Xanthe Elbrick To Lead Cast In Parity Productions's World Premiere Of CHARLIE'S WAITING By Mêlisa Annis 

Theatre Production Company Parity Productions, a producer of new work that ensures they fill at least 50% of the creative positions (playwrights, directors, and designers) on their productions with women and/or trans and gender nonconforming (TCNG) artists, is pleased to announce their world premiere production of Charlie's Waiting by Mêlisa Annis, Parity's 2017 Commission Winner, this March 29 through April 14 at Theaterlab (357 W 36th St, New York, NY 10018) hosted by TLab Shares. The cast is led by Tony nominee Xanthe Elbrick, and includes Amy Scanlon. Charlie's Waiting is directed by Parity Productions Artistic Director, Ludovica Villar Hauser.

Charlie's Waiting, a world premiere by 2017 Parity Commission winner Mêlisa Annis, follows two women the night before their wedding. A very pregnant Louise is busy with all the planning while her fiancée Kelly busies herself feeding the goats. Everything is going to plan, that is until Louise is forced to confront questions of trust and intimacy, and she discovers how quickly plans can get derailed. "This is the first production to come of our Annual Parity Commissioning pipeline, and we could not be more excited," says Parity's Founder and Artistic Director, Ludovica Villar-Hauser. "What you'll find about Melisa's work is that she can make you laugh and turn the table on you in a way that you weren't expecting in her extraordinary manner of playwriting."

Click here to purchase tickets. $27.50 General Admission. $15.00 Student/Senior/Rush/Military. $50 VIP.

"Parity has afforded me an incredible home for further development and production of Charlie's Waiting. I couldn't be more pleased about the process and working with a company that is so steadfast in its mission and commitment to a diverse array of artists," says playwright Mêlisa Annis.

Xanthe Elbrick (Louise): Broadway: Coram Boy (Tony Award, Drama Desk Nom, Theatre World Award Winner) Off-Broadway: Candida (Drama Desk Award), Beebo Brinker Chronicles, Leaves of Glass, The Alice Complex, Peter and the Starcatcher (original workshop cast). Sith Inquisitor: STAR WARS The Old Republic, Body Of Lies (dir. Ridley Scott), Igraine The Brave (Parents' Choice Award). Trained Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Actors Studio MFA. Xanthe Elbrick Photography. www.xantheelbrickphotography.com

Amy Scanlon (Annie) is thrilled to be joining Parity Productions for Charlie's Waiting. Training includes: Film and Theatre BA, Musical Theatre RADA, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Theatre credits include: One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, It Runs in the Family, Midsummer Nights Dream, Blithe Spirit (Gallery Players), For Now (NYFringe), The Rental (The Secret Theatre), Scenes of a Sexual Nature (Water People THetre), Balladeers Play to the Moon (Joe's Pub). www.amy-scanlon.com

Mêlisa Annis's work has been seen at or developed by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Lark, and with Dorset Theater Festival at the Theresa Rebeck Writers Colony, The New School, Primary Stages, ESPA*Drills, Tangent Theater, AboutFace Theater (Ireland), and her play United Front was a finalist for the Lark's Playwrights Week. She won the Margaret Lamb Creative Writing Prize, and was the recipient of the Fordham Summer Fellowship while studying for her MFA in playwriting at Fordham/Primary Stages. Mêlisa has written for new children's show Jessy and Nessy for Amazon Studios/JAM Media. Mêlisa's play Aberfan was published in Clockhouse Literary Magazine (Goddard University) and her play Fit for a King was illustrated and published in Fourth Wall Magazine. Mêlisa is a frequent contributor to BBC Wales factual programming, and has written personal essays for The Western Mail (UK) and BBC Online. She is the recipient of the Parity Productions Inaugural Annual Commission for her play Charlie's Waiting.

Ludovica Villar-Hauser is the Founder and Artistic Director or Parity Productions. Her credits include Off-Broadway premiere of Final Analysis by Otho Eskin at the Signature Theatre (Outstanding Direction at Midtown International Theatre Festival); the premiere of Gregory Murphy's The Countess, which ran for 634 performances Off-Broadway before moving to London's West End; the Off-Broadway premiere of Leaves of Glass by English playwright Philip Ridley; As It Is In Heaven by Arlene Hutton at The Cherry Lane; Bold Girls by Rona Munro at 29th Street Rep; and the NY premieres of A Dozen Perfect Moments, The Brightness of Heaven, Living Arrangements by Laura Pedersen; and, most recently, She Calls Me Firefly by Teresa Lotz at SoHo Playhouse. Previous to her many credits in New York, Villar-Hauser was the youngest woman ever to simultaneously produce and direct in London's West End. Her Long Day's Journey Into Night transferred after its initial run to a larger West End venue. She is a recipient of NYWA's Galaxy Award, and has served on the Board of the League of Professional Theatre Women since 2009.

Parity Productions is a formidable producer of new work that ensures that they fill at least 50% of the creative positions (playwrights, directors, and designers) on their productions with women and/or TGNC artists. In addition to producing their own work, they actively promote other theatre companies that follow their 50% hiring standard. Artistically, they develop and produce compelling new plays that give voice to individuals who rebel against their marginalized place in society. In concert with Parity's mission to see more cis women and trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) artists employed in the theatre, Parity Productions awards two commissions per year to cis women and TGNC playwrights who have demonstrated a singular talent for storytelling. The selected playwrights receive $2,500 each.

Parity Productions is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit theatre company formed in 2016 by international award-winning director Ludovica Villar-Hauser with its roots in two other previous not-for-profits founded by Villar-Hauser: VH Theatrical Development Foundation and Works by Women.

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