THE REVIVAL Ignites Theatre Row in September

Project Y Theatre presents the World Premiere of THE REVIVAL, written by Samuel Brett Williams and directed by Michole Biancosino. THE REVIVAL begins previews on Thursday, September 9 for a limited engagement through Saturday, September 25. Opening Night is Tuesday, September 14 at 7 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday at 7 PM, Thursday - Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM. Please note, there is no 2 PM performance on Saturday, September 11, and an added performance on Wednesday, September 15 at 8 PM. THE REVIVAL plays at The Lion @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues). The regular ticket price is $18. Tickets are available by calling Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or online at www.telecharge.com.

A Harvard educated son of a Southern Baptist preacher returns to his Arkansas hometown to rebuild his father's congregation. Under pressure to grow the congregation to compete with neighboring mega-Churches, the young Pastor seizes an opportunity to cleanse a mysterious stranger of his homosexuality, becoming an overnight evangelical superstar. But at what cost?

Samuel Brett Williams's new play is an insider's look at the making of a mega-Church machine from grassroots beginnings. THE REVIVAL asks just how far are you willing to go for the things you believe?

THE REVIVAL receives its World Premiere courtesy of Project Y Theatre, formerly based in Washington, DC, where their vibrancy and energy elicited passionate responses from the critics. Bob Mondello of NPR and The Washington City Paper called them "a consistently thrilling company" and Washington Post writer Jane Horwitz compared them to Chicago's renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Now making their home in New York City, their first NY production, FUBAR, played at Americas Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in 2009.

THE REVIVAL cast features Trent Dawson (multiple Daytime Emmy-nominated for his role as Henry Coleman on "As the World Turns"), David Darrow (making his NYC premiere, fresh from an apprenticeship at Actor's Theatre of Louisville), Raymond McAnally (original cast of God's Ear at The Vineyard and with New Georges, Showtime's "Nurse Jackie") and AiDan Sullivan (Medea on Broadway).

The design team includes Lighting Design by Ben Hagen, Set Design by Kevin Judge, Sound Design by Amit Prakash and Costume Design by Emily Pepper.

Samuel Brett Williams (playwright) hails from Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he was raised in a strict Southern Baptist environment. He received his BA in English and Political Science from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and his MFA in Playwriting from Rutgers University, where he studied under Lee Blessing. Brett's plays have been developed at the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights' Conference, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Lark Play Development Center, Naked Angels, Yale University, The Flea, WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory, and P73 Productions. Brett's plays have been produced at Cherry Lane Theatre, Ars Nova, Project Y Theatre Company, XIII Pocket, and New Orleans Theatre Experiment. Brett is published by Playscripts, Northwestern Press, Best New American Plays 2004-2005, and Best New American Plays 2006-2007. He has received commissions from the National New Play Network and Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey (where he was the resident playwright in 2008). Brett is a past winner of the Helen Merrill Emerging Playwright Award (other winners include: Sarah Ruhl, Adam Rapp, and Annie Baker). Brett teaches Playwriting, Basic Composition, and Expository Writing for Rutgers University. He is 28 years old.

Michole Biancosino (director) is the Artistic Director of Project Y Theatre Company, where she has directed shows in Washington, D.C. and New York City over the past 10 years. With Project Y, she has led various professional productions, as producer, director, and performer. Recently she directed the workshop production of an original musical, Things That Don't Happen (Center Stage), and directed a women's play series. As a founder of the New Orleans Theatre Experiment, she produced and directed The Trashbag Tourist at the Fine Arts Center in New Orleans, as well as Thérèse Raquin Desire and Baby Boom both at the New Orleans Fringe Festival. She is interested in supporting and exploring new work, and has developed new plays for Crossroads Theatre, Charter Theatre, Milesquare Theatre, the Lark, Woolly Mammoth, Luna Stage, and the Kennedy Center New Play Festival. Michole received the 2008 SDCF Sir John Gielgud Fellowship for directors and traveled to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to serve as assistant director to Laird Williamson. She holds a M.F.A. in Directing from Rutgers University, where she is regularly a guest artist.

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