Corkscrew Theater Festival Opens With Elyse Pitock's PREEXISTING CONDITIONS

Corkscrew Theater Festival opens its third annual summer festival with the world premiere of Elyse Pitock's Preexisting Conditions. Directed by Alexis Wilcock and running July 11-28, Preexisting Conditions follows a young woman with chronic illnesses who signs up for a matchmaking startup that pairs singles in need of healthcare with finance and tech industry professionals. The play takes satirical aim at America's labyrinthine healthcare system, the contemporary dating scene, and companies that use social justice for their own interests, in order to present a story of how chronic illness affects women.

Performed by Brittany Anikka Liu as Ophira, Ariane Rinehart as Aubrey, Ruth Aguilar as Casey, Justin Ahdoot as Nico, and Danny Tejera as Trevor, Preexisting Conditions is the first of four mainstage productions that are part of Corkscrew Theater Festival, which provides early-career artists with a high level of production support.

Legal assistant Ophira suffers from chronic pain, with no health insurance and no hope - until she finds Artemis, a multicultural, intersectional, feminist matchmaking startup that connects singles in need of healthcare with professionals from the finance and tech industries. This unconventional (but pragmatic) arrangement becomes a nightmare when Ophira is paired with the pompous Trevor, and her efforts to escape are blocked by Artemis CEO Aubrey Geller. Preexisting Conditions pits modern romance against a modern medical bill and asks: what's sicker?

"I hope this play will appeal to the silly-minded and the civic-minded, the debt-ridden, amateur astrologists, and people who were excluded from clubs as elementary schoolers," said Pitock. "Rehearsing with our group of talented actors has taught me so much about the relationships at the core of Preexisting Conditions, and I can't wait to see it come to life."

In Wilcock's words, "Healthcare is something most people don't want to talk about; it's private, and on the surface it's also boring. And so when you are sick, especially when it relates to reproductive health, and you can't afford to be sick, that can feel very shameful and isolating. With Preexisting Conditions, we're creating a 90-minute moment where people can come together and laugh at the absurdity of not only unhelpful doctors or lack of coverage, but also bad dates and boring office jobs. I hope that at our show, audience members can find themselves a little less alone in dealing with healthcare struggles that can often seem insurmountable."

Corkscrew Theater Festival features four world premieres, four workshop productions, and four readings performed in repertory over four weeks. Special attention has been given to theater makers who are developing work through tight-knit collaborations. A majority of the participating artists identify as women or non-binary.

The creative team for Preexisting Conditions includes Elsa GibsonBraden (set design), Evan C. Anderson (lighting design), Isabel S. Nelson (costume design), Kathryn Ruvuna (sound design), Anna Moskowitz (stage manager), and Hyejin Son (technical director).

Performances of Preexisting Conditions will take place July 11-28 at Paradise Factory (64 E 4th St, Manhattan). Critics are welcome as of July 11, which serves as the official opening. Tickets are $24 and can be purchased at corkscrewfestival.org or by calling 347.954.9125.

Founded in 2017, Corkscrew Theater Festival reduces the barriers to entry for early-career artists in NYC in order to showcase world premiere productions of ambitious new plays and musicals. Corkscrew is defined by its commitment to tight-knit collaboration, not only in the projects that are programmed but also around the festival itself, which incites constant dialogue and support among its community of artists through a series of initiatives. The festival presents four to five mainstage productions (plus a series of workshops and staged readings) performed in repertory over four weeks during the summer.

Corkscrew requires no fees to apply or to participate. In addition, the festival offers unique support intended to professionalize the process for early-career artists and to encourage a spirit of collaboration: a bimonthly Directors/Producers Lab, where creators of all projects discuss challenges and solutions; a Writers' Group for script development; pre-rehearsal readings for each production during Spring Reading Weekend; and new in 2019, a festival casting process led by a team of professional casting directors. 2019 also brings the first iteration of Corkscrew Downstairs, a series of four workshop productions sharing one design team and one highly flexible scenic design. Ultimately, Corkscrew seeks to merge the communal atmosphere of a festival with the rigor of a not-for-profit theatre company. www.corkscrewfestival.org

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