Women in Theatre Festival Opens at Theatre Row

Project Y Theatre Company will open 2 weeks of new plays by women in New York City as part of the first annual Women in Theatre Festival (WiT), the festival that pushes past the notion of 'Gender Parity' by going 'Beyond Parity' with an entirely women-led lineup. For the inaugural year of the curated festival, there will be a run of new plays and performances by diverse women artists with July dates at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd Street) in the Studio Theatre.

Projects have been chosen by invitation and include full productions, online projects, devised pieces, solo shows and readings. All writers are women and there is a majority of women in all aspects of production - writers, actors, directors, producers, and technical staff.

In direct response to gender disparity in theatre leadership, casting, and production, the objective of WiT is to broaden opportunities for women artists, engage with an audience who seek an indie theatre experience, and add to the canon of women playwrights writing roles for women actors. To this end, WiT has curated new works by women writers and lead artists, to be presented at the festival, and will ensure that emerging, mid-career, and established women artists are represented. By committing to producing a festival of 100% women writers, the WiT experience will be an experience that seeks not 50% representation, but to go beyond parity.

The two "Headline Productions" are the NY Premiere of The Gun Show, by E.M. Lewis and Baby Boom by Lia Romeo.

The Gun Show a NY Premiere by E.M. Lewis

Directed by Shelley Butler, featuring Andrew W. Smith.

From a farming community in rural Oregon to the big cities of Los Angeles and New York, playwright E. M. Lewis takes aim at her own relationship with firearms in "The Gun Show." An actor shares Ms. Lewis's unique perspective and true stories about America's most dangerous pastime as if they were his own, with brutal honesty and poignant humor. Leaning neither right nor left, "The Gun Show" jumps into the middle of the gun control debate, and asks "Can we have a conversation about this?"

*Nominated for a Jeff Award for Best Solo Show

The Gun Show Dates:

Wednesday July 13th at 8pm (w/new play reading by Elephant Run District)

Thursday July 14th at 8pm (w/"Baby Boom")

Friday, July 15th at 8pm (w/"Baby Boom")

Saturday, July 16th at 2pm (followed by a Talk Back with the playwright)

Saturday, July 16th at 8pm (w/"Nice Tits!")

Sunday, July 17th at 3pm (w/"Baby Boom")

Friday, July 22nd at 8pm (w/new work by PTP/NYC)

Saturday, July 23rd at 2pm (w/"STEUBENVILLE")

Saturday, July 23rd at 8pm (w/"Baby Boom")

Sunday, July 24th at 3pm (w/"Naked")

Baby Boom a NY Premiere by Lia Romeo

Directed by Michole Biancosino, featuring Elizabeth Audley, Kate Russell, and Joachim Boyle.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the perfect couple... except for the baby they desperately want but are unable to have. When a machine gun dressed as a baby shows up on their doorstep, they decide to raise it as their own. A play about perfect towns, shiny people, and the tricky language of blame.

Baby Boom Dates:

Thursday, July 14th at 8pm (w/"The Gun Show")

Friday, July 15th at 8pm (w/"The Gun Show")

Saturday, July 16th at 4pm (w/new play reading "Back from the Dead")

Sunday, July 17th at 3pm (w/"The Gun Show")

Wednesday, July 20th at 8pm (w/"Fall Risk")

Thursday, July 21st at 8pm (w/new play reading "Sumatanga")

Saturday, July 23rd at 4pm (w/ "The Subtle Powers of Transmutations")

Saturday, July 23rd at 8pm (w/"The Gun Show")

The festival is spearheaded by Project Y Theatre Company, which is co-founded and led by Michole Biancosino and Andrew W. Smith.

See the complete, day by day lineup below:

Tuesday, July 12th at 7pm

Dinner with Frenemies, a new play reading by Cecilia Copeland, followed by Panel on Women Playwrights, hosted by Lia Romeo

Wednesday July 13th at 8pm

THE GUN SHOW by EM Lewis and new play readings by Elephant Run District, directed by Aimee Todoroff

Thursday July 14th at 8pm

The Gun Show by EM Lewis and Baby Boom by Lia Romeo

Friday, July 15th at 8pm

The Gun Show by EM Lewis and Baby Boom by Lia Romeo

Saturday, July 16th at 2pm

The Gun Show by EM Lewis, followed by a Talk Back with the playwright

Saturday, July 16th at 4pm

Baby Boom by Lia Romeo and new play reading of Back from the Dead by Addie Walsh

Saturday, July 16th at 8pm

The Gun Show by EM Lewis and Nice Tits! by Amy Marcs

Sunday, July 17th at 3pm

The Gun Show by EM Lewis and Baby Boom by Lia Romeo

Tuesday, July 19th at 7pm

Baby Mama by Mariah MacCarthy

Wednesday, July 20th at 2pm

In the Gray, by Antu Yacob and a reading of MOCK, by Jess Honovich, directed by Jenny Leon

Wednesday, July 20th at 8pm

Baby Boom by Lia Romeo and Fall Risk by Dana Jacks

Thursday, July 21st at 8pm

Baby Boom by Lia Romeo and new play reading of Sumatanga by Sarah Dunivant

Friday, July 22nd at 8pm

The Gun Show by EM Lewis and a reading of SYCORAX: Cyber Queen of Qatar by Fengar Gael, directed by Cheryl Faraone

Saturday, July 23rd at 2pm

The Gun Show by EM Lewis and STEUBENVILLE by Eleanor Bishop

Saturday, July 23rd at 4pm

Baby Boom by Lia Romeo and The Subtle Powers of Transmutation by Aaron Ballard

Saturday, July 23rd at 8pm

The Gun Show by EM Lewis and Baby Boom by Lia Romeo

Sunday, July 24th at 3pm

The Gun Show by EM Lewis and Naked by Vanessa Shealy Younger (Younger Child Productions)

For more information and for tickets visit: www.projectytheatre.org

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