Coffee Cup Presents the World Premiere of 'Standing Clear'

Coffee Cup (a theatre co.) presents the World Premiere of STANDING CLEAR, a comedy about the distance we put between us on the subway. Standing Clear is written by Ishah Janssen-Faith and Jack McGowan, directed by Barbara Karger, and created in collaboration with performers Melinda Ferraraccio, Becca Hackett, Ben Holbrook, Ishah Janssen-Faith and Jack McGowan. Performances will take place May 29 to June 21, 2008 in a limited engagement at The Access Theater in NYC. Previews begin May 29 for an official June 2 opening.

The Access Theater is located at 380 Broadway (4th floor) at White Street in NYC. Performances run Thursdays-Saturdays 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm & 7pm with two additional shows on Mon. June 2 and Mon. June 16 at 7pm. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students (at the theater only). All previews only $12. Tickets are $50 for the gala performance on Sat. June 7 at 7pm (includes post-show reception at Sasha Wolf Gallery). Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.SmartTix.com or by calling 212-868-4444. For more information on the company and show visit http://www.CoffeeCupTheatre.org.

Coffee Cup, the inventive company that brought you the acclaimed Turning Tables, takes to the NYC subway to create their latest physical comedy, Standing Clear, an ensemble piece that digs deep into the personalities we commute with each day. Have you ever imagined what a stranger's life was like? Pressed right up against each other, but miles away, what happens when we let the strangers we see every day affect us? An ode to the NYC subway, STANDING CLEAR shines a spotlight on the fleeting moments that we rarely recognize as being key to the essential beauty of New York.

Two post-show talk-backs will take place during the show's run. The first talk-back is on Sun. June 8 at 3pm with NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign (www.straphangers.org). For 29 years, The Straphangers Campaign has played a leading role in building a consensus for $53 billion in new investments in metropolitan transit—through their rider organizing, coalition building, research, reports and media savvy.

The second talk-back will take place on Mon. June 16 at 7pm with Hollaback NYC (www.hollabacknyc.blogspot.com) and Girls for Gender Equity (www.ggenyc.org). The evening's $30 ticket includes a post-show reception. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales from the June 16 performance will be donated to Girls for Gender Equity. HollabackNYC is a website dedicated to ending street harassment in NYC, encouraging women to photograph their harassers in an effort to bring awareness to the epidemic. Girls for Gender Equity is an organization located in BedStuy Brooklyn that works to empower young girls and build leadership skills.

Coffee Cup is a theatre collective that develops, writes and performs original, actor-driven theatre. The company provides its members with a flexible forum within which they can experiment freely. They take liberties with genre, mood and form, and aim to shine a humane and humorous light on the small, everyday relationships and interactions that define so much of our lives in NYC, and yet are so often taken for granted.

Director Barbara Karger was born in Vienna, Austria. After getting her Masters Degree in  physical theater at the renowned Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany, she co-founded Antagon-Theater and with them created numerous shows that were performed throughout Europe. Barbara co-directed the New York Goofs' Clown Brain, and Bindlestiff's High Heels and Red Noses, and From the Gutter to the Glitter.

Ishah Janssen-Faith (writer/performer) is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Coffee Cup (a theatre co.) with whom she co-created and performed in their debut production, Turning Tables. Ishah has come to New York via London, where she trained for two years with Philippe Gaulier and members of Theatre de Complicite. While there, she co-founded Bouillabaise Theater Company with whom she devised a clown show about the live organ trade entitled A Pig Behind Their Eyes. In NY, she was recently seen in Clowns by Dead Reckoning (La MaMa) and Not Just for Shock Value: A Femmes-Clowns Assemblage (Six Figures Artists of Tomorrow Festival). Ishah received her BA from Smith College in Theater and attended BADA.

Jack McGowan (writer/performer) is the co-founder of Coffee Cup (a theatre co.), acting in and co-writing their premiere production of Turning Tables. He works as a stage fighter for the Metropolitan Opera with a featured role in Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa. His other stage credits include Machinal (Theatre for the New City) and The Fashionable Prejudice (Metropolitan Playhouse). He has a BFA from Marymount Manhattan and attended BADA.

Rounding out the cast is Melinda Ferraraccio (In the Belly of the Beast With Two Backs at HERE/Clowns By Dead Reckoning at La MaMa/National Tours of The Miser and The Three Musketeers), Becca Hackett (New Moon Rep/Roust Theatre Co.'s I Kreon at Walkerspace) and Ben Holbrook (The Matchmaker & A Streetcar Named Desire at Triad Stage in North Carolina).

The design and production team consists of Peter Hoerburger (Lighting Design/NYIT Award-Winner for Present Perfect), Young-Yoon Kim (Costume Design), Ryan Maeker (Sound Design/NYIT Award-Winner for Dancing vs. The Rat Experiment with Witness Relocation), Kina Park (Set & Property Design/various 2008 Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Projects), Brian Carfi (Technical Director), Jaimie Van Dyke (Production Stage Manager) and Nick Renaud (Assistant Sound Design).

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