Alex Riad's THE FLOOR IS LAVA to Play Planet Connections This Summer

The Farm Theater will premiere Alex Riad's The Floor is Lava, directed by Jessica O'Hara-Baker (Directing Fellow at The Farm Theater), at the 9th Annual Planet Connections Theatre Festivity.

Performances will be on Thursday, June 15 at 5:15pm, Saturday, June 17 at 7pm, Thursday, June 22 at 7:15pm, Monday, June 26 at 9:15pm, Sunday, July 2 at 5pm, and Saturday, July 8 at 1:15pm at the Flamboyan Theater (107 Suffolk Street between Rivington and Delancey). Tickets ($18) will be available online at www.planetconnections.org beginning Wednesday, May 24. Proceeds from the show will benefit Girls Who Code www.girlswhocode.com.

In high school Sean was voted 'Most Likely to Succeed'. Ten years later, and not where he expected to be in life, he reunites with his high school buddies at the launch party of their friends hugely successful app. Set in a world that is consumed with social media The Floor is Lava follows a group of millennials struggling with success, jealously, and the true meaning of connection.

Alex Riad's The Floor Is Lava was developed as part of the The Farm Theater's inaugural reading series, The Draft.

The cast will feature Molly Collier, John DiMino, Vin Kridakorn*, and Ian Poake. *Actor appears courtesy of the Actors' Equity Association.

Alex Riad (Playwright) is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and currently resides in Washington Heights, New York. His work has been workshopped and produced in New York City, Upstate New York, California, and England. In Manhattan, Essential Theatre Group produced his plays If You Ever Come By Here in July 2014 and When You Go (part of Zurich, NY) in May 2014 both at the Tank Theater. Some of his other New York writing credits include a production of his play Standbys at the 2013 Thespis Festival and readings at the Cherry Lane Theater, Labyrinth Theater, Crashbox Theater, and The Farm Theater. Alex is a Literary Fellow at The Farm and member of Indie Theater Now, an online theatre publication where you can find his work.

Jessica O'Hara-Baker (Director) is this year's Farm Theater Directing Fellow. Most recently she assistant directed Pam Berlin on Maggie Bofill's El Grande at EST's Marathon of One-Act Plays. Other directing adventures have gone down at NY Fringe, Fresh Ground Pepper, Cherry Lane, Decent Company, The Dionysian, T. Schreiber, The Shelter, and Nylon Fusion. Recent performing credits include Callan Stout's you do not look (Columbia MFA Showcase/Signature Theatre); Ming Peiffer's Usual Girls (EST's Bloodworks & Columbia MFA Showcase/Signature Theatre); Sarah Treem's The How and the Why, John Kolvenbach's Sister Play (Dreamcatcher Rep); Morgan McGuire's The Red Room, Meghan Jones' Trapper (The Shelter). She also works as a voiceover artist. jessicaoharabaker.com

The Farm Theater The name is inspired by the "farm" system of baseball whose role is to provide experience and training for developing players. The Farm Theater develops early career artists that may not have the support system afforded others, through workshops, productions, and mentoring. The centerpiece of our programming is the College Collaboration. This program in our first year developed a play that will be produced Off-Broadway in the fall of 2016, was published in Indie Theater Now, and the project was featured in an article on HowlRound. The Farm Theater since its inception has hosted Bullpen Sessions, which are free bi-monthly conversations between special guests and early career artists. Special Guests for the Bullpen Sessions have included Rajiv Joseph, Lucas Hnath, Anne Washburn, Paul Schnee, and Halley Feiffer. The Farm Theater also offers skill-building workshops throughout the year. The Farm Theater was inspired from Founding Artistic Director Padraic Lillis' twenty-five years of experience working directly with over 2,000 early career artists, developing multiple award winning new plays, and collaborating with artists working at the highest level in their field. www.thefarmtheater.org

The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is New York's premiere eco-friendly/socially conscious not-for- profit arts festival. Fostering a diverse cross-section of performances and events, the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity seeks to inspire artists and audiences both creatively and fundamentally, in a festive atmosphere forming a community of like-minded artists. At the heart of the Festivity are like-minded individuals striving to create professional, meaningful theatre, music and film, while supporting organizations, which give back to the community at large. www.planetconnections.org

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