American Renaissance Theater Company To Present TO SHE WHO WAITS

American Renaissance Theater Company (ARTC) is proud to present Bob Clyman's compelling new play, To She Who Waits, May 23 - June 8 at Theatre 54 at Shetler Studios. To She Who Waits was the winner of the 2018 Kaufman Award for Excellence in Playwriting. Maria Aladren directs.

The Kaufman committee shared why they selected the timely play, "To She Who Waits gives insight to what can happen in any society where there is a lack of understanding based on fear and superstition. There's a humanity in this play, Bob has created unforgettable characters in situations of the highest importance. It's a big bite of life that stays with you."

Clyman has received numerous awards and fellowships including an Outer Circle Critics nomination, Drama League's Playwrights First Award, Eugene O'Neill Summer Conference Fellowship, Edward Albee Foundation Fellowship, among others.

Meg and Jack were childhood sweethearts, who got married, and when their daughter, Hannah, was born, Meg stayed home with her, while Jack worked. They were happy. Then their church hired a new pastor. Flash forward ... Jack is dead, and Meg is fighting the church she fled for custody of Hannah. Now that Meg is about to see Hannah for the first time in two years, the clock is already ticking. She will only have 12 visits to convince Hannah, who is openly hostile toward her, to leave the church she loves and its promise of salvation, to live with Meg -- the mother who left her behind.

The cast features Lee Eden (The Bad Seed/Nicu's Spoon Theater), Brian Homer (Richard II/Richard III/Theater for a New Audience), Carol Todd (Jericho/59E59), and Kathleen Swan (Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall/Broadway).

The creative team includes scenic and costume design by Joanna Conte, sound design by Abigail Nelwin, Stage Manager Mackenzie McGuire and assistant production manager Alexis Wilner.

To She Who Waits runs May 23 - June 8 with performances Wednesday - Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 3:00 pm, and Saturday, May 25 and June 1 at 2:30 pm. Tickets are $25 and are available at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4227704. Performances take place at Theatre 54 at Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street (between Broadway & 8th Ave), 12th Floor, New York, NY 10019. Subways: A/B/C/D/1 to Columbus Circle, N/Q/R/W to 57th Street.

More info available at www.americanrenaissancetheater.com

Bob Clyman (Playwright) plays have been produced Off-Broadway and at regional theatres, such as The Alley Theatre, Laguna Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, San Jose Repertory Theatre, George Street Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Colony Studio Theatre in Los Angeles, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, and L.A. Theatre Works, in addition to touring Scotland. His play Secret Order was initially commissioned and produced by The Ensemble Studio Theatre under the auspices of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. It was subsequently produced at 59E59 Theatre in New York, where it was nominated for an Outer Circle Critics Award for the best script in 2008, and has since been produced at many regional theatres. Of his most recent plays, The Good Bet was chosen for The Ashland New Play Festival in 2014 and won the Stanley Drama Award for 2015. He has been awarded a number of national prizes, including a Eugene O'Neill Summer Conference Fellowship, Geraldine Dodge Fellowship, Drama League's Playwrights First Award, New Jersey State Arts Council Award, Edward Albee Foundation Fellowship, Berilla-Kerr Foundation Award, Djerassi Foundation Fellowship, Shenandoah Valley Playwrights Fellowship, and Theater in the Works Fellowship.

Maria Aladren (Director) is a professional director and performing arts educator, originally from Zaragoza, Spain. For the past fourteen years, Maria has developed the conservatory theatre program at Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools, where she teaches, directs young actors and directs mainstage shows. Maria was the artistic director of Pegasus51/Performance Project, an award-winning experimental company, where she directed a variety of productions, including All's Well That Ends Well, Mud, In The Middle of the Ocean. She has also directed for other companies and universities including St. Louis Shakespeare Company, Mercer County College, University of Texas-Austin, Kean University, Teatro Humanidad, Washington University Thyrsus Company, Southern Illinois University, among others. Maria trained as a director at the University of Texas-Austin, where she received her MFA, and as a dramaturg at the Theatre School at Washington University in St. Louis.

American Renaissance Theater Company under the Producing Artistic Director, Kathleen Swan, has been dedicated to the development and production of new works by a multi-generational company of professional playwrights, actors and directors. Since its inception in 1976, ARTC has been a home to nearly five hundred professional actors, writers, directors, composers and musicians - theatre artists from a diversity of backgrounds who have found a congenial, stimulating environment in which to expand their resources and creativity. Plays developed through ARTC's workshop process have moved on to subsequent productions on Broadway, Off Broadway, and in America's leading regional theaters. In 2007, ARTC started the annual Jerry Kaufman Award in Playwriting which honors American Renaissance Theater playwrights.

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