Theater for the New City Presents The Off-B'way Premiere of HEATHENS

Theater for the New City (Crystal Field, Executive Director) will present Heathens, a new play by Heather Hill, directed by Stefanie Sertich, having its Off-Broadway premiere beginning March 1st and continuing through March 17th only. Opening Night is set for Sunday March 4th (3pm). TNC is located at 155 1st Avenue, between East 9th and East 10th Streets

The cast features Lauren Fox, Lisa Roberts Gillan, Malcolm Madera, and Andy Powers. The design team includes Edward Ross (scenic), Dan Jobbins (lighting), and Joey Blaha (costume).

About the show: "Set on an isolated farm in eastern Kentucky, Heathens is an unsettling comedy that makes the term “family values” take on new meaning. When a wandering laborer follows a woman home for the night, he finds a lot more than he bargains for in the home she shares with her sister and her Mamaw. The play explores mourning, faith, and the dangers of isolation as the characters do battle with themselves and each other."

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY (TNC) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning community cultural center that is known for its high artistic standards and widespread community service. One of New York’s most prolific theatrical organizations, TNC produces 30-40 premieres of new American plays per year, at least 10 of which are by emerging and young playwrights. Many influential theater artists of the last quarter century have found TNC’s Resident Theater Program instrumental to their careers, among them Sam Shepard, Moises Kaufman, Richard Foreman, Charles Busch, Maria Irene Fornes, Miguel Piñero and Academy Award-winners Tim Robbins and Adrien Brody. TNC also presents plays by multi-ethnic/multi-disciplinary theater companies who have no permanent home. Among the well-known companies that have been presented by TNC are Mabou Mines, The Living Theater, Bread and Puppet Theater, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. TNC seeks to develop theater audiences and inspire future theater artists from the often-overlooked low-income minority communities of New York City by producing minority writers from around the world and by bringing the community into theater and theater into the community through its many free Festivals. TNC productions have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and over 40 OBIE Awards for excellence in every theatrical discipline. TNC is also the only Theatrical Organization to have won the Mayor's Stop The Violence award

Performances are Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, with matinees Sunday at 3pm through Sat March 17th. (Special Added Performance Saturday March 3rd at 2pm). Tickets are $10, and can be purchased by calling 212/254-1109 or online at www.theaterforthenewcity.net

Heather Hill (Playwright), a native of Kentucky, is a playwright, lyricist, and librettist. Her plays have received readings and workshops at numerous theaters, including the Royal Court, the Orange Tree Playhouse in Richmond, England, The New Group, Primary Stages, the Vineyard Theater, the Kitchen Theater, the Belt, and the Horizon Theater in Atlanta. Her play Notes from the Confederacy was developed under the mentorship of A.R. Gurney and the Cherry Lane Theater. Her play Eulogy for Boris the Relic Hunter, commissioned by The Regional Theater Company, was included in RTC's festival of shorts. Ms. Hill directed and co-adapted That Play: a solo Macbeth, which enjoyed a sold out run at the Midtown International Fringe Festival. Ms. Hill is the recipient of two Hopwood Drama Awards, as well as a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. In addition, she is a two-time finalist for the Princess Grace Award and a finalist for the Manhattan Theatre Club Fellowship. She received her M.F.A. from Columbia University where she was a Presidential Scholar. She is a member of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop. www.heatherhillplaywright.com

Stefanie Sertich (Director) recently directed Dead Man's Cell Phone (Waterfront Playhouse, Key West FL). In spring 2010, she directed the world premiere of Eduardo Machado's Havana Journal, 2004 (INTAR Theatre/Theater for the New City). Other NY directing credits include The Dome (Prospect Theatre), Museum Pieces (Prospect Theatre), The Shape of Things (LaGuardia Performing Arts Center), Like You Like It (The Broadway Workshop), Animal Farm (The Neighborhood Playhouse), Do Gooder (The Public-NYU MFA workshop), The Useless Man (INTAR New Works Lab). Regional: Animal Farm (The New Rep in Boston), Electra, (Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon-Winner KC/ACTF Directing Award), Kimberly Akimbo (Salem Rep), the world premieres of Darkstep and Dawning and Weeping Woman (Stark Raving Theatre, Portland OR). Summer Stock: Cole Porter's You Never Know and Annie (Millbrook Playhouse). Stefanie has directed pilot workshops for ITheatrics and Disney Theatricals which include Disney's High School Musical Jr., Disney's Aladdin Kids, Disney's Beauty and the Beast Jr., and The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley. Stefanie was the director in residence at Stark Raving Theatre from 2003-2005. She is an Assistant Professor at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, in the newly appointed theatre department. Stefanie was a guest artist and faculty member at Western Oregon University in the Fall of 2010 and directed Picnic. www.stefaniesertich.com

Lauren Fox (Junebug) is a New York City, born and raised, actress, singer, writer and restaurateur. Her film credits include Darren Aronofsky’s Pi, Noon Blue Apples (Sundance 2002 premiere), Revolution Summer, Standing on Fishes, and the recent films, Hamill and We Need To Talk About Kevin. Television credits include New Amsterdam and Fringe. In January of 2011, Lauren was in the show Hillbilly Women, at the ArcLight Theater, directed by Sondra Lee. Her performance as Appalachian factory worker Sharleen has won critical praise from The New York Times. Her screenplay, Atlas Of The Soul, is in development with Lauren set to play the lead role, under the direction of Raul Esparza. Her new show, Love, Lust, Fear & Freedom: The Songs Of Joni Mitchell & Leonard Cohen opened in November 2011 with four shows at the Metropolitan Room, to rave reviews, and returns for two shows in February. In April Lauren will star in the short film, The Days God Slept, shooting in NYC. She, along with her sister, Haley Fox, wrote the Alice’s Tea Cup cookbook (named after the popular tea houses they founded), which was released for worldwide sales in the fall of 2010. Lauren is a member of The Indies Lab, a developmental film and theater lab in NYC.

Lisa Roberts Gillan (Lulu-Lilly) Theater credits include Heather Hill?s Notes From The Confederacy, Sex In Advertising, Loose Ends, San Luis Obispo, And Animal Kingdom. Film audiences have seen her in Eat, Pray, Love; Valentine's Day; Mona Lisa Smile; Raising Helen; Runaway Bride; Made In Manhattan; Journey of August King. Lisa’s numerous television credits include “Friends,” “Law & Order,” “Sex and the City,” “Law & Order SVU,” “Queens Supreme,” “100 Center Street.”

Malcolm Madera (Sisyphus) Some stage credits include Camisade Theatre Company's Derby Day (The Clurman, Theatre Row), Harry Reems in The Deep Throat Sex Scandal (45 Bleeker), The Woodshed Collective's The Tenant, Al’s Business Cards (The Lion, Theatre Row), The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side (PS 122), The Off Broadway 24 Hour Plays (The Acorn, Theatre Row), Dance Lessons (Samuel French Festival Winner at The Lion), Somewhere In The Pacific (The Atlantic Stage 2), I.E. In Other Words (The Flea), Buried Child (Fusion, ABQ, NM) and Mark Renton in Trainspotting (The Vortex, ABQ, NM.) Trained at the Drama Studio London where parts included the title role in Macbeth, MaJ. Robbie Ross/Ketch in Our Country’s Good, and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Film and TV- My Brother Jack (UpCrown Studios), Romeo and Juliet vs. The Living Dead (Third Star Films), Circledrawers (Poppoli Pictures), “Guiding Light” (CBS), and “All My Children” (ABC). While in London he performed at the historic Old Vic theatre in the Old Vic New Voices 24 Hour Plays. Company member of At Play, The Amoralists and a founding member of The Camisade Theatre Company.

Andy Powers (Jebdiah) has appeared Off-Broadway in Buying Time by Michael Weller, Housebreaking, Slag Heap, Gun Club (Cherry Lane Theatre); If I Had (59E59); Vick’s Boy (The Barrow Group). TV & Film: “The Good Wife,” “OZ,” “ER,” “Taken,” “L&O: SVU,” “L&O: Criminal Intent,” “Crossing Jordan,” “CSI,” “NYPD Blue,” “Without A Trace,” “Third Watch,” Northeast, In Her Shoes, Untitled: A Love Story.

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