a unique methodology of research, play, and reflection that involves audiences throughout the creative process. www.inheiritance.org

THE THEATER AT THE 14TH STREET Y focuses on social awareness and change through big picture narrative. Inspired by works that welcome artists of all backgrounds, we place artists at the heart of our community and seek to create an inclusive and open cultural experience for all. Art is incubated here. www.14streety.org

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