Abingdon Theatre Company to Honor V (formerly Eve Ensler) and Mary Beth Peil at 31st Anniversary Gala

Abingdon Theatre Company has announced Tony & Obie Award Winner V (formerly Eve Ensler) and Legacy Award Recipient, Obie Award Winner & Tony Award Nominee Mary Beth Peil as their 31st Anniversary Gala Honorees.

The benefit gala will be held on Monday, October 23, 2023, at the Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street). The evening will include cocktails, dinner, and a live performance featuring a bevy of Broadway and Off-Broadway stars to be announced at a later date. The performance will be directed by Producing Artistic Director, Chad Austin and choreographed by Deidre Goodwin with musical direction by Robbie Cowan.

     

V (formerly Eve Ensler) is the Tony award-winning playwright, author, and activist. Her many plays include The Vagina Monologues, the Obie award-winning, Olivier-nominated theatrical phenomenon translated into 48 languages and performed in 140 countries. She is the author of numerous books, including the recently released bestseller, Reckoning, heralded by the Washington Post as “gutting and gorgeous.” Other best-selling books include The Apology, translated into 20 languages, In the Body of the World, and The New York Times bestseller, I Am an Emotional Creature. She starred on Broadway in The Good Body and, most recently Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club in the critically acclaimed In the Body of the World. She helped create The New York Times Critic's Pick, That Kindness: Nurses in Their Own Words, presented by the Brooklyn Academy of Music in collaboration with theaters across the US, as a tribute to nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. V is currently writing the book and co-writing lyrics for a musical WILD with award-winning pop composer Justin Tranter and Tony Award winner Diane Paulus. Her film credits include The Vagina Monologues (HBO), What I Want My Words to Do to You (Executive Producer, Winner of the Sundance Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award, PBS), Mad Max: Fury Road (Consultant), and City of Joy documentary (Netflix). She is the founder of V-Day, the 25-year-old global activist movement which has raised over 120 million dollars to end violence against women, gender-expansive people, girls, and the planet—and founder of One Billion Rising, the largest global mass action to end gender-based violence in over 200 countries, as well as a co-founder of the City of Joy. V was named one of Newsweek’s “150 Women Who Changed the World,” TIME’s “Feminist of the Year,” and The Guardian’s “100 Most Influential Women.” She writes regularly for The Guardian.

 Mary Beth Peil is an Obie Award-winning, two-time Tony Award-nominated actress and singer known for her work on Broadway, television, and film. A winner of Metropolitan National Auditions, she sang leading roles with Metropolitan National Company, NY City Opera, and Young Concert Artists, among many others. She originated the role of Alma in Lee Hoiby’s operatic adaptation of Summer and Smoke which was featured on PBS Great Performances. On Broadway, Peil has received Tony nominations for The King and I as Mrs. Anna opposite Yul Brynner and for originating her role in Anastasia as Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Additional Broadway credits include Sunday in the Park with George, Nine, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Follies, The Visit, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. She is a member of Atlantic Theatre Ensemble and has performed with many NYC Off-Broadway companies in addition to prominent Regional Companies. She is also known for her television roles on “The Good Wife” and “Dawson’s Creek” and has appeared in films Flags of Our Fathers, Odd Couple 2, Stepford Wives 2, and Mirrors, as well as several independent films.

Established over 30 years ago, Abingdon Theatre Company (ATC) develops and produces critically acclaimed brave, new American work by emerging and established artists. Mainstage Productions include the Off-Broadway premiere of Robin & Me: My Little Spark of Madness written and performed by Dave Droxler, the New York premiere of Queens Girl in the World, which was nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance for the Vivian Robinson Audelco Recognition Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre, and the NYT Critics’ Pick Get on Your Knees written and performed by Jaqueline Novak, nominated for a Drama Desk Award. The DMW Greer One Night Only Series has showcased work such as Alex Edelman’s Just for Us which went on to receive Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations and is currently running on Broadway; Back by Matt Webster starring Emmy Award nominee Madeline Brewer and Tony Award nominee James Cusati-Moyer; The Prompter starring Oscar-winning actress Estelle Parsons; Date of a Lifetime, a new musical with book and lyrics by Carl Kissin and music by Robert Baumgartner Jr. ATC’s Around the Table Series has produced staged readings of new plays such as The Inferno by Chris Sherman and Arancini by Joey Merlo. In 2020, ATC established Abingdon Virtual led by Executive Producer Chad Austin, and has since produced three award-winning films, including As Apple

Pie written and directed by Artist-in-Residence Pierre Marais, which was an official selection of the Cannes World Film Festival for Best Young Filmmaker and won multiple awards at festivals including Best Cinematography, Best Director, and Best Drama USA; Abingdon Virtual’s premiere film, It Cries Too Loudly, was an official selection of the Prague International Short Film Awards and won Best Cinematography and Best Short Film at the Eastern European Film Festival.

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