Anthony M. Laura To Direct His New Play SHADOWS At Jeffrey And Paula Gural Theater/ A.R.T.

Anthony M. Laura, Artistic Director of Face to Face Films, will direct his new play "Shadows" Off-Broadway at the Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theater / A.R.T. this fall.

The original play tells the story of Lyndsy Elle Cooper (Liv Kirby), a 30 year old singer trying to make a musical comeback when she is diagnosed with young onset dementia. As she begins to grapple with her symptoms, her girlfriend Kensley (Hailey Foss) is diagnosed with terminal cancer. The play explores the duality of both diseases and the role coincidence plays in trauma.

Mr. Laura began writing the play in late 2021. He says "The journey of Lyndsy and Kensley started for me in Chicago. It was my first time visiting and one of the main reasons for traveling was to see a play at Steppenwolf. After touring the theater and seeing a Tracy Letts play (Bug), I left inspired. I had no map for where the story was going but Lyndsy was my starting my point. Suddenly, Kensley and Ariana (Lyndsy's sister and manager played by Katia Mendoza) emerged and I fell in love with all of them. I took about a year away from the play and during that time directed "The Girl with the Red Hair" (staged in 2022 at the Gene Frankel Theater) but had approached Liv to play Lyndsy a few months after I wrote it. She was producing 'Girl' with me at the time and our conversations flourished for a year. It's an unusual process for me because usually I don't put scripts to the side, I workshop them and put them up right away, so the development of the story was exciting and allowed me time to really get to know these characters. It began as a story about memory and has since become a story about love. It's been quite a bit of time since I wrote a love story and the love of Lyndsy and Kensley is something that hasn't left my mind for over a year. Normally, you don't see what our characters deal with in the same play. It's either a story of young onset or a story of terminal cancer. Our story explores what happens when two incredibly unforeseen and tragic events occur simultaneously and how it impacts our love of each other and the world. It's absolutely fascinating and incredibly challenging to structure the tone of how we tell their story and allow the audience to leave having not witnessed tragedy but love."

The cast of Shadows features Ms. Kirby (appearing as courtesy from Actors Equity Association), Hailey Foss (Kensley), Katia Mendoza (Ariana Cooper), Alexandra Rooney (Jessa King) and Mari Blake (Tatum) in the all female ensemble.

The cast will be understudied by Rheanna Salazar (Lyndsy Elle Cooper), Courtnie Keaton (Kensley), Colleen Wright (Ariana Cooper), Chloe Joyce (Jessa King) and Grace Rucci (Tatum).

Mr. Laura and Ms. Kirby are producing the show under the Face to Face Films banner. Ms. Foss and Ms. Mendoza are associate producing.

The creative team includes Richard Urquiza (Stage Manager), Mengyi Liu (Set Design), Yang Yu (Lighting Design), Trey McGee (Sound Design), Philip Lauto (Composer), Rose Hart (Songwriter), Gabe Calleja (Production Executive), Kristen Seavey (Production Executive), Courtnie Keaton (Dramaturg), Andrea Alton (Publicity) and Caroline Sinclair (Casting).

Shadows will open on December 1, 2023 and run for fifteen performances throughDecember 16, 2023.

For more information, please visit www.shadowstheplay.com

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