WET Launches 8th Season With 'A Perfect Couple'

 WET (Women's Expressive Theater, Inc.) launches its 8th season with the World Premiere of Brooke Berman's A PERFECT COUPLE. Produced on an Off-Broadway contract, this limited engagement production is directed by Maria Mileaf (THE ARGUMENT at The Vineyard). Previews begin June 7th at the DR2 (103 East 15th Street) where WET became the first theater company in residence last year. Opening night is slated for June 19th.

A PERFECT COUPLE is a story about three best friends -- Amy, Issac and Emma -- and their young next door neighbor, Josh. After fifteen years of dating/living together/taking breaks and now, moving upstate, Amy and Isaac are finally tying the knot. Emma, their single best friend, has decided to get out of the city and join them for a summer weekend in the country.  Over the long weekend, secrets are revealed and bonds are tested, forcing these friends to discover who they are now, versus who they thought they would become. Brooke Berman's newest play raises pressing questions about loyalty, partnerships, and modern love.

The production stars Dana Eskelson (the title role in AFTER ASHLEY at The Vineyard ),  Annie McNamara (THE SOUND AND THE FURY at NYTW), Elan Moss-Bachrach (GOSSIP GIRL), and James Waterston (THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST with Lynn Redgrave at BAM, ANOTHER TIME with Malcolm McDowell and Marion Seldes), with sets by Neil Patel ('night Mother, SIDE MAN), costumes by Jenny Mannis (Lucille Lortel nominee, DRUNKEN CITY), sound by Bart Fasbender (US DRAG, PORT AUTHORITY), lighting  by Matthew Richards (DRUNKEN CITY), casting by Alaine Alldaffer, Cheryl D. Olszowka as production stage manager, and produced by Sasha Eden & Victoria Pettibone of WET with associate producers Ami Ankin and Azizah Rowen.

Brooke Berman is an award winning playwright whose work has been developed and produced across the US and in London (at The National Theatre and the Royal Court). Brooke's plays include:  HUNTING AND GATHERING (Primary Stages), SMASHING, UNTIL WE FIND EACH OTHER (Steppenwolf ), THE TRIPLE HAPPINESS (Second Stage, starring Ally Sheedy), SAM AND LUCY, AMAZING, and  A PERFECT COUPLE (workshopped at The National Theatre in London). Her short play "Dancing with a Devil" was as winner of the Heideman Award at Actors Theater of Louisville and a nominee for an American Theater Critics Best New Play Award. As a screen writer, she has written an adaptation of her play  SMASHING for Natalie Portman, as well as a feature called MAJOR MINOR DETAILS. Her short film ALL SAINTS DAY, directed by Will Frears, recently won Best Narrative Short at the Savannah Film Festival.

Created in 1999, WET produces media which challenges female stereotypes and advocates for equality. WET adheres to this mission by producing premiere plays by female playwrights, events promoting the work of notable female artists, and developing new screenplays and plays by women writers in WET's INKubator series.  WET's theatrical productions include the World Premieres of Anna Zeigler's BFF,  BIG TIMES (directed by Leigh Silverman), Julia Jordan's ST. SCARLET, Sheila Callaghan's SCAB, and I STAND BEFORE YOU NAKED by Joyce Carol Oates. WET recently held their annual LOVE benefit, featuring the work of Brooke Berman, Jenny Lyn Bader, Lucy Boyle, Julia Cho, Julia Jordan, Liz Tucillo, and Francine Volpe, with performances by Jane Alexander, Lauren Ambrose, Michael Cerveris, Neil Patrick Harris, Ricki Lake,  Gretchen Mol, Martha Plimpton, Josh Hamilton, and Laila Robins; the LOVE plays will be published in 2010. In 2004 WET launched the educational wing of the company, creating a city wide media literacy and leadership program for  over 100 teenage girls annually, called WET's Risk Takers Film Series.

The DR2 Theatre was created by Daryl Roth in 2002. It is ideally situated in the "heart of Off Broadway," and has the distinct ability to present artists and productions to the community through a nurturing and inviting environment. It has housed experimental theatre pieces and Off Broadway hits alike, including an 11-month run of Will Eno's Pulitzer Prize finalist THOM PAIN (BASED ON NOTHING).

A PERFECT COUPLE runs June 9 - July 12, Monday - Saturday at 8pm. The DR2 is located at 103 East 15th Street (between Union Square East and Irving Place -- accessible from the L,N,Q,R,W,4,5,6 trains at 14th Street-Union Square). Tickets range from $25 - $35, available at 212-239-6200 or www.wetweb.org.

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